Jennifer Juniper
A couple or three weeks ago ellefurtle and I attended an after hours talk and tasting on the history and revival of absinthe at the National Gallery. It was quite interesting, particularly as the main speaker Ted Breaux (https://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2012/07/ted-breaux-jade-liqueurs-and-the-green-fairy/), was incredibly enthusiastic. This all rather followed on from a visit a bunch of us made to the Absintherie (http://www.absintherie.cz/en) in Prague before Christmas.
In Prague I declined, killjoy that I am, to try any and just drank water while the other three tried a couple of glasses. I don’t like aniseed drinks see, absinthe or not. I had a sip of each of the varieties on offer at the talk at the National, but despite all the enthusiasm around me, I couldn’t really tell the difference between any of them and frankly they taste pretty much the way I imagine the devil’s earwax would. Of course, if there had been any sugar around that might have made a difference, but frankly, you shouldn’t need to add sugar to make something palatable.
Since all this happened, an enthusiastic Furtle has obtained a couple of absinthe glasses, an absinthe spoon and a small carafe to keep the water in. She has also acquired a half bottle of a particularly posh absinthe. This will all go into the cupboard with the whiskies, whiskeys, vodkas, brandies camparis and other suspicious liquors that I shan’t be touching. There is just room for my single bottle of Madeira (which remarkably, ‘evaporates’ faster than I can drink it myself) and the gin, which I do like.
Not being a fan of pretty much any spirit, other than gin with a healthy dollop of tonic, (I used to like Southern Comfort, but having made myself very ill on it over 20 years ago, I can no longer face the stuff), I have decided that I shall have one last try and but some jenever gin - the ancestor of modern gin and still popular in the Low Countries. I am beginning to fear an attempt to keep me away from it, however. A number of times now, when I have pondered buying a bottle in one of the larger supermarkets, Furtle has suggested that I wait and get advice from a specialist.
Hmm…
In Prague I declined, killjoy that I am, to try any and just drank water while the other three tried a couple of glasses. I don’t like aniseed drinks see, absinthe or not. I had a sip of each of the varieties on offer at the talk at the National, but despite all the enthusiasm around me, I couldn’t really tell the difference between any of them and frankly they taste pretty much the way I imagine the devil’s earwax would. Of course, if there had been any sugar around that might have made a difference, but frankly, you shouldn’t need to add sugar to make something palatable.
Since all this happened, an enthusiastic Furtle has obtained a couple of absinthe glasses, an absinthe spoon and a small carafe to keep the water in. She has also acquired a half bottle of a particularly posh absinthe. This will all go into the cupboard with the whiskies, whiskeys, vodkas, brandies camparis and other suspicious liquors that I shan’t be touching. There is just room for my single bottle of Madeira (which remarkably, ‘evaporates’ faster than I can drink it myself) and the gin, which I do like.
Not being a fan of pretty much any spirit, other than gin with a healthy dollop of tonic, (I used to like Southern Comfort, but having made myself very ill on it over 20 years ago, I can no longer face the stuff), I have decided that I shall have one last try and but some jenever gin - the ancestor of modern gin and still popular in the Low Countries. I am beginning to fear an attempt to keep me away from it, however. A number of times now, when I have pondered buying a bottle in one of the larger supermarkets, Furtle has suggested that I wait and get advice from a specialist.
Hmm…