Hows it going, team? I screwed a few things up! Apologies for the 1kg = 1.1 lb blunder. Its fixed in the description I cant fix it in the video :( Alan has some constructive feedback also (his screen name is One Piece At A Time Distilling Institute). - Petite Wormwood is a majour colouring componant. But its very hard to find. It will give a darker color - Spinach would be dried and give better colour
Try nette leaves, high Chlorophyll content, and Chlorophyll is very soluble in a 50%-60% alcohol solution by heating to around 40 to 50°CELCIUS. Nettel gives a strong green colouring with a negligable Taste, so perfect for colouring Absinth.
Swiss bloke here... I can't drink alcohol anymore due to my current PTSD medication but that doesn't take anything from the pleasure of watching your experimentations. Thanks for that!
In Antibes, France there's a bar that's half underground and shaped as a dome made of chiseled rock, we simply called it Absinthe Bar since all they served was Absinthe. The variety was spectacular! Their concentrates were however so powerful and difficult to source that you would be limited to only 3 shots worth per sitting. I went 3 times and all 9 servings blew my mind. Their pickled onions and garlic was also some of the best I've ever had and made for an epic lil side dish. Good memories! If anyone reading this ever visits France, go find that place, you will not be disappointed!
Your absinthe looks pretty similar to the rare traditional stuff that you can find when you know a farmer in the valley where it comes from, congratulations! :)
I was just about to say something similar. My mate moved to Chexbres and Jessie's looks like the local hooch his local farmer gave us. Although his was definitely not wormwoody but really aniseed and lemon.
and of course the yanks have to bend tradition to their will 😑 it's not something like rat-soup/bug soup that might kill/sick you just keep adding more sweetness why ? that's not how the french/OG like it and it's ok if it's not your thing but please don't ruin it for the curious people who want the real 1800's french recipe and pass off a modified modern 2022 USA imitation as 💯real and imported
Absinth Rouge is a thing. Finish it with hibiscus for colouring (it does affect the flavour in a good way) and potentially some rose petals. I just use a touch of rose-water in addition to my mineral water when proofing it down off the still and then add-in the hibiscus for colour.
I just made a version of this recipe, the product was pretty good, i fouled up the order for wormwood so i ended up with 50gm not 95 as the recipe says, i halved all the ingredients, so i macerated for 12 hours then distilled through my air. still, all cuts except the tails where added there was no really bad tastes, i added half the tails as there was a earthy, woody, herby taste which added to the subtle back ground tastes Final product 79 abv, gonna leave it at that strength. I had a sample 10 ml just with 3 ice cubes, wow, it tasted like a strong pernod with the extra back ground licurice and botanical taste, the product leuched well, love it, nice one Jesse. For colour, i used some of the spirit and crushed up 3 large spinach leaves until the colour leached out and filtered through cotton wool back into the jar, got a lovely pale green looks fantastic. Hope this helps anyone havin a bash at this.
Very cool video ! Maybe you can try this receipe next time : “Have a still that holds 24 bottles of good brandy. To these 24 bottles add a bucket of fountain water. Then put: Two pounds of green anise Two pounds of fennel Half a pound of big absinthe A pound of Gaula campana Distill over low heat without leaving the still. Before distillation, the substances can be left to infuse in the eau-de-vie for 24 hours. As the extract is distilled, two large, wide-mouthed glass jars are required; we put this liquor in it and then we share the following drugs which we infuse in it to give the green color: A quarter pound of lemon balm Half a pound of small absinthe Half a pound of hyssop It is left to infuse for four days in the heat of the sun, or on a stove if it is in winter. We then go through a felt hat; we squeeze the herbs tightly with both hands and put them back in the still for another cooking. » Translated directly from old french, hope you understant everything. This is the Doctor Ordinaire's original receipe. Have fun ! PS: Absinthe come from Val de Travers, in Switzerland, but it's not in Swiss Alpes ( believe me, I'm writing from there actually ;-) )
In regards to color, Petite Wormwood is also a major coloring and aroma component, although it's very hard to find. I suspect if you used it you would likely get a much darker color. The spinach would likely darken as well if the spinach were dried. Lemon balm also gives great color!
Yes the petite wormwood is great for finishing. It has a stronger sweeter more wormwood aroma than the absinthium species. The petite is also less bitter and contributes alot of colour to the finish. Yes both species of wormwood are hard to find there are 3 species of wormwood grown the most common is the decorative one known as grand or tree wormwood which you'll find in people's gardens and in nurseries etc which does work for absinthe but doesn't smell or taste as nice as the petite or absinthium(also known as grande) species. I ended up going to the Adelaide botanical gardens and making friends with the botanist there so I could have cuttings of the petite and absinthium species plus hyssop and other herbs that were hard to find. I ended trading a bottle of my absinthe for the plants lol as the botanist there was super interested in what I was doing.
@@jakeevans7075 "Grand" or "grande" wormwood is the common name for the absinthium variety; I think you're thinking of Roman wormwood, Artemesia pontica, which is commonly used as a ground cover, and was often used for the colouring step in historic absinthes.
I always thought the thujone in Absinthe would instantly turn me into an Avant-garde artiste and allow me to hang with the Bohemians, but all I got was bogans
Thank you! Great video, admirable work! As a dweller of the Swiss Alps, I should add a correction: Absinthe does not come from the Swiss Alps but the Swiss Jura mountains which are outside the Alps at the northeastern end of Switzerland. The Jurassians, as the Jura dwellers are called, are the proud makers of the (illegal until 2005) green fairy. I would not want to take that honor from them or make them angry. Otherwise they might curse the green fairy. I have tasted many kinds of original Absinthe moonshine. There are different colors from clear to yellowish-green to deep green. I prefer it whitout water but its richness in flavors comes out both ways. So I sip some pure then add water to enjoy the rest. I do agree with the Ouzo comparison.
Hear Hear. One slight detail, though : the historical cradle of absinthe very specifically is Val-de-Travers, a small valley in Canton de Neuchâtel (back then the Principalty of Neuchâtel, and technically part of... Prussia) with the French city of Pontarlier just across the border at the far end. I.e. not the Jura Mountains as a whole, (and even less modern Canton du Jura).
Man...I don't even drink any sort of alcohol, but this still was very enjoyable to watch. Excellent presentation of all of the details and historic tidbits.
I drank a bottle of Czech Absinthe my Buddy's GF smuggled in...and it was AWESOME!!! Imagine a field of wildflowers concentrated into a sweet liqueur...with plenty of Thujone! It was great served traditionally, or straight.
I made an absinth batch with homegrown / foraged herbs and culinary solvent (pure ethanol) for extraction....turned out pretty good. Needed a lot of herbs to get the essential oils for the louche.
The louche comes mainly from anethole and that in turn comes from aniseed...maybe make sure that your anise is not old and dried out, try grinding it with a manual coffee grinder and see if it puts up any "resistance" or is it easy to grind (in the latter case it would be bad).
@@WeightlessBallast that was exactly it, my first batch didn't louche but in the second I put more star anise, more fennel and ground the hell out of it with my mortar and pestle and that did the trick. Next time I will use the coffee grinder. I think the fennel seed puts out a huge amount of oils too as it's kinda like anise.
If you wanna try some REALLY nice spirits i'd recommend you Žufánek destilery from Czech Republic. His main focus is on fruit spirits traditional for our region but he also makes Junipers, Gins and Absinths which are reaaaaly nice. His top of the class is Žufánek DUBIED 1798, 70% Absinth by original recepie. My top choice is Ořechovka (Wallnut spirit) made by macerating June harvested green wallnuts in 52 % Plum Spirit. Try it you are not gonna regret.
Jessie good day to you; i started distilling this year (Absinthe,Gin, Whisky and Rum). Your channel helped a lot with the basics and i am extremely grateful for all the insights that you give. Talking about Absinthe, i am Swiss and i tried my fair share of them, the recipe you have seems very solid but the problem with Absinthe is simple: it does not have a recipe, only guidelines. Every family had/has his own recipe and the few that "get out" are the ones easily accessible. For a thought experiment, imagine Absinthe as your quest to use a lot of useful herbs and distill them. I found many recipes with chamomile, hyssop, star anise, small absinthe (artemisia pontica), nettles etc. If you want we can have a chat about that, it would be my honor. Best regards
I hope you revisit this one on the future. Loved this episode and love some good absinthe. Hoping to get into the craft soon. Got a still just need the space to work it in
1:43: "The region of Swiss Alps". Well, not exactly - it's the nearing slightly lower "Jura" mountains that border the Swiss plateau, and notably "Val-de-Travers" swiss region right at the border with France. That's why The first industrial factory for it was built right across the border, in Pontarlier, France (and still In Jura mountains). (yes, I live in Switzerland and come from France, how did you guess?) But the dedication is really impressive - thanks for making the video!
