While we're on the subject of beer/alcohol, has anyone here tried absinthe and does it truly live up to the hype?
Thats a complicated question you ask with no simple or clear answer (in my opinion). There is some debate about the absinthe of today vs the absinthe the impressionists guzzled. Spain is the only place absinthe has been distilled nonstop during the past 100 years and is home to meny of the finest brands. After the EU lifted the prohibition dozens if not hundreds of brands sprung up consisting of a variety of thujone strenghts, recipes and qualities. There are even one or two thujone-free brands which are sold in the US. So it goes without saying, unless you have done your homework, you cannot expect to pick up just any bottle and expect to be drinking what Lautrec was drinking.
As I understand, a good part of the absinthe-phobia and prohibition began in response to a fellow who murdered his family while on a bender (although he wasn't only drinking absinthe). However, it was the fact the absinthe was a very inexpensive and very strong liquor which first lead to its original popularity. Today, absinthe's lore is a combination of the memories of both those who loved it and those who feared it in the late 19th century, fermented for about 100 years in the minds of those who could not drink it.
I have tried it a few times and enjoyed it but I didn't see faries or cut my ear off and send it to a prostitue or anything. I heard one argument which said absinthe's high alcohol content will cancel out the effects of the thujone after 3 or so glasses. I am not sure if I agree with that, my fuzzy memory recalls a slightly different buzz than from alcohol alone the times I drank it to excess but perhaps that was due to my expectations.
There are a couple of brands today which boast a thujone content several times higher than the average content. I haven't tried those but a guy who's opinion I certianly trust on matters of intoxication has. He said the effects were like that of a hard narcotic. However, he said the high wormwood content made it extremely bitter and hard to drink (I think he drank it straight), concluding he would rather spend the $100 price tag on hard narcotics to have the same effect (something I wouldn't recomend myself).
If anyone needs some absinthe spoons, I'm your man
I always collect and save my Celebrators though - Each bottle comes with a little white ram figure - The only beer I know of that includes anything close to a Little Rubber Guy
I remember that beer, its been so long since I have seen it around here I didn't think they made it any more.
The only other thing like the ram figure I have seen was some bottle of wine a friend had once. It had a little plastic black bull on it with white horns that you could move (as a result of its assembly, rather than purposeful articulation). I still have the bull figure but don't know the name of the wine.
