ABSINTHOLOGY - ANTHROPOLOGY OF ABSINTHE

[ABSINTHOLOGY]

Hi All !

My name is Arnaud , I’m French and I excuse for my English ! I am in doctorate in Sociology Anthropology and prepares a thesis about the drink "Absinthe". You can see my french site : www.absinthology.org . That made from now on more than 5 years that I am interested truly in the Absinthe in all his forms and with all his actors. I was born into France country not far from Pontarlier and since my tender childhood I always intended to speak about the Green Fairy. As, more as all I am passioned subject and people who live her Absinth’ world. For my anthropological work, I have an ethnological step of ground, i.e. which I travel to the meeting of anybody who want to speak to me well about the Absinth according to their point of view. I began my ground in the area of the East of France and in Switzerland ( The Val de Travers), visiting Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Genève and opening my ground maintaining in Europe: Spain, Portugal, England, Italy, Germany, Tchéquie, Slovaquia, Hongria, Austria, Roumania, Belgium, Holland. And now I want visit USA for my research, the new theatre of the Green Fairy.

I m very interresting to talk with Absinth Drinkers from Burning Man community about absinthe, they approche, the raisons of their absorption,their minds and discovering about the drink, the imaginary and fantasm with the drink, the first reactions of consummers, the ways of drinking, the considerations of absinth flavours in the country of drinking, the news comments about the drink, etc... I m very interesseting about informations between Burning Man event and used Absinthe...are you some informations, contacts for me ? I want know more information and storys about the relation between Absinthe and Burning MAn philosophy.

Best !

ABSINTHOLOGY

[mdmf007]

god I wish i thought of that -

I did my thesis on using rail nationally as a ferry system. Very dry when i think I could have done it on booze!.

[mereth]

There is already at least one thread that I know of that talks about a toned-down version of absinthe being released in the US, and the people who replied talked about the real stuff and their experiences. Make sure and use the Search function above! You might find all you need from that alone!

[Ugly Dougly]

This tribe shoots poison arrows at anthropologists.
Your fire-water, however, is welcome.

[ZaphodBurner]

A new brand of absinthe called "Lucid" follows the old recipes much better than the eastern European / Czech so-called absinthes, which are more like Jaegermeister than the real deal.

It's becoming legal in America because Ted Breaux et al figured out that Pernod and the other old absinthes didn't have nearly as much thujone as previously suspected. Ergo, there are now absinthes available in the US that are equal in flavor and potency to pre-ban flavors.

Avoid Absente (fake, but tasty) and if you're in the US and find a bottle of Lucid, check it out. I compared it directly against a hausgemacht batch that used an 1855 recipe with full-strength grand and petite wormwood, and they tasted nearly identical. It's much better than La Fie, which isn't bad, but artificially colored and louched.

Absinthe doesn't make you hallucinate--standard disclaimers, blahblah if you try to get there the ethanol will get you first, D.T.s = hallucination, etc--and if it's distilled properly it is NOT AT ALL BITTER. I drank about a fifth of it in three days during Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year, 150 proof with full wormwood content. The radical difference between me and everybody else in the party was that I didn't throw up or have a hangover, plus, I was able to socialize and walk in a straight line. I'm an alcohol lightweight, so that's significant.


As for the preparation, the spoon/sugar ritual is kind of a pain in the ass, and "friends don't let friends burn absinthe." I find a 1:1 mixture of real absinthe and water sweetened as necessary--or not--is as good as anything, and much easier to put in a flask and take with you. (During, say, Mardi Gras.) Plus, who cares if it louches; the top-shelf brands didn't always louche, and the bottom-shelf brands used chemicals to fake it.

I first tasted absinthe at Burning Man. No offense to the provider (well-known), but it tasted like ass. The next year I brought my own, and it too tasted like ass. In fact I warned people -not- to drink it.

Ass-less absinthe requires distillation. Makes all the difference. In just about everywhere but New Zealand that involves breaking the law.

Cheers!

Really good absinthe takes at about seven months to age after bottling. Let's see... March, April, May...August..

-c

[ABSINTHOLOGY]

Thank you all for your welcome beloved community of Burning!
It's true that a thesis on absinthe is something exciting and fun, while also being a topic sometimes perilous even dangerous… But the anthropologist that I am able to develop him as a poison control and does not shy not poisoned arrows at the absinthe! So no problem Ugly Dougly !

It is true that recently several chemical and pharmacological analyses have demonstrated the non toxicity directly of thuyone and the fact that in the past overestimated the toxicity of thuyone.

[i]So it is that to change something in your imagination? Is there a sense of disappointment that drink alcoholic product to be like the others? So ends the possibility of physiological hallucinate? What do you think about ?[/i]

Regarding the ritual of absinthe, it is clear that the "purists" of this art called "à la française" does not make it burns absinthe… especially if it is a product made in the rules' Art. For others, more open to other mixtures ritual burning absinthe could provide additional flavors following the caramelization. In short, everything is still a matter of personal taste.

Feel free to send me a message on my personal mailbox if you are interested in that I send you a short questionnaire about your consumption patterns.

[ZaphodBurner]

So it is that to change something in your imagination? Is there a sense of disappointment that drink alcoholic product to be like the others? So ends the possibility of physiological hallucinate? What do you think about ?

I'm sure some people are highly disappointed to discover that they won't hallucinate or whatever. In New Orleans this month, when I offered people samples of 1855-recipe hausgemacht "real absinthe", quite a few people said "Really? Like, with the mushrooms in it and everything?"

So much urban legend surrounds it that even the woman at the absinthe bar didn't really understand what she was talking about.

As for me, I've worked my way through liters of it and the only "fairy" I've experienced is a very lucid state of intoxication, but I can't say that I was disappointed. I think of Van Gogh, Wilde, Hemmingway, most of absinthe-era Paris, etc had ever smoked marijuana they'd have not spoken so much of absinthe.

Regarding the ritual of absinthe, it is clear that the "purists" of this art called "à la française" does not make it burns absinthe… especially if it is a product made in the rules' Art. For others, more open to other mixtures ritual burning absinthe could provide additional flavors following the caramelization. In short, everything is still a matter of personal taste.

Caramelization of the sugar helps it dissolve quicker, but it definately modifies the taste. Reminded me of a raw marshmellow versus a campfire-toasted one.

I'll PM you my e-mail address.

-c