"Absinthe" kits

Like many others in the absinthe trade, I get absinthe news and blog alerts every day from Google. And over the last few weeks, the number of alerts that pretend to answer:-

1. What percentage alcohol is absinthe?
or
2. What are the effects of absinthe?
or
3. Sites for purchasing absinthe

has grown from a trickle to a flood. Either business is good, or very bad for these spammers who trick readers to read an article that links to a site selling so-called "absinthe" kits.

Now if this company was honest in its approach to other real absinthes, and to the nature of its own product, then I would just get bored of the blogs and hope that others would too. But their blog articles are wrong in so many ways, I feel I have no alternative but to comment. Here goes:-

Quote: Cost of bottled Absinthe can be quite high, over $100 sometimes, and you may not be able to get it delivered to your country.

Fact: very, very rarely over $100, and there are very few countries where you can't now easily buy or order a high quality absinthe for $80 or less.

Quote: Also, you may find it very hard to find real wormwood Absinthes because according to some countries legislation restricts wormwood as it contains the chemical thujone.

Fact: Most countries around the world (including USA) allow a level of thujone that is identical to that found in 19th century Paris. But, in any case, this is not relevant since the level of thujone in Absinthe Kit's "essences" will not produce any "green fairy effects" unless you drink enough of it to die from alcohol poisoning. Absinthe Kit's suggestion that thujone level is important is blatant deception.

Quote: AbsintheKit.com sell Absinthe essences, that contains real common wormwood , both to the Absinthe industry and to general customers.

They may sell to companies that sell essence-based absinthe, but none of those companies are selling products that absinthe drinkers would recognise as real absinthe. I challenge Absinthe Kit to produce a list of Absinthe brands made with their essences.

Quote: To make your very own bottle of the Green Fairy, mix 20ml of essence with 730ml of neutral alcohol such as vodka or Everclear and add some sugar (about 75g) if you want a smoother Absinthe. Shake the bottle until the sugar has dissolved and there you have it, your very own Absinthe.

Fact: this is not real absinthe, anymore than grape juice and vodka can be blended to make wine (or blended together with soda to make champagne!).

And so on.

Does this matter? Yes, because it deceives those who buy these products into thinking they are getting real absinthe. It preys on the ignorance of some consumers, probably of younger, poorer and more susceptible consumers too.

However it gets even worse: the Wikipedia article on absinthe states this:

"Numerous recipes for homemade 'absinthe' are available on the Internet. Many of these require mixing a kit that contains store-bought herbs or wormwood extract with high-proof liquor such as vodka or Everclear. However, it is not possible to make authentic absinthe without distillation. Besides being unpleasant to drink and not authentic absinthe, these homemade concoctions contain uncontrolled amounts of thujone and absinthins, and may be poisonous — especially if they contain wormwood extract. Many such recipes call for the use of a large amount of wormwood extract (essence of wormwood) with the intent of increasing alleged psychoactive effects. Consuming essence of wormwood is very dangerous. It can cause kidney failure and death from excessive thujone, which in large quantities is a convulsive neurotoxin. Thujone is also a powerful heart stimulant; it is present in authentic absinthe only in extremely small amounts."

In other words, the products of Absinthe Kit could kill.

The Wormwood Society comments as follows:-

Important Note: DO NOT BUY ABSINTHE “KITS”! These are gimmicks aimed at the gullible. They will not make absinthe or anything remotely like it. The people selling these kits either know nothing about absinthe or how it is made, or simply don't care. The results of these kits are a positively vile-tasting, insanely bitter, potentially poisonous mess.

Looking further at the Absinthe Kit site, I find that it is owned by Gert Strand of Sweden who also operates Partymanshop. This site sells Scotch whisky oak chips, which, it is suggested, will turn vodka into scotch, as well as a wide range of liqueur essences, all to be added to vodka to produce drinks that are labelled to look like Malibu, Southern Comfort, Passoa, etc.

Now in case Absinthe Kit feel that I am unfairly picking on them, I have looked at other similar companies.

Green Devil states: "There is a chemical in traditional absinthe called Thujone, this chemical is banned in food products by the FDA. This one chemical is what makes absinthe illegal to sell.

Companies and the liquor industry have found that by filtering out this chemical they can legally sell their brand of absinthe in the USA."

Not true.

And "Absinthe is legal in many countries in Europe. But it is not the same as the absinthe of old."

Not true.

Now maybe I am being unfair to these companies. I have to admit to not having drunk their products. They may be excellent wormwood flavored vodka. But they are not absinthe, and the sooner they stop deceiving consumers, the better. Do any of my readers have any nice things to say about these products?

