absinthe,

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:39 am

Isotopia wrote:But, there isn't going to be a full moon during the event this year.

Last year we had a second new moon in August also known as a Fairy Moon.

Full moons are for werewolves.

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:27 pm

Elorrum wrote:here's a do it yourself absinthe page...
http://www.deadflesh.org/fear/absinthe.html

I also became interested in Absinthe after a few Absinthe oriented themecamps at burning man offering Macerations. I've started at the website above in my journey. These are very interesting decotions that will give you a lesson in wormwood's bitterness while curing malaria. Bitterness can be a good enlighting experience, and I've enjoyed these tinctures. But later all the absinthe snobs here will tell you to spend a ton on commerically distilled absinthe.

These are a delight, and an entirely different beast, but hardly worth the dough. I only try them now for perspective when I offered to me. But since you got a whole case of ethanol you'll probably want to try the redistilled route eventually. And you can do almost as good or better at home. Many commerial absinthe I've discovered are crap, worse than my first try, but then my first was deemed excellent by my friends with dough.

My tips:

As I'm flavoring with herbs and not fermenting new alchohal I believe I'm not moonshining. Else this whole post was a fiction of my imagination.

I was steam distilling herbs such as lavender in a 10L column copper still from Portugal. But for my experiments in absinthe I obtained from them a smaller 2.5L countertop alembic still for about $250. Big part of the expense is the shipping. You can find these folks on ebay nowadays: search copper alembic stills. I've had good luck with this one. One can redistill about a litter plus herbs at a time in this size. Of course larger sizes are available for more dough. I use an electic fondue heater for safety and place the round pot in a slightly larger steel mixing bowl with water for a double boiler.

One problem I had using everclear is at it's low boiling point often much of the herbs aren't ported over and the distillate taste more like gin or everclear back. With some aqueous material in the motherpot more essentail oils end my the final distillate around 160 proof. This was more true for the important anise flavor than wormwood. 100 Proof Vodka works I find with of course a lower yeild to make a higher Proof Absinthe more like traditional 140-160 range.

A good source for quality herbs by the pound I've used is San Francisco Herb & Natural Food Co. www.herbspicetea.com or 1-800-227-2830.

I find I like mint or lemon balm as one of my ingredients and don't care much for corriander. Used afterwards it also adds a nice green color. Anise seed, star anise or fennel are much the same to me so I use all three. For early experimentation I've tried distilling herbs separately to mix later and together in one pot. I will orginally filter herbs out of macerate. But also later tried throwing the wet herbs in with additonal liquid for a final boil. Collect and taste distillate at different points along the way to be remixed after. Here's where the art of distillation comes in. My still has a build in thermometer. A hydrometer can be used later to determine proof but the temperature will tell you mostly where your at.
Throw away the mother liquor afterwards.

Email me off list if you'd like to discuse this further or just want to bring your maceration over for final processing.

MarkM3 · Post by **MarkM3** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:16 am

Sorry for the delayed reply, I havn't logged in a while.
Igneouss said:

Thujone is a documented deadly poison. As a chemist you would know that. Yet you seem to be advocating "adding as much as possible". Can I assume that you buy the extract and drink it straight? Thus relieving us of any worries that you might attend BM?

You are partially correct. thujones are a group of compounds, not a compound itself, thus the toxicity would vary. Also, "Extremely high doses of thujone are dangerous, and have been shown to
cause convulsions in laboratory animals, but the concentration of thujone
actually found in absinthe is many thousands of times lower than this." (reference: http://thujone.info/index.html)

The previous reference also has great documentation on both pro- and anti- thujone arguments for absinthes makeup.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:08 pm

I am a second year distiller who specializes in absinthe...I use only my home grown herbs and my own unique blend for my grain alcohol (6row and black patent)...if you need any consulting let me know...for distilling, homebrewing, mead, cider, wine making then i dabble in other zymurgy (sake, ...I plan on having 5 gallons of absinthe, 3gallons of my orange sunshine..(moonshine flavored with sweet orange peel and crazy sweet stevia)...16 gallons of 9month mead, 10 gallons of cucumber pils with a hint of black pepper, 10 gal mango wheat, 10 gallons of something I haven't thought of yet...maybe another baltic double chocolate mocha porter...or a white chocolate brown ale...5 gallons of a cider...then over summer i'm working on collecting, cleaning, sanitizing, and decorating can necklaces similar to what they passed out at canfest this year in reno but with more fur to use as cups...

