473082 Wed Dec 26 16:40:15 -0800 2007 24 2 Los Angeles Area 0 3238402 I'd like to buy a bottle. I know that a few bars in the area serve it. Do places like BevMo carry it? Bristol Farms? edit: Sorry for the multiple posts. I was getting an error from the site stating that somehting went wrong when I tried to submite the post... Looks like it was working after all. Wed Dec 26 16:40:15 -0800 2007 13197 spankbot 1 3238410 bevmo has absinthe on their website, so i'm guessing they probably have it in the store as well. Wed Dec 26 16:45:00 -0800 2007 3238402 10704 wilafur 1 3238428 Silver Lake Wine has Kubler Absinthe. Wed Dec 26 16:54:06 -0800 2007 3238402 12984 love2eat 1 3238653 Wine and Liquor Depot in Van Nuys carries both Kubler and Lucid (the two available brands) and was fully stocked last week. Wine House in West LA also carries both though when I was there last week they were out of stock. Wed Dec 26 18:40:50 -0800 2007 3238402 10132 sku 1 3238732 wally's carries a few brands lucid and ? - but they're out of stock and have a waiting list. Wed Dec 26 19:28:42 -0800 2007 3238402 11446 dtud 1 3238788 Thanks very much everyone. Just got back from Silver Lake Wine with my bottle of Kubler Absinthe ($56.00). They even had the proper imbibing paraphernalia! Local BevMo is sold out until next year. So, I have a date with the green fairy this evening. You you don't hear back from me for a week you'll know why. Wed Dec 26 20:03:18 -0800 2007 3238402 13197 spankbot 2 3240937 What imbibing paraphernalia did you get? Glasses? Spoons? And how much were they? Thu Dec 27 15:10:47 -0800 2007 3238788 10132 sku 3 3241649 Glass was 15, I think think the spoon was 5. Thu Dec 27 20:18:29 -0800 2007 3240937 13197 spankbot 1 3239101 UPDATE: Kubler Absinthe isn't green, it actually a clear, Swiss style absinthe thats known for it's milky white louche with a slight blue hue to it. Very potent stuff non-the-less. I've been reading about the lore behind absinthe since I was in college, so it's nice to have finally tried it. I now feel certain kinship with the sullen subjects of Degas L'absinthe. Thu Dec 27 00:05:53 -0800 2007 3238402 13197 spankbot 2 3239381 Is the blue hue present while in the bottle, or only after adding the sugar and water? My understanding was that the green color only arises after the traditional preparation. Thu Dec 27 06:56:03 -0800 2007 3239101 127538 wutzizname 2 3240261 I thought no absinthe was green until it was "prepared". Thu Dec 27 11:39:10 -0800 2007 3239101 11201 Diana 3 3240461 Nope, mostly green. Thu Dec 27 12:33:21 -0800 2007 3240261 12141 Adsvino 4 3240566 gotcha, thanks! Thu Dec 27 13:02:08 -0800 2007 3240461 11201 Diana 3 3240927 Green Absinthe, like Lucid, starts as a clear green liquid. Once you add water, the louche forms and it becomes white and cloudy. An Absinthe Blanche, like Kubler, is white, not green. Thu Dec 27 15:08:09 -0800 2007 3240261 10132 sku 1 3241574 spankbot, I've heard and read so many stories about absinthe ----- please tell me what it tastes like? Thanks in advance ................ Thu Dec 27 19:43:06 -0800 2007 3238402 15678 eartha 2 3241661 The main flavor component in absinthe is anise seed, it's very liquorice like. I detected a little mint in mine as well. Thu Dec 27 20:21:21 -0800 2007 3241574 13197 spankbot 3 3241708 Thanks for the description. I had heard it was a liquorice-like and although I enjoy black liquorice sticks as candy, I don't like that flavor in food or drinks. I know it seems strange....I can eat a bag of black liquorice strings/sticks but really dislike even the hint of it in food or drink and avoid anise and other flavors like it. I avoid fennel if it is served in a dish but can eat it crisp and raw. I have this romantic vision of you sharing your Absinthe with a drawing room full of Counts and Countesses - it reminds me of Agatha Christie and "murder afoot", all those wonderful mysteries and old stories of Absinthe being poison. Thu Dec 27 20:47:48 -0800 2007 3241661 15678 eartha 4 3241736 How about