Regular readers of My Brilliant Mistakes (and happy holidays to all three of you!) know that I’ve a deep fondness for all things absinthe.
It turns out that there are others much more obsessed, and they’re kind enough to share their love with everyone: Please enjoy the amazing and extensive Virtual Absinthe Museum.
Not only do they have new and antique items for sale — you can sign up for the waiting list to buy bottles of vintage absinthe from 1915 and earlier — but they offer extensive notes on fake absinthiana. (Not surprisingly, buyer beware on eBay.)
And yes, any of these items, even the reproductions, would make a delightful holiday gift for yours truly.
Side note: Doesn’t the ecstatic redhead pictured above remind you of my choleric avatar? I see a trend here…
(Absinthe link thanks to the delightful Regine at we-make-money-not-art.)
What the hell is this stuff? Wine of some sort? Sorry to be so thick…
It’s a liqueur, no longer made (legally), that includes in its ingredients wormwood. Wormwood is purported to have hallucinogenic properties, and absinthe consumption has been blamed for driving people insane, etc. Many artists and writers used to drink it as an aid to creativity — or a crutch, depending on yoru point of view. Its production was banned in most countries early in the 20th century; recently people have come to think wormwood isn’t as powerful or dangerous as was onced believed, and so now some countries are allowing it to be made again.
It tastes like anise — licorice — and is served in a complex ritual involving pouring water over sugar cubes suspended in a special spoon over the glass of absinthe.
A much more detailed overview is available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe
In the absence of actual absenthe, we’re left to drink Pernod, which comes pre-sweetened and is pretty darn good too.
Thanks Cindy,
Hope you’re enjoying your flurry of holiday activities!