I've been looking around for the spirits to make Absinthe, I was stoked to see this. I found a seller that sells the herb mix. I can't wait to give it a try ♥
First time seeing your channel & while I rarely drink I love the craft & history behind many beverages whether we are talking beer, mead, whisky, tequila or absinthe. I love your energy & information. Great beardless folk have no idea how hard it is to work with a long beard. I look forward to checking out your other content. This video sure makes me want some Absintge & even more finally getting into distillation as all I have done us fractaldistillation making apple jack.
So happy this day finally came. More herbaceous absinthe sounds great to me. Grande wormwood is a fairly common weed around where I live, and I love rubbing the plants and smelling them. Roman wormwood is unobtanium unfortunately. I'd recommend trying the Pontarlier recipe next, if you can get Roman wormwood. It should grow well in NZ. It's frequently used as an ornamental.
Back when I used to drink a lot more, I had an absinthe phase. I ended up getting a bunch of little samples, all different shades and colors. That's where I found Blue Absinthe, which I liked more than any of the greener ones (good, just not a drink I'd drink often). I remember it being a lot milder than the greens, not as pushy with the flavors. More subtle, which is more my style. (My DOC is gin but not the dry ones.) I never knew what it was, tho. Until now. I did try to look it up but it was towards the beginning of Google beginning to suck, so I never did find out. Thanks for doing this! Answered questions I forgot I had.
I feel in love with Absinthe when I was stationed in Germany. Sadly after returning to the USA I never found one that delivered the profile and character as I found in Europe. So here I sit, wishing I could have a drink with you.
well thank god for the internet and globalization!! Surely, you can have whatever you drank in deutschland delivered to your front door, even by drone if you wanted
As for production of the the expected green liquor, next time press the mixture of the spinach and hyssop before removal, this will draw out more color and make it greener.
I use white portwine to make my basic alcohol for mazeration. I mazerate the herbs from my garden from spring to Summer as they come, in a jar. End of Summer All is one jar and i still IT in Winter. I dont color it but age IT with some tastet birchwood which gives a nice color. I dont use Anis or fennel so it s more a sage mint lemonbalm and elderflower with a worm wood Taste. I use two different wormwoods and sage to push the Level of thujon (alpha and betathujon) which makes It more narcotic. The strongest but the most bitter(very high thujon content) is Alchemilla millefolia
I made a compound absinthe from a kit I bought from the Renaissance Festival. It is amazing. Solid black/green in color, but the louche makes it milky white. Strong wormwood favor. The base spirit I used was a 100 proof corn moonshine
Absinthe is one of the "coolest" spirits around! The entire mystique around it gives it such a fun allure. Personally, I'm just a sucker for the liquorice flavor.
One bottle imported from Europe trashed 5 to 6 my friends father who was an alcoholic. Lemme tell you his mom was pissed. I , like a fool, took two shots like ah it's okay and passed out cold. I handled two shots of pure grain so thought I'd be fine. It just seemed to me like I was extra drunk for much longer than normal. Nothing fancy, and my friend said it was the highest concentrated brand. I think we were 18. Wonder how other people feel on it.
The big thing is that distillation takes away the bitterness of grande absinthe leaving only the aromas! Absinthe (real) is therefore never really bitter. If you see a bottle of "absinth" with a wormwood twig in it, don't buy it, it's fake.
Ya, that's why I would advise to drink it the traditional way. Use a fountain with ice cold water and the spoon with a sugar cube. Great activity to do when hosting a garden party on a hot summer day. You can spice it up even more by giving the whole party including the food a French flavor. It's something your friends will appreciate and remember.
if you like the Liquorice flavor with a cool twist, try Ouzo. it's a Greek liquor that is clear, but if you put it over ice or mix in water, it goes cloudy white.
Love Abainthe. I used to prepare it traditionally, would read Keats and get my melancholy on with the green fairy. I’ve been wanting to make it for a long time. The recipe I saw was a Louisiana recipe using sugar spirit as a base, using the botanicals to distill and then adding them back in a very fine muslin sock to colour it. As a rule to be absinthe it should have the anise, wormwood, and sweet fennel. What else you put in can vary depending on the recipe. Usually it’s green herbs but you could always experiment.
A double infusion, along side the double distillation helps with the colour and flavor. Great vid. I love that you kept it as traditional as possible. Thank you :)
If you want to save money on making Absinthe, consider growing an Herb Garden. The wormwood, lemonbalm etc can all be grown in your yard. This time of year is a great time to plan your Absinthe Garden!
All the herbal ingredients apart from anise are easy to get here where I live in the UK. Angelica grows wild here in hedgerows and fields. Mint is grown in a lot of peoples gardens and horse mint and water mint are easy to find growing locally. Wormwood grows abundantly over a park not too far away from me (I have about 3 or 3 kilos of dried wormwood leaves and flowers that I collected a couple of years ago), and fennel grows abundantly there too. Lemon balm grows in a lot of peoples gardens here, and is extremely easy to grow.
Soooo STOKED! It's been well worth the wait! Thanx for doing all the hard work and research so that we peasants may stumble less in our pursuit of the green fairy. Here's to the first of many absinthe adventures🤳🏻
I am glad you made this video. I've played around with making absinthe quite a bit as I love the earthy Herby sweet note wormwood imparts into it making it alot more interesting to me than ouzo. I am originally got my recipe from mine from an old French winemaking book that had an absinthe recipe in the back (in french) I had to get my friend to translate it for me. It used alot of the same ingredients as yours plus lemon balm and orange peel. I found growing fresh wormwood is soooo much better than dried. The fresh is much more complex and sweeter. Also alot of the original recipes use 2 different species of wormwood. The absinthium for the original maceration and Distillation and then what's known as petit wormwood for the colouring maceration which is alot more sweet and Herby compared to the absinthium species.
Two things. 1, please do this again. Would definitely watch a whole new video of you making absinthe a second time. B, how much would you have to charge for that bottle to break even? 3, love your channel. Thanks for the content.
Grand Gruyere is my fave spirit from that region. It's very green, made with herbs, doesn't taste aniseedy at all.. but it's incredibly hard to get a bottle outside of going to the small town of Gruyere. On the plus side the H.R. Giger museum is there for something to do.. and in the cafe you get a shot of Grand Gruyere with your "alien coffee"
My daughter is really into fermentation and will probably try this. I myself truly love absinthe. Thanks for such an informative and thoughtful presentation. You do a really great job.
I make my own beer, ale, and non-distilled brandy, I have for a long time, and I did build a still and played around with making distilled brandy, bourbon, and gin, basically to understand and learn the process. But now there's an awesome artisan, small-batch, distillery less than a mile from my home, so I just buy theirs. They make an absinth like this every year, @100 proof, and it's a real howler. I've yet to see that "green fairy", but it is a delicious, and beautiful, green spirit.
Absinthe is a fantastic and unique buzz... Definitely not a hallucinogen (trust me, I've tried,) but instead: a very subtle and enjoyable stimulating affect. I'm a big fan, and due to the complexity of it's production, I've never considered making my own! Cheers to you!
In the Philippines 1975 they had some fantastic absenthe. It was so powerful they had a limit of 2 drinks percustomer, only because it was spiked with opium. To date was the best ever
The touted excellent absinthe that I was treated to absolutely juniper berry -> lemon balm-> light licorice -> very light mint profile - Nicely done. Cheers from Seattle!
Thank you for taking up the task to recreate this green fairy. I count myself fortunate to have been born long ago to an old family (not wealthy, just knowledgeable) from parts of Europe. Many of the oldest ones had long memories of making and drinking Absinthe. I remember, as a child, having a taste of an Absinthe cocktail made the original way with carmelized sugar and spring water. They were a bunch of knowledgeable herbalists and farmers. They grew it, brewed it, distilled it, and had the old ways of preparing it for drinks. Looking at the modern instructions, I feel sad at the loss of knowledge, caused by a long stretch of ignorance brought on by prohibition. My grandmother stated that the best was made by starting with a fine spirit base of very potent potato vodka. Her family made that for hundreds of years. Another elder showed me how to mix the cocktail. He had the lacy patterned spoons, and decanters. The modern instructions are what you might tell a child to keep them from setting fire to your home out of inexperience. But this elder months before his death, showed me when I was a child. He wanted the history and knowledge kept. The complex flavor was exquisite. Absinthe was never as dangerous as the prohibitionist claimed. But imbibing too much of any mix of alcoholic beverages to excess can be an unhealthy, foolish act.
I just wanted to ask, why are you not teaching others about the "old school" way of doing this? I understand being careful, but share the wealth of knowledge and the experience and product could get respect and possibly catch back on to bring life to something that was treated so badly.
