Absinthe #1

Classification: absinthe, liquer

Source: Originally from Jolly Pancakes (jcp@islay.dco.dec.com) Reposted by Chris Shenton (css@boa.ccsf.caltech.edu) 6/9/92

There's a book which was published a year or two ago called "Absinthe: History in a Bottle". It covers the socio-political circus surrounding absinthe, the proto-prohibitionist attitudes of the time, and the eventual politically-expedient outlawing of the drink. Also talks about the artists, poets, writers, etc. who did drink and write about it. Fun reading. It concludes with some chemical analysis, diagrams, and finally, the author's successful search for illicite absinthe in Europe.
There was a fine article in Scientific American a couple years back which described the production of absinthe by the Pernod company, complete with their recipe. Recommended. (The recipe does involve distillation and such.)

There is also an Absinthe FAQ document that was written by Matthew Baggot.

Ingredients:

1 pint, vodka
2 teaspoons, anise seed
4 cardamon pods
1/2 teaspoon, ground coriander
1--2/3 cups, sugar syrup
2 teaspoons, crumbled wormwood (dried)
1/2 teaspoon, fennel seed
1 teaspoon, marjoram
2 teaspoons, chopped angelica root

Procedure:

Place vodka in large jar with tight fitting lid. Add wormwood and shake well; steep 48 hrs and strain out. Crush seeds and pods in mortar. Add them and all remaining spices to vodka and steep in a warm place 1 week. Filter and sweeten. (The sugar syrup mentioned above is your standard simple syrup.)