Real Absinthe comes to Asia

Malaysia, truly Asia. I have to admit to a soft spot for Malaysia, having lived there, as an "orang putih*" from 1999 to 2002. It's tropical, but not impossibly so. The people I worked with then were straightforward, very hard-working, and fun to be with. The food was amazing (if sometimes a little too hot for me) and the shopping was excellent value. Finally my second daughter was born there and so boasts a Malaysian birth certificate that we can't decipher. So when I had the opportunity to start selling both La Clandestine and Angélique absinthes in Malaysia, I was thrilled.

The official launch was held at Werners in Bukit Bintang at the end of March 2009 (when, through bad planning, I was in Los Angeles), and has already been covered by a photographer's blog, by a local liquor blogger, and by another local blog. The photographer has posted more photos on their main site: click on Events, then on TWE Absinthe Launching to see all 86 photos from the launch party.

A short selection follows. The guests and media gathered at the bar to witness the preparation of the Absinthe cocktails:


The Fairy Station, where traditional methods and shooters are shown, with Absinthe Fountain and Spoon:


Local mixologist, Ben Ng, demonstrating traditonal preparation methods:


Thanks, Ben!

Two local mixologists shaking up the absinthe cocktails:


and the traditional French method with sugar cube over Absinthe spoon:


A big thank you to Vincent and Michelle of TWE for organising this event: prospects look great.

This article is headed "Real Absinthe comes to Asia." But isn't real absinthe already in Asia? There is a small selection of good absinthes, including both La Clandestine and the Jades, in Japan.

There are other cheaper absinthes/absinths in Asia: La Fée has made it to Thailand (primarily the Bohemian version) and Singapore. Sebor has apparently been shipped to China and Fruko is in Taiwan. But to date, none of them seems to have focused on traditional consumption methods which will, in my opinion, be important to create a long-term sustainable business.

I like the fact that while absinthe flaming was apparently allowed at the event, Ben and the Malaysia team actively promoted traditional consumption methods. I already wrote that I sometimes found the Malaysian food too hot, and I also prefer it if my absinthe is not served too hot! Durians are too "heaty;" absinthe, preferably with "sky juice" is "cooling!" Best - lah!

* For my readers outside Malaysia, you may wish to study Manglish to understand some of this article!

Mossfest 2009

Absinthe lovers love nothing more than getting together to share their enthusiasm and passion for absinthe. The Louche Fests held by members of the Louched Lounge are legendary, sometimes going on for several days at a time.

So, while visiting Los Angeles in March 2009, I was delighted to be offered a Mossfest. At first the name Mossfest upset me: I was concerned that I would be the main attraction at a barbecue. But thanks to Timothy, Molly and Alyssa I soon realised that there was nothing to worry about except my waistline and the possibility of a mild hangover the next day.

Our host, Timothy:


who finally made it onto his harp about 3:30 on Sunday morning.

Alyssa and Tim, with Misanthrope playing in the background:


Local bands treated us to many classics with a rendition of Gogol Bordello's "Start Wearing Purple" probably the hit of the night.

Chris on harp:


Kurt, straight from work:


There may be better photos of Kurt added later ...

And of course the absinthes:


The mysterious Verte Moss absinthe supplied by an anoymous donor was especially well received.

After an hour of trying, Mossfest 2009 achieved a first with live webcam feed of the party, and the broadcast was watched by more than 80 spectators all over the USA, and as far away as France. Hopefully my wife didn't find the broadcast!

A great evening, night and morning, followed by washing up, brunch and a drive along the ocean: what more could I want? Although it didn't live up to the several day louche fests celebrated by those on the Louched Lounge, members there commented:

"Boy, you look all really really drunk, good one!"

and

"Looked like a bunch of drunken hippies..."

So it appears that the event objectives were achieved.

Cheers, and thanks again to Timothy for allowing us to trash the place, and to Alyssa and Molly for the culinary delights.

Mossfest 2010 is already booked for Grand Rapids, MI ...

Press Release: Point/Counterpoint

Recently, Admiral Imports put out the following press release regarding its new brands of 'absinth' that will soon be available in the U.S.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I've prepared some counterpoints that further explain certain assertions contained within the release. The original release is in regular type, my counterpoints are in bold.

_______________


CEDAR GROVE, N.J., March 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Admiral Imports has announced that it has been named the exclusive importer of "Green Fairy," "Djabel," and "Koruna" Absinths from the Czech Republic. The new acquisitions position Admiral Imports to be the leading U.S. importer of Absinth.


Absinth, a highly alcoholic spirit derived from several herbs including wormwood, contains the chemical "Thujone" which has been surrounded by myths about its effects. Although Absinth production probably dates back to the 1600s, it gained popularity in the early 1900s when cheap industrial producers began artificially coloring it with toxic chemicals like copper and zinc making people sick.

While it is true that there were unscrupulous producers who were using adulterants in their absinthes, the more popular brands such as Pernod Fils were producing high quality and perfectly safe product as early as 1805. Literally millions of people throughout Europe and the U.S. drank absinthe on an almost daily basis, without incident.

