The return of the green fairy: Making cocktails with absinthe
Originally published Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.
Updated Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.
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Nearly a century after she was banished from these shores, the “Green Fairy” made her reappearance in American bars last summer, with her emerald veil and anise scented breath. Absinthe was back, and nothing but the classic preparation would do: a trickle of water drip, drip, dripping through a solitary sugar cube teetering ever so delicately on a fleur-shaped slotted spoon.
But suppose that, after that first sip, you find the elusive, herb-laced spirit a bit too intense for weeknight quaffing? After all, your wormwood taste buds have been out of commission for almost 100 years. When the bottle in question is the latest triple distilled, soon-to-be bargain bin vodka, what to do with the remaining 740 milliliters isn’t something to lose sleep over. But with absinthe prices soaring upwards of $80 a bottle, that shimmering green liquid is far too precious to leave on the bar shelf for another century.
Luckily, there’s a straightforward solution: Stir up a mesmerizing herbal aperitif.
The Fairy Tarragon is a good Tuesday night kind of way to start (Monday is entirely too tame for any kind of absinthe, cocktail or otherwise). This is the kind of maven’s cocktail that elicits abbreviated pauses between sips: Is it star anise, or a hint of cloves on the finish? Maybe it’s the wormwood.
To make this herbal elixir, mix-master Chris Hannah of Arnaud’s French 75 restaurant in New Orleans shakes up Sub Rosa’s handcrafted tarragon vodka with fresh lemon juice and Galliano, a vanilla- and herb-scented Italian liqueur. A dash of bitters goes into the shaker with just enough absinthe to heighten the anise flavor of the vodka (tarragon is a cousin of wormwood). Strained into a chilled martini glass, it will give your guests plenty of reason to expound upon the starry, starry night.
Despite its complexity, absinthe pairs surprisingly well with other full-bodied spirits. The key is choosing spirits that complement wormwood’s pronounced licorice notes. Anise-scented spirits work particularly well: the tarragon vodka, still a faint jade hue from the handfuls of fresh herbs infused in each bottle, has a heady anise flavor; the Galliano gets its kick from ginger, citrus, anise and two dozen additional herbs and spices.
The key to mixing up a top-tier cocktail is to start with quality ingredients, which often means simply splurging on artisan spirits and farmer’s market produce. But beware with absinthe: price doesn’t necessarily reflect quality.
The absence of industry-wide regulations is partly to blame, explains Gwydion Stone, founder of The Wormwood Society, a nationwide absinthe education and advocacy group.
“Production is so new that industry rules and set legislative categories don’t exist, so distillers are doing whatever they want in the absinthe market,” Stone says. “When you have such a complex, bittersweet beverage, you’re going to get some products with additives like sugar and other junk to make it appeal to the easy-drinking consumer.”
Stone’s own label, Absinthe Marteau, is an earthy blend of star and green anise, fennel and the real deal, artemisia absinthium, or grande wormwood. “I wanted to find out what real absinthe tasted like, so I found an old recipe and just made it myself.”
Stone began distilling in Switzerland before absinthe production was legal in the United States, but he recently moved the company to Portland, Ore. Although retail absinthes are still primarily dominated by imports from France, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia, two other American distillers have launched local labels: Trillium from Integrity Spirits, also in Portland, and Absinthe Verte from St. George Spirits outside of San Francisco. More are on the horizon, including one from Charbay, a vodka, whiskey and rum distiller based in Napa, Calif.
Import labels such as Lucid, developed by a New Orleans chemist but produced in France, and Crillon, the parent company behind the absinthe-flavored spirit Grande Absente (which contains no grande wormwood), are widely available in the United States. Others, such as Pernod Fils, a revival of Pernod’s original late 19th-century recipe, have returned to the American bar scene in the past few months. (Pastis, with its similar anise-scented flavor, was the company’s replacement spirit after the France banned absinthe in 1915.)
For some importers, the history of absinthe is as compelling as its flavor. George Rowley, a British spirits importer turned absinthe producer, culled his recipe from Musee de l’Absinthe founder Marie-Claude Delahaye. The museum is located in Auvers-sur-Oise, the same small town outside Paris where one of absinthe’s most famous fans, Vincent van Gogh, committed suicide and is buried.
