On Absinthe

Absinthe is, as legend goes, the drink that inspired Van Gogh to cut off his left ear and present it to a prostitute he liked. I had the chance to partake of it recently, though fortunately both my ears are still intact.

The drink itself comes in a shot, accompanied by a glass of ice and a sugar cube. This sugar cube is placed in a teaspoon balanced across the glass. Now, the purpose of this setup is to allow mixing of the three elements of ice, sugar and absinthe via fire.

My waiter tried to do it by setting the shot itself on fire. To his great dismay, once the shot was on fire, it was too hot for him to grasp and pour in. After a few attempts of this, he gave up and called another more experienced fellow, to avoid getting his fingers even more scalded.

As the second guy came along, he solved the problem admirably, with a deft flourish of the cup he poured a little of it onto the sugar cube, then set the cube itself on fire. With that touch of flame added in, the remainder of the drink could be poured over the half-melted cube to combine everything into one glorious concotion.

Now you too know how to enjoy this infamous drink.