MetaChat - I haz absinthe.

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27 January 2008

I haz absinthe. Not absinthe flavored liquer, but real French Absinthe from France. I'm lubing my liver with a beer first. I called Hugh Janus, figuring he might want to be in on this, but he hasn't called back.

post by: jonmc at: 17:45 | 23 comments

Lubing? Lubeing. Loving said with a stopped up nose.

Carry on!

posted by rainbaby 27 January | 17:49

You may want to read the Food Reference website page on absinthe. Absinthe is no longer quite the same stuff that legendarily inspired tortured visions. What it contains depends a lot on where it was made and which herbal extracts were used. It's still a very unusual liqeir, though. That site also links to this nice absinthe site.

I learned a lot about absinthe from this NYer article from a couple years ago.

posted by Miko 27 January | 18:32

This stuffs from France. I 'louched' my first glass and am drinking away. I have some Stuckey's pecans for an accompanimet. The water and sugar makes it go down pretty easy (and taste kind of like Chuckles gumdrops soaked in Scope), but the alcohol content packs a wallop.

posted by jonmc 27 January | 18:37

Yay! Stuckey's! That takes me back.

posted by JanetLand 27 January | 18:41

yeah, they make it differently in France now too. Now if it's 100 year old absinthe, that's a different story...

posted by gaspode 27 January | 18:51

I just finished my first glass (about three shots worth, pre-louching). I'm not hallucinating, but I am nicely buzzed (and listening to 'Beth' *sniff*). According to the labeling and my resaerch, this particualr brand does contain wormwood, unlike the American stuff, for whatever that's worth.

posted by jonmc 27 January | 19:09

You lucky, lucky, bastard.

My advice -- it's best without water OR sugar. Just straight. Take small sips, hold it in your mouth for a bit, swallow gently. Let the layers of flavor wash over you.

posted by treepour 27 January | 19:35

Want! Enjoy yourself!

posted by youngergirl44 27 January | 19:37

ex-cel-lent!

posted by jason's_planet 27 January | 20:24

Post us a pic of the bottle. I'm fascinated with that stuff and have always wanted to try it.

posted by BoringPostcards 27 January | 20:31

Never had it. Is this the licoricey flavored stuff?

posted by chewatadistance 27 January | 20:53

Hope the wife is nearby, because, you know, absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

well, somebody had to say it

posted by wendell 27 January | 21:46

*throws tomato at wendell*

posted by Joe Invisible 27 January | 21:50

Apparently he passed out.

posted by netbros 27 January | 22:32

*bleagh*

Sounds like it tastes nasty.

We gotta get you some scuppernong wine from the Duplin Winery in NC. If you are going to pickle your liver you might as well do it with something that tastes good.

posted by bunnyfire 27 January | 22:32

*throws tomato at wendell, misses due to laughter*

posted by Triode 28 January | 00:00

Tastes nasty? Dear lord, no. Real absinthe is one of the finest taste-oriented experience a human being can have. Some of the stuff being made in the states tastes like mouthwash, but the real thing -- holy crap, it's the flavor of enlightenment itself.

posted by treepour 28 January | 00:23

I tried absinthe just the one time, and it made me throw up so hard that a bunch of bloodvessels around my eyes burst leaving me with a blotchy pink 'visor' that took about three days to fade. I hope your experience of this nasty poison was much less unpleasant.

posted by misteraitch 28 January | 03:17

I do it with sugar but without water, and only for that "we're doing drugs teeheehee" burning spoon moment. Here's some absinth drinking pals for you, me Miklas and Erik have absinth at our local bar. They sell the real deal not some green-colored minth booze.
≡ Click to see image ≡

posted by dabitch 28 January | 03:31

i wanna do drugs with dabs!

posted by ethylene 28 January | 03:52

A lot of the hallucination stuff is probably just myth. It had more to do with the fact that, back in the day, the stuff was cheap and very strong (140 proof and up) so people really, really got loaded. The elaborate rituals with the spoon and the sugar added to the mystique, but it was really to make the swill drinkable.

posted by King of Prontopia 28 January | 12:14

A lot of the hallucination stuff is probably just myth.

That's what the original New Yorker article said: a lot of the absinthe mystique was hysteria and hype. It was thought to contain a compound from the wormwood called thujone which was supposedly hallucinogenic, but when original recipes were tested, the absinthe contained almost none of the chemical - not enough to be active, anyway. The distilling process didn't carry it over from the wormwood infusion. So it's basically another herbal liqeur, like Jaeger. I do believe that different liquers have different impacts, but it seems as though much the absinthe mystique came from the mores, fears, misunderstandings, and excitements of its time.

posted by Miko 28 January | 12:20

I've had absinthe in the past, and my experience was:

a. yes, it packs one MASSIVE whallop.

b. it has a unique high - mine felt like my head had turned into a video camera and I was watching myself act/talk/move as if I was watching a movie.

c. it had a truth serum effect - a kind of dissocation that was very different from just being drunk.

Your mileage may vary. P.S. The hangover is BRUTAL. Drink lots of water or feel the wrath.

posted by Lipstick Thespian 28 January | 23:54

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