@@ashleybarlow4951years ago, when I tried to show a group of fellow bartenders the old way to prepare the cocktail, several complained I must be wrong, because the new "approved recipe" was "safer to make." Less chance of fire, they stated. I never heard of a capable bartender causing a fire. "The approved new version" eliminated a sugar cube, a flame, and tasted nothing like the classic. But several of the others wanted to see the old way. So we recreated it. We had some of the classic tools, but had to adapt to not having all of the old tools. Caramelization of a sugar cube in absinthe on the spoon before adding spring water was a major component in the taste. That is the original reason for the lacy spoons. It burned off a little of the alcohol, too. But not too much. The final coctail was a beautiful opal green color, and tasted deliciously unique. My favorite was made with one of my deceased relative's well hidden old bottles of absinthe that survived the prohibition of the liquer. Wish we had those original recipes. I remember one other odd note in the old man's information. The liquor was not made from grapes. That might have been a reaction to the original provincial ban coming from the vintners who didn't like the fashion change in that time to absinthe as a favorite. Sale of wine went down, apparently, due to the artsy folks preferring absinthe to wine. The few bartenders who were interested in this old knowledge also preferred the flavor and aroma. My pure luck to have such an old relative who had experienced making this cocktail long ago in Manhattan, serving it at a literary cafe. Writers, artists, poets, and their following preferred this absinthe coctail back then, to any other beverage. I agree, we should honor and keep our history.
You had a great way to quickly age by heating and cooling. I just bought an electric mason jar vacuum seal,works perfectly. You can actually see the colors change and bubbles come out of the wood😊
Thanks for the hook-up with Alan, Jesse, he hooked me up with some great resources for beginners. I'm fermenting juices now, but I hope to up my game to mashes and start distilling soon. Thanks for all of the encouragement and great content. GBY, Brother.
Alan, Jesse and Cyrus at Still in the Clear will definitely guide you in right direction. I've got few videos too. Keep trying and be patient you'll get there
Distilling without a very closely controlled licence is strictly prohibited in Sweden. But if I could, I would be making something like this. I love diving into old recipies and trying to recreate them. It's the feeling that you're experiencing something that someone else who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago also experienced. That almost breaks my brain - in the best way.
@@andrewaustin6020 It's funny how distilling alcohol is such a taboo but drug growers kinda get a pat on the head. Lost tax money is the only explanation.
the sweetness you talk about from the commercial absinthe comes from star anise , ive made multiple different recipes for absinthe and the best one ive found is in dale pendells Pharmako/Poeia book (recipe can be easily found online )
20+ years ago, while in the American Army, I knew a guy obsessed with absinthe. He traveled Europe buying bottles. While stationed in Germany he set out to find pure absinthe. He made me try dozens of absinthes. Its good, the drinking method was fun and full of pomp and circumstance but we never had any psychedelic effects. It was a very fun/clean drunk. Maybe thats where it gets It's cred. In those days the Army wore BDU greens, and I'd sometimes call him my "green fairy" as he served drink after drink trying to perfect his technique 😅
i appreciate the in-line ads. your editing style that tosses in the extra tidbits are a great change of pace, and when the "ad" comes up, it's delivered by the content creator, making the experience less jarring. it is very enjoyable to watch your videos as a result. thanks you, as i know you might make more money if you allowed youtube ads.
48 is a multiple of 12, which was used for essentially ever as an "everyday counting" base (because you have 12 finger segments you can point at with your thumb), so that measure might just been "some amount of dozens" originally and nobody bothered to round to 50%.
Hello from an undisclosed location on the other side of the globe! Very well done! I have been drinking real absinthe for 20 years now, actually I rarely drink anything else alcoholic. I make absinthe in a copper pot still of 2,5 liters and nowadays I have to make my base alcohol myself, too. I cultivate my own absinthe and angelica (of which I use the root), buy anise (Turkish origin mostly), fennel (maybe central European) and lemon balm from the local supermarket. Hyssop, calamus, petite wormwood and some other experimental ingredients I have bought online. I make both blanche and verte, but the coloration step renders a not very persistent color: it turns brown quite soon but that does not affect the taste. I wouldn't use mint anywhere in the process because then it would be just a herbal mint spirit IMO. Mint schnaps in itself is quite nice, nevertheless. The coloration step is also a bit wasteful because the coloration herbs suck quite a many drops of the precious liquid in them. Licorice/liquorice root can also be used in the coloration step. J de Brevans or was it Duplais praises it in his book as something that cannot be overdone (I'll check the source later). To be continued...
It was neither but J. Fritsch, New treatise on the fabrication of liquors with the latest procedures, 1891. Source: The Absinthe Encyclopedia by David Nathan-Maister.
Artemisia absinthium itself (fresh leaves at least) can be use for coloring: it gives an almost unnatural emerald green color. But yeah: it degrades (I suspect due to light) to a yellow color after a few weeks.
@@Mr_Yod And traditionally no A. absinthium was added after distillation as it would make the distillate bitter again. Today I made a 55% verte coloured with lemon balm and A. pontica and it tastes OK. The colour is nice bright emerald: 50 ml of the clear distillate was put in a coffee pot with said herbs (total amount of distillate 300ml), heated to circa 40 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, then poured through a sieve (no paper filtering as I do not mind the sediment) and after cooling down added back to the distillate. I'll report next weekend how it developed.
@@Mr_Yod Most likely because sugar would not dissolve very well in undiluted absinthe. And according to some, sugar or syrup was added to other alcoholic drinks as well in bistros, before the cocktail era. True, even real absinthe is bitter, in the same sense that tea is---bitter may be an incorrect word but I'm not native English speaker. Astringent? A side note. The "Czech absinth revival" in the 1990s was a marketing ploy that had no relevance in the history of absinthe. They basically made wormwood-infused strong liquor that had to be made somewhat more drinkable and cool-looking by burning sugar above the glass--not a way of preparation anywhere in historic times, just a modern invention. That is why absinthusiasts refer to Czech 'absinth' (German spelling) instead of 'absinthe'. Nowadays there are serious makers of absinthe in Czechia, Germany and other countries, unlike 20 years ago. My favorite is the Swedish Grön Opal.
I've never had absinthe or made alcohol. Thanks, you tube. Great video. What came to mind while watching, especially when you mentioned Swiss Alps was that it was most likely made as a medicinal and colored to show it hade herbs in it and wasn't just a happy drink. With those herbs and Brandy, I guarantee that stuff will knock out any cold or flu with one shot. Maybe two, just in case. I had a friend give me some grain alcohol and Maryjane mix he made. He called it green dragon [super green color]. Nasty taste, seriously the best cold and flu medicine ever!
Hard to tell with the goofy green light but I believe the louche on yours is much more pleasing to the eye. It looks like green abalone shell, all shimmery and pretty.
Better too little coloration than too much. Also I was about to ask whether the spinach was dried but it looked like fresh. What will the oxalic (sp?) acid in the leaves do, by the way, isn't t there some in spinach?
I've just gotten into your channel (you may have noticed me spamming your comments! Apologies if that's annoying, I'm just trying to help the inscrutable algorithm), and I gotta say, this is the one that made me a Patron. The confluence of history, distilling, and the chemistry that goes into it all-I love it so much. Thank you for sharing your experiences! And I hope my meager monthly contribution will help you continue producing content (and spirits!) for a long time.
I don't even drink these days, but this was a pretty cool YT recommendation. As a cannabis grower, I follow several cannabis growing content creators. It's interesting to me that YT hates those creators, yet not distillers. Cannabis is so much safer, in growing it and consuming it. It's legal to grow cannabis in quite a few states in the US now too. Yet, YT rarely allows these channels to monetize. Usually, once they show their plants, no more monetization. Cheers/💨happy stilling and growing all you creators of your preferred stress relief! Love when peeps get their head meds outside of corporate society!
One route related to Absinthe, could be to try to make Malört snaps. Malört is the Swedish name for Wormwood. As I understand it, the flavors are different because snaps is usually made by steeping herbs in pure spirits, vodka or brännvin, and since the ABV is lower, different chemicals steep out of it. (I wonder if redistilling malört snaps would make it more absinthy ? )
Made Grappa for many years with the left over pressings when making wine, mostly Cab. I would add water and sugar to the grape skins adjusting the brix to around 26-28. After a week of fermenting and brix down to zero the skins would be repressed resulting in an Aqua vino. Then distilled it through a still made from a 7.5 gallon beer keg, 4 inch ABS with 3/8 inch copper tube coil condenser, teed off the gas line going to my pool heater to a side burner scavenged off a barbeque and used a bypass from the pool pump to cool the coil. Kept track of the temperature regulating it around 173 to 175. Removed the early run condensates. The difference in smell is quite easy to detect. Great spirits produced, 172 proof from the heart of the 2nd run.