The trick to making superior absinthe is to use fresh herbs and collect only the hearts...start with a strong base alchy soak herbs for a week run through the still again...use coloring herbs for a day

absinthe advice: have fun with it...traditional isn't only the best...I use brewing hops for more zest or lavender for aroma...basically as long as you have the trinity fennel, wormwood, and anise you are fine so why not capture the terrior of where you live and share where you are from...all of the other countries deviated from the mean enough to be distinct why not the different regions of America?

Also if you need help with still design let me know...

recommended brands: duplias jade cladestine

if any of the other homebrewers/hg distillers want to have a friendly contest one of the afternoons aka an excuse to share ideas and philosophy while getting shit housed...let me know

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:10 am

FATCAMP wrote:I am a second year distiller who specializes in absinthe...I use only my home grown herbs and my own unique blend for my grain alcohol (6row and black patent)...if you need any consulting let me know...for distilling, homebrewing, mead, cider, wine making then i dabble in other zymurgy (sake, ...I plan on having 5 gallons of absinthe, 3gallons of my orange sunshine..(moonshine flavored with sweet orange peel and crazy sweet stevia)...16 gallons of 9month mead, 10 gallons of cucumber pils with a hint of black pepper, 10 gal mango wheat, 10 gallons of something I haven't thought of yet...maybe another baltic double chocolate mocha porter...or a white chocolate brown ale...5 gallons of a cider...then over summer i'm working on collecting, cleaning, sanitizing, and decorating can necklaces similar to what they passed out at canfest this year in reno but with more fur to use as cups...

The trick to making superior absinthe is to use fresh herbs and collect only the hearts...start with a strong base alchy soak herbs for a week run through the still again...use coloring herbs for a day

absinthe advice: have fun with it...traditional isn't only the best...I use brewing hops for more zest or lavender for aroma...basically as long as you have the trinity fennel, wormwood, and anise you are fine so why not capture the terrior of where you live and share where you are from...all of the other countries deviated from the mean enough to be distinct why not the different regions of America?

Also if you need help with still design let me know...

recommended brands: duplias jade cladestine

if any of the other homebrewers/hg distillers want to have a friendly contest one of the afternoons aka an excuse to share ideas and philosophy while getting shit housed...let me know

*swoon*

you might contact "Goathead" here on eplaya. He can be found in "Da Bar" fairly often.
He's a super guy, and a home brewer, with "home brew......." camp.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Thu Feb 03, 2011 4:33 am

just did

Freesponge · Post by **Freesponge** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:08 pm

Hi guys, I'm coming down from Canada And I was wondering what brands of absinthe are generally available at liquor stores since customs might confiscate my bottles.

I'm looking for french absinthe because I tried Czech (Vodka+wormwood+artificial flavors) "Absinthe" and it tasted awful despite having a lower alcohol content. Here we have a Brand called Pernod and it keeps pretty close to the max Thujone limit, its 68% alcohol or ~140 proof, anything comparable state side?

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:31 pm

kubler 53 is prob the better of the most prominent in stores that I have seen...

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:14 pm

I like Lucid

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:26 pm

I'm a fan of Ted but after the Jades...Lucid was a bit of a disappointment...but not that bad...the branding should have been different instead of buying into the French wine industries demon-ish persona...but I guess the eerie branding is appealing to us Americans...kubler 53 is pretty simple it really isn't that special...I highly suggest just making it yourself...by your 4th batch it should pay for itself...assuming you make a snazzy still and have the passion to do it well...

