If you are a beginner, a new Absinthe drinker, you will want to know “how do you serve Absinthe?”. Absinthe is one of the strongest liquor which cannot be consumed without using iced water.
Absinthe has had an interesting history being blamed for being psychoactive like cannabis and being famously banned in many countries. It is legalized in many countries.
The two main methods for preparing Absinthe are the Ritual, or La Louche and the modern Bohemian method or the Czech Method. Absinthe is a specialty drink requiring special preparation. Preparing Absinthe by two different methods:-
The Ritual Method
Method used in France and Switzerland before the ban in the early 1900s.
For this method, you will need the following equipment:-
– Absinthe
Take an Absinthe glass
An Absinthe spoon is designed for use with Absinthe.
A sugar cube
– A carafe or Absinthe fountain of iced water.
Method of the ritual recipe:-
Fill Absinthe glass with 25-50ml of Absinthe.
Rest your Absinthe spoon on top of the glass and place the sugar cube on it.
Drip the ice cold water over the sugar cube or set the tap on the fountain to a slow drip. The sugar cube will slowly dissolve with water and mix into the Absinthe.
The mixture of water with Absinthe makes it louche. Absinthe contains essential oils like wormwood which causes louche effect as it is soluble in alcohol but not in water.
Make your Absinthe enjoyable.
3:1 and 5:1 should be the ratio of water to Absinthe
“Glass in a Glass” method is the Ritual method. With this method you place a small glass containing the Absinthe into a larger glass and drip water into the small glass which then overflows into the larger glass. The larger glass contains water and all of the Absinthe.
The Bohemian Method
Necessities of this method
– Absinthe
– An Absinthe glass
Take an Absinthe Spoon
– A cube of sugar
Take a lighter or match
– Iced water
Quantity of Absinthe into the glass is 25-50ml.
Allow Absinthe to soak with sugar cube and then rest on the spoon.
Set light to the sugar cube and allow it to caramelize, melt and drip into Absinthe.
To watch Absinthe louche add iced water to it.
This is popular method in recent times especially in Absinthe bars in the Czech Republic. This method was scorned by many drinkers.
* Care should be taken when setting alcohol alight *
A quality Absinthe which contains real essential oils is needed for the Absinthe to louche. If you cannot buy quality bottled Absinthe you can buy essences from Absinthe Kit.com to make your own top-quality, classic wormwood Absinthe by mixing the distilled herb essence with vodka or Ever clear.
Once you have your quality Absinthe you can enjoy learning how do you serve Absinthe and even use it in cocktails.