Sounds like you're really starting to "fall in love" with the whole botanical/herb mix and balance with all the possibilities it can create, part of the absinthe research hunt and discovery. It really seemed to light a fire under your clear to see passion for this adventure! Congratulations on your success and looking forward to seeing what you do with it next! But I also have a question that just might also be a suggestion to spark another hunt...in the same vein of botanical alchemy from history, have you ever heard of or tried Benedictine? An age old monk favorite?
i made absinth 4 years ago and I used the same recipe as you except I added orange peel, licorice root and let it macerate for about a week, cheers!! I also made mine 140 proof 🙂
2 things will add to your louching effect. 1) Looks to me like you took a LOT of distillate at the beginning. Way more than 5ml. There's a lot of the louching stuffs up-front. 2) It gets stronger as you make more batches and re-insert your feints into the spirit-run and the tails into the actual macerate and oils build-up. Oh, also, more aniseed will give more louche, but you were going for something more historical so perhaps it louched less back then.
Here in the USA there was one old man in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky that produced some of the best moonshine I ever tasted and he was making absinthe as well. I did taste a sip of it with the traditional sugar cube and it was an intense experience. He also made a star anise and fennel moonshine which tasted incredible. Sadly he was in his 90s when I met him and that was 30 years ago. Moonshine making was all he knew because his family had been making it since the late 1700s
Fascinating journey to go on! I'm not sure about the anise seed, but all of those other botanicals should grow well in the average temperate herb garden (as Switzerland is/was). That might be more affordable, though not as quick.
@@StillIt two to for years? Really? For herbs? I don't know. I only use them for cooking but 24 hours in a dehydrator, our 3 or 4 days hanging in the pantry is enough for that.
While I can't (easily) distill legally where I live, I've considered making an extract version using high proof grain alcohol. I've only had absinthe once, but I enjoyed it tremendously. I have also had beers made with many of the same herbs to flavor and bitter them, which I also thoroughly enjoyed - a pleasant departure from hops.
Dude that was awesome, I love absinthe and I love distilling random things. I only have an air distiller and I just play things by gut. Started fermenting pineapples as a kid, now I distilled plum wine and even did lemons. Making absinthe looks like something right up my alley. Oh I tried fermenting and distilling chilli once, what a balls up.
@@MostlyInteresting i have definitely seen those around! This one had glass that needed cleaning, tarnished silver accents and a very weathered box holding the four absinthe glasses, so I’m pretty sure it was an authentic set, the price tag accompanying it was certainly that of an antique!
Wow seems like a quick turnaround for you distillers thesis from the time i heard the podcast to the time i saw this video. Not gonna lie after listening to the podcast i had to reach into the cabinet and have a go at our absinthe from a local distiller here in Detroit. After louching it down it was much more palatable, and yes the addition of root beer or Dr. Pepper was quite nice and complementary. Thank both you and Alan for that podcast.
As an American, I just can't get my head around celsius for temps for some reason, but I much prefer metric for weights and measures. Just so much more precise. I love your outlook on everything and you present such a positive attitude to your craft that is appreciated!
@@thrash208 in a practical sense the Celsius system works fantastic when you live in a place that has freezing temperatures, especially if this is a frequent occurrence. Or if you work with particularly high or low temperatures as part of your job I find F is nice when you live in an area that is primarily 60-100F range and the granularity is nice in assessing indoor/outdoor comfort.
I had no idea that distilling was completely legal in New Zealand. I was a bit confused about how this guy was doing this in the open on TH-cam...New Zealand sounds like an amazing place. I wish I could see it once before my time on this rock is over. A friend and I did this but instead of distillation we just used Everclear as the base alcohol and we got as many of the ingredients we could get. I can't remember what we had trouble finding, but a buddies dad helped acquire the herbs and botanicals. Turned out alright, too bad it also turned out I don't really care for it. It was a fun process though. Cheers.
You will not fully know the quality of your absinthe until the Green Fairy tells you how good it is, so the question really is.. did she?🧚~ la fée verte ~🧚🇨🇭
I never realized until I started buying some, that it wasn’t supposed to make you trip, but rather just make you feel groovy due to the herbs having relaxing properties.
Pretty much, no real basis to it making you trip. But there may be something to be said about it giving you a "lucid buz". More to explore later with Alan :)
Yeah, there's some mild hallucinogenic properties of the wormwood, however you need massive amounts. For absinthe to make you trip like the myths around it, you'd have to be pretty much on deaths bed requiring a stomach pump to save you from alcohol poisoning ;)
@@DGPHolyHandgrenade the reason that there are stories of people tripping from it are from copper based compounds that were used in cheap absinthes to color them green back in the day that were literally poisoning the drinker. The thujone from the wormwood gives it a very slight stimulant property in comparison to a standard alcohol but not like a hallucinogenic experience
@@noodlelynoodle. copper poisoning doesnt tend to create the "absinthism" effects documented. What was discovered though is that because it was an ethanol extraction that it did compound the effects of severe alcoholism, which does induce hallucinogenic effects. From a relatively recent scientific paper "Thujones’ purported hallucinogenic and epileptogenic effects have been disproven except at extremely high concentrations, and “absinthism” has been largely proven to be a result of alcoholism." The point remains though....wanna trip, absinthe isnt the way to go.
I think the reason for the 48/52 split comes from one of two places, either it has its roots in Sacred Geometry and Western European Christian Mystic Esotericism, OR its because if you do a 50/50 split on the colouring it becomes too green and doesnt look right, and to be honest in my opinion its probably a combination of the lot. Great video Jesse, really reminds me of somethings i found doing research into older Gin and Genièvre practices.
I'll have to add a caveat to that previous statement. I was fortunate to have a distiller make true absence for me once and the euphoric experience that it gave me was almost like me eating a mushroom. It opened my eyes to a world that was hidden behind a veil and really helped me find peace in my soul
This really looks proper, good absinthe is more of a yellowish lighter color (Like Hill's Absinthe Verte - not the regular Hill's Absinthe, that is cheaeted and sweetened to boot). edit: You can make a quick and dirty cheap absinthe look-a-like by buying 95% spirits and throwing in wormwood (it is sold as tea in some pharmacies and eko shops), mint and anise. I also add a splash of lime and a spoon of honey. Leave that for a week, strain. Tastes pretty good and hell of a lot cheaper.
As you know this has been my siren song. And now that I know the old style ways to do it. I think mine will be a lot better. Now to get more botanicals. 😂
I added wormwood to a 5 gallon cask of fresh blackberry and sweet blackcherry mead made with cactus and lemon tree honey. i aged it for 15 months with the wormwood and racked it and carbonated a bunch of cans and put the rest in a glass cask. Everyone loved it. Had a unique buzz to it for sure.
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Hows it going, team? I screwed a few things up! Apologies for the 1kg = 1.1 lb blunder. Its fixed in the description I cant fix it in the video :(
Alan has some constructive feedback also (his screen name is One Piece At A Time Distilling Institute).
- Petite Wormwood is a majour colouring componant. But its very hard to find. It will give a darker color
- Spinach would be dried and give better colour
Try nette leaves, high Chlorophyll content, and Chlorophyll is very soluble in a 50%-60% alcohol solution by heating to around 40 to 50°CELCIUS. Nettel gives a strong green colouring with a negligable Taste, so perfect for colouring Absinth.
PineNeedles give also a good color but they have a nice but strong Taste, for those who like a more medecinal taste
@@claudesilverio677 Makes me wonder whether rosemary would work as a colorant, or would it be too overwhelming in the aroma.
I havent tried it for colouring, just added some to the maceration. Love the taste, smell and its good for your circulationsystem.
His reaction at the end between the two. Amazing what near 300 years of refinement can do to a recipe, also kind of sad over what has been lost.
Swiss bloke here... I can't drink alcohol anymore due to my current PTSD medication but that doesn't take anything from the pleasure of watching your experimentations. Thanks for that!
In Antibes, France there's a bar that's half underground and shaped as a dome made of chiseled rock, we simply called it Absinthe Bar since all they served was Absinthe. The variety was spectacular! Their concentrates were however so powerful and difficult to source that you would be limited to only 3 shots worth per sitting. I went 3 times and all 9 servings blew my mind. Their pickled onions and garlic was also some of the best I've ever had and made for an epic lil side dish. Good memories! If anyone reading this ever visits France, go find that place, you will not be disappointed!
Sounds good thanks!😁😜✌️
Real Absinthe is not an alcohol buzz at all .... I had like a nice LSD trip
@@philliplawson7853 an experience like that i found in Oregon Spirit, it's made by Oregon Distillery Co.
@@philliplawson7853 I had the chance to drink some in the 90's...after I tried lsd...and I agree with you!
I live near Antibes and Cannes...was it near the port?
Your absinthe looks pretty similar to the rare traditional stuff that you can find when you know a farmer in the valley where it comes from, congratulations! :)
I was just about to say something similar. My mate moved to Chexbres and Jessie's looks like the local hooch his local farmer gave us. Although his was definitely not wormwoody but really aniseed and lemon.
