Absinthe: Please teach me

All about absinthe

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rager
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by rager »

im still in! ill see you guys Saturday!
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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You guys keep us all up to date! I'm like MCH and have my nose pressed up against the glass.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Bigbob wrote:You guys keep us all up to date! I'm like MCH and have my nose pressed up against the glass.
we will. i look forward to learning something about an spirit most don't dabble in. it seems like randy has put together a really nice sampling collection . thanks randy :clap:
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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No problem! I got a lot of help from Bushman and Skow, as well as the folks at The Wormwood Society forum. We're all learning together on this one. I have about 2 gallons of my bourbon left at barrel strength, so we should be good. I only have about 3/4 of a pint of the maple spirit left, so you have the bulk of what's left of that batch Shineon. Got 10 gallons of maple syrup in the garage ready to make into a wash, so I better get my ass moving on that.

Can't wait! If any last-minute people want to come, PM me and I'll send you my address. I'm right off Exit 1 on I-95 in RI.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by woodshed »

Man I wish I could make this tasting. Not in the cards for me right now. Maybe some will make it to Jedfest.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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woodshed wrote:Man I wish I could make this tasting. Not in the cards for me right now. Maybe some will make it to Jedfest.
I'll bring everything that's left to Jedfest. I'm sure there will be some of every bottle. Pile up the table!
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by jedneck »

RandyMarshCT wrote:
woodshed wrote:Man I wish I could make this tasting. Not in the cards for me right now. Maybe some will make it to Jedfest.
I'll bring everything that's left to Jedfest. I'm sure there will be some of every bottle. Pile up the table!
I stink I'm gonna need more tables.
welcome aboard some of us are ornery old coots but if you do a lot of
reading and don't ask stupid questions you'll be alright most are
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

man Connecticut traffic sucks. sitting on top of the Connecticut River in dead stop traffic... again.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Officially on my way! Wasn't sure how my week was going to shake out, but the planets have aligned and I'm headed over from Albany, see you this afternoon. Really looking forward to meeting up.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Yeah... sorry, Shine. CT traffic is the worst. Also, its a holiday weekend in RI. Monday is VJ day... that's the day RI won World War 2. Haha
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by jedneck »

You guys have fun and be safe.
welcome aboard some of us are ornery old coots but if you do a lot of
reading and don't ask stupid questions you'll be alright most are
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Man I wish I could be there! Have fun and give updates please. :thumbup:
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by skow69 »

I look forward to your reports. Enjoy a wonderful selection of absinthes.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Still goin strong!
This shit is amazing.
image.jpg
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Watch out for the green fairy!!
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by Jimbo »

I think the green fairy kicked all their asses last night and they are still sleeping under the mulberry tree.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Jimbo wrote:I think the green fairy kicked all their asses last night and they are still sleeping under the mulberry tree.
Argh.....coffee......good
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by jedneck »

I got a corn,wheat,barley and oat mash that just had the heat killed gonna let steep for a bit while I get another cup o coffee then its time for zymes. So breakfast is ready.
Jimbo wrote:I think the green fairy kicked all their asses last night and they are still sleeping under the mulberry tree.
Looks that way
welcome aboard some of us are ornery old coots but if you do a lot of
reading and don't ask stupid questions you'll be alright most are
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by RandyMarshCT »

Slow morning... the Jade was the crown jewel for sure!
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by Jimbo »

haha! sounds familiar. Them get togethers can be a motherfucker the next morning.

Jade huh, cool. Now I know which one to buy :) Thanks, Looking forward to the reviews.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Somehow I ended this ordeal with way more booze than I started with.

Jimbo, your absinthe can totally hang with the best of em. The louche was a bit lighter. The aroma is absolutely wonderful. The pre-louche spirit color looks just like the Deleware Phoenix absinthes. Very refreshing flavor. Its amazing how different the aroma and flavor of these spirits are. There were none I disliked, but we never drank the Lucid. I'd try it right now, but I've already had 3 whiskies and a rum this morning.

