42 replies to this topic

[Wormwoad]

That is awesome that it met and exceeded your expectations!

I hope your friends have tried La Clandestine now. I'll admit I definitely wanted something green as a novelty my first time, but now that it's out of the way - I am so glad I've ventured into the Swiss marks.

[Viseguy]

About a year ago, Googled "absinthe", found this site, bought a bottle of Pacifique, and I was off and running. Currently working my way through a lovely bottle of Marteau. Always keep a bottle of La Clandestine on hand. Not an exciting tale, but I like it.

[Joe Legate]

Pffft.  That's the best story to hear! You didn't throw your money away on crap and you're drinking real, authentic absinthe. Beautiful.

[Viseguy]

Pffft.  That's the best story to hear! You didn't throw your money away on crap and you're drinking real, authentic absinthe. Beautiful.

 

Thanks! I've been privileged along the way to have some Ridge -- Vilya -- verte and blanche, and will be going back to them, for sure. Every glass of absinthe is my personal heure verte. I imagine myself in a Parisian sidewalk cafe on an early summer afternoon, having left work at a civilized hour, unwinding from the cares of the day. Some may call authentic absinthe an expensive bottle of liquor. I call it a cheap vacation -- with time travel, to boot.
 

[Wormwoad]

Aye. My enjoyment of it just stems from the fact that most of what I drink is from ancient recipes and, being that my big passion in life is history and previous cultures, it's not 'only' a 'good drink' to me. Being that I connect it with good times in my recent life, it also just means a lot by being something which has helped me by distracting me from any BS in life (that makes me sound lick a lush trying to drown my problems - if there's any truth to that, it's just a kernel  ).

And I guess that is what my experiences have led me to enjoy - finding similar recipes to that which predates us. It's just extremely neat that people out there - chemists and drinkers alike - put so much effort into that. If I could ever work for a distillery making this stuff, at this point, I'd take the chance. 

[deltapapatango]

Taboo is the first real experience I had.  Tastes fantastic.  Tried Pernod and way to strong for water alone.

[Joe Legate]

Usually, I would tell you that absinthe shouldn't be a strong drink and clearly you under-watered your beverage. Unfortunately, Pernod isn't a very good absinthe anymore and hasn't been for a half a century.  Damn shame that.

 

On the other hand, our Culinary Arts program produced some pretty kickass cookie filling with dark chocolate and Pernod last week.    The lesson is, cook with it but don't drink it!

[baubel]

That's a really good Culinary Arts program then. 

[Leichenwagen]

 I had read about it as a young man and again had my interest piqued in university where i was an English Lit major.  Having had bent my own realities not more than a few times in the past I was lured by the taboo tales of halucinogenic alcohols, and absinthe's connection to artists bending the fabric of their own realities. I had given up on the idea thinking that it was unattainable. Along came the internet and my first computer back in 1999 and later  ( 2005 maybe?) the realization that it may actually be acquired somewhere. I experimented with foul herbal macerations from envelopes bought on ebay to little extract bottles added to vodka resulting in bizarre neon louches. Finally, I found a German distributor who sent me my first real taste of absinthe which was a bottle of François Guy, A Serpis Red and an NS75. As the first drops of ice-cold water hit the glass and the anise aroma filled the room my soul was lost to the Fairy's wiles. It was not long after that I found similar lost souls here at the Wormwood Society. 50 or so absinthes later I'm still trying to capture the romance of that first taste. :-)

[ViridianGirl]

Greetings!

 

The first time I had it was several years ago at home. I decided to put in a French movie to add to the overall experience. While I drank my first glass, I wondered about the Green Fairy and what it would be like to "interview" her. So, I typed out a five page interview between me and Her and now it will be published in my latest book, Tales From A Goth Librarian II. Needless to say, my publisher read it and noted that the interview did not have any grammar or punctuation errors. Go figure. Anyway, that is my tale. Enjoy!

[bentleye]

I was in France a couple of years ago doing the tourist thing.   We were at the gift shop at the catacombs where I saw a bottle of something called Absinthe.  Pandor was the brand.  The bottle had a really cool skull on the label.  It brought out memories of things I'd heard and read back in the 70s when I was a teenager.  Those things were mythology of course.  I bought the bottle and "smuggled" it back to the US.  Then I looked up information about Absinthe on line.  I quickly found out that what I had was high proof distilled Alcohol much closer to vodka then Absinthe.  The happy ending was that I ended up buying a bottle of La Clandestine and Berthe de Joux.  That was a revelation.  From that day to this, I've been enjoying Absinthe.

[SethP]

Back in the -80's, as a teenager, I got introduced to Pernod (the pastis) together with Raspberry soda and I thought it tasted excellent.. Then many years later (in 2010) I found out that I could actually buy the legendary drink Absinthe, but before buying I did a little research and found out that Pernod (!) was actually absinthe (back in the day)... Well, well. That's it then, I thought. But I also found out, through WS and absinthe.se, that Pernod Absinthe wasn't really somehing to strive for. So I got two small bottles (20cl) of Mercier Abisinthe and Verte de Fougerolles "instead" and I simply loved it.

 

I've never been a real fan of Whisky, Vodka or Cognac for instance, but I found out that proper absinthe... Well.. That's really my kind of poison!

Edited by SethP, 30 March 2014 - 09:50 AM.

[Ghostorm]

I posted this back in 2007 in my introduction post, so I'll just copy and paste:

 

"The first time I’ve heard the name Absinthe was when I read “For Whom the Bells Toll” by Ernest Hemingway. But back then I just thought that it’s probably some kind of Spanish spirit and forgot about it. The next time I came across absinthe was when I watched “From Hell”. That’s when I took notice. I thought, that must be a cool drink with a cool way to drink it . And then I saw that our local ASDA is selling Apsinthion Polski Absinthe. The next minute I was already paying for it. As I didn’t know much about absinthe at that time I was drinking it the way Johnny Depp drank it in the movie – using fire ritual . I didn’t have a slightest doubt that it was an original absinthe ritual, especially as “Metal Hammer” – the magazine I read also suggested fire ritual, when drinking absinthe. Nevertheless I loved the drink. So when I finished the first bottle, I bought the second one, when I finished the second bottle, I bought the third one.
Not, so long ago I thought I must try some other absinthes as I was already finishing my third bottle of Absinthion. That’s when I started looking for absinthe reviews and other information about absinthe on the internet. And oh boy was I surprised, when I saw that there’s no fire involved in the original absinthe ritual . I read all the reviews carefully and it led me to buying sample bottles (0.2 l) of Jade 1901, Jade Edouard, Jade NO and Duplais. When I took my first sip of Jade 1901 (I prepared it using the correct ritual ) I understood that I’ll never buy a bottle of Absinthion again."

 

I can confirm that I kept my promise and never bought a bottle of Absinthion again.