Here's a good list of absinthe happenings at the 2008 Tales of the Cocktail, a "birds of a feather" gathering in New Orleans every year, celebrating cocktails. This year it is from July 16 to July 20, and includes dozens of gatherings.

La Maison d'Absinthe hosts Absinthe Antique Collection

Tales of the Cocktail Revives "The Green Hour" Absinthe Ritual

Spirited Dinners Presented by Imbibe Magazine and Domaine de Canton

Cocktails with a Kick: Absinthe Returns to America

And, the pièce de résistance :

The Wormwood Society First Grande Soirée d'Absinthe

with a menu of:

• Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese en Brioche
• Filet of Beef and Shiitake Brochettes
• Mini Crab Cake with Creole Aioli
• Pecan Crusted Shrimp with Orange Honey Mustard Sauce
• Proscuitto, Basil, and Tomato Roulade in Puff Pastry
• Oyster Vol-au-Vent with Caviar.

Wormwood Society's First Grande Soirée d'Absinthe! - Absinthe Forums at the Wormwood Society

Robert Hess, aka Drink Boy, has a regular show on the Small Screen Network called "The Cocktail Spirit". In this epsisode from late last year, he covers absinthe. It is a high quality picture with an excellent example of an absinthe pour. Some comments on the video:

• He obviously made this video before the legalization of absinthe in the United States, as he makes clear in the first comment on the post. But he also talks about absinthe being illegal in Europe as well, which hasn't been true for several years, so I'm not sure exactly when the video was actually made.
• I enjoyed his explanation of the bizarre Czech ritual of burning sugar - the stuff doesn't louche, so they needed a different ritual.
• I wish he would have slowed down on the pour. He makes a good point to pre-soak the sugar cube by letting the first light pour settle in on it. But then I think he pours too fast with his silver-spouted coffee pot and doesn't show off the wonderful louche from the Jade absinthe (Edouard maybe)? I would have poured a little more until the louche started and then zoomed in on it.

But this high quality video is an excellent introduction to absinthe.

The Absinthe Drip - The Cocktail Spirit with Robert Hess

Two of our favorite things mentioned in a single joke - absinthe and HP Lovecraft!

HP Lovecraft and August Derleth are sitting at an al fresco cafe on the abominable plateau of Leng. Sipping absinthe, as you do. It’d be a nice place if it wasn’t for the maddening cyclopean architecture with the obviously alien non-Euclidean geometry, but it’s the only spot for unthinkably vast distances and it’s got a lovely view, so you make do.

As they sit there, the ground before them becomes disturbed by the passing of a great Dhole, burrowing beneath the earth, space rippling around it as it goes.

They sip their absinthe as the Dhole is followed by a Mi-Go, flapping and screeching - the noise driving several nearby patrons mad.

A shoggoth comes after, shambling along. It takes some time to pass, so they order another round of absinthe.

Then a long train of the spawn of Shub-Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Woods, ooze, crawl and tilt their way past - the locomotive systems reminiscent of slime running down a rock… but sideways… unthinkably sideways.

Then for a moment, there’s quiet and the plateau is empty… and Derleth turns to Lovecraft and says…

“Good Lord, Howard. Today it’s just one damned thing after another.”

(Thanks to Grim Reviews)

We love absinthe. We love lollipops. What's not to love about absinthe lollipops? Needless to say, our batch is on order and we'll let you know how they taste when they get here.

Lit: Absinthe Lollipops

For our next interview, we are talking with Alan Moss, a frequent contributor to the various absinthe forums, and a liquor business insider. Currently working with Claude-Alain Bugnon of La Clandestine fame, he is the author of the very fine Real Absinthe blog.

In Absinthia: When did you first become interested in absinthe?

AM: Probably when studying French at university! Reading the works of great authors and poets such as Zola, Balzac, Rimbaud, Verlaine and Baudelaire [ed note - a virtual who's who of mid-19th century Parisian absinthe culture] gave me a basic understanding of Paris in the 19th century, and absinthe was clearly a major part of Paris life.

Fast forward to 2004. By that time, I had been in the liquor business for nearly 15 years and had worked on some great brands, including Remy Martin, Absolut, Jim Beam, The Macallan, Krug champagne etc. in Europe and Asia. I was interested in the possibility of taking on a more entrepreneurial position and found an interesting opportunity with La Fée Absinthe in 2004. Through the work I did there (the re-launch of eAbsinthe and the development of La Fée X.S.), I encountered La Clandestine for the first time and met Claude-Alain Bugnon, and that really heightened my interest.

In Absinthia: What is your current connection with the absinthe market?

AM: When my other commitments allow, I work on the global sales and marketing of La Clandestine with Claude-Alain. La Clandestine is now available in several countries outside Switzerland.

[more after the jump]

Nice little article in The Vancouver Sun about the previously mentioned Taboo absinthe from Okanagan Spirits. I liked the comparison made when they tried to get shelf space at the government run liquor store. The "tiny absinthe allotment" was filled by a Czechoslovakian brand that was "about as similar to the subtle Taboo as, say, Baby Duck is to vintage champagne". Even that is probably being too kind! I think we have to speed our efforts at getting a bottle.

This green fairy has a magical touch

It is romantic, poetic, a little bit dangerous. It is also delicious, at least when the absinthe in question is the Taboo from Okanagan Spirits.

From ejellest over on the Wormwood Forums comes a recipe for an absinthe cocktail:

Gangadine Cocktail

1 Teaspoonful Framboise Syrup. (raspberry syrup)
1/3 Oxygenie Cusenier. (3/4 oz Absinthe)
1/3 White Mint. (3/4 oz Creme de Menthe)
1/3 Gin. (3/4 oz traditional Dry Gin, say Beefeater's or similar)

We tried it last night and found it interesting. We're not too big on absinthe cocktails, finding it a bit of a waste of good absinthe. It was an adaptation of an older absinthe cocktail which called for "Oxygenie Cusenier" absinthe and the thinking was that, due to the colors of the other ingredients, a Swiss bleu would be desired. So we used the Kubler in it.

The creme de menthe was a little overpowering, but some of us could taste the hints of the absinthe. Perhaps if we used a little less creme de menthe and a stronger bleu, more tastes would come out. But worth a try, we think.