Once you’ve settled on an absinthe, flip through the pages of any classic bartender’s guide and you’ll find dozens of inspiring recipes, including the Atty, a gin cocktail spiced with absinthe, vermouth and a dash of creme de violette, and the Bunny Hug, equal parts gin, whiskey and absinthe.
But for the American classic, there’s nothing quite like a Sazerac. It was the 19th century New Orleans pharmacist Antoine Amadee Peychaud who is credited with popularizing this whiskey, sugar and absinthe cocktail topped off with a splash of his homemade bitters (which are still made today under the Peychaud’s Bitters label). When absinthe was banned, savvy locals replaced the star ingredient with their own anise concoction, Herbsaint.
New Orleans cocktail lovers, presumably fired by a touch of absinthe on their breath, recently crowned their beloved Sazerac the official cocktail of the Crescent City, the first such legislative designation in history.
And for that, let’s raise a glass — or two — to absinthe.
Fairy Tarragon
From Chris Hannah, Arnaud’s French 75, New Orleans.
1 1/2 ounces Sub Rosa Tarragon Vodka (see note)
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce Absinthe Verte (classic green absinthe)
1/2 ounce Galliano
1 dash Peychaud’s bitters
Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously 8 to 10 times and strain over fresh ice into a chilled martini glass. Makes one cocktail.
Note: Sub Rosa Tarragon vodka is available at select retailers nationwide, or visit www.subrosaspirits.com.
Sazerac
This version is the official cocktail recipe of the city of New Orleans.
1 sugar cube
1 1/2 ounces Sazerac Rye Whiskey
1/4 ounce Absinthe Verte (classic green absinthe) or Herbsaint
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Lemon peel
Fill an Old-Fashioned glass with ice. Place a sugar cube in a second Old-Fashioned glass and add the Peychaud’s bitters. Crush the sugar cube and add the Sazerac. Empty the ice from the first glass and coat the empty glass with the Absinthe or Herbsaint, then discard the remaining liquid. Empty the Sazerac-sugar mixture from the second glass into the first glass and garnish with the lemon peel. Serve immediately. Makes 1 cocktail
Jenn Garbee is a Los Angeles based food and culinary travel writer.
Community Discussion
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Wow this is what you fill the space with are you kidding me why in the world is this news????
I might be mistaken, but I believe most newspapers have a sports section, a food section, a comic section, none of those are necessarily "news". It is a free article, especially on the web, and might be of some interest.
This link was down on the lower right of the screen when I clicked on it, with the recipes and gardening tips they post.
A great article! Just a pity it got contaminated by Gywdion Stone's posionous tongue. He contacts anyone that will listen and bad mouths his absinthe competitors.
"Stone began distilling in Switzerland before absinthe production"
No he did not. He didn't distill anything - he got a Swiss "vanity absinthe" outfit that produces Marilyn Manson's Mansinthe, Twin Tec Absinthe Biker Medicine, and other goofy brands to make it. If Count Chocula wanted to make an absinthe they'd oblige!
I have been looking to try Absinthe ever since I saw Carnival, lol. Good to see its legal again, now does anyone know if any of the local liquor stores are carrying it?
Cityndn -- if you don't drink Absinthe, you wouldn't understand.
As for the article, Ragnarok, I agree. My personal favorites are the Jade Absinthe's from T.A. Breaux. They also make Royal Combier which is a blend of Triple Sec, Cognac, and Elixir de Combier -- fantastic.
I agree Archer, while I dislike the taste of anise, I do occasionally enjoy reading articles about different spirits & always enjoy articles with recipes.
I've read about it in bartending books, I was a bartender about five years ago, but I never got to try it. Nice arcticle.
Ragnaraok, I'm not sure where you got the idea that I denigrate my competition but I'd welcome any actual citation you can find where I did. In fact, I'd like you to find any other absinthe maker who so openly praises others' products and congratulates the makers.
I've openly recommended numerous absinthe brands that are in direct competition with Marteau.
Ted Breaux, my chief competitor, makes a fine absinthe in Jade PF 1901 which I myself enjoy. Combier Blanchette, also Breaux's creation, is very nice as well. Lucid is a decent absinthe and a fortunate offering as the first in the country. Kübler, while simple and uncomplex, is good absinthe.