just sharing it with a room full of Chowhounds. Thu Dec 27 20:59:42 -0800 2007 3241708 127538 wutzizname 1 3241846 Not to spoil anyone's fun, but it's my understanding that none of the Absinthe sold in the US is the same as the absinthe of myth and lore. The absinthe sold now is just a liquor which has an extremely high alcohol content and thus quite capable of changing your perspective, but does NOT contain thujone, a wormwood byproduct, and a chemical which is banned even in Europe. The companies that are manufacturing and distributing Absinthe in a marketing ploy usually coyly suggest their formula is secret; but what is not secret is that they are not permitted to make it with the chemical that was the alleged hallucigenic substance. Again, it will still knock you on your tuches, but it's not going to take you to the green fairies. Thu Dec 27 22:50:39 -0800 2007 3238402 19139 Bruin2 2 3241867 I'm not sure that's right. Check out http://www.wormwoodsociety.org The same site also lists mail order sources. Or you could grow a wormwood tree, and soak whatever you'd like in wormwood! Thu Dec 27 23:11:42 -0800 2007 3241846 10977 Dylan 2 3242409 Bruin2: False, many still do, including the new Lucid brand. Plus all the absinthe I buy is from Europe over the net--only consumed in the US. Fri Dec 28 08:24:22 -0800 2007 3241846 12141 Adsvino 3 3243104 I would certainly not profess to be an expert in the field. I will tell you that when I was in Europe last year, Barcelona to be exact, I tracked down a bar that supposedly had the "real" Absinthe after I had read a bunch of articles. I spoke with the proprietor who told me that while the stuff is most definitely potent, it is not the same as the Absinthe that was sold up to the 50's. If it is in fact the same stuff, I stand corrected (although truth be told, even the articles mentioned in this thread are a little vague, and inconsistent about the 'facts" surrounding Absinthe. Fri Dec 28 12:25:01 -0800 2007 3242409 19139 Bruin2 4 3243680 There is a pretty strict ppm limit on thujone in the newly legal absinthes, but it happens to match the profile of the preban stuff. To keep it local, there is a westside bartender who prepares his own absinthe, and it's positively stinky with wormwood. For obvious reasons, I can't name the place, but if you keep your ear to the ground... Fri Dec 28 16:27:53 -0800 2007 3243104 10702 condiment 2 3242668 The New Yorker ran an excellent article on absinthe in March last year. You can access a summary of it at their website: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/03/13/060313fa_fact_turner The upshot is that you need to be careful about your absinthe source. Some producers will dye liquor green and call it absinthe. At the time of the article, absinthe wasn't available for purchase in the U.S., so people would have to bring it from Europe or buy it over the internet. According to the article, you cannot separate authentic absinthe from the traditional distillation process, which removes all the thujone from the wormwood and renders the drink nontoxic. And you can't get a traditional process without the original equipment used in the days before absinthe was banned. The producer that the reporter visited in France distills an absinthe that is deep green -- a color attained through a complex tea of green herbs -- and that louches to "an opalescent peridot flecked with amber." Hope you find this helpful! Fri Dec 28 09:49:51 -0800 2007 3241846 144484 safsap 1 3243087 Folks, there are a large number of posts in this thread that aren't about where to find absinthe in LA. Unfortunately, since they aren't a single sub-thread, we can't split and move them, but please, if you want to discuss absinthe in general, start a new thread on the Spirits board rather than continuing the conversation here -- you can post a link to that thread in this thread to invite people over to join you. Any further non-local posts here will be removed. Fri Dec 28 12:16:59 -0800 2007 3238402 2 The Chowhound Team