Well ever since I saw the video KittenMaster and MissAbsinthe made showing the preparation and drinking of Absinthe I've wanted to try some.
I got a bottle on the way home from work on Friday. I picked a brand called "Lucid" for the scientific reason that I only had two choices and this bottle had a pair of 'cat' eyes on it.
So the first question to KittenMaster, MissAbsinthe and anyone else who has tried Absinthe. Did I pick a good brand? If not than what is a good brand?
The next question to anyone is where in the world can I find sugar cubes? I went to a few different grocery stores and it seams that no one carries them any more.
I looked on line and found molds I can use to make my own cubes, but honestly I don't want to put that much effort into drinking.
Lucid is one of the two brands that you might find here in the US. It is imported from France. The guy who makes it actually reversed engineered the beverage to get it as close to the original recipe. Your best bet for finding sugar cubes is walmart. You can find them in the baking isle right next to bagged sugar. Sadly absinthe doesn't truly have the properties that are glamorized by poets and Hollywood. In fact the traditional way to prepare the drink is not by pouring water over the sugar cube, but using laudanum instead. Laudanum is an opiate that was very popular in the Victorian era, yet it is surprisingly easy to make. Laudanum is nothing more than a specific ratio of water to hydrocodone, but you have to have pure hydrocodone. Most of the pills that you are prescribed have an amazingly large amount of acetaminophen pressed into the pill, so you have to do something called a cold water extraction to properly extract the wanted hydrocodone. I don't know all of this information because I might be some drug addict, I know it because I'm in college for chemical engineering.
Absinthe is lovely. (She really is!) I just bought a bottle of Lucid last month. I very much enjoyed Ted Breaux's other absinthe's, and was not disappointed by this one - truth be told, the best thing about it is that it is convenient to not have to mail order it from Europe. That said, after this bottle, I'll almost certainly return to La Fee as it's quite a bit more drinkable... I heard they might start importing to the US (at least they had a party to that effect a few months ago).
Enjoy!
As for laudanum, I didn't realize that it replaced the sugar cubes. I thought it was simply added to the absinthe. Drinking absinthe without sweetening (and diluting!) it is a bit... extreme... even for me :)
Those nutty Victorians... :)
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The Green Fairy who lives in the Absinthe wants your soul but... you are safe with me.
Oh, I didn't mean to insinuate that the sugar cube was removed from the traditional consumption. A liquid was still poured over a sugar cube, just instead of water, laudanum was used.
I believe it has the same chemical properties as the drug magic mushrooms, which comes from the extract of wormwood in the drink. However, I dont know if that was back in the old days, I doubt it has it now. I know my local shop sold it in the uk, and I was always tempted, but they have stopped selling it now, and Im told the best place to get it Prague.
I have grown quite interested in the drink, and wish to learn much more about it....I would happily accept info/advice/links about the drink and the practice and creation (the sugar cube method and the other ones)....I have been told by many that "Lucid" is quite frankly the *and i quote* "crappiest brands out there for absinthe"....
thanks ahead of time for any info/etc.
Voshra
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"Use Technology As You Would Use A Blunt Object"--Gimpy, UnderGRADS
I've had Lucid. I don't have any other type to compare it to, but being in the U.S it's not like there are many other choices. It is definitely something you want to drink properly, and do NOT take just a straight shot of it... Take your time slowly pouring the water over the sugar cube. x.x