It was the abuse of the product (both high and low quality absinthes) by end-stage alcoholics where the majority of the purported side effects were noted. Many of these people would ingest absinthe straight, not diluted with 3-5 parts water as it should be prepared. Ingesting alcohol of any kind at that potency can cause serious health problems.

Poor testing incorrectly linked the thujone to these illnesses. As a result, it became almost universally banned with the exception of what is now the Czech Republic where production continued uninterrupted. In 2007, the ban on Absinth in the U.S. was lifted.

Recent scientific studies have revealed that the levels of thujone in absinthe during the Belle Epoque were highly overestimated. Other studies have shown that thujone, which can also be found in common culinary ingredients such as sage, does not exist in high enough amounts to cause any effect, even in those products that have the highest reported levels.

While poor testing might have played a part in the banning of absinthe, propaganda and prohibitionist sentiments played just as much of a role. Absinthe, being a high proof, extremely popular product was the perfect target. Using pseudoscience and false logic, the case against absinthe was built, and ultimately led to absinthe’s demise.

There were several countries in which Absinthe was never banned, including Spain (Pernod Fils relocated to Tarragona after the ban in France), Japan, the U.K., and the Czech Republic. However, to date, there has been no evidence that Absinthe (or Absinth) was produced on a large scale in the Czech Republic until Rodomil Hill’s company began operations in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s. If this evidence does exist, it has not yet been made public.

Absinth is typically green from the natural herbs from which it is produced or from additives and became known by the moniker "la Fee Verte" or "Green Fairy" in English.

Traditionally made absinthe comes in two major forms, clear (Blanche or Le Bleu) or green (verte). Clear absinthes do not go through the final coloration step that lends the green color to a ‘verte’. This final step involves soaking certain herbs such as petite wormwood, melissa and hyssop in the clear product, where the chlorophyll is transferred from the herb into the alcohol. There is also historical evidence of a red absinthe that was produced during the Belle Epoque. Surviving examples of red absinthe have not yet been discovered, only an advertising poster for Absinthe Rosinette.

Artificially colored absinthes that were produced during the Belle Epoque were commonly viewed as lower quality absinthes, as they were much cheaper to produce. Currently produced absinthes that use artificial coloring see the use of these additives as a way to either make the beverage more attractive (i.e. bright, uncommon colors), or to stabilize the color for the long term. Most absintheurs (experienced absinthe drinkers) recognize that a traditionally colored absinthe will fade or become yellow/brown as it ages, due to the degradation of chlorophyll. This is not viewed as a product flaw, but instead, as a characteristic of a quality product that was colored naturally.

Today, this name is the trademarked brand name of the Czech Absinth imported exclusively by Admiral Imports. "Green Fairy is based on a traditional Czech formula which has made it the Absinth by which all other Absinth is judged," said David Higgins, Director for Green Fairy Absinth. Green Fairy is 60% alcohol by volume and will retail for a suggested $59.

While this product in particular has trademarked the name ‘Green Fairy’, it is a common moniker for all absinthes, which may lead to some confusion to consumers who are looking to purchase French or Swiss Absinthe, as opposed to Czech Absinth, which has a different flavor profile and many times uses different production methods.

The two other Absinths being introduced to Admiral's portfolio are "Djable,"[sic] and "Koruna." Djable, [sic] which translates to "Devil," is similar in nose and taste to Green Fairy and is bottled at 70% alcohol by volume with a suggested retail of $64. Koruna exhibits different characteristics than Green Fairy and Djabel, contains wormwood leaf sediment in the bottle and is 73% alcohol by volume with a suggested retail of $79.

Wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium to be specific) is known as one of the most bitter herbs in the world. Distillation helps to reduce the acridity of wormwood, and leaves only a pleasant, alpine bitterness. Why a producer would let it macerate in the bottle is something of a mystery.

Also, there seems to be a small bit of discrepancy. According to their website, wormwood 'bark' is left in the bottle, whereas the press release states 'leaf sediment'.

"All three items have less licorice taste than their French and Swiss competitors making them mix well with fruit juices, soft drinks and energy drinks and thus more appealing to mixologists," said Dan Lasner, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Admiral Imports.

The misperception that French or Swiss absinthes do not mix well in cocktails has been aggressively propagated by those that are marketing brands that do not contain anise. While anise is not as popular of a flavor in the US as it is in France, French and Swiss absinthes do indeed mix very well. In fact, one of the oldest cocktails in the U.S., the Sazerac, uses absinthe as an ingredient. There are literally hundreds of cocktails that include absinthe or an absinthe substitute such as Pernod or Anisette, which are built on the anise flavor inherent in aforementioned products.

