It reminded me of the time I chewed a catnip-filled sock to see what all the tail-chasing fuss was about. Even after I dissolved two sugar cubes into my glass, the yellow-green liquor tasted acridly of wormwood and mint, with hardly any anise, and lingered drily on my tongue. The Oliva tastes less artificial but decidedly more toxic. Effect: Drink absinthe, meet Kylie Minogue. Its minty-fresh, sweet, alcoholy flavor is generic and inoffensive. Moulin Rouge (2002, USA, directed by Baz Luhrmann) A young wannabe writer encounters absinthe in the mythic Green Fairy form while partying down in Montmarte’s hottest nightclub, Le Moulin Rouge. Absinthium 1792 has the shocking aquamarine color of an oral-hygiene product, and it separates into an insalubrious-looking pair of opaque layers when it clouds. If the absinthe of old was really like this, I can see why it had such a maniacal following.Īfter the Verte Suisse, almost anything would be a letdown, but the two Czech examples seemed particularly poor. But the Verte Suisse is on another level entirely, with soft notes of wood and earth, spice and flowers, and an evocative depth of flavor. Lucid's anise taste is prominent but not overwhelming - it harmonizes with the other elements of the flavor, resulting in a sophisticated complexity. Lucid is considerably drier and more herbal-tasting. As the water mixed with each absinthe, the liquid clouded while its aroma blossomed and filled the room.Ībsente has a pleasant bite, but also an artificial-tasting, one-note Good & Plenty sweetness. I omitted the customary sugar cube except where necessary. As prescribed, I trickled ice water into each one. Kamal Mukherjee of Borisal Liquor in Brooklyn, New York, sold 36 cases in one week.Ĭlearly, there's a market for a true legal absinthe - but how does it taste? I sampled Lucid alongside a few of its competitors: Absente, which is made with southernwood rather than wormwood Breaux's own Verte Suisse 65 and two Czech absinthes named Absinthium 1792 and Oliva. regulatory test for thujone and arrived on American shelves in May at $60 a bottle.Įven though detractors say an absinthe without thujone is worthless, Lucid immediately sold out. Lucid Absinthe, marketed by Viridian Spirits, passed the U.S. By manipulating factors including the climate, season and regions from which he harvests his herbal ingredients (including wormwood), Breaux developed his concoction.

If authentic, handcrafted absinthes contain very little thujone, there's no reason one couldn't be marketed in the United States. At that time, 'absinthism' (an addiction to absinthe) was blamed for causing. People who drank it frequently began hallucinating, having seizures, experiencing vision impairment, and having cognitive troubles. 'If a maker or seller has to depend upon promoting myths and misinformation about thujone to sell a product, that is a fairly reliable indicator that said product is sorely lacking in quality and authenticity,' he says. As far as your questions about negative side effects, absinthe has mystified researchers since it first rose to prominence in Europe.

Breaux has no respect for these colorful wannabes.

Absinthe effects