Howdy all. I hope I've done enough research not to sound TOO much like an idiot newbie. But I'm coming to the conclusion absinthe may be just the thing for me.

I'm "BattleAx" because that is me to my husband... we've got a know-each-other-so-damn-well-you-don't-have-to-talk-anymore kind of marriage. My avatar is what I look like... er... looked like thirty years ago. :-) So I guess the good thing about me is that I'm not a brash 20 year old seeking a drug high. Not that there's anything wrong with that. What I am seeking is quality experiences. I've checked out a few absinthe forums and yours seems to be among the better.

Absinthe is a brand new interest for me. I've never been a real abuser of alcohol or recreational drugs, but when I was young I imbibed in both for fun. Now that I'm a middle aged parent I'm not supposed to have fun anymore. But I do often have one or two drinks in the evening. In fact, my husband encourages me to. Seems he thinks it makes me "friendly". I'm not sure what he means by that....

Anyway, so I decided to try some absinthe and ordered a little flask/spoon set of Emile 68. Okay, I know I need sugar cubes and I didn't have any. I didn't want to wait til I made it to the store so I improvised. I have granualated suger, but I can't use the spoon with that. So I got a regular spoonful of sugar and just dribbled the cold water into it and let it slip over the side into the drink. Well, that drink was just wonderful! I'm sold.

So I went out today and got cubes and I'm looking forward to doing it the right way tonight. Oh, and I'm a bad wife because I haven't told my husband about this yet. He's rather conservative and would have a problem with the "uncertain" legal status. Myself, I don't mind breaking the law if A.) it's a STUPID *SS law and B.) I'm not likely to ever do jail time for it. I'm getting the idea that right now that is a non-issue.

I'm trying to figure out the thujon thing. I know they think thujon doesn't do anything for you, and the thujon level supposedly doesn't matter but some people swear that it does. Being curious, I want to check that out for myself, so I've ordered a bottle of Mata Hari that supposedly has 35 mg of it. I see there's this King of Spirits Gold with 100 but my gut tells me I might want to avoid that. I would love your opinions on those two kinds. Next time I'm going to get the Blanche you guys are talking about. That one looked good to me.

That's enough for my first post... hope it isn't too long but I wanted to let you get to know me a little.

BattleAx

Fooled another one.



Unlike the rest of us.

UE68 is a got commercial start. Try the Fougerolles next.

And welcome to the Soap Opera!

Yeah - what he said.

It's called "As the Stomach Turns"

Gee, I grew up in the '60's - I *never* abused drugs.

Welcome to our little corner of the world BattleAx.

As far as the sugar goes, it is a matter of personal taste. I generally don't use any. On occasion I will. The cubes and spoon are nice (especially with a fountain) as they seem to give a pleasant quality to the preparation process itself. Some sugar seems to help bring out and balance the flavor of some absinthe. Others seem fine to me without it.

Sometimes I just make a sugar syrup (Heretic) to add instead of using the sugar cubes. It works well if I'm going to the races or someplace where the fountain etc might get broken.

As far as T-Jones go, the vast majority of people (who really look at the evidence) seem to come to the conclusion that it does not matter. Most companies hyping T-Jones are using it as marketing hype, and I personally suspect they have no actual laboratory evidence to back up claims of ppm levels present in their product.

The only Czeckerland Filterated Czeckerland Xit I've tried was Filterated Czeckerland Xit Original. It was enough to convince me that I don't want to waste time or money on absinthe that hawks T-jones levels as a selling point.

Damn! I gotta quit cutting/Pasting into word to do spell checks during the day so I can get my post in faster.

Thanks for the introduction, BattleAx. I'm glad you enjoyed your first absinthe. Though I fear you may not enjoy your second. Unless you have a clogged drain.

At least you didn't buy the King of Spirits.

Oh well, everyone should have a bad absinthe experience in the beginning anyway. It'll make you appreciate the finer stuff later.

Your sink will enjoy the Mata Hari,.........Absinthe King is a waste of time.

Order a bottle of the Fougerolles Verte, & Blanche, you'll be much happier.

Met too, Gimp. For those of us who use sugar, simple syrup (50/50 water/sugar) is nice to have around for last-minute precision adjustments. OR for those times when you haven't patience for the drip. I keep a small, stoppered bottle of simple syrup in the refrig.

BattleAx, welcome!

I prefer the Un Emile White Fairy to the Blanche, but there the camps are evenly divided.

And hi Erase-a-Slate!

Hey, honey. How's every little trick? You been commutin' back and forth to DC? How's the Prof?

Bien, bien.


DC sucks.


Nice to see you.

Concentrate on taste, not t-jone. Some people claim they feel a mild stimulative that may or may nor relate in some manner to t-jone, other don't. All of this is a way of saying, ditch the Mata Haru on unsuspecting enemies.

Oxygénée's Absinthe FAQ is an excellent source of information about absinthe facts and myths. FAQs

Welcome and have fun (someone here should).

