CHENNAI: After reading my pieces you would have gathered that I love my beverages and flavoured liqueurs top my list of favourites.
And the new buzz in town, absinthe — a highly-potent liqueur and heavily-flavored with anise seed or sauf is the latest addition to my list. Though we have anise seed-flavoured liqueurs like Pernod, Sambuca, there is something special and unique about absinthe.
And the interesting story behind this liqueur lends an air of mystery and an old-world charm to it.
Absinthe originated in Switzerland and achieved great popularity as an alcoholic drink in the late 19th and early 20th century in France.
Absinthe traditionally has a natural green colour but can be colourless.
It is commonly referred to in historical literature as la fée verte, the Green Fairy.
It is said that people who drink absinthe often used to dream about a green fairy during the day and were petrified by this fairy who often pestered them to drink absinthe.
The French made it so popular that they spread absinthe in other parts of Europe. It was also used as an antidote to cure malaria. The craze for this drink reached such heights that an official ban was passed against this liqueur but its popularity did not wane. In fact the French were consuming almost 40 million litres of absinthe every year.
And in our country absinthe was introduced two years back and is just eight months old in Chennai.
One must definitely try absinthe for its history, while keeping a check on your drinking too.
Traditionally, absinthe is prepared by placing a sugar cube on top of a specially designed slotted spoon and then placing the spoon on the glass which has been filled with a shot of absinthe. Ice-cold water is then poured or dripped over the sugar cube so that the water is slowly and evenly displaced into the absinthe, typically one part absinthe and 3 to 5 parts water.
During this process, components not soluble in water (mainly those from anise, and star anise) come out of solution and cloud the drink. Absinthe is always had neat.