There is much renewed interest in Absinthe, which is also known as the Greeny Fairy or La Fee Verte. People want to know what type to buy, how to buy it, how to prepare it and what is the recommended amount of Absinthe to use when preparing a drink.

First you need to buy quality Absinthe, rich in essential oils and which contains wormwood. There are Absinthe substitute and fake Absinthes on sale that contain southernwood or roman wormwood instead of common wormwood (artemisia absinthium). Make sure you buy a real Absinthe. If you find it hard to find a good quality Absinthe then you should try making your own using essences from AbsintheKit.com.

Once you have gotten your Absinthe, you will need to learn La Louche, The Ritual. This is the traditional Swiss or French way of preparing Absinthe and uses one shot of Absinthe. Here are the instructions to follow:-

You need the following to perform the Ritural, lump of suger, a slotted Absinthe spoon, iced water and and Absinthe glass.

– Pour 25 to 50 ml of Absinthe into the glass.
– Place the special Absinthe spoon over the rim of the glass and place a cube of sugar in it.
– Slowly drip iced water over the sugar either by dripping from the tap of the fountain or by using a steady hand to pour from a carafe. Slowly dripping it will give the sugar time to dissolve and drip through the slots of the spoon. You will probably see a lovely “louche” effect as the water mixes into the alcohol. The Absinthe louches because the oils of the herbs are soluble in alcohol but not water and make the mixture cloudy or milky when water is added.
– Sit down, relax and enjoy your Absinthe.

The Czech or Bohemian Method is very similar to the Ritual but is a modern way of preparing cheap Czech Absinthes. Absinthe follwers generally scorn the Bohemian method.

The Bohemian method – tips and instructions:-

– Pour between 25 – 50 ml of Absinthe into a glass and dip the sugar cube into the Absinthe and soak the sugar.
– Place the cube of sugar on the Absinthe spoon and rest on the rim of the glass.
– Set the sugar cube alight for one minute to allow the surgar to melt and caramelize. The melted sugar will drip through the slots of the spoon and into the Absinthe.
– Place the spoon into the Absinthe pour the iced water into the Absinthe to put out any flames and to cause the Absinthe to louche.
– Enjoy your Absinthe drink.

For total injoyment of your Absinthe and to enjoy properly then you will want some Absinthian – Absinthe glasses, spoons,, and perhaps even an Absinthe fountain to control the flow of the water. Replicas of antique glasses and spoons can be purchased from AbsintheKit.com.

So, what is the recommended amount of Absinthe to use when preparing an Absinthe drink? About 45 ml or a shot glass full in the US. Obviously, Absinthe can be used in cocktails – search for recipes online.

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Absinthe is an anise flavor liquor which is made by distilling alcohol with herbs one of which is wormwood and aniseed. We know it is strong and can get you drunk easily, but what percentage by volume of alcohol is Absinthe and what is its proof?

Let’s look at the alcohol by volume of popular brands of Absinthe:-

La Fee XS Absinthe Francaise 68% abv (136 proof)
Doubs Mystique Carte D’Or 65% abv or 130 proof
La Clandestine Absinthe 53% abv (106 proof)
Jade Edouard is around 72% alcohol by volume or 144 proof
Sebor is 55% alcohol by volume or 110 proof
Jade Nouvelle Orleans 68% abv is 136 proof
Mari Mayans Collectors 70 is 70% abv (140 proof)
La Fee Parisian which 68% alcohol by volume (136 proof)
Lucid Absinthe is 62% abv or 124 proof
Jade Verte Suisse 65% abv (130 proof)
Pernod Absinthe which is 68% abv (136 proof)
Kuber 53 is 53% alcohol by volume (106 proof)
Pere Kermanns 60% abv (120 proof)
Jade PF 1901 which is 68% alcohol by volume is 136 proof
La Fee XS Absinthe Suisse 53% abv or 106 proof
Roquette 1797 75% abv (150 proof)
La Fee Bohemian 70% abv which is 140 proof

Let’s now compare Absinthe to other beverages:-

Whisky such as Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch 40% aby (80 proof)
Absinthe can be 75% alcohol by volume and up to 150 proof
Table Wine 9-12% abv is 18-24 proof
Beer tends to be 4 or 5% alcohol by volume (8-10 proof)

The alcohol-information.com website reports that if you drink 1 shot of Everclear (190 proof) to drinking 2.85 beers and about 3 brandies. This information establishs that one shot of Absinthe is equivalent to two.2five bottles of beer. So, the 22 shots Absinthe is equivalent to 49.five beers!