Happy to hear that the lad did good, I hope some day I can get my hands on something like what you’ve tried 🙏
and of course the yanks have to bend tradition to their will 😑
it's not something like rat-soup/bug soup that might kill/sick you just keep adding more sweetness why ? that's not how the french/OG like it and it's ok if it's not your thing but please don't ruin it for the curious people who want the real 1800's french recipe and pass off a modified modern 2022 USA imitation as 💯real and imported
Lol I love wormwood n thugone I make my in a pressure cooker n my recipe is extremely old
@@richardprice5978 I believe he says he is from New Zealand. He certainly doesn't have a USA accent.
The Green Fairy appreciates your hard work and dedication!
Great job Jesse, not a bad go at all for the first try! It has been awesome working with you!
Absinth Rouge is a thing. Finish it with hibiscus for colouring (it does affect the flavour in a good way) and potentially some rose petals. I just use a touch of rose-water in addition to my mineral water when proofing it down off the still and then add-in the hibiscus for colour.
Ohhhhhhh thats a interesting direction to take things
Hibiscus. What a wonderful flavor.
That sounds like a strong Sorel, but with different botanicals and no Rum for the alcohol 😉
@@MeteorMark Yep!
Mmmm... Sounds SOooo GOooD!💚🌺🌹
I just made a version of this recipe, the product was pretty good, i fouled up the order for wormwood so i ended up with 50gm not 95 as the recipe says, i halved all the ingredients, so i macerated for 12 hours then distilled through my air.
still, all cuts except the tails where added there was no really bad tastes,
i added half the tails as there was a earthy, woody, herby taste which added to the subtle back ground tastes
Final product 79 abv, gonna leave it at that strength.
I had a sample 10 ml just with 3 ice cubes, wow, it tasted like a strong pernod with the extra back ground licurice and botanical taste, the product leuched well, love it, nice one Jesse.
For colour, i used some of the spirit and crushed up 3 large spinach leaves until the colour leached out and filtered through cotton wool back into the jar, got a lovely pale green looks fantastic.
Hope this helps anyone havin a bash at this.
Very cool video !
Maybe you can try this receipe next time :
“Have a still that holds 24 bottles of good brandy. To these 24 bottles add a bucket of fountain water. Then put:
Two pounds of green anise
Two pounds of fennel
Half a pound of big absinthe
A pound of Gaula campana
Distill over low heat without leaving the still. Before distillation, the substances can be left to infuse in the eau-de-vie for 24 hours.
As the extract is distilled, two large, wide-mouthed glass jars are required; we put this liquor in it and then we share the following drugs which we infuse in it to give the green color:
A quarter pound of lemon balm
Half a pound of small absinthe
Half a pound of hyssop
It is left to infuse for four days in the heat of the sun, or on a stove if it is in winter. We then go through a felt hat; we squeeze the herbs tightly with both hands and put them back in the still for another cooking. »
Translated directly from old french, hope you understant everything. This is the Doctor Ordinaire's original receipe.
Have fun !
PS: Absinthe come from Val de Travers, in Switzerland, but it's not in Swiss Alpes ( believe me, I'm writing from there actually ;-) )
In regards to color, Petite Wormwood is also a major coloring and aroma component, although it's very hard to find. I suspect if you used it you would likely get a much darker color. The spinach would likely darken as well if the spinach were dried. Lemon balm also gives great color!
Yes the petite wormwood is great for finishing. It has a stronger sweeter more wormwood aroma than the absinthium species. The petite is also less bitter and contributes alot of colour to the finish.
Yes both species of wormwood are hard to find there are 3 species of wormwood grown the most common is the decorative one known as grand or tree wormwood which you'll find in people's gardens and in nurseries etc which does work for absinthe but doesn't smell or taste as nice as the petite or absinthium(also known as grande) species.
I ended up going to the Adelaide botanical gardens and making friends with the botanist there so I could have cuttings of the petite and absinthium species plus hyssop and other herbs that were hard to find. I ended trading a bottle of my absinthe for the plants lol as the botanist there was super interested in what I was doing.
@@jakeevans7075 Petite gives a bit of a "fruity" nose as well. I finally have a small colony in my garden.
@@hipgnosis2 yeah like a fruity floral sweet smell it's a very unique smell and flavour
Love the aroma of lemon balm .
@@jakeevans7075 "Grand" or "grande" wormwood is the common name for the absinthium variety; I think you're thinking of Roman wormwood, Artemesia pontica, which is commonly used as a ground cover, and was often used for the colouring step in historic absinthes.
My favorite spirit, made in a traditional way by my favorite distilling creator. What a happy Sunday.
Ah man, cheers!
I always thought the thujone in Absinthe would instantly turn me into an Avant-garde artiste and allow me to hang with the Bohemians, but all I got was bogans
drink ozo and save a few bucks
You're confusing thujone with a pack American Spirits and a worn copy of On the Road, but that's ok, we all make that mistake.
Bahahahaha. Yeah actually. I knew a few bogans and / or heavy metal dudes into absinthe. Is that a thing?
Too much thujone will lead to renal failure so I’m told
@@StillIt Ha !
Thank you! Great video, admirable work! As a dweller of the Swiss Alps, I should add a correction: Absinthe does not come from the Swiss Alps but the Swiss Jura mountains which are outside the Alps at the northeastern end of Switzerland. The Jurassians, as the Jura dwellers are called, are the proud makers of the (illegal until 2005) green fairy. I would not want to take that honor from them or make them angry. Otherwise they might curse the green fairy.
I have tasted many kinds of original Absinthe moonshine. There are different colors from clear to yellowish-green to deep green. I prefer it whitout water but its richness in flavors comes out both ways. So I sip some pure then add water to enjoy the rest. I do agree with the Ouzo comparison.
Hear Hear. One slight detail, though : the historical cradle of absinthe very specifically is Val-de-Travers, a small valley in Canton de Neuchâtel (back then the Principalty of Neuchâtel, and technically part of... Prussia) with the French city of Pontarlier just across the border at the far end. I.e. not the Jura Mountains as a whole, (and even less modern Canton du Jura).
Man...I don't even drink any sort of alcohol, but this still was very enjoyable to watch. Excellent presentation of all of the details and historic tidbits.
I drank a bottle of Czech Absinthe my Buddy's GF smuggled in...and it was AWESOME!!! Imagine a field of wildflowers concentrated into a sweet liqueur...with plenty of Thujone! It was great served traditionally, or straight.
Your on screen conversions to us Americans is both hilarious and appreciated
When he says "Freedom Unit" got me 😂
I seem to be missing something, because 1 kilogram is not 1.1 pound; it's 2.2 pounds.
I'm so freaking stoked I found this channel! I'm moving to the mountains and plan on building a still
hahah cheers mate
Come to west virginia I'll help ya build a still
You know you don’t have to live in the mountains to build a still.
@@chrishubbs8633 no but it happens to be where I live. And I build stills too sooo....
@@chrishubbs8633 no shit man. I'm already there. Feel better?
Absinth just bursts with flavor I can see why people loved it back in the day. Great video
I made an absinth batch with homegrown / foraged herbs and culinary solvent (pure ethanol) for extraction....turned out pretty good. Needed a lot of herbs to get the essential oils for the louche.
The louche comes mainly from anethole and that in turn comes from aniseed...maybe make sure that your anise is not old and dried out, try grinding it with a manual coffee grinder and see if it puts up any "resistance" or is it easy to grind (in the latter case it would be bad).
@@WeightlessBallast that was exactly it, my first batch didn't louche but in the second I put more star anise, more fennel and ground the hell out of it with my mortar and pestle and that did the trick. Next time I will use the coffee grinder. I think the fennel seed puts out a huge amount of oils too as it's kinda like anise.
If you wanna try some REALLY nice spirits i'd recommend you Žufánek destilery from Czech Republic. His main focus is on fruit spirits traditional for our region but he also makes Junipers, Gins and Absinths which are reaaaaly nice. His top of the class is Žufánek DUBIED 1798, 70% Absinth by original recepie.
My top choice is Ořechovka (Wallnut spirit) made by macerating June harvested green wallnuts in 52 % Plum Spirit.
Try it you are not gonna regret.
Not only is your channel fun to watch but listening to your voice makes me miss New Zealand.
This is a fantastic channel.
For the spilled product you could soak up the spilled product with a towel and wring back into a container to run through the still again!
True I could have!
Jessie good day to you; i started distilling this year (Absinthe,Gin, Whisky and Rum).
Your channel helped a lot with the basics and i am extremely grateful for all the insights that you give.
Talking about Absinthe, i am Swiss and i tried my fair share of them, the recipe you have seems very solid but the problem with Absinthe is simple: it does not have a recipe, only guidelines.
