Natalie: Are you absinthe curious? There's a lot of mysteries surrounding that mythical elixir called absinthe. And today we're speaking with an expert who can clear up some of that mysteries for you.
Hi, I'm Natalie also known as the Liquid Muse. As a cocktail book author, blogger, and mixologist, I'm always looking for new inspiration. Welcome to Inspired Sips with the Liquid Muse.
We're speaking with the Gwydion Stone, the founder of the Wormwood Society and producer of Marteau Absinthe. Gwydion, let’s start right with the basics, what is absinthe?
Gwydion: Well absinthe is an herbal spirit that’s distilled from anise seed and fennel seed and of course wormwood, which is where it gets its name.
Natalie: And tell us about wormwood.
Gwydion: Wormwood is a shrubby plant that grows pretty much all over the world. There are about 127 different varieties and it’s in the sage brush family. So it’s a small shrubby kind of thing. But there's one specie, paramecia absinthium, is the species that gives its name to absinthe.
Natalie: And what is the biggest misconception about absinthe in your opinion?
Gwydion: That it is poisonous, bad for you. That it’s a drug and it will make you hallucinate.
Natalie: Yeah, I hear that a lot. And so why do people have this idea.
Gwydion: Well, a part of it, the first part of it goes back to when they thought it was poisonous. Prior to the 1960’s, it was thought to be a poison. And that had to do largely with a misconception and a health scare that was circulated in over a century ago. Because absinthe had began to take over wine place as a national favorite beverage.
Natalie: In France?
Gwydion: In France.
Natalie: So the illegalization of absinthe actually started in France and then came to the US, is that what you're saying?
Gwydion: Technically no. it actually started in Switzerland and from there it started circulating through Europe. It was banned in the United States in 1912. And eventually France finally banned it in 1915, just before the war.
Natalie: So absinthe has become legal again in United States, about 2 years, more or less. Maybe three. Why? Why is it legal again?
Gwydion: That’s a long and tentious story because it involves the law. Technically, absinthe has been illegal since the 1930’s. And a lot of people don’t know that no laws have actually changed. It was just an internal policy change where the TTB that regulate alcohol in our country. They decided they will allow beverages called absinthe to be sold in the United States. But we don’t have, currently have, a legal definition for absinthe in the United States.
Natalie: You are obviously very entrenched in this absinthe culture, what ignited your passion?
Gwydion: Well, back in the 70’s, I was very much into making herbal medicines and tinctures and extraction. And I also made fragrances and things. So that gave me a real interest in the botany side of it. And of course in my reading, I come across wormwood. The reputation of absinthe, and of course that incredibly dramatic reputation really catches your imagination. So that’s where I first really became aware of absinthe. And then that interest kind of lurk in the shadows until the 90’s where I started becoming a little bit more popular in the media and things.
And by the late 90’s, there was a real resurgence in Europe, in ’98, ’99. And then, by that time, there was the internet. And so I started really getting serious about researching it and then one thing led to another.
Natalie: Well in so much of the cocktail called to resurgence has come from the internet, which is kind of interesting. But we're here with you in person, so I want to see, in person, how do you present absinthe? How do you serve it? Is there a whole ritual involved? We think of artisan, writers, let’s see how that stands.
Gwydion: Okay, well first of all the absinthe fountain or dripper, it’s just a water dispenser really. Like the water fountain you would find in any caf?. And the reason that this is here is that you can slowly add the water to the absinthe. Because you don’t want to dump the water in. it’s kind of like, you think of an emotion. The absinthe clouds up as you’ll see when we add the water in the same way that vinegar and oil don’t really mix very well. So you add them together slowly and that makes a creamy liquid absinthe is largely the same way, you want to add the water very slowly to get a good mix. And as we do that, you’ll see that the aroma just blooms and just fills the room when we do that.
So let me go ahead and get this one started. Now what we've done here, I poured out a portion. You want to pour about an ounce, because this is strong stuff, marteau is 68% alcohol, 136 proof.
Natalie: Wooh, that’s very strong.
Gwydion: Absinthe was never intended to be drunk neat. It’s just way too hot. It will just numb your tongue, you won't taste anything. So you should always dilute it with at least three parts water. I recommend five parts water. So five to one. And sweetening is an entirely a matter of personal taste, just like coffee or tea. If you want sugar, add it, by all means. I tend to add a lot, if you don’t, then you just don’t. But you still want to add the water slowly.
Natalie: So, let’s show them how this absinthe fountain works.
Gwydion: Go ahead and turn the thing on there. We’ll let it drip. There you go. Just a slow stream like that is fine.
Now, a lot of people will tend to, especially if you read on the internet, people talking about the slow drip, the ultra slow drip. And they brag about how long it takes. You don’t really need to do that. That’s kind of like an exaggeration. You do want to add it slowly, but a slow steady stream like this is pretty much what you want to do. Just enough.
Natalie: Who have patience to let it drip?
Gwydion: Exactly. And speaking of that. Now the fountains and the spoons and all paraphernalias, those came around in the latter part of the absinthe craze. Now absinthe was first commercialized in France in 1805. It didn’t really start to become very popular until the mid 1800’s, 1860’s. And then just exploded toward the late 1800’s and turn of the century era.
So before that, they didn’t have the spoon. They didn’t have the special fountain. They had a glass and they would either add simple syrup or just a chunk of sugar. And you can even use a fork if you don’t have an absinthe spoon.
Natalie: So how would someone do it if they don’t have an absinthe fountain?
Gwydion: Just like this. This is an absinthe glass. Of course you can use any kind of a glass. In fact, in the earlier years, the absinthe glass was more like this. It was just an ordinary caf? water glass.
Natalie: The water glass, yeah.
Gwydion: So a wine glass will do. Anything that you can really see through and it will hold about 6-7 ounces of water.
Natalie: I think it’s important for people to know that you don’t have to go out and spend $500 on fountain and antique glasses and absinthe spoon, you can do it at home and be very accessible for a party or a special event or special dinner.
Gwydion: Yeah. If you look at some of the old photographs in the absinthe pictures in the art from the time, most of them didn’t even feature absinthe glasses or fountains. They we're just ordinary wine glasses and water glasses.
Natalie: Well let’s show them how to do it at home.
Gwydion: So, at home, you would do just like with the fountain. Only you would do it by hand. And an ordinary, the only thing that you want to make sure is you want to make sure that you got something that pours in a very thin stream. So you don’t want to splash your water all over the place. But just a slow steady stream. Just enough to make sure that the sugar is melted, at least mostly melted before the glass is full.
Natalie: And now it’s turning a color, that’s called louching, can you explain why it louches?
Gwydion: The louche, it’s a French word, it means cloudy. Shady. Disreputable.
Natalie: A person can be louche too.
Gwydion: A person can be louche. So what happens here is that there are a lot of oils, botanical oils, in the seeds involved. And those mix very readily with the high proof spirit, but not with water. So when that ratio between the water and alcohol starts to change. Those oils comes out of solution and becomes suspended. If you look at this under a microscope, it would look like a little tiny lava lamp.
So there you have it.
Natalie: Well, I think we're ready to have a little sip of absinthe. As they say in French, sant?. Thank you Gwydion for joining us and teaching us a little bit about absinthe today.
Gwydion: Thanks for having me.
Natalie: Cheers.
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