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:54 pm

This is a good, sweet, original Old World spirit. It was our Kryptonite Kum in 2010

We brought home some of this from Spain and will have some in our stash at BM2011. It's only 80% (160 proof) and tastes like Vick's Formula 44 with a kick. It is very strong black licorice flavor but carries a helluva wollop!

We just ordered this and are curious about the cannibis flavored 140 proof.

This is probably the closest to a true French distilled variety for preparing with the fountain and sugar cube. Yeah,,, we'll have some of that for our guests too. This is what we take to parties locally and is our favorite overall.

This will be our Kryptonite Kum this year.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:02 pm

10726_143574713644_503603644_2794948_513166_n by cortthump, on Flickr

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:12 pm

Freesponge wrote:Hi guys, I'm coming down from Canada And I was wondering what brands of absinthe are generally available at liquor stores since customs might confiscate my bottles.

I'm looking for french absinthe because I tried Czech (Vodka+wormwood+artificial flavors) "Absinthe" and it tasted awful despite having a lower alcohol content. Here we have a Brand called Pernod and it keeps pretty close to the max Thujone limit, its 68% alcohol or ~140 proof, anything comparable state side?

Pernod is available here for around $80 US. Probably the most prominent in any liquor store in the states is something called "Absinte" which is not the real deal,,,, maceration at best,,,, flavored ethanol at worst. I bought some to share with family one Thanksgiving,,,, very sweet,,,, almost syrup. It's okay if you don't try to convince yourself it is absinthe.

We've never had a problem taking booze through customs.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:26 pm

yeah I doubt customs gets you...I remember one year my buddies and I traveled up to whistler and got popped for half ounce of calis finest trees and an unregistered .357 with (4) .38 specials...Huge storm so my buddies pops insisted he take the gun...the big blunt 20 mins before the boarder prob didn't help out cause...the station kinda popped up out of nowhere at 3am...lol everything was taken sent to the US...got laughed at...slept at a truck stop in washington then snuck back over the next morning with the 2 Js I kept in my sock...but anyway I also had a huge bag of ganja stout...they could careless about...you could always rebottle into wine bottles and re-cork them...

Freesponge · Post by **Freesponge** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:09 pm

[quote="Trishntek"]

Pernod is available here for around $80 US. Probably the most prominent in any liquor store in the states is something called "Absinte" which is not the real deal,,,, maceration at best,,,, flavored ethanol at worst. I bought some to share with family one Thanksgiving,,,, very sweet,,,, almost syrup. It's okay if you don't try to convince yourself it is absinthe.

We've never had a problem taking booze through customs.[/quote]

Whaaat? This is the first time EVER that I have heard of Booze in the US costing more than up here. A bottle of Pernod goes for $50-60 here and there are shit tons of taxes on top of that as well. I guess i'll be bringing my own Absinthe down in that case. At least beer is cheaper. I'll be bringing it regardless since its the same stuff. Most of the group members are barely 21 AND we are going to burning man.

Absinte is just a different spelling, usually its the czech style which is basically some random grain alcohol with little more than wormwood and green food colouring. The 'Absints' or absinthe knock offs usually go for 40-50/bottle but have a lower alcohol rating than the Pernod.

I don't drink absinthe straight or traditionally though. Typically I mix it with sugar, water, ice and lemon juice.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:12 pm

Freesponge wrote:
Trishntek wrote:
Pernod is available here for around $80 US. Probably the most prominent in any liquor store in the states is something called "Absinte" which is not the real deal,,,, maceration at best,,,, flavored ethanol at worst. I bought some to share with family one Thanksgiving,,,, very sweet,,,, almost syrup. It's okay if you don't try to convince yourself it is absinthe.

We've never had a problem taking booze through customs.

Whaaat? This is the first time EVER that I have heard of Booze in the US costing more than up here. A bottle of Pernod goes for $50-60 here and there are shit tons of taxes on top of that as well. I guess i'll be bringing my own Absinthe down in that case. At least beer is cheaper.

