I’ve been known to get creative with my writing after a glass of wine. And as it turns out, all of those European bad-boy writers were on to something.
Ernest Hemingway lovingly referred to it as “death in the afternoon,” after imbibing Oscar Wilde-penned hallucinogenic passages about tulips growing through the ground of a bar he frequented, and the French teenage poet, Rimbaud, whom Victor Hugo described as an infant Shakespeare, called the spirit his “beautiful madness.”
The mystery spirit?
Absinthe.
Far more trendy than dangerous, the green fairy is popping up in lounges and on cocktail menus across town. When I was invited by Pernod Absinthe to attend a progressive dinner/cocktail party, I jumped at the opportunity to taste from the mixology gods of the Violet Hour. Truth be told, Pernod had me at Victorian-era horse drawn carriages. Handsome white steeds were to be our mode of transportation as we trotted from the Violet Hour (appertif) to the Drawing Room (dinner pairings) and on to Mercadito for a nightcap.
Odd? A little. But kind of awesome.
Traversing the city with a couple of absinthe cocktails under my belt? It would be an exciting interpretation of Medieval Times.
The evening was beautifully executed and a true reflection of the art and appreciation of absinthe as a spirit. Absinthe is made by macerating herbs and spices, including anise, fennel, and wormwood (artemisia absinthium) which gives the spirit its name. Some say that wormwood is to thank for the madness that tends to ensue whilst indulging, but I argue that it’s merely the alcohol content that makes you woozy.
Pernod Absinthe is a 136-proof spirit. By comparison, Grey Goose is 80-proof and Jack Daniels is 70-proof.
The absinthe renaissance in the U.S. has positioned the spirit as more of an ingredient rather than the main event – the traditional way to enjoy it. At the Violet Hour, the Libertine, made with Pernod Absinthe, Sloe Gin, lemon and Gruet sparkling wine, is an homage to both Rimbaud, known as a Libertine (one who is devoid of moral restraint) and Hemmingway, whose signature cocktail was a shot of absinthe topped with chilled Champagne.
The Broken Shoe Shiner (Pernod Absinthe, Aperol, Benedictine, egg white, lemon, pineapple, and rose water) is inspired by a French absinthe drinker named Jean Lanfray who killed his entire family in a highly publicized incident known as “the absinthe murders.” The reality was that Lanfray had a drinking problem, not an absinthe obsession, but naturally the lore of the spirit lasted throughout the years.
Absinthe tastes like black licorice, but don’t let that turn you off. When combined with the appropriate flavors, it yields an incredible flavor profile that reveals itself like an onion: layer after layer.
Next time you’re at a fine cocktail establishment that offers a traditional absinthe treatment, I say go for it, if not simply for the production of the service. In a ritual called La Louche, chilled ice water is poured into a glass over a slotted spoon holding a cube of sugar. The water slowly dilutes the lump of sugar, producing a balanced, chilled spirit.
After a cocktail or two, I’ll bet you’ll feel really creative.