There are those in the absinthe community that would argue that a beverage can’t be considered absinthe unless it has the dominant flavors of wormwood and anise. While there is no current definition of absinthe in the U.S. that mandates certain ingredients or flavors, evidence suggests that all traditional absinthes that were produced during the Belle Époque, which are responsible for making absinthe famous, included both wormwood and anise as the dominant ingredients. Traditionalists will always believe that those two ingredients are what make absinthe what it is. Many would also argue that fennel should be included to make up the ‘holy trinity’, although several historical recipes, while not widely used, did not include it.

Admiral Imports represents some of the finest international brands in the world such as Iceberg Vodka, Sheep Dip Blended Single Malt Scotch, Pig's Nose 5 Yr. Old Scotch Whisky, Voodoo Tiki Tequila, Berentzen Apfel, Green Fairy Absinth, Famega Vinho Verde, Luis Felipe Edwards wines from Chile, Royal Oporto, Wines of Real Companhia Velha, Wines from Bacalhoa, Tishbi wines from Israel, Fabiano Wines from Veneto, Fazi Battaglia wines from Marche, Italy, Villa Dante Toscana, Sielo Blu from Josef Brigl, Tosti Sparkling Wines from Piedmont, Italy, Torlasco wines and much more.

For more information visit www.admiralimports.com.SOURCE Admiral Imports


To sum up, as with many press releases, this one was meant to marginalize other brands, while at the same time, promoting certain 'facts' that make these specific 'absinths' more relevant.



Always helping to bring truth to advertising,

Brian

How do we manage attacks from 'Anonymous' posters?

Throughout the past several years, Alan and I (along with many others) have scoured the internet looking for opportunities to educate people on the realities of absinthe. Apparently, another sorry soul (or souls) has been following us around, trying to refute all of the information we post.

Most people who read this blog, the now defunct Rend Fou, or any of the other dozen forums where they've seen the debate take place, can see through the vitriol and the lies. It also doesn't lend much credibility to our detractors when the majority of the attacks against us have been posted by 'Anonymous' users, despite dozens of requests for them to come out and identify themselves.

After some discussion, I think Alan and I have come to a good resolution.

We will continue to encourage open and civilized debate. Not only does it provide some interesting reading, it also helps to flush out some facts that otherwise wouldn't be known.

However, for a fair debate to occur, the identities of all of the participants should be disclosed. Please either post with your registered account, or sign your message before submitting it.

If an attack or criticism is made without proper identification of the person who made the post, we reserve the right either to edit the post, or delete it alltogether.

We'll try this out for a few months. If it doesn't work, then we will discuss the OpenID requirement, meaning we will at least have information on the back end of who made the post.

Happy posting!

53 and counting: the week in Absinthe ...

To celebrate the arrival of Brian (aka Shabba53) here, I have just updated the list of absinthes that are either approved for USA launch or are in process.

Appropriately the new total is .... 53.

BevLaw has managed to find the Pernod Absinthe COLA and it is interesting to compare the Pernod and La Fée approvals.

Meanwhile in the UK, two TV shows have featured absinthe in the last week.



An Absinthe Jelly was created by Michelin 3 Star chef Heston Blumenthal. Unfortunately, and entirely coincidentally, he has just closed his restaurant down temporarily due to a reported 400 cases of food poisoning.

Elsewhere, David Nathan-Maister hit British TV screens wearing a tie for Jeremy Paxman's show on the Victorians. Although the shot was not clear, he seemed to serve Jeremy a glass of pre-ban absinthe, which did not get the response David would have sought!

The Real Absinthe Blog goes global!

I am delighted to announce that Brian Robinson, aka Shabba (53?), joins me as co-author on this blog.

Brian and I have several things in common:-

1. We both love absinthe.

2. We have both spent a lot of time over the last two years debating the finer points of real absinthe with some .... "non-believers."

3. We both love rugby, a game that I, as a Brit, have grown up with and that Brian, unusually for an American, took to like a duck to a water. I just hope that other Americans do not take up this sport, one of the few (apart from marbles) that England can sometimes excel at.

Bearing all the above in mind, I am really looking forward to sharing this mission. Brian has a broader exposure to more absinthes than I. He also knows the USA scene far better than I do (yet). We haven't agreed a split of responsibilities here yet, but I feel we'll work together well as a team. Between us, we can cover many more issues, State-side and in Europe and Asia.

Santé, Brian!

Online Absinthe Survey

I see that the Absinthe Review Network has announced an important online survey of the absinthes drunk in the USA. The announcement has now also been made on MySpace, here, the Wormwood Society, and on Facebook.

The survey itself seems quite simple to do, and I suspect that the results could be very interesting. Click here to go to the survey.

Some may think me a bit biased so I won't be doing the survey myself. From discussion on the Wormwood Society, it sounds like someone else has already been trying to cheat!

Ben from the Absinthe Review Network tells me that the survey will probably be the biggest public survey of absinthes ever completed (unless they did something bigger in the 19th century, of course). He is looking for hundreds of responses. I will be in touch with the Absinthe Review Network to see if I can get some key findings from the survey when it is complete.