Every family had/has his own recipe and the few that "get out" are the ones easily accessible.
For a thought experiment, imagine Absinthe as your quest to use a lot of useful herbs and distill them. I found many recipes with chamomile, hyssop, star anise, small absinthe (artemisia pontica), nettles etc.
If you want we can have a chat about that, it would be my honor.
Best regards
I hope you revisit this one on the future. Loved this episode and love some good absinthe. Hoping to get into the craft soon. Got a still just need the space to work it in
1:43: "The region of Swiss Alps". Well, not exactly - it's the nearing slightly lower "Jura" mountains that border the Swiss plateau, and notably "Val-de-Travers" swiss region right at the border with France. That's why The first industrial factory for it was built right across the border, in Pontarlier, France (and still In Jura mountains). (yes, I live in Switzerland and come from France, how did you guess?) But the dedication is really impressive - thanks for making the video!
I've been looking around for the spirits to make Absinthe, I was stoked to see this. I found a seller that sells the herb mix. I can't wait to give it a try ♥
First time seeing your channel & while I rarely drink I love the craft & history behind many beverages whether we are talking beer, mead, whisky, tequila or absinthe. I love your energy & information. Great beardless folk have no idea how hard it is to work with a long beard. I look forward to checking out your other content. This video sure makes me want some Absintge & even more finally getting into distillation as all I have done us fractaldistillation making apple jack.
So happy this day finally came. More herbaceous absinthe sounds great to me. Grande wormwood is a fairly common weed around where I live, and I love rubbing the plants and smelling them. Roman wormwood is unobtanium unfortunately.
I'd recommend trying the Pontarlier recipe next, if you can get Roman wormwood. It should grow well in NZ. It's frequently used as an ornamental.
Back when I used to drink a lot more, I had an absinthe phase. I ended up getting a bunch of little samples, all different shades and colors. That's where I found Blue Absinthe, which I liked more than any of the greener ones (good, just not a drink I'd drink often). I remember it being a lot milder than the greens, not as pushy with the flavors. More subtle, which is more my style. (My DOC is gin but not the dry ones.)
I never knew what it was, tho. Until now. I did try to look it up but it was towards the beginning of Google beginning to suck, so I never did find out. Thanks for doing this! Answered questions I forgot I had.
Why is it called "Blue Absinthe"? And did you find blue? It seems there is many flavors, do they determine a literal color? Or just metaphorical?
I feel in love with Absinthe when I was stationed in Germany. Sadly after returning to the USA I never found one that delivered the profile and character as I found in Europe. So here I sit, wishing I could have a drink with you.
well thank god for the internet and globalization!! Surely, you can have whatever you drank in deutschland delivered to your front door, even by drone if you wanted
Call the absinth bar in antibes France ✌️😎
As for production of the the expected green liquor, next time press the mixture of the spinach and hyssop before removal, this will draw out more color and make it greener.
I use white portwine to make my basic alcohol for mazeration. I mazerate the herbs from my garden from spring to Summer as they come, in a jar. End of Summer All is one jar and i still IT in Winter. I dont color it but age IT with some tastet birchwood which gives a nice color. I dont use Anis or fennel so it s more a sage mint lemonbalm and elderflower with a worm wood Taste. I use two different wormwoods and sage to push the Level of thujon (alpha and betathujon) which makes It more narcotic. The strongest but the most bitter(very high thujon content) is Alchemilla millefolia
I like your thinking!! 🤠👍
@@worldtraveler930 It's Achillea millefolium
I made a compound absinthe from a kit I bought from the Renaissance Festival. It is amazing. Solid black/green in color, but the louche makes it milky white. Strong wormwood favor.
The base spirit I used was a 100 proof corn moonshine
Absinthe is one of the "coolest" spirits around! The entire mystique around it gives it such a fun allure. Personally, I'm just a sucker for the liquorice flavor.
Couldn't agree more!
One bottle imported from Europe trashed 5 to 6 my friends father who was an alcoholic.
Lemme tell you his mom was pissed. I , like a fool, took two shots like ah it's okay and passed out cold. I handled two shots of pure grain so thought I'd be fine.
It just seemed to me like I was extra drunk for much longer than normal. Nothing fancy, and my friend said it was the highest concentrated brand. I think we were 18.
Wonder how other people feel on it.
The big thing is that distillation takes away the bitterness of grande absinthe leaving only the aromas! Absinthe (real) is therefore never really bitter. If you see a bottle of "absinth" with a wormwood twig in it, don't buy it, it's fake.
Ya, that's why I would advise to drink it the traditional way. Use a fountain with ice cold water and the spoon with a sugar cube. Great activity to do when hosting a garden party on a hot summer day. You can spice it up even more by giving the whole party including the food a French flavor. It's something your friends will appreciate and remember.
if you like the Liquorice flavor with a cool twist, try Ouzo. it's a Greek liquor that is clear, but if you put it over ice or mix in water, it goes cloudy white.
I just bought a bottle of Absente. Then this video Pops up. Cheers!! And Thanks.
Love Abainthe. I used to prepare it traditionally, would read Keats and get my melancholy on with the green fairy. I’ve been wanting to make it for a long time. The recipe I saw was a Louisiana recipe using sugar spirit as a base, using the botanicals to distill and then adding them back in a very fine muslin sock to colour it. As a rule to be absinthe it should have the anise, wormwood, and sweet fennel. What else you put in can vary depending on the recipe. Usually it’s green herbs but you could always experiment.
Oh dude... I swear, you were so close. THAT was a good day. Thank your god and go forth to spread the cheer.
In 1973 I was stationed in the Azores, I discovered Absintho De Abstracto. I was dark brown and very potent. Tasted like a hot branding iron.
I loved the 1700's. The parties were insane.
A double infusion, along side the double distillation helps with the colour and flavor. Great vid. I love that you kept it as traditional as possible. Thank you :)
If you want to save money on making Absinthe, consider growing an Herb Garden. The wormwood, lemonbalm etc can all be grown in your yard. This time of year is a great time to plan your Absinthe Garden!
All the herbal ingredients apart from anise are easy to get here where I live in the UK. Angelica grows wild here in hedgerows and fields. Mint is grown in a lot of peoples gardens and horse mint and water mint are easy to find growing locally. Wormwood grows abundantly over a park not too far away from me (I have about 3 or 3 kilos of dried wormwood leaves and flowers that I collected a couple of years ago), and fennel grows abundantly there too. Lemon balm grows in a lot of peoples gardens here, and is extremely easy to grow.
Soooo STOKED! It's been well worth the wait! Thanx for doing all the hard work and research so that we peasants may stumble less in our pursuit of the green fairy. Here's to the first of many absinthe adventures🤳🏻
I am glad you made this video. I've played around with making absinthe quite a bit as I love the earthy Herby sweet note wormwood imparts into it making it alot more interesting to me than ouzo.
I am originally got my recipe from mine from an old French winemaking book that had an absinthe recipe in the back (in french) I had to get my friend to translate it for me. It used alot of the same ingredients as yours plus lemon balm and orange peel.
I found growing fresh wormwood is soooo much better than dried. The fresh is much more complex and sweeter. Also alot of the original recipes use 2 different species of wormwood. The absinthium for the original maceration and Distillation and then what's known as petit wormwood for the colouring maceration which is alot more sweet and Herby compared to the absinthium species.
Two things. 1, please do this again. Would definitely watch a whole new video of you making absinthe a second time. B, how much would you have to charge for that bottle to break even? 3, love your channel. Thanks for the content.
Grand Gruyere is my fave spirit from that region. It's very green, made with herbs, doesn't taste aniseedy at all.. but it's incredibly hard to get a bottle outside of going to the small town of Gruyere. On the plus side the H.R. Giger museum is there for something to do.. and in the cafe you get a shot of Grand Gruyere with your "alien coffee"
My daughter is really into fermentation and will probably try this. I myself truly love absinthe. Thanks for such an informative and thoughtful presentation. You do a really great job.
I make my own beer, ale, and non-distilled brandy, I have for a long time, and I did build a still and played around with making distilled brandy, bourbon, and gin, basically to understand and learn the process. But now there's an awesome artisan, small-batch, distillery less than a mile from my home, so I just buy theirs. They make an absinth like this every year, @100 proof, and it's a real howler. I've yet to see that "green fairy", but it is a delicious, and beautiful, green spirit.
I dont have a still but I really enjoy learning how you do it
Absinthe is a fantastic and unique buzz... Definitely not a hallucinogen (trust me, I've tried,) but instead: a very subtle and enjoyable stimulating affect. I'm a big fan, and due to the complexity of it's production, I've never considered making my own! Cheers to you!
The way i describe an absinthe buzz is that its like youre body is is drunk but your brain is sober
whats the deal with the hallucination thing and the drink?
