Have your ever thrown a dinner party or gone to some trendy roof top bar and thought to yourself, “I’ll be damned if I have to drink one more boring passion fruit mojito”? You know you can only have so many dressed-up vodka martinis before you can’t believe you’ve just blown $40 on what tastes like Smirnoff and Snapple. Never fear, though, we’ll rescue you from your liquor ennui.
One of the most misunderstood and perfectly delicious on it’s own cocktails is pure absinthe. While the US only recently began to allow the sale of absinthe domestically (it was banned back in 1915), really good quality brands have made there way on the market. Now we know what you’re thinking, “Absinthe? Isn’t that the stuff that Van Gogh was drinking when he cut off his ear?” Perhaps, but it turns out that the FDA and the EU did some extensive testing and it does not cause hallucinations, delirium, panic, or any other 19th century-esque ailment. Apparently, Van Gogh was just plain crazy.
Lucid, a French made absinthe, and Kubler, a Swiss one, are sold here in the United States. Another particularly complex Swiss absinthe, Mansinthe (named for Marilyn Manson), has some limited availability. If you are picking up a bottle for a party, it will run you about $60-$70 but, since absinthe is like scotch and meant to be enjoyed leisurely, you should get your money’s worth. And, considering you won’t have to by any lycee berries, maraschino cherries, mint, or God-knows-what-else special ingredient to make vodka palatable, you’ll probably end up saving money in the long haul. Now that’s something to drink to.