Check back later ... but in the meantime, try the survey yourself.

Real Absinthe: 2008 Review & 2009 forecast

The webpages above are my photos of 2008: a year which saw the number of absinthes available from US retailers such as DrinkUp New York and Bevmo rise to double figures, and saw the list of US-approved absinthes rise to at least 37.

If my readers thought that 2007 was an interesting year for real absinthe, then heaven knows what they thought of 2008! By December 2008, about 25 of the approved absinthes were actually in the US market (or very close to being so).

All this at a time when the USA enters its worst economic slowdown since 1929, with one major banking casualty, an auto industry close to bankruptcy and now with a ground-breaking new President-elect. So, given the plethora of new absinthes on the one hand and the recession on the other, what is really going on? And what will happen in 2009?

My forecasts for 2008: Review

A good start-point is my forecast for 2008 made 12 months ago:

1. By December 2008, there will be at least 8 - 10 absinthes freely available in the USA. They will include more absinthes from France, Switzerland, the USA and the first Czech absinth to launch officially in the USA. With DrinkUp New York and Bevmo respectively listing 14 and 12 different absinthes, my forecast could be seen to have been a little on the low side. Of course one or two of my forum friends


might suggest that several of these aren't real absinthe, but that's another debate for another time! My forecast for the first Czech absinth to enter the USA has only proved wrong in that while four are now US-approved, none of them has actually entered the market yet.

2. At least one of the big multi-national companies, probably Pernod-Ricard, will start to show more significant interest in absinthe. Pernod Absinthe is becoming slightly more prominent within Pernod's portfolio in some countries and the US interest in absinthe will have been noted. And if a second multi-national starts to get interested, then anything could happen! Pernod Absinthe is definitely more of a factor in the US market now, but whether it will satisfy the corporate objectives of the second biggest drinks group in the world is another matter, given Pernod-Ricard's purchase of Absolut Vodka in 2008. Absolut is probably more important than Absinthe for them. And is there a second multi-national looking at absinthe yet? Yes ... more to follow below in my 2009 forecast

3. One or two unlikely alliances between some of the main players will start to be seen. Consolidation is happening throughout the drinks business and absinthe will follow this trend. A year ago, would anyone have forecast that a brand like La Clandestine would be sold by the company selling Lucid?


4. Prices will fall, whether on the internet or in the retailers selling absinthe around the world. Some of this will come from greater production efficiency in the business and from greater competition; some will come from specification changes with suppliers reducing the alcohol strength as has been observed in at least one key market (the UK) in recent months. Some of this has proved correct, especially the effective prices (in dollar terms) from UK-based internet operators, although this is just a short-term foreign exchange phenomenon. Greater competition in the USA has yet to drive prices down, although there is now much more emphasis on value-added packs which has a similar effect.

5. More absinthe blogs will start (and many will wither); membership of the absinthe forums will continue to grow, and many of the longer-established members will tire of the inability of newcomers to read the FAQ's (that's an easy prediction)! However at the Louched Lounge, change will be less obvious! My forecast on new blogs has only come true if one counts the blogs on MySpace, and the demise of the Czech Absinthe blog was the main casualty over the last 12 months (with most other absinthe bloggers also a lot less active).

A notable start-up is the Absinthe Review Network.



The three main English language absinthe forums went in very different directions editorially, although in all cases visitor numbers seem to have stagnated or even declined.



Gwydion Stone's interest in Marteau Absinthe led to a greater presence by the non-commercial staff at the Wormwood Society, David-Nathan Maister's focus on the Absinthe Encyclopedia and on other ventures such as Absinthe Classics Canada and Finest and Rarest seems to have cut down his time spent on Fée Verte. More dramatically, a fall-out between two of the leading lights of the Louched Lounge has led to the virtual disappearance of Louched Liver ....



2008 Review

2007 had ended with the USA’s first locally distilled absinthe since 1912 and some final vitriolic exchanges on the Czech Absinthe blog. Was it RIP or just “au revoir” to Absintheur and DrAbsinthe?

The growing interest in absinthe in the USA was evident with Imbibe’s review of the US absinthe market in January 2008.

January also saw the TTB approval for Le Tourment Vert; February saw Grande Absente's approval; March saw La Fée Parisienne's approval.

In April, Sign On San Diego broke the news that Tom Boyd (absinthe bloggist and inquisitor) was actually Dominik Miller, spokesman for Century “Absinthe.” Interviewed by the journalist, he invented the wonderful term “thujone denialists” to describe Ted Breaux and others involved in the emerging US absinthe market. In truth, this spokesman for Century and others like him (who took upon themselves the task of arguing on behalf of all Czech “absinthe” with every real absinthe lover on the internet) have probably done more to harm the cause of Czech “absinthe” than anyone through continually linking it with high thujone. Hardly likely to help their cause with the TTB!

