It seems like it occurred something like yesterday; the shiny all-metal interrogation room, the two heavyset customs officers, the questions, and there, on the ground, the two bottles of Abinsthe. The bottles however did not seem to contain (according to the label) the official term for the green fairy, Artemisia absinthium. The officer handbook says that any drink containing Artemisia absinthium is illegal. I asked them to find that specific term on the bottle. The only obvious and incriminating thing they could find in giant letters read “Absinthe.”
“You cannot have this, you’re going to empty both bottles in the toilet now and if you don’t like it you can write a letter to homeland security.”
I did this, and thanks to the partitian in the bathroom, was able to swig at least two mouthfuls of the green fairy in during the transition from bottle one to bottle two. I thought I had the upper hand with this and on my last connecting flight of the day I dreamed about the last time I brought back Absinthe and enjoyed it the proper way.
I had acquired the spoon, the glasses and the bottles from Europe and had successfully been enjoying the dirnk for the week that I was there. Now, I had it as a pre-bar appetizer on a Thursday afternoon.
It was incerdible, the wormwood is apparently what makes it so good. Up until now, this ingredient was illegal in Absinthe in the United States, thus making real Absinthe illegal. The wormwood is what has always been rumored to represent the most enjoyable aspects of the drink.
In order to properly prepare a glass of absinthe (as seen in the diagram) you need to set up your absinthe glass with a couple ice cubes in it (This is personal preference to add the ice first, many people don’t). Rest the absinthe spoon on top (must have slits in it) and place 1-2 sugar cubes on the spoon. Pour about a half glass full of absinthe, making sure to soak the sugar cubes. After doing this, light the sugar cubes on fire, watch as the blue flame liquifies the sugar into the chilled absinthe. Add a little water to top the drink off and stir with the spoon. Let sit for about 3 minutes. The drink will turn cloudy whitish-green and will amaze you by firing up tastes that are only acquired after a few sips. It’s reminiscent of black liquorish among other things.
Find out why Pablo Picasso, Julius Verne, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Edouard Manet, Vincent Van Gogh, Hilaire-Germain Edgar Degas, Paul Marie Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and Ernest Hemingway among many other chose to enjoy this spectacular vice once banned and still in the midst of grey laws in the land of the free.