North Shore Distillery's Sirène Verte is a worthy adversary, as is Leopold Brother's Verte. St. George Verte is a fine product, if a bit idiosyncratic in choice of botanicals; enjoyable nonetheless.
I've also recently had opportunity to sample Pacifique, which will probably emerge early next year and promises to be a fine tribute to the category. I fully expect that it will become as sought after as Marteau and the Jades.
I welcome this "competition" as do most of these other producers, I'm sure. The more truly good absinthes on the shelves, the better for all of us. People will choose their favorites according to their taste.
As for the "vanity absinthe" allegation, you are apparently unfamiliar with business.
I personally developed the formula for the Swiss-made Marteau Verte Classique, which is a different, less traditional formula from the Marteau Belle Époque made in Oregon. Since this was before absinthe was re-approved in the US, I commissioned the Swiss distillery to make it to my specifications; samples and adjustments went back and forth for nearly a year until I was satisfied with the result.
If you research your history, I believe you'll find that M. Henri Pernod did not personally handle each and every batch of Pernod Fils. He hired competent and skilled stillmen to produce it, as do the finest distillers today. That's what I did with Verte Classique.
But just for the record, I do personally distill Marteau Belle Époque absinthe in Portland Oregon.
Gwydion Stone
Can you say- what the F did I do last night?
>Ragnaraok, I'm not sure where you got the idea that I denigrate my competition.
By reading the remarks you publish at your "educational" website, perhaps?
Here's a small selection of your recent attacks on your US competitors:
(a) And La Torment (sic) smells and tastes and looks like cologne. Apr 20 2008, 01:01 PM
(b)I don't think St. George is non-absinthe, I think it's weird absinthe. Apr 22 2008, 06:18 PM
(c) "Dude, it's not the same company, it's a huge global conglomerate that owns a third of the liquor brands in the world. Seriously, they don't know anything about absinthe anymore.
(c) is about Pernod! Who you claim "don't know anything about absinthe"!! You obviously know more than Pernod by producing absinthe thanks to your email exchanges with a Swiss company. Did you even ever visit the distillery?
>People will choose their favorites according to their taste.
Yes, and they shouldn't be influenced by your poisonous attacks: "you’re going to get some products with additives like sugar and other junk to make it appeal to the easy-drinking consumer.” You are a menace to a fair and proper market place where consumers should be offered a wide range of products and be able to decide what they like. If you think you can do a better job than the TTB why don't you apply for a job(i)
(i) As someone who is currently navigating the quagmire of inconsistency, capriciousness and bad logic (not to mention ignorance) that is the TTB, I can attest that this is never going to be practicable in the US. In many cases, there will be no way of knowing what's actually in the bottle or how it was made, beyond the very basics. Apr 17 2008, 07:48 PM
I too, was a bartender, almost ten years. I dont think I ever mixed a drink with absithne. Although people did ask for it. The bars I worked never had it. I have used Ouzo and Sambuca, but never absinthe. By the way, the devil drinks Sambuca...lol.
Those don't sound like "venomous attacks" to me ragnarok, more like opinion, if anybodies attacks sound "venomous" it's yours.....
Besides, there is a little thing called free speech.
all i've seen in minn where i live so far is lucid,at69 dollars a bottle,haven't tryed it yet tho..
"You are a menace to a fair and proper market place where consumers should be offered a wide range of products and be able to decide what they like."
By fair and proper market place, you apparently mean one which is unregulated and the consumer has no protection against deception.
My comment about St. George—as you know—was actually in its defense against claims by others that it didn't qualify as absinthe at all. I said that it did qualify, but that it was unusual:
"I don't think St. George is non-absinthe, I think it's weird absinthe. I think it was probably a bit irresponsible or perhaps short-sighted to introduce such an unusual product for the "first" absinthe made and sold here. However some of the things he's saying about absinthe in interviews indicates that he doesn't have a grasp of absinthe history, so he—like so many people—may not really understand that absinthe is a specific category."
I don't recall where I made the comment about La Tourment, but in any case, it's the same thing I said in person, directly to those who produce it. It may be a harsh critique, but it's hardly a poisonous attack. We've actually enjoyed a number of drinks together. Real nice people. With names and faces.
I stand by my opinions with my name and my face. Who are you?
