Jim Ray, who is too shy to publish comments here, send us this update on absinthe:
The New Yorker wrote a pretty definitive piece on the absinthe revival that does a good job of refuting the mythology (Feb 06 in PDF form here ).
A few months earlier, Wired gave the green fairie a similar treatment (seems Conde Nast has an interest in absinthe’s future)
I’ve succesfully procured some of the real deal from Ted Breaux’s absinthe distillery (Jade Liquer’s Nouvelle Orleans was my poison of choice) and was quite pleased with the result, even if a bottle does cost about US$150 shipped. Beat the pants off that acerbic crap I was lighting on fire in Prague a few years back.
And here’s a handy guide on how to properly imbibe, varied by region. Much like kissing, I find the French method preferable.
I prefer the Swiss method for absinthe, myself. All this mumbo jumbo with sugar is a bit tedious and dare I say too sweet.
Good point on the Swiss method. Less time spent with the sugar ritual means more time for drinking and enjoying too!
I always liked that quote from The Third Man: “In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” Since absinthe was also born in Switzerland, add that to their list of achievements, Harry Lime!