In the Philippines 1975 they had some fantastic absenthe. It was so powerful they had a limit of 2 drinks percustomer, only because it was spiked with opium. To date was the best ever
I can verify this. In the early 80's it was De Absenth with a licorice taste. OPIUM, you just drift off and stop talking.
Feel like you can put opium in anything and it will become "fantastic".
Wouldn't any drink with opium be the best ever..?? 😂
It's called a gin basket. It goes on the colom above the cap before the condenser. It works for both absenth and gin.
The touted excellent absinthe that I was treated to absolutely juniper berry -> lemon balm-> light licorice -> very light mint profile - Nicely done. Cheers from Seattle!
Thank you for taking up the task to recreate this green fairy.
I count myself fortunate to have been born long ago to an old family (not wealthy, just knowledgeable) from parts of Europe. Many of the oldest ones had long memories of making and drinking Absinthe. I remember, as a child, having a taste of an Absinthe cocktail made the original way with carmelized sugar and spring water. They were a bunch of knowledgeable herbalists and farmers. They grew it, brewed it, distilled it, and had the old ways of preparing it for drinks.
Looking at the modern instructions, I feel sad at the loss of knowledge, caused by a long stretch of ignorance brought on by prohibition.
My grandmother stated that the best was made by starting with a fine spirit base of very potent potato vodka. Her family made that for hundreds of years.
Another elder showed me how to mix the cocktail. He had the lacy patterned spoons, and decanters.
The modern instructions are what you might tell a child to keep them from setting fire to your home out of inexperience. But this elder months before his death, showed me when I was a child. He wanted the history and knowledge kept.
The complex flavor was exquisite.
Absinthe was never as dangerous as the prohibitionist claimed. But imbibing too much of any mix of alcoholic beverages to excess can be an unhealthy, foolish act.
I just wanted to ask, why are you not teaching others about the "old school" way of doing this? I understand being careful, but share the wealth of knowledge and the experience and product could get respect and possibly catch back on to bring life to something that was treated so badly.
@@ashleybarlow4951years ago, when I tried to show a group of fellow bartenders the old way to prepare the cocktail, several complained I must be wrong, because the new "approved recipe" was "safer to make." Less chance of fire, they stated. I never heard of a capable bartender causing a fire. "The approved new version" eliminated a sugar cube, a flame, and tasted nothing like the classic.
But several of the others wanted to see the old way. So we recreated it. We had some of the classic tools, but had to adapt to not having all of the old tools.
Caramelization of a sugar cube in absinthe on the spoon before adding spring water was a major component in the taste. That is the original reason for the lacy spoons. It burned off a little of the alcohol, too. But not too much. The final coctail was a beautiful opal green color, and tasted deliciously unique. My favorite was made with one of my deceased relative's well hidden old bottles of absinthe that survived the prohibition of the liquer. Wish we had those original recipes.
I remember one other odd note in the old man's information. The liquor was not made from grapes. That might have been a reaction to the original provincial ban coming from the vintners who didn't like the fashion change in that time to absinthe as a favorite. Sale of wine went down, apparently, due to the artsy folks preferring absinthe to wine.
The few bartenders who were interested in this old knowledge also preferred the flavor and aroma. My pure luck to have such an old relative who had experienced making this cocktail long ago in Manhattan, serving it at a literary cafe. Writers, artists, poets, and their following preferred this absinthe coctail back then, to any other beverage. I agree, we should honor and keep our history.
can you type up the recipe
You had a great way to quickly age by heating and cooling. I just bought an electric mason jar vacuum seal,works perfectly. You can actually see the colors change and bubbles come out of the wood😊
In the written recipe you have listed mint twice. the second 53g one should be lemon balm.
My man! Thanks updated :)
Also 1.1lb is 1/2 a KG
I like your honesty. Alot of people would have just bought store absinthe to make up for the loss.
Absinthe is by far my favorite alcohol. This looks fantastic.
Niiiice. I definitely think I am falling in love.
Good ones are heaven in a glass, but many are emerald coloured sh(eye)te.
Thanks for the hook-up with Alan, Jesse, he hooked me up with some great resources for beginners. I'm fermenting juices now, but I hope to up my game to mashes and start distilling soon. Thanks for all of the encouragement and great content. GBY, Brother.
@@theworldisastage1984 Thanks for the heads up. Home Distiller it is.
@@theworldisastage1984 Rockin Rockies, got it, thanks!
@@theworldisastage1984 That's on the YT channel, or a discord or something...?
@@theworldisastage1984 Great, I'll hit you up!
Alan, Jesse and Cyrus at Still in the Clear will definitely guide you in right direction. I've got few videos too. Keep trying and be patient you'll get there
Distilling without a very closely controlled licence is strictly prohibited in Sweden. But if I could, I would be making something like this. I love diving into old recipies and trying to recreate them. It's the feeling that you're experiencing something that someone else who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago also experienced. That almost breaks my brain - in the best way.
You have Grön Opal! Best modern absinthe ever made (alongside with La Faucille).
You don’t need no license🤫
@@andrewaustin6020 It's funny how distilling alcohol is such a taboo but drug growers kinda get a pat on the head. Lost tax money is the only explanation.
@@WeightlessBallast where do drug growers get a "pat on the head"? and which drug? and where?
It's historical research not distilling.
You have no intent to distill but to research a simple recipe for historical value.
To put on bottom to stop burning you can just bend a couple coat hangers to fit and keep bag off bottom !!!
the sweetness you talk about from the commercial absinthe comes from star anise , ive made multiple different recipes for absinthe and the best one ive found is in dale pendells Pharmako/Poeia book (recipe can be easily found online )
20+ years ago, while in the American Army, I knew a guy obsessed with absinthe. He traveled Europe buying bottles. While stationed in Germany he set out to find pure absinthe. He made me try dozens of absinthes. Its good, the drinking method was fun and full of pomp and circumstance but we never had any psychedelic effects. It was a very fun/clean drunk. Maybe thats where it gets It's cred. In those days the Army wore BDU greens, and I'd sometimes call him my "green fairy" as he served drink after drink trying to perfect his technique 😅
Always remember the old saying: "Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder"
i appreciate the in-line ads. your editing style that tosses in the extra tidbits are a great change of pace, and when the "ad" comes up, it's delivered by the content creator, making the experience less jarring.
it is very enjoyable to watch your videos as a result.
thanks you, as i know you might make more money if you allowed youtube ads.
The angels have collected well that day.
Thanks for the donations. 😇
48 is a multiple of 12, which was used for essentially ever as an "everyday counting" base (because you have 12 finger segments you can point at with your thumb), so that measure might just been "some amount of dozens" originally and nobody bothered to round to 50%.
Hello from an undisclosed location on the other side of the globe! Very well done! I have been drinking real absinthe for 20 years now, actually I rarely drink anything else alcoholic. I make absinthe in a copper pot still of 2,5 liters and nowadays I have to make my base alcohol myself, too. I cultivate my own absinthe and angelica (of which I use the root), buy anise (Turkish origin mostly), fennel (maybe central European) and lemon balm from the local supermarket. Hyssop, calamus, petite wormwood and some other experimental ingredients I have bought online. I make both blanche and verte, but the coloration step renders a not very persistent color: it turns brown quite soon but that does not affect the taste. I wouldn't use mint anywhere in the process because then it would be just a herbal mint spirit IMO. Mint schnaps in itself is quite nice, nevertheless. The coloration step is also a bit wasteful because the coloration herbs suck quite a many drops of the precious liquid in them. Licorice/liquorice root can also be used in the coloration step. J de Brevans or was it Duplais praises it in his book as something that cannot be overdone (I'll check the source later). To be continued...
It was neither but J. Fritsch, New treatise on the fabrication of liquors with the latest procedures, 1891. Source: The Absinthe Encyclopedia by David Nathan-Maister.
Artemisia absinthium itself (fresh leaves at least) can be use for coloring: it gives an almost unnatural emerald green color.
But yeah: it degrades (I suspect due to light) to a yellow color after a few weeks.
@@Mr_Yod And traditionally no A. absinthium was added after distillation as it would make the distillate bitter again. Today I made a 55% verte coloured with lemon balm and A. pontica and it tastes OK. The colour is nice bright emerald: 50 ml of the clear distillate was put in a coffee pot with said herbs (total amount of distillate 300ml), heated to circa 40 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, then poured through a sieve (no paper filtering as I do not mind the sediment) and after cooling down added back to the distillate. I'll report next weekend how it developed.
@@WeightlessBallast I always thought that original absinth WAS bitter, hence the tradition of the sugar cube melted with cold water
@@Mr_Yod Most likely because sugar would not dissolve very well in undiluted absinthe. And according to some, sugar or syrup was added to other alcoholic drinks as well in bistros, before the cocktail era. True, even real absinthe is bitter, in the same sense that tea is---bitter may be an incorrect word but I'm not native English speaker. Astringent?