Talking of which, in April Mata Hari and Sirene received their final TTB approvals, as did Leopold in May.

June saw the 11th Annual Absinthe Festival in Boveresse, Switzerland. This year Claude-Alain Bugnon's webcam came into its own, filming those of us who were drunk-dialling the USA.





Ted Breaux and Jared Gurfein of Viridian were at Boveresse in 2008, allowing some final fine-tuning prior to the announcement of the La Clandestine and Nouvelle-Orléans US launches.

More TTB approvals followed in June: Trillium and Van Gogh Klasiek. The latter, one of the first absinthes developed by an established American premium spirits company, is not yet in the US market, and we have heard rumours that it will not be launched. I wonder why ...

July is supposed to be the start of the summer holidays, but there was no sign of holidays at the TTB with Marteau, Obsello (the first Spanish absinthe in the USA) and Duplais all getting their approvals. The pace barely slowed in August with Mansinthe and Vieux Pontarlier gaining theirs.

September saw the Absinthiades in Pontarlier.


For the fourth consecutive year, the Absinthe professionals of the world awarded Claude-Alain Bugnon the Golden Spoon for his Recette Marianne; for the second consecutive year the other distilled absinthe winner was La Fée XS Suisse (also produced at a small distillery in the birthplace of absinthe!).

September was also the month when I went on a whirlwind tour of


Moscow (above), Miami, New York and


Toronto (above), all on non-absinthe business. Apart from


in New York (above), it was clear that the absinthe business is under-developed in the other major cities visited: maybe 2009 will be the year for absinthe in Canada?

For me, October was significant as the month when La Clandestine was finally launched in New York, New Orleans, and Kentucky. It was also the month when the Beverage Tasting Institute of Chicago scores for nine absinthes became available. Members of the Wormwood Society were not impressed.

Also in October, the Czech absinthe protagonist(s) returned. “Praha” debated absinthe issues in the National Examiner while “Ragnarok” followed suit in Newsminer. In both discussions, Hiram aka Gwydion Stone of the Wormwood Society was the target of the “thujone hypers,” and even if he didn't get the last word in the debates, he got the last laugh in life with the launch of his new Marteau Absinthe de la Belle Epoque.

In November, news breaks of the first Czech "absinthe" approvals. The two brands in question are actually owned by two Australian entrepreneurs who used to work for Jim Beam: more "big drinks company" men coming into the global absinthe business.

In late-November, La Clandestine started shipping from Nova Scotia. Most Canadians can now buy both Taboo Canadian Absinthe and La Clandestine Swiss Absinthe without having to pay high courier charges.

And so as the global economy plunges lower in December, the TTB year ends with more approvals, including approval at last for Pacifique Absinthe.

On Christmas Day, the Absinthe Review Network announced the highest-rated la bleue absinthe to date: La Clandestine.

And 2008 ended with two dramatic developments: Health Canada confirm that they are reviewing their policy on thujone in absinthe: their review may take a year but it is the most positive news of the year for Canadian absinthe lovers (especially those in Ontario).

And I pick up the first solid accounts of three global giants of the drinks business becoming interested in absinthe ... more of that later!

......................................................................................................................

Before my forecast for 2009, I want to make some new awards for achievements and services rendered to the global absinthe business in 2008.

Absinthe Photo of the Year for the Drink Up New York absinthe page featured at the start of this article.

Volte-face of the Year to Health Canada for finally starting to review their policy on thujone in absinthe. Having encouraged some of the biggest drinks retailers in the world to stock Hill's and Pernod Absinthe only (and to state that if Hill's/Pernod can produce absinthes with less than 1 ppm of thujone, so can everyone else), Health Canada appears - at last - to be having second thoughts. Either that, or they will ban sales of vermouth and of turkey stuffed with sage in 2009. And water could be next on their hit list based on the theory that more people may die from drinking water than from drinking absinthe ...

The Ban Ki-moon award for diplomacy to Brian Robinson, aka Shabba (53)


for his two or more years debating firstly with the Czech absinthe bloggers/supporters, and more recently debating the Wormwood Society on Fée Verte. More importantly, he is a first-class spokesman for the absinthe industry in the USA, and I hope he is allowed to spend more time on that in 2009 (and that he will not need to argue in the internecine inter-forum war).

Absinthe Launch of the Year award? In 2007, Lucid was the clear winner. In 2008, there is no clear winner. Pandor Absinthe hit the French market, Marteau hit some of the US market, and Stefano Rossoni's L'Italienne hit the internet shops. Obsello, St. Antoine, Prométhée, Vieux Pontarlier and Pacifique all look promising, but all lack the breakthrough impact of Lucid. So, all things considered, I have decided not to make an award in this category in 2008.

......................................................................................................................

