Just got my 2 bottles of Lucid today and I could'nt wait to try it! Absinthe in the US for only $60, I had to!

Upon opening the bottle and smelling the precious necter I went "Blech-WTF!" it smells like Czeckerland! I read the bottle and yep our old friend 'beet alcohol' has reared its ugly head and shit on this parade...

But wait maybe it tastes better than it smells... slow drip, one suger cube... can't wait to try it... looks watery...louches like watered down hg...

let's try it ....AWWWWWWWWWWW NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Tastes like watered down CHEAP first attempt HG made with BEET ALCOHOL!

Ted how could you! Could'nt you charge $5 or $10 more and use grape alcohol like in Jade and add more herbs?

This is what we introduce to the American public?

I love the Jade absinthes but Ted this is crap! Please change it..................

Fuck, now I'm real glad I ordered three bottles. I guess there's always ebay.

Yeah and remember I used to like Logan fils! I would gladly trade for this crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That speaks volumes.

Seriously, i'm so suprised at this crap. I think I feel something though... it may be secondfairies or alcohol poisoning from the cheap shit beet alcohol..................

SpazAss seems to like it.


Bottle arrived securely packaged with an injection-molded styrofoam packing device. Uses less material than those used by other shippers, something I like. Cuz I'm that way.

The bottle is, as has been said, not nearly as silly-looking in person. I appreciated the very accurate historical text on the back, description of the French preparation method, and especially the notice at the very bottom:


Warning: Contents Highly Flammable! Serious risk of injury if contents ignited. Do not deliberately ignite or consume near open flame.

The Surgeon General's warning about pregnancy, etc. and the UPC symbol both scream, "American market"!

The use of a T-cork instead of a traditional cork seems a wise choice, and is perfectly appropriate to both the market and the price point of the product.

COLOR BEFORE WATER: 8 of 10

I'm not seeing the murkiness reported by others; mine's clear as a bell. It's a pale olive, light enough in coloration that it fades near the bottom of my glass (because I'm looking through a smaller volume). Could be a tad more robust in color, but attractive and natural-looking. Can see oil swirling about in the liquid.

AROMA: 25 of 30

Before water:

A rather light nose, but not so much weak as fresh and herbal, though neat it does smell fairly simple. It's not overwhelming, and does not have the heavy anise-bomb scent of a Spanish absenta. Alcohol is not strongly present, as I would expect from a quality product.

After water:

Increased complexity, it blooms as one would expect. Wormwood definitely not front and center, but I believe that to be the intended recipe, not a flaw. This is definitely a product for the fennel whores! Glad I did not add sugar (I usually don't); it smells more than sweet enough.

LOUCHE ACTION: 9 of 10

My see-saw dripper, loaded with chilled water, produces a storm of oil-trail clouds and fine bubbles until about 1:1.5. After this, a fog rises slowly from the bottom of the glass. A slower drip would probably have left a more defined layering, but even with the splashy see-saw, I could roughly tell when it was ready.

This would be an excellent choice for introducing an absinthe newbie to the drama of a slow louche.

COLOR AFTER LOUCHE: 8 of 10.

Whatever this absinthe lacks in out-of-bottle color is found, in my eyes, in the louched color. Nearly white at the narrow base of my swirl glass, it deepens in the depths to a delightful pale green. Not I only deduct points because the color lacks iridescence. I expected more glisten, after the show during the louche.

MOUTH-FEEL: 7 of 10

A tad on the thin side here. Sugar would likely improve the mouth-feel and add more body. However, it might negatively (to my taste) impact the flavor.

The mouth-feel is consistent with the appearance in the glass; this absinthe does not have strong legs.

However, there is no harshness or any unpleasantness.

TASTE: 17 of 20

Every bit as refreshing and herbal as it smells. Not an anise bomb at all, but with a building and lingering fennel aftertaste.

Without sugar, I could indeed see it marketed as a summer beverage.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9 of 10

I admit that price and convenience has added a point or even two to my overall impression; had I paid $80 for the bottle and nearly as much for shipping, I'd have given a 7 or 8. It's good, though I've had more complex products, and some which suited my tastes in herbal balance more completely. None of those aspects constitute flaws, however.

Lucid is an excellent everyday absinthe, and the price of $60 with free overnight shipping really can't be beat. I'd happily recommend it to anyone wishing to try absinthe, or anyone curious about the difference between, say, the Spanish absentas and Absinthes Suisse. It is a solid representation of quality distilled absinthe, and I'm glad to see it as the first US-legal absinthe. Cheers!

TrainerAZ scores Lucid 83 out of 100.

Maybe he got the good stuff and someone poured a pint of rubbing alcohol in mine........

Who could blame 'em?

This review
beets mmme.

Indeed!™

Someone else on FV gave it an 82 out of 100. I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of mine.

Wait a minute. Smutttttty was prolly drinking the pee from one of his porn pics or something.

I've had worse but that's nothing to be proud of.

Worse piss?

I mean, I guess
I'll find out, but
it's only $60.

How bad can
it be for that
pittance?

I had to try it. But for the price of 18 year old Scotch, not again.

I remember getting my first bottle of Un Emile (because everyone had talked it up so much), only to be sadly disappointed by my first fishy whiff.

