A small confession. The first few paragraphs here were provided by ChatGPT.  "Absinthe and New Orleans cocktail enthusiasts, get ready to add two new books to your reading list! Marielle Songy's "The Absinthe Frappé" and Neal Bodenheimer's "Cure: New Orleans Drinks and how to mix 'em" are two must-read books for anyone interested either in the history and culture of absinthe or New Orleans cocktails more generally. "The Absinthe Frappé" is a deep dive into the history and culture of absinthe in New Orleans. Songy's book explores the origins of absinthe in the city, how it became popular ..read more

(Photo from The Old Absinthe House, New Orleans)  March 1 is an important date in Switzerland, well for some of Switzerland. It is Republic Day in the canton of Neuchâtel: the Val-de-Travers is located within this àrea and this is where absinthe was born and where most Swiss absinthe is made today. March 1 2005 was chosen as the date on which absinthe was re-legalised in Switzerland: I guess the authorities assumed, correctly, that many people would be drinking a lot of absinthe that day, so choosing a holiday for re-legalisation seemed a good idea. I know that my distiller had good cau ..read more

"Ranked #1 in the Nation in Liver Transplants?" Yes, that's the sign at New Orleans Airport. We can't claim we weren't warned! "New Orleans has always been the centre of absinthe culture in the United States." (Source: The Absinthe Encyclopedia). That sounds more like it. New Orleans: the home of Tales of the Cocktail, probably the world's biggest event for bartenders, drinks brand ambassadors and owners, and anyone else who is interested in cocktails. The word "probably" may not be needed there. Yet after more than 20 years in the drinks business and after nearly nine years promoting ab ..read more

Eggnogs are perfect for Christmas. Low in alcohol, they are perfect for those people that don't want to get too tipsy. High in taste, they are delicious! Absinthe, of course, has a somewhat different reputation. It's strong and a little "evil" and is considered, by some at least, to be something of an acquired taste. Put all that together, and it is clear that an absinthe eggnog can be a delightful contradiction in terms, a real talking point at home and in bars. So I was delighted when my distiller partner started to make La Clandestine Crème d'Absinthe. Apparently this style of drink, whic ..read more

I have long thought that politics and drink (and in particular absinthe) don't mix well. Alcohol - especially absinthe - has been badly hit by politics in the past. So I was interested to see this new cocktail book a few weeks ago: Attempting to be politically neutral, I have hidden the subtitle of the book in the photo but if you're curious you can see it and read brief extracts here. I love the idea of making absinthe great again, and have been trying to do so for more than 15 years. There are some interesting cocktails here, but sadly too few absinthe cocktails. If you want to get be ..read more

Apologies, first of all, to those of you who have already celebrated Mothers' Day this year. Mother's Day is a very complicated event, celebrated on more than 30 different dates throughout the year (mothers in Indonesia have to wait until December 22). For those of my readers in the USA, Switzerland, Australia, most of Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and South America, who are all celebrating Mother's Day on May 12 in 2013, I want to explore the connection between absinthe and mothers to celebrate this particular Mother's Day. Absinthe was first made by women in Switzerland, including the most fa ..read more

Virginia Davis, manager, Pirate’s Alley Café/Absinthe House, New Orleans The ”Bloody Fairy?” Gimmick or classic? Let’s explore this.. By “Bloody Fairy,” of course, I mean an absinthe equivalent of the “Bloody Mary.” Sounds simple, or so I thought. But it turns out that there are different directions this could go: it could be a standard spicy Bloody Mary with a few dashes of absinthe as seen here: Or it could be a completely different (and not spicy) drink using absinthe, cranberry juice and tonic water as seen here: Or it could be a drink in which absinthe completely replaces vodka ..read more

I've posted about ladies and absinthe jokingly before, and have also highlighted the more serious role of women in making absinthe. So it was interesting to discover recently two artistic treatment of women drinking absinthe: from Paris in 1905 and from New Orleans in 2017. The first of these is probably more interesting! Gustave Poetzsch was a Swiss artist who lived from 1870 to 1950. Born in Neuchâtel, he moved to Paris to develop his painting skills. His painting of L'Élégante au verre d'absinthe may surprise absinthe historians. It seems to show a fashionable French lady drinking absi ..read more

Topline news about the sale/acquisition of Lucid, the first absinthe marketed in the USA since prohibition. "Oregon-based Hood River Distillers has acquired Lucid Absinthe Supérieure from New York’s Viridian Spirits LLC for an undisclosed sum." More news later as and when it emerges. At this stage, it is surprising to see no mention of this anywhere apart from on the well-respected Shanken News site. No doubt absinthe connoisseurs will want to know what this means for the other brands sold by Viridian, i.e. Ted Breaux's Jades, as well as the people concerned. Viridian also helped launch ..read more

Whether you're a bartender or a consumer, we've been listening to what you say. Bartenders think that the absinthe ritual can be a nuisance when a bar is really busy. They have to get a fountain ready with chilled water, pour a measure of absinthe in a glass, maybe put a spoon with a sugar lump on the glass, position it correctly and drip the water. And then they have to wait to make sure the glass doesn't overflow! Consumers can be unsure of how much water to add, whether or not to use sugar, and sometimes they just don't want to wait for their drink! Absinthe lovers in the 19th century ..read more