2009 Forecasts

1. More multi-nationals will enter the absinthe market in 2009, probably through acquisition.

With Pernod Absinthe gaining distribution in the USA every month, I cannot see Diageo ignoring this sector for much longer. And two separate sources have told me that they are looking very closely at this sector. Diageo generally buy their way into a sector through brand acquisition, and there are a number of acquisition candidates. A company of Diageo's scale would most likely want to buy an absinthe that can be easily "scaled up," which probably excludes most "hand-crafted" absinthes. If I was in charge of Diageo's acquisition policy, I know which brands I would be looking at, but there's no need for me to drive their prices up by naming them here! Which brands do my readers think a Diageo should buy?

Bacardi, Brown-Forman and Fortune Brands are also possible absinthe purchasers, but might, on previous form, have other less obvious brands in their sights.

2. US absinthe prices? Impossible to forecast, with the forces of dollar depreciation and US recession/local production finely balanced. If the dollar falls to 1.75 against the Euro as some have predicted, then the price for absinthe imported into the USA could, theoretically, increase by up to 25%.

3. Absinthe consumption in the USA? Highly dependent on prices and the general recession, although there are those (myself included) who point to the good health of premium drinks in recessionary times.

4. Absinthe outside the USA. With the resurgence of absinthe (especially real absinthe) in the USA, bartenders around the world are looking at the sector with new interest. The bar trade in the UK, Australia, and Canada may be able to drive these markets away from the more artificial style of "absinthe" currently dominant there, but exchange rate issues may slow some of the demand. Looking globally, I see other markets in Europe and Asia Pacific as being more attractive, at least in the short- to mid-term. As an Asia lover now seeing bars in Thailand, Japan, India and other countries selling high quality absinthes, it is good to see that others seem to agree with me.

5. Internet sales to change dramatically. Already there are signs that absinthe shopping is changing dramatically.

Example one: Absinthe-Suisse no longer ships to the USA.

Example two: In December 2007, eAbsinthe sold 17 Swiss absinthes; 12 months later, they are only selling 4. With similar trends for other countries.

Why the change? A few possible reasons spring to mind, such as the easier access to good access locally in the USA, cheaper local prices cutting demand on the internet, and, maybe crucially, the need of those companies now selling absinthe from Europe to the USA by the container, to appear to be moving to a 100% legal operation. In this situation, it is possible to envisage a time when all internet absinthe sales from Europe to the USA will cease.

Maybe this is not the present that my US friends are looking for, but as Absinthe develops, why should the industry operate differently from Tequila or Vodka?

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Even if the world economy appears to be in free-fall, I forecast a great future for high quality absinthe. Even if 2009 is difficult, good absinthes which meet consumer needs will flourish ... in the USA and elsewhere. In October 2007, a bottle of hand-crafted Swiss absinthe cost about the same as 2 General Motors shares; in December 2008, that same bottle, with a lower price now it is available in US shops, would cost the same as 21 GM shares! Clearly, I don't want my readers to drink and drive: however, now, more than ever, is a good time to curtail one's driving habits, and switch to absinthe. But please drink responsibly!

Finally, do my readers agree with my thoughts on 2008 and, more importantly, 2009?

Santé et bonne année!

Absinthe, New York

Three weeks ago, I returned to New York for the first time since 1996. I was there on non-absinthe business, but with a weekend between meetings I went to see relatives in Brooklyn (including the branch of the family that had been separated from mine since 1900, but that's a whole story in its own right!). I also couldn't resist the opportunity to make a few spontaneous bar and shop calls and so on a Saturday night, my cousin, Aline, and I found the Brooklyn shop in the photo above.

From the outside, it didn't look like the nerve centre of one of the biggest absinthe vendors in the USA. And even on entering the store, it seemed more like one of those old-time liquor shops where the customer can't actually feel the merchandise before paying for it.

I was looking for Kamal Mukherjee, the owner of the shop, but more importantly the brains behind one of America's largest internet liquor vendors, Drink Up New York.



When I announced my name and my involvement with La Clandestine, we were immediately welcomed (almost as if we were re-meeting the long-lost relatives I had just met) and invited back-of-shop. And although I really didn't plan it this way, it was obvious to me that the non-confidential parts of our discussion could make a very interesting article for my blog. So we embarked on a fascinating exchange of information and views, more or less as chronicled below.

Hi, Kamal. Great to meet you. Could you tell us about something about yourself, your previous career and what led you to set up the current business?

