[thechat] the absinthiste

Bob Davis bobd at members.evolt.org
Thu Jul 5 17:11:54 CDT 2001


At 2:22 PM -0700 7/5/01, Erika Meyer wrote:

>oh good lord.
>
>I just read this:
>http://thepander.co.nz/literature/werks/jdeboer2001.php
>
>oh my god.
>
>I knew poetry was dangerous, but oh my!

Yeah, wormwood is a psychotropic. Lots of artists used to drink it 
(van Gogh among them).
Vermouth was originally made from it too - according to legend.

In the US, it is illegal to sell it as a food item, but it is legal 
to have it, consume it, and it's legal to bring it into the country. 
My brother had a bottle that he bought in the Czech Republic, which 
apparently was one of the places famous for good absinthe. You can 
buy it in England too.

Like anything - too much is bad for you. I'd like to try it though. 
My brother said it tastes terrible. Very bitter. It's also >50% 
alcohol, which will mess you up. He didn't have all of the special 
spoons and sugar cubes and such..part of the allure, I suppose.

There is supposed to be a whole ritual to the preparation of 
absinthe. Dipping the sugar in the absinthe, placing it on the 
slotted spoon that is resting over the glass, lighting the now highly 
flammable cube and watching the sugar melt into the absinthe 
(possibly catching the glass alight) and pouring water over the sugar 
to extinguish it and  dilute the absinthe.
It turns milky (like Pernod - a substitute for Absinthe when it was 
made illegal) when mixed with water.

Interesting stuff.

Seen Braham Stoker's Dracula? Mina and the Count are drinking Absinthe.


bob

-- 


bob davis
bobd at members.evolt.org
http://www.bobdavis.org/




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