As you can see, Absinthe is much stronger than types of fermented drinks such as wine and beer. Care needs to be used when consuming Absinthe, not because it will make us have hallucinations, or any other psychedelic effects, but because it is so strong and will intoxicate quickly. We need to take particular care when mixing Absinthe with other alcoholic drinks in cocktails.

Care needs to always be taken when your are making your own Absinthe drink. If you buy an Absinthe kit from someone like Green Devil then you are steeping herbs in a neutral alcohol such as Everclear. Everclear has alcohol by volume of 95% and a proof of 190 so it is much stronger than commercial Absinthe. Absinthe essences for Absinthekit.some also have to be mixed with a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Your finished Absinthe will be the proof or abv of the neutral alcohol you have used.

What is the percentage in Absinthe? For commercial Absinthe just look on the bottle label or, if you are ordering online, look at the product details for abv or proof. If you are making your own Absinthe from a kit, you need to look at the bottle of Everclear or vodka that you are using.

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Absinthe is a strong liquor which is generally between 45 and 75% ABV (alcohol by volume), about twice as strong as other types of alcoholic beverages such as whisky and vodka.

Otherwise known as “The Green Fairy” or “La Fee Verte”, Absinthe was the drink associated with La Belle Epoque and Bohemian Paris. It was given to French soldiers in the 1840s to treat malaria and they brought the drink home with them. Absinthe bars opened all over Paris and special Absinthe hours or “L’heure verte” took place daily. By the middle of the 19th century Pernod, distillers of Absinthe, were making over 30,000 liters of Absinthe every day for the French people to buy!

About Absinthe History

Legend says that Dr Pierre Ordinaire created Absinthe in the Swiss town of Couvet in the 18th century as an elixir or tonic for his patients. The Absinthe recipe eventually got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who first distilled Absinthe in Couvet and then later in Pontarlier, France under the name of Pernod Fils.

Pernod used a wine base and various herbs including common wormwood (artemisia absinthium), aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica, dittany, star anise, nutmeg and juniper.

Famous drinkers of the Green Fairy were Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Degas, Gauguin, Verlaine and Baudelaire.

Absinthe became more popular than wine, In France, and the prohibition movement campaigned to get Absinthe banned because:-

– Thujone, in wormwood, was thought to be similar to THC in cannabis and thought to be psychoactive.
– Absinthe was linked with the loose morals of the artists, writers and courtesans of Montmartre.
– Absinthe was thought to have psychedelic effects, to cause hallucinations, convulsions and to drive people insane.

It was even claimed that an Absinthe drinker murdered his whole family – just the excuse that the prohibition movement were looking for to persuade the government to ban Absinthe. The buying, selling and consumption of Absinthe in France was made illegal in France in 1915 and in many other countries around this time.

Many studies have shown that Absinthe, including vintage Absinthe, only contains very small amounts of thujone and is perfectly safe to drink. Absinthe has been legalized in many countries since the 1990s and here has been an Absinthe revival in many countries, including the USA who have only recently allowed a few brands to go on sale.

About Absinthe Essences

To enjoy Absinthe, you can either order bottles of Absinthe online or you can make your own Absinthe using essences from AbsintheKit.com. These essences are used by the Absinthe industry and are made using traditional herbal ingredients such as wormwood, aniseed and fennel. Simply mix with either Everclear or vodka to make your very own Absinthe. There are four different types of essence available.

About Absinthe Preparation

The correct way to prepare Absinthe is to follow the ritual:-

– Pour 25-50ml Absinthe into an Absinthe glass.
– Rest a slotted Absinthe spoon on the top of the glass.
– Place a sugar cube on the spoon.
– Drip iced water over the sugar using an Absinthe fountain or pour slowly from a carafe.
– Watch the Absinthe louche.
– Drink your wonderful Absinthe drink.

I hope you have now learned all about Absinthe, the mysterious drink with a very interesting past and a great taste.

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