A woman is always goddess, not a battle axe. Even when being catty.
That said. Un Emile Sapin is my personal favorite, it is a very quality experience.
Best drink on planet Earth. Create a frozen “Sapinita” garnish with mint, and you will discover heaven. I like LDF a lot, can you tell? Try the Fraise de Bois too, which is on LDF’s liquer page, that stuff is just incredible.
You may also want to try the LeMercier Amer 72 next for all your ‘high THUJONE!!!-this stuff has nothing to do w/the buzz from absinthe, NOTHING!!!!-this stuff has nothing to do w/the buzz from absinthe, NOTHING!’ curiosity, aside from that marketing hype though, the Amer is a great drink.
Your gut is right, avoid things with plants, twigs and the like in the bottle. Sounds like the makings for a swamp.
I have not yet tried any of the Spanish absinthes yet. I am still dissecting the French offerings.
I am told Segarra is the best of the Spanish absinthes.
Secondaries, which some people do indeed get, I do, are the result of the entire drink conspiring to alter your head space.
This I have learned. Until about the fourth glass…then you are on your own.
Sugar is a personal matter. Soda water makes a great mixer.
Absinthe is as illegal as a Cuban Cigar, so don’t go importing it en masse. Sort of a non issue, but not.
The Man might frown. But you wont get jail time…unless you distill it yourself. Then you are fucked.
I bet though, if your hubby liked cigars, he would not hesitate to try a Cuban. Illicit, Communist or not.
And as far as he liking you to have a couple of drinks because it makes you “friendly”,
then he should actively encourage your enjoying several Absinthes, and he should drink some too!
If anyone tells you that at middle age you are not allowed to have fun…shoot them.
We only have a finite time here. Enjoy it.

Hello. I'm new here as well. This seems like a crazy place.

Hello, all you new people.

Well, hello.

It only looks crazy from the outside.

Welcome to the Machine!

Is that a Pink Floyd reference, or are you just happy to see me?

Both

If this only seems like a crazy place, you haven't spent near enough time hanging out. The bartender's recommendation of the day is time at the Lounge with a lovely glass of absinthe.

Thank you everyone for all your welcomes! And for all the tips and advice. So... I've stumbled upon a good one with the Un Emile and probably won't like the Mata Hari that's on it's way. Oh well, live and learn, I'm glad I've got the warning, I won't be too disappointed.

Dangerousangels, you make a great point about my husband. I can sell it to him if I approach it from the sex angle. :-)) Oh, and thanks for the goddess comment and the comment about having fun when you're middle aged. I have finally realized that life is rushing buy awfully fast and dammit, it's time to enjoy it before its too late.

Seriously, right now I'm hiding it in plain sight amongst all the other liquor bottles. I bet if I'm real nonchalent and act like its no big deal, he'll never even know I didn't just go buy it from the liquor store. He probably doesn't know anything about it.

BattleAx

"When she woke in the morning, she knew that her life had passed her by.
She called out a warning, WARNING, don't ever let life pass you by."

What he will know is that absinthe is REALLY good to drink with his wife by candle light, very soon I am sure. ;) enjoy. Besides, you can get this stuff, Absente absinthe. Which is a sub par pastis, but most people just do not know. And who would be the wiser? Only you. Tell him it's just "pastis".

There's a lot of new life in here, for a place that smells like death.

Welcome, one and all!!!

Welcome. Enjoy.

Welcome!
Try the Fougerolles.

Um, I think I'll pass.

Somehow, I knew you would.

I hate new people, and Belgians.

You are cool! Throw in hating the from the Land of Bogs and

There's plenty to hate about the from the Land of Bogs, but I like to keep my hatred focused. When the Belgians are gone, I'll start hating the from the Land of Bogs.

Welcome all you newbies.

This is one of the two best sites on the Net for absinthe. Quite arguably, the only two worth a damn.

It essentially spun off of another site, http://www.feeverte.net/ because that one narrowed it's focus to just absinthe (bandwidth cost issue I believe) and we all enjoy our drunken ramblings too much.

Some of us have been at this absinthe website thing since 1998 or so, and so you can trust what you read here, unless it is sarcastic (60% chance or so of that...)

T-jone has nothing to do with nothing, according to the biochemitsts among us who have done for real, scientifical studies involving properly set up gas chromatographs, vintage and modern absinthe (many brands) and stuff of that sort.

There is more t-jone in a box of stuffing (from the sage) than a bottle of absinthe. Plus you can score some Stovetop down at the grocery store, if you know the right people.

Every get a stuffing buzz?

Me neither.

Finally, I must recommend that no matter how much you might want a real good stuffing high, you avoid injecting it.

Stove top is a lot cheaper!

A lot of wimmen around these parts all dem day long.

You have?? You're people after my own heart! I have a degree in engineering and I love logic, science and statistics. Bottom line truth, that is what I'm after. If you've done you're own experiments, then I trust your results.

BattleAx

This is scary. Members suggesting other members deceive their SO's... in the name of absinthe.

Just do what I do, and make them sign an Absinthe prenup.

Didn't Porkio and Rimmy go through that decieve SO thing a while back? IIRC that did not work out so well for them.

Only once man. Sheesh. Not like she is trying to swap a hallucinogen for a speed to give to anyone or anything of like.
It's a cocktail. Just, maybe...he is uncomfortable. He needs to be eased into it.
Come on, you know how everything is much nicer when you ease into it.

My stuffing recipe is a century old. Passed down through several generations.
I have better things on hand to make one trip.
Thanks though.

PARDON! 'Scuse me.

I told ya...
+ poor spelling to boot.

If that don't make youTrip Balz™, nothing will!

What's up NKOTB from another NKOTB? Welcome. Now (Meaning, take it slow and have a good time. There is no race to up your post count. Large post counts don't mean a thing if there is no rhyme to the reason.) and the mods won't have to unleash to keep things in order.

Jack makes me Trip Ballz™.

I trip on my balls.

it's gotta suck to be all old and saggy.

do you keep them in your cheap sneakers?

No.

He fuckin' uses 'em for bait to catch carp.