For the confused, a number of tourist retailers in Austria carry T-shirts with the above slogan. It would be funnier if it wasn’t for the fact that many an importing absintheur in Australia has in fact had their packages turn up in Austria instead.

However, I digress from the intention of this post.

Recent browsing through the Australian Trademarks Registry has alerted us to the fact that those mighty fine Fischer folk at the Vienna Schnapps Museum are in the process of finalising the legal leg work to bring two absinthe products to our antipodean shores from Austria.

The first is Absinth Grüne Fee - I must admit initial nervousness that this might be a ‘Czech’ style ‘absinth’, however referral to the company website indicates that it does louche, so I will hold any judgement until a proper review can be conducted.

The second is Mata Hari - Mark 2. I for one am pleased to see this product now coloured naturally instead for the vibrant radioactive green of past formulations. It still retains its ‘niche’ of being low on the anise to make it an accessible entry point for those otherwise adverse to this particular flavour.

Details are indeed sketchy at this time. However dear reader, as soon as we know more we shall ensure you know as well. Formal trademark approval was only granted late July 2008, so I well expect that we may see these on our markets before the years end.

One begins to develop specific criteria around when you want to have an absinthe, and how you would like an absinthe to be prepared. I for one seem to prefer to partake in absinthe when the weather is warmer, as the chilled water is more refreshing, and yet the ambient temperature allows for the heady aromas to burst forth from the bottle and the glass to add to the olfactory enjoyment.

It is therefore with some trepidation that I review this absinthe, Duplais Verte, as it is below 15 Celsius, wet and miserable outside. I will however press on with this review, but perhaps reserve the right to revisit my thoughts when spring has sprung and conditions are more to my liking.

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This has been a bit of a nostalgic journey for me.

About 9 months ago I left Sydney and moved to Adelaide, yet now here I am, tracing paths in the back streets of Newtown on a Sunday afternoon, much like I used to do on a regular basis. Strong emotion stirs from the familiarity of footsteps on these same roads, the same stray cats, the same eccentric individuals perched in coffee shops or begging in a doorway, passing by the old 19th century houses that I have often thought ‘I’d like to live in that’, thinking about a parallel life that maybe is happening in another time and space.

The popular inner Sydney suburbs of Newtown, Camperdown, Erskineville and surrounds are an appropriate place to reflect on history, particularly the era when absinthe was in its heyday.  In these gracefully decaying streets are the lingering ghosts of previous centuries… the ’Murdering Makins of MacDonaldtown’ who mercilessly did away with at least 13 babies while running a faux-child care operation out of labyrinthine lane ways; the blackened dusty workmen who laboured at the Eveleigh railyards or St Peters Brickworks; the juvenile delinquents of the  ’Glebe Push’ and ‘Forty Thieves’ street gangs, notorious for their trail of theft and assault…

I spy with my little eye….

It is fitting, then, that we invoke these phantoms, that we grasp at the sounds and sights of another time, for on this afternoon both Robert and I journey to the house of our good friend Daniel to partake in something almost 100 years old, our own little time-travel experience….

- a sample of pre-ban Pernod Fils Absinthe, circa 1910.

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 Daniel Hatadi - Still life with Pernod Fils 1910 and Sydney Morning Herald 2008 

After a time of quietude and reverential repose, we are back… and do we have news for you.

Reviews a-plenty are in the works, so make sure you check back for our thoughts on Duplais Verte and St George, amongst quite a few others. The St George review is well worth looking out for, as it is the first Australian tasting of this marque which caused a stir in its native US, as much for its significance (the first absinthe distilled in the US post-ban) as for its formulation (which includes Tarragon and Stinging Nettles, amongst other things). We will also be conducting  some reviews of Ordinaire brands like La Fee Parisienne, Doubs, and Pernod.

If either Carfax or I can stand it, we will also be forcing ourselves to do some tastings of some of the typical ‘absinth’ brands you’re likely to encounter, and what, if anything they are even remotely appropriate for (apart from getting a fire started when you’re wood is a bit damp. No shit, it actually works). So, in the name of scientific endeavour, connoisseurship and the edification of the great unwashed, we will voluntarily imbibe foul smelling liquids and comment upon them. With as little obscenity as possible.

Most importantly, we were recently lucky enough to sample a bottle of preban absinthe, Pernod Fils circa 1910, which was simply sublime. Expect an imminent review with many, many pictures, such as the one by the dedicated, debauched and most generous of Libertines Daniel Hatadi featured above.

On top of all this loveliness, we have interviews, history updates and a series of photographic works in the offing, so stay tuned.

What does one do on their first night in a strange city like San Francisco?

