ASTOUNDING ABSINTHE

Finding a Friend for the Notorious Spirit

Being of a certain age, absinthe was a mystery for me as it was banned in my early adulthood. Learning of this almost mythical beverage, I was delighted to finally try it during a conference in Prague in 2005. (I have the remnants of the bottle, which proudly boasts 35 mg/l thujone, that I purchased at the airport; it’s still in my bar.) My mischievous Belgian friends told me that the way to consume absinthe was to add a sugar cube, set the spirit alight, and then consume it in one shot. The only saving grace was that, as I had succumbed to peer pressure and consumed as suggested, they had to follow suit. One of our party lost part of an eyebrow I seem to recall. In another incident, several years later, I was in the 4th arrondissement in Paris and wandered into a cozy bar selling cocktail variations. One of these, an AK-47, was actually a Long Island with a double shot of absinthe on top. A second led to a curtailed evening…

DILUTION

The point of these admissions is that, if the consumer does not look out, absinthe can get them into trouble. (For a detailed insight of the potential downfalls associated with drinking absinthe, look no further than Nathan-Maister’s Absinthe Encyclopedia.) Now, it is widely legalized after an ill-informed decision to ban it in the early 20th century, and today it is enjoying a revival.

The creation of “good” absinthe is challenging (Fig. 1). There are three broad components that need to be considered:

> The spirit base (often GNS).

> Botanicals for maceration prior to distillation (spirit flavor).

> Botanicals for maceration post-distillation (flavor and color).

The botanicals profile for the initial distillate and for flavoring and coloring after distillation are distinctly different. Duplais (1871) includes several absinthe recipes in his detailed text (see Table 1). Commonly, traditional formulations relied on an initial room temperature botanical maceration for 12-24 hours in high-proof spirit (85% ABV). After the maceration is deemed complete, the volume is increased by around 50 percent with water to attain a strength of around 57 percent ABV and two-thirds of this volume distilled. Half of this colorless spirit is

BOTANICALS

MACERATION

DISTILLATION

COLORATION BOTANICALS

ABSINTHE used to infuse the ground botanicals, at 60°C to accelerate flavor and color extraction. The colored and colorless liquids are combined and proofed to the desired strength.

Now as most people know, wormwood is the classic botanical associated with absinthe. It’s also worth noting that the distinction between greater wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) and lesser wormwood (Roman wormwood, Artemisia pontica) should not be dismissed lightly. Using the former to color and flavor an absinthe post-distillation will create a product that is, in my view, more bitter than the purported 100 IBU beers that can occasionally be found. The culprit is principally absinthin (Fig. 2), which has been shown to bind to a range of known bitterness receptors and is considered to be one of the most bitter compounds known.

A. pontica on the other hand is generally considered to contain lower levels of absinthin. This is critical. Absinthin will not distill and so the use of the more commonly available A. absinthium will not risk over-bittering when applied before distillation, whereas macerating it post-distillation will result in significant and unacceptable levels of absinthin in the final product. Some bitterness is desirable though, as it helps to balance the sweetness of the initial distillate.

The distillate and the colored product will though have appreciable bitterness from another source, not least because of the presence of αand β-thujone, major components of wormwood oil. Thujone has often been maligned as the source of absinthism in consumers. Thujone does have some negative health connotations, exacerbated by the questionable claims of Dr. Valentin Mangan in the mid-19th century. Dr. Mangan, a keen student of alcoholism, tested pure wormwood oil on animals and noted that it caused seizures, over and above the effects of alcohol, due to its inhibitory effect on GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) receptors. He therefore drew the conclusion that absinthe was more deleterious to health than other alcoholic beverages. However, the doses required are generally far in excess of what might be consumed via absinthe and so this work also is widely disregarded.

The discussion of the adverse effects of thujone were revived for a while when Nature published an article highlighting the similarity of aspects of the three-dimensional structures of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) and thujone. The three-dimensional structures of compounds are important features for binding to receptors, thus implying potentially similar binding of thujone and THC to the cannabinoid receptors. This has now also been refuted.

DISTILLATION BOTANICALS*

COLOR BOTANICALS*

Artemisia absinthium (25) Artemisia pontica (10)

Green anise (50) Hyssop (10)

Fennel (50)

Lemon balm (5)

Coriander seeds (10) Veronica spp. (5)

Angelica seeds (5) Mint (3)

* Numbers in parenthesis are typical quantities of grams of botanical used per liter of final product, based on recipes listed by Duplais (1871) and Nathan-Maister (2009). Note that the amounts of botanicals typically used for absinthe is an order of magnitude greater than those used for gin production.

Nevertheless the levels of thujone are limited in various pieces of legislation. In the EU, for example, for drinks produced using Artemisia species, a limit of 35 mg/kg is applied, whilst in the US a nominal level of 10 mg/kg is applied. But there have been some historical widespread discrepancies regarding the quantification of thujone. Based on the more specific application of GC-MS, 10 mg/kg does not seem to be overly restrictive and therefore should not preclude the production of authentic modern-day absinthes.

Absinthe should not be consumed as is. At its high proof, it is difficult to imagine it as an enjoyable experience. One common way to prepare absinthe for consumption is to trickle ice water through a slotted spoon that supports a cube of sugar, and this cold sugar solution drips into a glass containing absinthe (Fig. 3). This is in effect the trifecta to cause the formation of oil-derived haze in absinthe — known as louching (Fig. 3). Water, a reduction in temperature, and the addition of sugar (which increases the polarity of water) all contribute to reducing the solubility of the oils in the absinthe, leading to phase separation of the oil content as an extremely stable emulsion.1

Following on from the theme of “absinthe needs a friend”, it can be an extraordinary contributor as an ingredient to mixed drinks. Perhaps most famously, absinthe is used in the construction of an authentic Sazerac cocktail. Born in Louisiana, the Sazerac is based on either rye whiskey or rye in combination with Cognac,2 topped off with a soupçon of absinthe, citrus zest, and — which for me is strictly optional — some form of syrup. Oh, and lest we forget, Peychaud’s bitters is essential. In my view no other commercial bitters work nearly as well in a Sazerac. My personal modifications are to swap out the conventional syrup for agave syrup, and rather than a hint of absinthe, adding in a third of the alcohol volume relative to the main spirit or spirits in the form of absinthe. This is a personal choice and, in any case, care should be taken to ensure that the flavor of the resulting cocktail is not overburdened by absinthe additions.

References

Duplais, P., translated from French to English by M. McKennie, A Treatise on the Manufacture and Distillation of Alcoholic Liquors, facsimile (2008) of the original (1871), Oxygenee Press.

Nathan-Maister, D., The Absinthe Encyclopedia, Oxygenee Press, 2009.

Some absinthes that are currently available are difficult to force into louching, presumably because they contain lower levels of oils in solution, and indeed many do not reach the heady heights of 70 percent ABV or higher. This is not intended to condemn the lower proof absinthes, after all 55+ percent ABV is hardly alcohol-free, but nonetheless could perhaps herald a “nouveau absinthe” category, perhaps adapted to enjoy neat? With the rise of low- and non-alcoholic “spirits,” perhaps we will see the canned Sazerac in the future.

Paul Hughes, Ph.D. is assistant professor of food science and technology at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. For more information visit www.oregonstate.edu or call (541) 737-4595.

1 A modestly controlled experiment in our lab showed that an absinthe louche remained visibly unaltered after four months when kept sealed at room temperature and out of direct sunlight.

2 It is rare to find a reputable drink that combines grape and grain…