Try Absinthe

You must all think I'm an alcoholic.  I first write a post about drinking at an ice bar and now I'm just skipping all the frou frou stuff and going straight to the hard goods, Absinthe. What exactly is Absinthe, you say?  Well good thing you've signed up for Absinthe 101 because during your first lesson I will give you a brief history of Absinthe.  Absinthe is a highly highly alcoholic beverage.  Look at your favorite beer or wine, and the alcoholic content is probably no higher than 20%. Absinthe on the other hand is about 50-90%.  I'm pretty sure they can use the stuff to sterilize patients before surgery.

Typically Absinthe has a naturally green color, and is named by few as "The Green Fairy."  It has become highly associated with the Bohemian culture, as it made its way through Europe in the 20th century.  It began to get a terrible reputation due to its supposed psychoactive side effects, like hallucinations, and in 1915 it was banned in the United States as well as other parts of Europe.  In the 1990's Absinthe was authorized to be manufactured and sold again in certain areas of Europe, and today their are hundreds of Absinthe varieties primarily being manufactured in Spain, France and the Czech Republic.

 
The two most popular ways of preparing Absinthe is the "French Method" or the "Bohemian Method."

1.  The French Method- Place a sugar cube on a spoon over a shot of Absinthe.  Then pour ice cold water over the spoon and sugar.  The drink then becomes cloudy when you do this.

2.  The Bohemian Method-  Place a sugar cube on a spoon and quickly dip it in Absinthe.  Then like the  French Method place the sugar cube and spoon over a shot of Absinthe.  Light the sugar cube on fire and then drop it into the drink so the entire drink is ignited.  You can either wait till the fire burns out, or pour ice water or ice cubes into the drink. 

So while I was in Prague, I naturally wanted my turn to try some Absinthe.  I went with a group of friends during sunset to a fancy restaurant on the rooftop of a hotel.  We had spectacular views of Prague, and all its castles and beautiful architectural buildings.  The waiter approached us and asked us what we wanted.  We told him that we was just wanted Absinthe, and to also bring us some sugar and ice.  He brought us our supplies, and Nick was our first victim.  Now Nick is pretty hardcore, so when he cringed drinking it, it kind of made me nervous.


We decided to do the Bohemian Method considering we were in Prague.  Since I'm a bit afraid of fire I had someone else light the absinthe for me.  There were many references to crack during the fire part of the process.  Since my drink was warm, I placed a few ice cubes to cool it down.  I shut my eyes and bravely chugged it all down in two massive gulps.  My throat and my insides burned for at least 15 minutes afterwards.   The sugar didn't seem to sweeten the flavor at all, and if I had to do it all over again I would have dropped in a few more spoonfuls of sugar!

Now, you are probably wondering if I saw The Green Fairy afterwards, or if I had my share of hallucinations and poor judgement choices?  Well...if moments after drinking Absinthe I pay to go into a Sex Museum, then yes, I guess I did.

Date Accomplished:  June 9th, 2009