Something tells me we'll never get the G&C analysis.

Stuff definately had a kick to it but I sinked my second glass. Maybe I was expecting to much from Ted, or the batch needs to age out or something...........

As for Spaz's review maybe he had something else in his mouth that gave him a "creamy" mouth feel

At least this may open the door to someone who really cares about the taste of thier absinthe I would have gladly paid more to have a better base as well as a more 'Jade-like' product.. I've had first attempt HG's that totally blow this away.

Spaz, like the Grate H, wants to suck up to Ted. He likes the body builder types.

He likes you, too, remember.
Maybe you and Ted have something in common after all...

*snicker snicker*

It doesn't matter if Lucid sux or if Ted makes ridiculous or overblown claims. What is significant is that absinthe is now legal in the US. That is a major achievement! Lucid kicks the door open and Ted made it happen.

I agree about the
legal absinthe being
a huge deal in our
lil' mountain village
of inbred retards.

I still say
we did it.

Lesee-
Spaz likey Cros+TBone.
~Y~ likey Cros+TBone.

No one has ever seen
Cros+TBone together...

CROSBONE!!

Xit.

I really did laugh out loud at that one.

Smutty'ole pal. Let's take a serious look at the issue at hand.

Absinthe is finally "legal" here in the US. Due largely to Veridian and possibly Ted. We all know they didn't invest time and money into this project because they just luv absinthe.

It's about PROFITABILITY. They want to get as good a return on their investment as possible. Everyone involved wants the cashola. It's the American way. So Ted, while eager to get involved in more absinthe related production, ultimately doesn't want to interfere with his own agenda. And Veridian wants to sell sell and collect collect. It's a fine balance I'm sure.

I'm assuming that there were marketing surveys done (although from their bottle design and marketing strategy I wonder). From this research Veridian must have found the upper limit of what they could sell their product for, and ultimately the upper limit of Lucid's quality.

So basically, Veridian gave Ted a limit on how much Lucid would cost to make, and taking his own interests into account, Ted came up with the best he could. We know Ted is capable of better, but that's not really the issue.

If there is a market for high end absinthe in the US, I'm sure someone will step up to fill it. It might be years down the road, but look at how far things have come in just the past 5 years.

Yeah, I wish a fantastic L'artisial product were available on the shelves, but you can shit in one hand and wish in the other...

That is the first time anyone has ever wanted to take a serious look at the issue in Smuttty's hand.

That's on a cause Smutty's issue is usually smeared all over some dirty girls face.

Good point.

Yeah, Its grate to have legal absinthe and it did have a kick to it but I guess I was just a little let down...

And like I said, Spaz wasn't the only one that gave it a good review. I don't know what the other person's credibility is but at least one person other than Spaz liked it. I was kinda wondering if they were just being nice though and Smutttty is actually being honest. Or if Smuttttty's standards are just so high because he's drank betterer piss out of a girls sniz.

More than us,
anyway.

I'm drinking it now and I think its a very nice straightforward Pontarliar. Remeniscent of Jade and a bit thin but really pretty good for something you can buy on the shelf. No where near L'Artisinale but maybe that will rise again domestically in the future -- one can hope.

I might even like this better than the Jades in that is not as cloyingly sweet. I think I'll try it at about 2 and a half to 1.

Just finished my first glass and I think it is pretty decent. Not as complex as better absinthe, but quite acceptable at it's price.

A tad light of flavor but pretty well balanced. There is a slight funk in the aroma before adding water, but that is the only detractor I've seen. Good louche with properly chilled water and a half tsp of simple syrup.

I still haven't received mine yet. I ordered one bottle on the 13th at 2:39pm and they sent the "order shipped" notice on the 14th at 1:30pm and I didn't get it on the 15th. Maybe overnight shipping means two days later or something.

I'll save the rest of mine for the fest but it is decent as a simple absinthe, as Gimp pointed out -- without complexity. I drank a couple of glasses, the second with less water before moving on to someting better.

Oh I wish I could review, I wish I could review,
hi ho the merry o, I wish I could review.

Two days later, still no Lucid. Not a
supply problem. The bottle went out
on the 14th. It's a shipping problem.
It's afternoon on the 16th and still
no bottle. AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaGGGGGGGGGGGGggggggggggggggHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A watched bottle never arrives.
Learned that a few years back.

An unopened
1 never gets
drunk.

Or, so I've heard.

End of another day and still no Lucid. WTF?

I feel your pain.

I don't.
I hear a lot about it being thin.
Not enough herb per liter perhaps.

Then again, maybe I'm too numb from eating some St. Bernardus Prior 8 and ABT 12.

Lovely liquid bread this is.


Maybe it's time to move on to some real Absinthe?

It is thin.
Just a little more depth and it would be pretty damn good.

As it is... ehhh, I give it a 6.5
Which of course is bumped to a 7.5 because I can get it for $60 shipped to my door in 2 days or less.

Would I pay more for something better? Yup, it's called Jade.

The choice is ours.

Never thought that
choice would be a
choice.

Don Walsh is
spinning in his
Thai love basket.

He sure used to
tell me to fuck
off a lot.

As hard as it is to believe, those were some damn good times.