The in-flight magazine for EasyJet, a European economy airline, features an amazingly accurate (for print media) article on finding absinthe in Paris. The writer even does a good job with the thumbnail history sketch. The Vert d'Absinthe shop is featured, as is a wonderful sounding bar at the Café Procope, "the oldest café in the world", complete with chandeliers and absinthe fountains:

But today, dinner or a drink at the Procope is a cheerful affair and the place has a fantastic buzz on a Saturday night. It’s colourfully done out in gilt, red, plush, chandeliers, mirrors, pictures and quaint objets d’art—which, of course, include glittering Absinthe “fountains” .

Our only real nits to pick with the article are its claim that modern absinthes are 40% to 50% alcohol (really more like 60%-75%) and quoting Madame Delahaye with the awful canard about absinthe losing its "mystique" if it should become legalized. For our sake, we are willing to take that chance.

David Lebovitz admits to not liking anise flavored drinks(!) (including, of course, absinthe) but loving it as a flavor enhancer for cooking. So being the expert dessert chef he is, he whips up an astoundingly delicious sounding Absinthe Cake recipe. It only uses a 1/4 cup of absinthe, so you won't be draining away too much of the precious emerald drink. And I also never heard of aluminum being in baking powder. Check it out next time you are in the grocery store.

Absinthe, as you may imagine, has a very checkered history when it comes to the law.  And it is currently even more confusing, given its long dormant history and vast supplies of misinformation.  For instance, here in the US it is illegal to sell or import any drink that contains thujone, a key ingredient in absinthe that comes from the wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium) plant. Thujone is called a "known harmful" ingredient, so the FDA bans its use in food for human consumption, so you can't sell it, but you're allowed to buy, possess it and, yes, even drink it, because the FDA only goes after sellers, not buyers. 

But here's a good link with thumbnail sketches of absinthe's legality in many countries and areas around the world.  I have been reading some debate about its Canada entry, as even the officials there seem to be confused as to its real status, as opposed to its "I think..." status.

Interesting quickie list of absinthe reviews from the mostly German site Absinthe-Guide.de. A very long list of absinthes are given one of 4 ratings - recommendable (sic), neutral, not recommendable and not rated yet. I have no idea of the quality of the reviews themselves, but they do like our favorite, Nouveau-Orleans and pretty much dislike all Czech brands, so the reviews seem inline with the general consensus. Let us know what you think of their reviews.

A good place to start if you are interested in jumping on the absinthe bandwagon (besides here at In Absinthia of course), is to check out the FAQ at Oxygénée's wonderful site, The Virtual Absinthe Museum. The FAQ lists all kinds of interesting facts, figures and history behind absinthe. This history is often mistold and mischaracterized and hasn't yet, I don't think, been done justice in the printed page. But Oxygénée does an excellent job of "just the facts, ma'am", as well as keeping the hyperbole (both pro and con) down to a minimum. In particular, I like this introduction to the entry on the history of absinthe:

Banned for almost a century until its recent revival, absinthe is something of a "living fossil", a coelacanth amongst drinks, able to magically transport us back to the glittering world of Paris and the Belle Epoque, a world of bohemian musicians and writers, of the Moulin Rouge and the cafes of Montmartre, a world of starving struggling artists and glittering courtesans.