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Tracking down the green fairy

I like a drink. It may have been obvious from other posts. Along with being quite partial to all kinds of food. So being selected for an absinthe tasting was hardly a chore.

The people behind Absinthe Shop kindly sent a sample, and a beautifully fashioned spoon. And it certainly caused a stir and much commentary from visitors to the house, as they looked at the bottle and spoon. Everyone knows the stories: the lost weekends, the mad poets, painters and other artists of Paris. It has a bohemian aura and glamour, all tinged with the hint of the dramatic and possible adventure.

It appears that drinking the stuff neat is rather gauche, possibly desperate, and hence the lovely spoon. Carefully place your sugar cube on the spoon over your glass and let the absinthe drip through. This is the best way to get the full flavours, with the sugar bringing out the blend of herbs and spices, including the notorious wormwood. It also stops the dominant aniseed flavour that you get if you drink it neat.

And there are a great many enthusiasts, if not downright connoisseurs. Don’t believe me? Check out the rave reviews of The Wormwood Society Absinthe Association.

And me? Me, I’m all talk, as the bottle is still sat there. Because unbelievably there is not a sugar cube to be found in the house. I can imagine it’s one of those things that will sit there till the end of a drunken dinner party; till we all decide it’s a great idea, like Sambuca. I’d like to think it would turn me into Kylie as the Green Fairy in Moulin Rouge. I think it’s more likely by the point I try it in the general drinking proceedings to turn me into Shrek.

I’ll keep you posted.

Fabulous photo by eschipul over on Flickr.