How to drink Absinthe

Absinthe Drink: Important facts about serving

• Traditionally, Absinthe is prepared with ice-cold water and a sugar cube.
• This is the French way of serving the spirit.
• Do not set Absinthe on fire, the burning ritual is not recommended!

How do you drink Absinthe: The original French Ritual

One of the unique aspects of Absinthe is the way it is traditionally prepared. It involves a special ritual that is both fascinating and a bit intimidating for those who are new to the drink. In this Blog post, we will give you advice how to drink Absinthe traditionally, and we will also explain the reason behind the ritual.

The original way of preparing Absinthe is called the French Absinthe Ritual, it is the way of serving the Green Fairy with water and sugar. It describes as well the historical roots of the drink. The focus of the preparation is set on the “Louche”, the change of Absinthe’s color when it is diluted with ice-cold water. 

Despite popular belief, the original way of drinking Absinthe does not include pouring Absinthe over sugar and then setting it on fire. This way of drinking Absinthe is called the “Fire Ritual” or the modern “Bohemian Ritual”. It is not historically authentic, and we do not recommend lighting your drink on fire. In simple words, do not burn your Absinthe. As it is a high-proof liquor, it is dangerous and destroys the flavor of the spirit.

Source: Shutterstock / Magnago

Step-by-step guide for the drinking ritual

Following the recommended classic French Absinthe Ritual, you start with pouring your favorite Absinthe into an Absinthe glass (approx. 30 ml / 1 oz). Then you take an Absinthe spoon, put a sugar cube on top, place it on the glass and finally pour iced water over the sugar cube into the glass. Even though some Absintheurs tend to not add the sugar, we recommend doing so. It intensifies the aroma structure of your Absinthe. We recommend a mix of 1 part Absinthe (1 oz) to three parts water (3 oz) and one sugar cube.

In the following video, you can see the traditional preparation of Absinthe with water and sugar. You will notice, Absinthe is poured into the glass first. You could as well place the spoon and sugar on the glass first and the pour the liquor into the glass. This is a little trick. This way, the sugar cubes dissolve a little bit slower, as it is soaked with high-proof alcohol (Absinthe). It depends on how fast you want the sugar to dissolve. If you use a carafe, we would not soak the sugar cube with Absinthe. But if you prepare your glass of the Green Fairy with an Absinthe fountain, you could do so. Preparing Absinthe with a fountain means a slow drip, so you want the sugar to stay intact longer. 

How to prepare Absinthe: Functional and symbolic meaning

There are two main reasons for drinking Absinthe with ice-cold water.

(1.) One functional meaning of the original ritual is lowering the alcohol level in the drink. As Absinthe has 68% alc. by vol. it simply would be too strong to drink. The second functional reason is, that the Absinthe actually unfolds its full flavor. The oils of all herbs used to produce the Absinthe flavor structure are bound by the alcohol. However, lowering the proof and taking into consideration that water and oil do not dissolve, it becomes obvious that the flavor-rich oils are liberated and add a lot of flavor to the drink. Now, one might think that one could also just pour the water into the glass to get the same benefits, right? However, this is not the case, because we also have a second, symbolic meaning of the Absinthe ritual.

(2.) You already know about the effects of Absinthe, so you will easily understand the additional symbolic meaning of the ritual: The change in Absinthes’ color, the louche, that happens when adding water to the spirit is symbolic for what will happen to the consumer when drinking Absinthe. Just as the water liberates the drink, Absinthe will liberate the mind. Some Absintheurs also believe that the Green Fairy can be seen, when Absinthe louches in beautiful swirls into an opalescent white color… (Read more about Absinthe & Thujone and the effects of Absinthe at our info sites).

What you need to have for serving Absinthe the original way

To serve Absinthe the traditional way, you’ll need the following accessories.

1. A bottle of your favorite Absinthe. You should definitely buy a bottle of real Absinthe. Meaning that it is distilled with wormwood and naturally colored. We can recommend Strong68 Absinthe as a starter. If you already want to start with one of the best Absinthes available for sale on the market, you can also buy the pricier Suisse Verte Absinthe or one of the Jade Absinthes.
2. A carafe with iced, still water (or Absinthe fountains)
3. Some Absinthe sugar cubes (granulated sugar does not work that good, as it does not dissolve if you just add it to the liquor. If you do not have sugar cubes, we would recommend melting the granulated sugar before, and make a sugar syrup out of it)
4. A proper Absinthe glass, preferably with a reservoir
5. A slotted Absinthe spoon (you can use a fork as well, but we highly recommend buying an Absinthe spoon, using a fork has no style…)
6. Time to relax…

You can buy all the accessories as a bundle in one of our Absinthe Accessories Sets.

How to drink Absinthe without sugar cube

Absinthe traditionally involves the French drinking ritual, where you pour cold water over a sugar cube placed on a slotted spoon resting on the rim of the glass to dilute the strong spirit and release its herbal flavors. However, you can enjoy Absinthe without the sugar cube ritual as well. Here’s how:

1. Just dilute with water: Pour a small amount of Absinthe into a glass. Then, add cold water to your liking. The typical ratio is about 3 parts water to 1 part Absinthe. But adjust according to your taste preference. Sip your Absinthe slowly, savoring its complex flavors without the sweetness of the sugar cube. Especially La Bleue Absinthes can be enjoyed without sugar, as they have less alcohol by vol. and a natural sweet taste because of more anise and fennel in the recipe.
2. Serve with ice: If you prefer, you can serve Absinthe over ice. This will dilute it as the ice melts, softening its intense flavor. But the Absinthe is still very powerful, as you use less water compared to the classic French way of serving. Pay attention to how the flavors evolve as the drink dilutes with more water as the ice melts.
3. Experiment with garnishes: While sugar cubes are traditional, you can experiment with different garnishes to complement the flavors of the Absinthe. For example, some people enjoy adding a twist of lemon peel or a few drops of cocktail bitters.
4. Mix a cocktail: You can serve Absinthe as well as a cocktail. Famous Absinthe cocktails are the Sazerac (traditional) or Green Beast (modern).

We do hope you enjoyed this post about the Absinthe Ritual and How to drink Absinthe, as always! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask us! You can find us on Facebook and all our other Social Media Channels.

Your ALANDIA Team

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