In Absinthia Title
Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder. - Dowson
Michael likes Kubler in Corpse Revivers

We really like this Cocktail Recipe Book


Jonathan quested
for St. George

Absinthe Cocktails Book
There is a Spoon!


Posted by Jonathan
on 02/25/08

A birthday order of absinthe from Liqueurs de France arrived here at In Absinthia, and what a nice gift it was indeed! Two bottles from the Swiss distiller, Matter-Luginbühl and one from Emile Pernot. From Pernot comes Un Emile 68 La Blanche, as you always need a Swiss blanche in every order - I think it may be a law or something... And from Matter-Luginbühl comes Gwydion's recipe, Absinthe Marteau Verte Classique, a Suisse verte, as well as the award-winning Absinthe Duplais , another verte absinthe.

Included in the order were two molded Pontarlier glass, as our previous absinthe glass went the way of many other breakable items here. We usually shy away from anything but a clear glass, no matter what the cocktail is, but these promised to be pretty as well as functional.

Total cost, including shipping by the legendary "flying monkeys" was about US$245. To cut costs a bit, we went with smaller bottles, although given the hefty shipping charge, it is probably a false economy. After the break is a pictorial essay of the grand box opening, which was about a week after ordering it.


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Posted by Michael
on 01/27/08
I've had an almost empty bottle of Jade Edouard sitting in my cabinet for about a year and a half. I had stoppered it with the original cork and thought that it would be OK for quite some time.

It seems like I was wrong about that.

When I poured myself a glass recently the absinthe looked a little cloudy but I didn't pay too much attention to it. After adding sugar and water, and after taking a small sip I realized that something was amiss. I looked again at the absinthe and saw that a very ugly brown scum had formed on the surface and the rest of the absinthe had a brownish tint to it (instead of the usual pearly green).

I'm not sure why this happened but I took some pictures (click the "more" link below).

Any thoughts?


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Posted by Jonathan
on 12/19/07

Here's the official absinthe "Industry Circular" from the United States Department of the Treasury, Alcohol an Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, usually shortened to "TTB". Dated October 16, 2007, it is probably as good a date as any to celebrate as the beginning of real absinthe's return to the table as a licit, not illicit, drink.

This circular is just chock a block full of bureaucratese like "pursuant" (does anyone use this word in normal conversation?), "revoked by operation of regulation" (huh?) and "certificates of label approval" (with its helpful acronym, COLA). They seem to be more concerned with the artwork on the label than the contents of the bottle, because you certainly wouldn't want an image "of hallucinogenic, psychotropic, or mind-altering effects", which hearkens back to Lance Winters' quote about "You get all that from a monkey?". Still seems a little vague to us, but hey, if keeping psychotropic images off the label means easier access to some good absinthe here in the US, we're all for it here at inAbsinthia.

Absinthe Circular from the TTB

Be sure to also check out the TTB's process for thujone screening. Maybe you could do this at home! Perhaps we'll try it out in inAbsinthia's deep cellar laboratory.

Screening of Distilled Spirits for Thujone by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry


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Posted by Jonathan
on 03/29/07

Interesting, if somewhat misleading, article in the San Diego Citybeat, an alternative entertainment weekly there. It describes the author's first meeting with the "Green Goddess". A little bit over the top and wrong in many ways. Hey, let's count them!

  1. It is actually not barred in many other countries. Right now, the US is about the only place around that makes it entirely illegal.
  2. A real absinthe is not, in fact, bitter.  It has plenty of other tastes, but we here at InAbsinthia have never understood the desire to describe it as "bitter"
  3. The chemical name for "wormwood" isn't "thujone". Thujune is merely a chemical released when you use wormwood.
  4. He describes its "acrid" taste. Poor fellow. Given the link he produces at the bottom, he must have had the bad fortune of actually thinking that Czech swill is absinthe. No wonder he's complaining about the taste!

He does give a nice thumbnail sketch of absinthe's lurid history. We also had never heard the story of Roman chariot riders drinking absinthe to "remind them that every victory is mingled with bitterness". And he does drink it in the correct fashion; I thought sure I was going to read about flames and all. So, all in all, we've read much worse.