Absinte is just a different spelling, usually its the czech style which is basically some random grain alcohol with little more than wormwood and green food colouring. The 'Absints' or absinthe knock offs usually go for 40-50/bottle but have a lower alcohol rating than the Pernod.

I don't drink absinthe straight or traditionally though. Typically I mix it with sugar, water, ice and lemon juice.

Don't know about canadian law, but Absinthe was just recently, legalized in the U.S.

Freesponge · Post by **Freesponge** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 10:57 pm

Absinthe has never been illegal up here. Absinthe was legalized in 07 stateside and Thujone content is limited to 10 ppm or 10mg/kg. Pernod Is borderline legal. Wormwood is a flavoring and Thujone is toxic.

Before you could get any hallucinogenic properties from Thujone you would die from toxicity. Its kind of like getting high off of Hemp, except you can actually die from Thujone.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:51 pm

Freesponge wrote:Absinthe has never been illegal up here. Absinthe was legalized in 07 stateside and Thujone content is limited to 10 ppm or 10mg/kg. Pernod Is borderline legal. Wormwood is a flavoring and Thujone is toxic.

Before you could get any hallucinogenic properties from Thujone you would die from toxicity. Its kind of like getting high off of Hemp, except you can actually die from Thujone.

what a way to die though

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:32 am

you would die of alcohol before hallucinating...unless you use morning glory and turbina as secret ingredients...

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:54 am

FATCAMP wrote:you would die of alcohol before hallucinating...unless you use morning glory and turbina as secret ingredients...

That has indeed been scientifically proven and was the primary reason for the ban being lifted.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:08 am

most likely lifted to generate more tax money off of high alcohol and a semi novel product with lots of hype..the gov is no dummy bout makin that money...(just budgeting/spending)...

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:21 am

Ive no interest in hallucinating off absinthe, I can do that with sleep deprivation. I like absinthe for its rituals.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:32 am

if you do it for the ritual you drink inferior absinthe...all ya should need is 3 parts cold drip...quality absinthe doesn't need sugar let alone flaming sugar...I might as well explore nature's consciousness...

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:49 am

Thats why Id like to see European absinth...from what Ive read, American absinthe is missing a key ingrediant...Im guessing worm wood. I like fire, so the flaming ritual is a must. Supposedly, according to youtube, the Germans make an absinthe especially for the fire ritual.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:59 am

haha a handful of the american ones have have wormwood...some push it because the measuring instrument isn't very accurate I hear...check it out http://www.drinkupny.com/category_s/136.htm duplias and jade...bangin

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:27 pm

Lucid! that was the bottle stolen from me in 2008! I even hid it!

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:17 pm

Never been too impressed with that.

FATCAMP · Post by **FATCAMP** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:52 pm

haha ugly I was going to smuggle it in a scope bottle back to the states when I was in HS but I pussed out...but really look at the research...euro absinthe doesn't make you hallucinate...how ever traditional French a Suiss are works of art...

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 9:12 pm

Scope mouthwash is 18.9% alcohol.

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:08 pm

TomServo wrote:Thats why Id like to see European absinth...from what Ive read, American absinthe is missing a key ingrediant...Im guessing worm wood. I like fire, so the flaming ritual is a must. Supposedly, according to youtube, the Germans make an absinthe especially for the fire ritual.

Eichelberger "Brute" is an 80% bitter from Germany that absolutely needs sugar.

Their "Limite'e" is considered the best Germany has to offer.

We've tried three different German distilled absinthes without falling in love with any of them.

I agree that most absinthes really do not need the sugar, but chicks really seem to get off on the ritual. I have a 4-spigot fountain with spoons and glasses about which women seem to be very curious. Maybe it's the louche action that makes them think of other liquids that are white and dangerous,,,,

absinthe,

BM's absinthe tradiion

look no further

Re: look no further