Hope you guys all have safe trips back home (or to D.C. in MC's case). Thanks for all the booze! I'll post a better review with some pics in a little bit when I can get my head on straight.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by Jimbo »

Thank you Randy. I noticed the same about the louche on my last drink of that. Whats really odd is when it was new it louched like crazy, you can see it in the pic I posted below at my absinthe thread. I guess whatever oils it is that louches bonded with the alcohol, esterified? But thats just a guess. Odd tho. I think some of the absinthe experts here chimed in on my thread stating my herb bill was light. That could be it, but still lots of flavor. Ive found more often than not less is more with herbs and such, having overpowered many drinks over the years, spiced rums, flavored beers etc. so I tend to err on the lighter side with additions now. Glad you liked it tho. The base neutral I think was made from fruit brandys that I ran more to clean up, but Id have to go back and look to be sure.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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N O is my favorite Jade.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Lookin forward to the reviews guys. Let rip on mine dont worry about being nice, Im not expecting much, its my first, just be honest. Id like to know what to do different for the next one as Im out and its time for another :)
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Hey Jimbo, I'll let 'er rip!
First of all, thanks for sending, it was cool to have a home team product to compare to the store boughts.
I think I remember all of us agreeing that we would have been very happy if we had made your absinthe. The flavors and nose are spot on, can easily go toe to toe with the pros.

No way am I in any position to judge anyone's absinthe, but I'll give you my impressions even though this was pretty much my first experience with the green fairy.

At first I was thinking yours was thinner, more diluted than the others, but after thinking about it I'm going to say yours just isn't as intense as the others. Maybe you less is more recipe kept it from being the punch in the face anise that the others were, maybe it's spelled down with age. The louche was about 2/3 as opaque as most of the others, and it seemed like a nicely balanced combo of flavors to me. Anise forward like the others and really interesting notes behind it that I can't define. No mistake, it is a damn fine drink on it's own, just not as bold and concentrated as the others.

I would have liked to try it with less water to see if that would keep the flavors more dense, but alas, the absinthe trail was long and we didn't make our way back to that experiment. If that did the trick, honestly I wouldn't change much about it. Again, it was great that you sent it, it was very encouraging to know that making a good absinthe isn't out of reach for us.

When you pour yours what ratio of water/spirit do you use? I think we might have been doing 4/1.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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I do 50/50 with ice. When the ice is about 2/3 melted I start drinking. So Im prolly drinking it at 80 proof down to 65 proof when its all melted.

I was on a Pastis kick for a while at a time in my life when I travelled to France a ton. Ricard was my fav, bottled at 80 proof, Id drink it with one ice cube. Tasty stuff, and was bringing it back cheap from the duty free, $18 a liter at the time with no enforced limit (pre 9/11). Anyway I digress. I like spirits up there in proof. My whiskeys and bourbons are bottled at 90 proof and I drink them neat.

Thanks for the comments. I think I'll do the same next time, and just bump up the amounts of herbs for more kick. And maybe ditch the star anise and make it up with more green anise. Ive read since that star anise is for Pastis, and Green anise for Absinthe. Dunno, more research is needed.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

Huge thank you to Randy Marsh for hosting this!
Had a great time, was a unique opportunity to taste so many absinthes, and nice to meet RMs family and friends. Very gracious and generous hosts. Also good to meet Rager and get to sample his top notch whiskeys, one wheated, one with rye, both very well done. Other stand outs for me were Randy's whiskey and Shine's UJ. Happy to have a sample of whiskey riding shotgun back with me, and Shines UJ makes it clear why that recipe is embraced by so many, oaked perfectly and a very whiskeyesque sugarhead. Its come a long way from some of those first efforts I tried at jedfest.
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

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Jimbo wrote:I do 50/50 with ice. When the ice is about 2/3 melted I start drinking.
Yep, I think the other bottles are just way more concentrated, if not diluted so much I bet yours would compare very well to what we sampled last night. Guess Randy has some more research to do!
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by Jimbo »

Correction, Ricard is bottled at 90p. Id ice it lightly and mmm mmm. Tasty. Similar to Absinthe, but Star Anise, liquorice, marjoram, thyme and some others.

This crap.... http://www.ricard.fr/en/brands/anise-ba ... ts/_ricard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: Absinthe: Please teach me

Post by MichiganCornhusker »

skow69 wrote:N O is my favorite Jade.
I think that was the last one we poured, it was pretty spectacular. A perfect grand finale.
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