San Diego CityBEAT - SORDID TALES by Edwin Decker


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Posted by Jonathan
on 03/13/07

Someone recently asked us about buying absinthe from a European dealer and having it shipped to the US. We think the answer might interest more folks, so we'll post it here. Mind you, this is just for the United States and reflects our success here at getting absinthe. We have been successful all five times we have ordered so far, but as they say about the stock market, past success is no guarantee of future results. But it comes in a discreet box and shouldn't raise any interest in the post office. And the recommended vendors all guarantee delivery, so it's a no loss situation.

Basically, getting shipments through Customs works out as a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of policy. I believe that, in general, it is not legal to ship liquor by mail in the US anyway, but I could be wrong about that. There are no special taxes, thankfully. That is what trips up shipments to Canada, as they often investigate packages for tax purposes and end up confiscating the bottles (although, ironically enough, absinthe is actually completely legal there!). So order from a reputable dealer (see the links on the *right* of our site - the links on the left are from Google and are often shady at best). And check out the vendor list found on the Wormwood Society page here:

Wormwood Society Absinthe Vendors List

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Posted by Jonathan
on 03/09/07

Our tastings the other evening included a blanche and a verte, both from the Jade Liqueurs line. We have had the two (Blanchette and the Nouvelle-Orleans) before, and were anxious to try them again. In fact, the Blanchette is now nearly finished, which would make it the first bottle to be poured to the last drop.

First up was the Blanchette. A clear, Suisse-style, absinthe, it has a very strong nose, typical of the style. Some have seen a yellowish tinge to the liquor, but ours is a perfectly clear, lovely color. The anise fragrance becomes even stronger as you add water. As has become usual for us when drinking a blanche, we did not add sugar, rather just gently let the water drip into the glass, where it louched up very nicely. The swirling, oily mix gradually became cloudier, leaving us with a very nice milky white glassful. The taste proves to be equally large, almost too much really. We find the Ptite to be a more compelling blanche in the end, but the Blanchette is still a very nice absinthe.

We followed it up with a true king among absinthes, Nouvelle-Orleans. It was the first absinthe we had ever tried and it still remains a true favorite. The color is a wonderfully muted green, looking natural and inviting. The casual drip of water through the sugar cube makes for a glorious louche, as it slowly builds up and the aroma wafts about you. Tasting it reminds us of warm spring days in the French mountains, full of interesting herbs and spices, yet not overpowering or unfocused. Each sip brings another fresh taste of something new, with a nice sparkle on the tongue. A truly remarkable absinthe.

So our original impressions remain intact. The Blanchette is a bit crass, yet its unique formula bring a welcome change to the table. But the NO, as it is called, puts its own special imperial stamp on psyche, remaining a true favorite.


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Posted by Jonathan
on 03/06/07
Absinthe-Vertrieb icon

Markus, from AbsintheVertrieb ("The Lion Place"), posted some interesting news over at the Wormwood forums on the future of the Duplais line:

  • The Duplais Series is terminated. There won't be any new products. We will continue producing all three sorts.
  • The new series is going to be the consequent successor. I can tell you more in about 2 weeks.
  • The label - oh, I can't tell you that at the moment, but it makes me smile each time I think about it. I can tell you more in about 2 weeks.
  • The Prototype 31 Blanche (nearly gone), is ment to be a kind of educational thing. It shows what aging does and side by side with the (soon to come) Prototype 31 Verte, what colouring does. It's primarily not done for the colour, but to completely change the overall character of the Blanche. However the coloring has to fit to the herbal mixture of the Blanche.
  • The nutty taste a few of you described may originate from the Marc de Dole we were using. We have to wait and see, how this developes and maybe lessen it a bit.
  • The samples of the Verte I sent very few of you, are from our very first 'experiment' - we changed this and that already.
  • The final product will be aged a bit. We're actually distilling it this week and going to offer it in about 6 weeks. It will be much more complex - or demanding as the Duplais Verte. Maybe not so much everybody's darling, more something for connoisseurs. Hope you like it!

And yes, I'm sure we'll like it!


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