![]() ![]() It’s utterly complex, and the best way to untangle the giddy mix of other botanicals is to drink it in the traditional method, pouring a little absinthe into a glass and slowly dripping water over a sugar cube atop a petite slotted absinthe spoon. The dominant flavor of the green fairy is anise, certainly, but that’s not really doing the spirit justice. in 1912 and was only gingerly ushered back in during 2007), but in all likelihood, it was the spirit’s high ABV (anywhere from 45% to 74%-sure, that might make you hallucinate). Wormwood often gets the blame for the bad behavior of imbibers (so much so that the spirit was banned in the U.S. And indeed, the green fairy knows how to take over a party, exit early and leave everyone gossiping about her. What follows is an overview.Įntire books have been written on the subject, poems composed, paintings and dances inspired, rumors spread. But the resulting flavor is nearly interchangeable with aniseed because both contain the essential oil anethol, which gives that unmistakable (if sometimes polarizing) spicy, pungent licorice-like herbaceous flavor and the ability to take a liquid from clear to opaque with a drop of water or the addition of an ice cube.Īround the world, a multitude of countries and regions have each found its own spirituous anise expression. ![]() Pliny the Elder was a fan of its digestive charms.Īnd what about star anise? That’s actually the fruit of a type of tree from the magnolia family, native to southeastern China. It’s one of the oldest known culinary herbs and, according to “The Oxford Companion to Food,” hails from the Levant (a historical term referring to what’s now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria) and was a Roman-era darling in desserts and other dishes. Once you start poking around, you realize there’s so much more than simply sambuca.īut first: What is anise? Also called aniseed, it comes from the Pimpinella anisum plant, whose long, stalky stems produce white flowers where the seeds form. But these things go down easy, and if you overdo it, all bets are off.You know how the dumpling is pretty much the great equalizer in the food world because nearly every culture seems to have its own version? The spirits world’s version of that is anise spirits. One or two and theres no way youll cut your ear off. But mixed with a lot of cold water and a little sugar, it makes for a refreshing drink with a complex, herbal fragrance (think mountain meadow). So you dont want to drink this stuff in shots. Its designed, you see, as a sort of cocktail concentrate: hence the strong herbal notes and the high proof (traditionally, between 120 and 140). But so is taste, and a good absinthe has that in spades - provided you handle it right. ![]() Glamour is a big part of why we drink what we drink. Plus, half the excitement of absinthe was the fact that it was contraband. This is something of a double-edged sword: That same analysis also shows that the old brands that spawned absinthes dark legend didnt have all that much thujone, either - all along it was just really strong, herb-flavored booze. However, modern chemical analysis shows that thujone survives distilling in quantities so small they are actually legal. The government never banned absinthe itself but rather thujone, the wormwood-derived compound that supposedly gives the stuff its mind-bending edge. So what gives? Its a matter of chemistry. Now, the great green elixir of darkness - basically high-proof neutral spirits flavored with wormwood, anise, and pungent herbs - has been illegal in the U. Were talking real, honest-to-Satan absinthe, not some lame-ass substitute. That, or something very much like it, happened last year when two brands of absinthe, the French Lucid and the Swiss Kübler, were approved for sale in the U. Imagine if suddenly you could walk into your local Walgreens, plunk down a couple of twenties, and walk out with a gram of pink Peruvian flake.
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