Taking a stroll downtown to go visit the Absinthe Brasserie & Bar should be considered a must for any absintheur. As I am swanning through this fair city for a mixture of work and pleasure, it would be remiss of me to forgo visiting this fine establishment and letting you, dear Absinthe.com.au reader, know all about it. Particularly as their website is absinthe.com (to our absinthe.com.au), we feel a little fraternal affinity from an interweb point of view.

Situated on an easily identifiable corner position between Gough and Hayes Street, this popular establishment has a rich and luxuriously laid out dining area and easily accessible bar area where food may also be purchased alongside ones imbibing. The decor and ambience reflects the French Cafe atmosphere one would desire for a night on the green.

Upon my arrival I was warmly greeted by a namesake, Jonathan (Jonny Raglin), the Principal Bartender for Absinthe. Soon our mutual love and interest in absinthe laid the foundations for comparisons of the Australian and US experiences with absinthe. Of course such conversations should be lubricated with a glass of absinthe. Perched on the bar were two four tap water fountains waiting for my decision….Lucid or the San Franciscan produced St George Absinthe. Neither of which are currently available in Australia.

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Your humble administrator and professional Libertine Robert had the honour of conducting an absinthe tasting last week (at De Nom - one of the most beautiful rooms in Sydney), for our good friends over at Absinthesalon. It was a media-only event, and as far as we can ascertain it was the first stand-alone absinthe tasting to be held in Australia).

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Absinthe is officially in.

Perez Hilton celebrated his 30th birthday at the Beverly Wiltshire in LA this past weekend, and by all accounts it was the bash to attend, with Marc Jacobs, Candis Cayne and a host of other glam people trolling about.

The centrepiece beverage of the night?

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The San Francisco World Spirit Awards were recently held (in San Francisco, as it happens), and it seems Matter-Luginbuhl AG/Absinthe.decame out winners, scoring medals for two different absinthes.

The SF World Spirit Awards are, in their own words, “the first comprehensive, international spirits judging ever held in the United States on an annual basis…Founded in 2000 by Anthony Dias Blue, the Executive Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition and Carol Seibert, the Managing Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the Spirits Competition continues to grow each year in entrants as well as in stature within the industry”. Judges for the competiton have been drawn from the upper eschelons of the US bars and clubs industry, distillers, journalists and editors and, oh dear… two ‘mixologists’. That term is rubbish. You’re a bartender, deal with it.

Anyway, my point is that the brains-trust behind the SF awards seems pretty secure, which cannot necessarily be said for those recently employed by Epicurious to ignorantly trash… pardon, review, the same absinthe which has just won an award.

A legitimate one, at that.

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Absinthe isn’t all green fairies.

We often obsess over whether it is artifical or naturally coloured, whether the natural colour is a commercial chlorophyll or whether a proper natural colouration step is used. So when the colour is removed, we are freed to focus a lot more on the other important characteristics of an absinthe - particularly the aromas and flavours.

Blanche de Fougerolles is, as implied by the name, a blanche - meaning it is a clear absinthe that has not undergone any colouration. It is our invisible fairy. Sometimes called a La Bleue in Switzerland, this style is more popularly associated in context to the illicit Swiss stills that produced bootleg absinthe. This product however is produced by French Distiller Paul Devoille at his family owned distillery exclusively for Liqueurs de France.

The label text of this 74% alc/vol absinthe reads as follows:

This unsweetened apertif is made by individually distilling in high quality grap-based spirit both grand and petit wormwood, green anise, coriander, hyssop, génépi , camomile, fennel, veronica and angelica. The distillates are then carefully blended in accordance to historical methods once again used by Hughes de Miscault at his distillery in North Eastern France. The protocols for this uncolored absinthe come from the recipe listed as “Absinthe suisse blanche” in several well regarded French distillers manuals of the 19th century, including P. Duplais, J.Fritsch and J.de Brevans. It has been finished at 74% alcohol in accordance with these works.”

Enough reading. I unwrap the silver composite foil capsule, pull the T-cork and inhale deeply……..wow.

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“Until very recently the history of absinthe in Australia has largely gone unrecorded. The work of contemporary absinthe researchers such as Gaye Valtilla, Jonathan Carfax and Robert Maxwell have uncovered key details relating to absinthe in 19th century Australia… it has recently been proven that absinthe was indeed being imported into Australia during the 19th century, particularly as several bottles of pre-ban absinthe have recently surfaced in the country with very strong provenance.”

Our history page has now been updated to include some of the latest information on pre-ban absinthe in 19th century Australia. This section of our site is continually growing and expanding as new leads come to light, so be sure to check back often.

Go to: Absinthe - A History in Green