I have been a computer geek and alcohol lover for most of my adult life. Setting up a website to sell booze seemed like a perfect way to bring these two worlds together. However, taking a few steps back, I was born and raised in Calcutta, India, got hooked on software at a very young age, and continued to live and work in India for quite some time. Moved to Singapore for a brief period and have been living in the USA for about ten years. During the IT meltdown in the early 2000's when many of my friends were being laid off, I managed to gather about $1,000 from my savings account and set up my consulting practice from the kitchen table of my rented apartment in New Jersey. The business picked up but there was always some uncertainty. For guys like me who had enjoyed the IT boom of the '90s, the honeymoon was definitely over. I was continuously looking for a "Plan B," did real estate investment for a while but moving from software to “hardware” was a big challenge. So the search for the dream job continued. Eventually, while hanging out with some of my friends who owned a liquor store, the idea of owning a store and filling up the shelves with world-class wines & spirits seemed more and more appealing. So in mid-2006, I pulled money from all possible sources e.g. the equity in my house, a cash advance from the credit card company etc etc, and bought a store in Brooklyn.

And at the end of 2006 www.DrinkUpNY.com was launched (managed and operated from the basement of the same building where a team of packers processes the orders for courier collection several times each day).

Without giving away commercial secrets, what is Drink Up New York's point of difference, and what are your business goals?

There are indeed a lot of online wine & spirits stores. Our focus has always been to offer products that are hard to find, give them an affordable price-tag and ship for free when the customers spend at least $100. We certainly want to be the “go to” place for alcohol lovers.

Within the spirits category, where does absinthe stack up in your overall sales?

It is amazing to see how well absinthe does as a category. There are far fewer brands of absinthe compared to scotch, rum etc, yet it outsells them all. Yes, Absinthe is our largest spirits category.

Do people who buy absinthe buy other spirits as well? If so, what types, what brands?

That happens all the time. Often people would buy Absinthe with Rye, Gin or Liquor. There is really no fixed pattern but absinthe consumers often venture into other categories.

You've been selling absinthes for more than a year now? Do you see the market for absinthe still growing, or has it slowed down at all?

We have been selling Absinthe since it became legal in the USA (with the initial launch of Lucid) and the market is yet to show any sign of slowing down. Many new brands have been introduced in the past year and each one of them is doing well. I think the USA is the last large market for absinthe (Editor note: apart from China, Kamal is probably right).

One or two other Manhattan-based shops aren't quite so bullish about absinthe sales: why are you doing better than them?

We do most of our absinthe sales via the web. Because we offer more variety and other absinthe-related accessories (spoons, glasses, etc), customers certainly seem to enjoy the "one stop" shopping experience they get with us.

How do you see absinthe trends developing? Towards more expensive brands, to less expensive brands ... or maybe the market is polarising in both directions?

At present consumer curiosity is a big factor. However, when you see customers keep coming back to the same brand again and again, there is a winner. While we all have a budget, brand loyalty is extremely important for this category. There is a very strong fan following for many of the producers. Consumers have been importing these brands from Europe for decades and now when they can legally buy them in the US, the excitement is really heart-warming.

Like all categories, absinthe will eventually plateau but we are quite a long way off that point. Lower quality absinthes would certainly flatten the market growth (so neither of us would welcome that!). Some of the (higher quality-focused) US spirits producers have already started working on Absinthe. This is really a very exciting time for the Absinthe category, both as consumer and member of the trade.

Any time a new drink comes out from a known US producer, it creates a buzz. Absinthe is no exception. We have seen that with St. George and I'd expect this trend to continue with the upcoming US brands as well. (Editor note: of course Lucid is also owned by a US-based company although it is produced in France).

How can suppliers work with you (and people like you) to grow and develop the category?

We are the first point of contact for end-users and for the most part customers don’t hesitate to provide feedback. Keeping close contact with the retailer is always a good practice. When there is a customer complaint or concern, provide us with the information and tools so that people don’t lose faith in the brand.

What should the industry be careful about?

There is indeed lot of mystery about Absinthe as a product. We must always discourage the drug myth.

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For me, this was a great first meeting. I told Kamal that I had worked in India for three years (1996 to 1999) while selling brands like Remy Martin, Cointreau, The Macallan and Krug Champagne. Afterwards I recalled meeting in 1996 with the owners of probably the biggest liquor shop then in India (Shah in Mumbai). They and Kamal share the same entrepreneurialism, sure, but also gave the same warm welcome that is second-nature for some, but alien for most of us in the West.

Of course I've also got a background selling absinthe over the internet, although we have now closed US sales from the the shop I was most recently involved with (absinthe-suisse.com). So it was really interesting for me to see how Kamal has taken over this business so well ... and apparently so effortlessly!

As far as absinthe is concerned, it is great for the industry to know that Kamal obviously cares so much for the sector. With his internet business, he probably interacts with more absinthe consumers each day than most "absinthe salesmen," so his knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for the category is crucial. The USA absinthe business is already off to a great start, thanks to professionals like Kamal. Now if only we could hand-craft a few more like him ...

I've asked Kamal if he would mind answering any questions my readers have, so if you have questions to ask him, this is the place to do so. I doubt that he will reveal confidential figures but his views of and vision for absinthe are fascinating to explore. Over to you.