Hi, Friends of Cocktails! Absinthe has been a taboo spirit for a long time, that’s also known for all the different ways of serving it. So today we’ll tackle this famous - or infamous - liqueur along with its history, and I’ll then show you a few simple cocktails to see how it plays out as a base. Now if you’re ready, let’s release the green fairy. It’s Cocktail Time!
Now, to address this first, does absinthe really make you hallucinate? Thankfully this is only a myth, so having some absinthe will at most make you hallucinate as much as having some whiskey on the rocks. But where does this myth come from? Absinthe is liqueur flavored with different herbs, mainly fennel, anise, and a type of wormwood called Artemisia absinthium, from which it gets its name.
Like we covered in the first edition of Dangerous Cocktail Ingredients, wormwood contains thujone, but you’d need crazy amounts of that to get close to hallucinating. That didn’t stop bohemian artists and writers in 19th-century Paris from reporting mind-altering effects after enjoying absinthe, but at the turn of the 20th century it got banned. First in Switzerland after what is known as the absinthe murders - I’ll let you research that on your own - and many other countries soon followed.
Thankfully after research into thujone and its amounts the EU lifted the ban in 1998, but the US took 9 more years and there's still strict conditions on how much thujone absinthe can contain. So now let’s get into the fun stuff: serving and enjoying absinthe. Let’s first check out what’s known as the French Method of the Absinthe Drip Cocktail. For this you’ll need an absinthe glass, absinthe spoon, and most importantly the absinthe fountain.
Due to the strength and bitterness of absinthe it’s traditionally diluted and sweetened before drinking. Originally a bartender would serve a measure of absinthe, a carafe of iced-water and sugar separately, so the patron would make his drink as he liked it. As it gained in popularity, the absinthe fountains also became popular, but they also can add a little flair to your next cocktail party. Let’s begin!
Absinthe Fountain Ritual - French Method
● 30mL · 1oz Absinthe
● 90mL · 3oz Water
● 1 Sugar Cube
Start by pouring absinthe into the glass, then rest a slotted absinthe spoon across the top of the glass and place the sugar cube on top. Now place the glass with the sugar cube under a spout of the absinthe fountain filled with ice cold water, and slowly drip the water over the sugar. This will dissolve it and then drip into the glass and onto the absinthe. Traditionally the same amount of water is added as absinthe, but full-strength absinthe requires more dilution, so a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1 is usually good.
Finally use the spoon to stir and that’s it. You may also notice your absinthe going from clear to cloudy as the water goes in, which is known as the louche effect and it's caused by the oils in the absinthe. But how does it taste? This first method has plenty of anise and fennel on the aroma, and that’s what you get on the taste as well. It’s not too sweet and has a nice herbal richness, but it’s said by absinthe purists that the slow drip is essential to absinthe’s flavor, so let’s compare it to a quick version built in the glass.
Absinthe Ritual - Quick Method
● 30mL · 1oz Absinthe
● 90mL · 3oz Water
● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Rich Simple Syrup
No special process here, fill the glass with ice then add the ingredients in before stirring with a bar spoon. The original had no garnish so let’s keep it like that here as well. The faster version has a less strong aroma compared to the traditional French method, but it’s a bit fresher, due to the ice in the glass. Still enough sweetness and herbal notes of anise, fennel and wormwood, so I’d say it’s really more about the presentation than anything else.
You could also make this second method using carbonated water - and we’ll look at a version of that a bit later on - but now let’s look at another special serve known as the Fire Ritual, this time from the Czech Republic. Not as old as the French version, but it’s just as eye-catching, because we’ll be flaming the sugar cube.
This serve was probably adapted from Café Brûlot, a traditional coffee drink that calls for igniting a sugar cube soaked with brandy, but first I need to something clear: please be careful if you’ll try this, as things can go wrong in a lot of ways when working with high-proof spirits and alcohol. Better yet, don’t attempt this, treat it as educational content only!
Absinthe Ritual - Czech Method
● 30mL · 1oz Absinthe
● 60mL · 2oz Water
● 1 Sugar Cube
This time I’m starting by placing the absinthe spoon and the sugar cube on top of the glass. Then I’ll pour the absinthe over the sugar cube and into the glass, which will be plenty to saturate it, making it possible to set it on fire. This will cause it to bubble and caramelize slowly, but in normal lighting the blue flame produced may be hard to see, which is why you have to be extra careful. Once the flame has died down, pour the water over the sugar cube and into the absinthe, then stir everything to dissolve.
The Czech version ended up being slightly warmer than the French method, with subtle caramelized notes, but it’s still an absinthe cocktail in its core thanks to its herbal notes of anise, fennel and wormwood. But now it's time we test our absinthe out in some cocktails, so that we can say that we tried all different absinthe serves, and see which one’s the best.
Starting with a variation of what the Dead Rabbit Drinks Manual from 2015 calls the Swiss style. I’ll be using Clear Orgeat along with our absinthe, but with the louche effect you can of course go with the classic version as well, and if you don’t have it yet you know where to get the best store-bought version. Liber&Co.’s Orgeat starts with whole almonds that are blanched and roasted to bring out deep toasted nut flavors.
To that they add cane sugar, orange blossom and a touch of bitter almond oil for a distinct marzipan note, and all of those flavors sound like a great pairing along with our absinthe selection today! So let’s make the Swiss style absinthe highball cocktail.
Absinthe Highball
● 30mL · 1oz Absinthe
● 15mL · 0.5oz Clear Orgeat
● 120g Soda Water
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Mint Sprig
Start with a chilled highball glass with tempered clear ice spheres, and pour in your ingredients. Now give it a gentle stir with a bar spoon to mix everything, and you can really see the louche effect in action again. Now let’s garnish it with a mint sprig, spank it on the side of the glass to release its oils, then place it in the drink and that’s it. Cheers!
A nice minty freshness pairs nicely with the anise notes of absinthe, but the flavor of this cocktail takes me back to my childhood when I loved a candy called Bronhi, a traditional toffee with herbal extracts that everyone's grandma always had on hand. So yeah, this one might just be the winner, but to be thorough let’s make a shaken version as well.
Listed simply as the Absinthe Cocktail on Difford’s Guide, it has the same ingredients as we already used - but of course we’ll add some saline solution.
Absinthe Cocktail
● 30mL · 1oz Absinthe
● 75mL · 2.5oz Water
● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Rich Simple Syrup
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
This time we’re starting with a chilled shaker into which I’m adding the ingredients, followed by ice. Now give the cocktail a quick shake and double strain into a chilled coupe glass. We’ll add a single mint leaf as a garnish, and don’t forget to spank it to release the essential oils, place it on top of the cocktail and that’s it. Cheers, again.
Aroma similar to the highball, thanks to the mint leaf, but of all the cocktails, this one is the most airy, diluted and balanced, almost surprisingly so. With that, we’ve made it to the end of the gauntlet and the Bottom of The Glass, so which one’s the best? For presentation, the French drip method is a winner, but for taste I have to go with the shaken version.
So now you know what to make for yourself, and if you need a special occasion wait for March 5th. That’s known as Absinthe Day, because it was on March 5th 2007 that the absinthe ban was lifted in the US after 95 years. Mark your calendars, and if you want to know more about historic cocktails, check out this playlist. I’ll see you next week, Friends of Cocktails!
Comments