Thu, 11 Jan - Absinthe Forum: My Way

Back in the mid 80's, I was in college and tending bar at a high-end club/hotel on San Antonio's Riverwalk. Heavy Metal was King, and there wasn't a great deal of...civilized drinking behavior going on. It was the Age of Excess, and we (myself included) loved it.
I did get a few regulars from Europe who wanted Absinthe and they quietly brought in their own bottles- I didn't ask, as-again- it was the 80's. One of these regulars taught me the various ways to serve it, and several of them gave me Absinthe in appreciation for my service. I found that I enjoyed it like so, myself: a double shot of Absinthe in a champagne flute, with 1/2 to 1 shot of Rumple Minze. Stand a sugar cube in maraschino cherry juice (only about 1/16" deep) until it wicks it all up and turns a uniform red color. Let it set for about 2-3 minutes to do so, then drop it in and add cold sparkling water to taste- I use color to determine the proper amount of water, aiming for a sort of golden green. (This takes some experimentation)

I came up with this over about a year's time, experimenting with various ingredients. "Purists" will scoff, but give it a try, you might be surprised.

I called it "Manslaughter in the Morning", as a sort of play on "Death in the afternoon".

'Meeting the Green Fairy' is a metaphor sometimes used to describe the curious effects of the green liquor.

About the effects of absinthe

When it comes to the effects of drinking absinthe, people's opinions -- and experiences -- vary wildly. Some go as far as to claim the drink is psychoactive, while others say there is no "secondary" (that is, other than alcohol-induced) effect at all.

As early as 1993, Matthew Baggott posted his Absinthe FAQ in the Usenet newsgroup "alt.drugs" (there wasn't much of the web as we know it back then). As you will suspect from the newsgroup's name, the issue of absinthe's "psychoactive qualities" was one of the interests of the document.

Some people take it further still. We definitely do not recommend any experiments with Paxil and absinthe (nor, for that matter, mixing any medicine with alcohol). Anyway, it's quite clear which way the wind blows here, since Jasmine Sailing's bizarre piece more or less concludes absinthe is a narcotic. Is it really? Yup, it does read like the girl was out of her mind when she wrote the page -- and no, we don't think the Fairy was to blame!

A far more sober look at the effects of the Green Fairy can be found in "The Return of the Green Faerie", an article written by Frank Kelly Rich of the Modern Drunkard magazine (no pun intended). Recommended reading.