I believe my earlier post demonstrates that your accusations are unfounded. I'm not motivated by a need to destroy my competition, I'm motivated by a desire to protect the category in a very fragile and perilous time.
I don't know much, but I thought absinthe was like a hallucinogenic or opium or something. Who did that famous painting of the woman with her glass of absinthe? Van Gogh? One of those painters with short strokes. Kinda melancholy...
How did it get legal? What's up? People make drinks out of it?!!! Never heard that! I thought they drank it straight-sipping and tripped out!
Where is it in this town?
"no protection against deception"
Here you go again! You just can't help yourself can you? This proves my earlier point about keeping your rancour out of good articles on absinthe. I advise journalists to give you a wide berth.
Free speech is fine and dandy, but you are notorious for "defamation as education" and the dangerous thing is you incite others to do the same. As I said, if you have such a dim view of the Federal alcohol authorities - who you say are ignorant - why don't you apply for a job as Absinthe Czar? Perhaps they would give you a uniform, a truncheon and a whistle.
On your website you have a category system where you claim that many brands are not even absinthe. The law disagrees with you. These include Le Tourment Verte, La Fee Bohemian, Green Angel, Green Moon, Mata Hari and many others.
Interestingly you have given the administration of this category portion of your website to a hapless individual, presumably to prevent any repercussions for yourself. Your own brand - Marteau Absinthe - is there in another category and is awarded a staggering score of 4.5 / 5.0 with cringe makingly obsequious comments "Marteau Verte Classique is exquisite. And again it's more delicate than any other Absinthe I've tried" etc Good for your business, eh?
"'m motivated by a desire to protect the category"
No, you are trying to create a category based upon your idea that absinthe should be sold as a "luxury" elite product and not for the avearge man - the "easy-drinking consumer.” This is your idea and yours alone. Whether this is motivated by ignorance, snobbery or greed I am not sure.
It is ignorant because absinthe was never a liquor made by artisans with cute copper stills, except perhaps by the ladies of the Henriods family. When the Pernod FACTORY (another company that you bad mouth - see above) was hit by lightning and set ablaze in 1901, the FACTORY was forced to release MILLIONS of litres of absinthe into the river Doubs. It was common to use distilled essences of wormwood to create absinthe in this period - yet those that do today are denounced as not being real by YOU. And who excatly are you? What learned journals have accepted your self-serving orations about absinthe? The only reference available in library catalogues is: Talking Raven, Summer 1993, interview with S/M Pagan, Gwydion Stone.
Your flashy website, and self-appointed position as America's absinthe cop means that you will continue to damage consumer choice in America and hinder free and fair trade.
"I thought they drank it straight-sipping and tripped out"
It's gross straight, hence the reason for the sugar cube, but it is not LSD, it's ALCOHOL, which is perfectly legal in this country yes.
Wow, lol awww- ragnorak seems like he's jealous of Gstones business, where can I get some of your absinthe Gstone? it sounds good.
Rut-roh Raggy; bad day?
Sure, there were cheap knock-offs made back in the old days, just like there are now. And they were known as the most inferior brands then just as they are now. Those were the ones with the poisonous copper salts used as coloring too, as I recall.
Why someone would choose to emulate the poorest products of the time is beyond me.
Besides, I don't recall ever saying one couldn't make absinthe with essences, only that no one seems to have ever done a good job of it. Probably because short-cutters don't generally care about quality, they care about making a quicker, cheaper buck.
I do recall saying this:
"There were pre-ban absinthes that were artificially colored, made from essences and tasted like crap. They were still absinthe. Some of us need to let go of the idea that we can choose to enforce premium ideals on an entire category of spirit, it's simply not going to happen. The very best we can hope for is a broad definition of the category or "class" and a few "types" within the class. It's somewhat feasible that the ideals some of you are hoping to enforce might be used to define one of the types."
http://wormwoodsociety.org/forums/index....
And then I went on to suggest a category of absinthes using essences as part of an early draft of my proposed legal definition:
"COMPOUNDED ABSINTHE: Absinthe produced by mixing neutral spirits with anise and Artemisia absinthium wormwood essences or flavors and (optionally) other essences and flavors."
That language is pretty much still in the current draft.
So why don't you ease up and do some actual reading about what my ideals actually are before continuing your mercenary smear campaign?
