Absente is it as Good As Absinthe?!
Absente is it as Good As Absinthe?
Is it at all like absinthe? does it taste good? is it expensive?
any information can help...
Answers:
"Absente" is not absinthe, because it doesn't have many of the ingredients of real absinthe nor it's produced by distillation.
Absinthe is grape spirit distilled together with up to 9 different herbs, the main ones being green anis, wormwood and fennel. It's not true that is tastes bad, on the contrary, it's main characteristic is precisely it's complex taste. The fact that many people, especially americans, describe it has not tasting good is due to them having experienced cheap vodka with wormwood leaves soaked in it, an absurd and ridiculous thing to do (and that has nothing to do with absinthe, obviously) and that it tastes horrible because wormwood has in it the second most bitter substance known to Man.
It's also a lie that it has any hallucinogenic properties, although wormwood has thujone, a potentially psycoactive substance but not for a man, maybe an ellephant might experience some effects since you had to ingest an absurd ammount of wormwood, several pounds, to be able to experience anything, but you would die from it's toxicity first... Absinthe never was hallucinogenic, has extensive tests to surviving XIX century bottles have proved. It was banned due to the lobbying of wine producers who felt threatened by absinthe success in France. Today the only country in the world where absinthe is forbidden is the USA.
This said, the best (real) absinthes are french and swiss, brands like Jade, Un émile, Blanche de Fougerolles, Kubler or La Clandestine. They are expensive but a bottle lasts long since absinthe must be drank dilluted in ice cold water, at least two parts of water to one of absinthe.
A final note, never do the ridiculous flaming sugar cube thing, it's just a stupid gimmick invented by the czechs in the 1990's... By the way, accordingly, avoid any czech "absinth" they're fakes, just cheap grain alcohol artificially coloured and flavoured.
Source(s):
Me, Absinthe Researcher and Drinker.
It tastes the same (licorice-like flavor), but is not made from wormwood like the original. So, minus the hallucinogenic agents, it can still get you drunk.
Most people would not describe it as tasty, unless they are an experienced drinker of the elixer. It has been said that it 'tastes better every time you drink it".......of course it has also been said that routine drinkers of the substance suffer from madness.
The difference is that Absinthe is made of essence of wormwood and contains psycoactive properties. It is banned in many countries. Absente is an attempt to capitalize on the mystique of the real thing.