Of course, when you troll the next absinthe article, you'll ignore what I've said here and make the same lame accusations.
Lame.
True to form, and as I warned above, you continue to deal in words like "knock offs" "crap" and multiple defamatory allegations about the alcohol industry: "making a quicker, cheaper buck" etc. This is your nature.
Those involved, or hoping to be involved, in alcohol commerce in the United States should take note. Anyone wishing to offer their products to American consumers is presented with a "Wizard of Oz" style figure, crouching behind a keyboard, who may well damn their products. This is something which the TTB needs to examine carefully. It is damaging to consumer interests and consumer choice having a man who denounces products in the way that you do. How do you get away with this given you are an absinthe manufacturer? I have no idea.
In the article above you claim that unnamed competitors use "additives like sugar and other junk to make it appeal to the easy-drinking consumer.” Junk? Your competitors add "junk" do they? The "easy drinking consumer" has as much right to be offered a product as anyone else - it is the bedrock of a free market.
You also seem to have an overwhelming belief in your own importance : "early draft of my proposed legal definition" You are not a lawmaker and you played no part in the legalisation of absinthe in the United States. This was done by the Kubler family, an absinthe with a long historical pedigree, and the Swiss Embassy in Washington.
Regading the use of essences to make absinthe, which as I said is 100% historically legitimate, and is NOT about making a "knock off" as you allege:
"only that no one seems to have ever done a good job of it. Probably because short-cutters don't generally care about quality, they care about making a quicker, cheaper buck"
This is total rubbish of course, as well as being defamatory. Doubs Absinthe was made this way and was a superb absinthe which was given many accolades at international award ceremonies. The issue about using essences is that you are left with an consistent product time after time. This is not the case with these recently set up micro-stills of the kind, you, and a few of your friends, operate.
One final note on these essence based absinthes: the French have an absinthe festival called the Absinthiades where these products win awards. This year it was:
1. Versinthe 45°
2. Ulex ordinaire 70°
3. Absinthe des Alpes 55°
4. Green Bohemian 55°
So in France, regarded as the home of absinthe, they enjoy and appreciate these drinks. In America we are told by Gwydion Stone that they are inferior to his product. There is something very wrong with this, and any right thinking person should be able to see that.
Most people really don't care.......
they just want to know WHERE TO GET IT.......
and It all needs sugar anyway, and laudanum if you REALLY want to be "authentic".
Actually the laudanum thing is a Hollywood embellishment in From Hell.
And clearly Raggy thinks that anyone should be able to sell anything without fear of criticism.
Your paranoid and grotesquely exaggerated characterizations of me will tell any right thinking person all they need to know to judge the validity and purpose of your claims.
I meant like, most people don't care- because they don't know any better when it comes to what is good and not good when it comes to absinthe, hence the "it all needs sugar anyway", but as far as alcohol goes it is much better than a boring 12-pack of some swill at a party.
I have friends in the states that make mead in the old school style, I had grape the last time I was there and it was the best alcohol I have ever tried, I have also had their strawberry and raspberry- also excellent.
>Actually the laudanum thing is a Hollywood embellishment in From Hell.
Or maybe from reading? "Edmond de Goncourt confessed in a journal entry of September 1885: "And by God, I have put myself on a diet so that if, say, we have an absinthe, we have it with laudanum." That is not to say that the average drinkers were adding laudanum.
>"And clearly Raggy thinks that anyone should be able to sell anything without fear of criticism"
Criticism? Accusing others of adding "junk".. making a statement like Pernod "don't know anything about absinthe" is criticism? Pernod aux extraits de plantes d’absinte is a competitor of yours. I still do not understand how you can do this. By simply dressing up as a "nationwide absinthe education and advocacy group"? Is your entity formally registered anywhere?
Ragnarok writes
"the French have an absinthe festival called the Absinthiades where these products win awards. This year it was:
1. Versinthe 45°
2. Ulex ordinaire 70°
3. Absinthe des Alpes 55°
4. Green Bohemian 55°"
Technically speaking these were the results of the Macerates category. The judges also tasted 20 distilled absinthes. The scores of the 4 macerates would have placed them in 16th, 20th, 22nd and 24th out of the 24 absinthes tasted.
Full results here:
http://www.heureverte.com/forum2/index.p...
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