A side note. The "Czech absinth revival" in the 1990s was a marketing ploy that had no relevance in the history of absinthe. They basically made wormwood-infused strong liquor that had to be made somewhat more drinkable and cool-looking by burning sugar above the glass--not a way of preparation anywhere in historic times, just a modern invention. That is why absinthusiasts refer to Czech 'absinth' (German spelling) instead of 'absinthe'. Nowadays there are serious makers of absinthe in Czechia, Germany and other countries, unlike 20 years ago. My favorite is the Swedish Grön Opal.
I've never had absinthe or made alcohol. Thanks, you tube. Great video. What came to mind while watching, especially when you mentioned Swiss Alps was that it was most likely made as a medicinal and colored to show it hade herbs in it and wasn't just a happy drink. With those herbs and Brandy, I guarantee that stuff will knock out any cold or flu with one shot. Maybe two, just in case. I had a friend give me some grain alcohol and Maryjane mix he made. He called it green dragon [super green color]. Nasty taste, seriously the best cold and flu medicine ever!
Hard to tell with the goofy green light but I believe the louche on yours is much more pleasing to the eye. It looks like green abalone shell, all shimmery and pretty.
Better too little coloration than too much. Also I was about to ask whether the spinach was dried but it looked like fresh. What will the oxalic (sp?) acid in the leaves do, by the way, isn't t there some in spinach?
I've just gotten into your channel (you may have noticed me spamming your comments! Apologies if that's annoying, I'm just trying to help the inscrutable algorithm), and I gotta say, this is the one that made me a Patron. The confluence of history, distilling, and the chemistry that goes into it all-I love it so much. Thank you for sharing your experiences! And I hope my meager monthly contribution will help you continue producing content (and spirits!) for a long time.
I don't even drink these days, but this was a pretty cool YT recommendation. As a cannabis grower, I follow several cannabis growing content creators. It's interesting to me that YT hates those creators, yet not distillers. Cannabis is so much safer, in growing it and consuming it. It's legal to grow cannabis in quite a few states in the US now too. Yet, YT rarely allows these channels to monetize. Usually, once they show their plants, no more monetization. Cheers/💨happy stilling and growing all you creators of your preferred stress relief! Love when peeps get their head meds outside of corporate society!
A fellow New Zealander, Good day sir. Love me some absinthe. Usually go for the Green Tree but have also enjoyed a bit of Hapsburg although not often.
One route related to Absinthe, could be to try to make Malört snaps.
Malört is the Swedish name for Wormwood. As I understand it, the flavors are different because snaps is usually made by steeping herbs in pure spirits, vodka or brännvin, and since the ABV is lower, different chemicals steep out of it. (I wonder if redistilling malört snaps would make it more absinthy ? )
That would be a fun "meme" spirits Jesse! Redistill Malort with other botanicals! Rabbit hole....and go!!!!!!
Made Grappa for many years with the left over pressings when making wine, mostly Cab. I would add water and sugar to the grape skins adjusting the brix to around 26-28. After a week of fermenting and brix down to zero the skins would be repressed resulting in an Aqua vino. Then distilled it through a still made from a 7.5 gallon beer keg, 4 inch ABS with 3/8 inch copper tube coil condenser, teed off the gas line going to my pool heater to a side burner scavenged off a barbeque and used a bypass from the pool pump to cool the coil.
Kept track of the temperature regulating it around 173 to 175. Removed the early run condensates. The difference in smell is quite easy to detect. Great spirits produced, 172 proof from the heart of the 2nd run.
Sounds like you're really starting to "fall in love" with the whole botanical/herb mix and balance with all the possibilities it can create, part of the absinthe research hunt and discovery. It really seemed to light a fire under your clear to see passion for this adventure! Congratulations on your success and looking forward to seeing what you do with it next!
But I also have a question that just might also be a suggestion to spark another hunt...in the same vein of botanical alchemy from history, have you ever heard of or tried Benedictine? An age old monk favorite?
i made absinth 4 years ago and I used the same recipe as you except I added orange peel, licorice root and let it macerate for about a week, cheers!! I also made mine 140 proof 🙂
2 things will add to your louching effect. 1) Looks to me like you took a LOT of distillate at the beginning. Way more than 5ml. There's a lot of the louching stuffs up-front. 2) It gets stronger as you make more batches and re-insert your feints into the spirit-run and the tails into the actual macerate and oils build-up. Oh, also, more aniseed will give more louche, but you were going for something more historical so perhaps it louched less back then.
Thanks a but load for the tips my dude!
Here in the USA there was one old man in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky that produced some of the best moonshine I ever tasted and he was making absinthe as well.
I did taste a sip of it with the traditional sugar cube and it was an intense experience.
He also made a star anise and fennel moonshine which tasted incredible.
Sadly he was in his 90s when I met him and that was 30 years ago.
Moonshine making was all he knew because his family had been making it since the late 1700s
Fascinating journey to go on! I'm not sure about the anise seed, but all of those other botanicals should grow well in the average temperate herb garden (as Switzerland is/was). That might be more affordable, though not as quick.
Definitly not as quick because its actually better dried, generally for 2-4 years. But yes DEFINITLY cheaper. Also much more satisfying I would guess!
@@StillIt two to for years? Really? For herbs? I don't know. I only use them for cooking but 24 hours in a dehydrator, our 3 or 4 days hanging in the pantry is enough for that.
Those classic British teeth , give you a genuinely cool look !
While I can't (easily) distill legally where I live, I've considered making an extract version using high proof grain alcohol. I've only had absinthe once, but I enjoyed it tremendously. I have also had beers made with many of the same herbs to flavor and bitter them, which I also thoroughly enjoyed - a pleasant departure from hops.
It only illegal if you get caught.
@@nojuanatall3281 where I live, they're looking for it. We have a strong history of bootlegging in NC.
This video just inspired me to make up a Xmas rum brew. I can't wait till Xmas.
Thanks Jesse, a highly informative and genuinely interesting video! I feel like this caters to everyone, both professionals and home distillers :)
Dude that was awesome, I love absinthe and I love distilling random things. I only have an air distiller and I just play things by gut. Started fermenting pineapples as a kid, now I distilled plum wine and even did lemons. Making absinthe looks like something right up my alley. Oh I tried fermenting and distilling chilli once, what a balls up.
I was at a curiosity shop the other day, and they had an absinthe fountain that was gorgeous with a full pour kit and glasses.
Very cool!
Be careful that those are not just re-pops being sold as old!!!
@@MostlyInteresting i have definitely seen those around! This one had glass that needed cleaning, tarnished silver accents and a very weathered box holding the four absinthe glasses, so I’m pretty sure it was an authentic set, the price tag accompanying it was certainly that of an antique!
@@Im_The_Dude Just be careful out there and don't get ripped off!
I think I may actually need to keep an eye out for one now.
Wow seems like a quick turnaround for you distillers thesis from the time i heard the podcast to the time i saw this video. Not gonna lie after listening to the podcast i had to reach into the cabinet and have a go at our absinthe from a local distiller here in Detroit. After louching it down it was much more palatable, and yes the addition of root beer or Dr. Pepper was quite nice and complementary. Thank both you and Alan for that podcast.
Absolutely welcome!!!
As an American, I just can't get my head around celsius for temps for some reason, but I much prefer metric for weights and measures. Just so much more precise.
I love your outlook on everything and you present such a positive attitude to your craft that is appreciated!
The easiest way to think about it is
0°C is freezing point of water
100°C is boiling point for water
@@thrash208 in a practical sense the Celsius system works fantastic when you live in a place that has freezing temperatures, especially if this is a frequent occurrence. Or if you work with particularly high or low temperatures as part of your job
I find F is nice when you live in an area that is primarily 60-100F range and the granularity is nice in assessing indoor/outdoor comfort.
I had no idea that distilling was completely legal in New Zealand. I was a bit confused about how this guy was doing this in the open on TH-cam...New Zealand sounds like an amazing place. I wish I could see it once before my time on this rock is over.
A friend and I did this but instead of distillation we just used Everclear as the base alcohol and we got as many of the ingredients we could get. I can't remember what we had trouble finding, but a buddies dad helped acquire the herbs and botanicals. Turned out alright, too bad it also turned out I don't really care for it. It was a fun process though. Cheers.
You will not fully know the quality of your absinthe until the Green Fairy tells you how good it is, so the question really is.. did she?🧚~ la fée verte ~🧚🇨🇭
I've never tried to make absinth but I have made mead, and have heard of mead made with nightshade honey being trippy. so good luck!
I never realized until I started buying some, that it wasn’t supposed to make you trip, but rather just make you feel groovy due to the herbs having relaxing properties.
Pretty much, no real basis to it making you trip. But there may be something to be said about it giving you a "lucid buz". More to explore later with Alan :)
Yeah, there's some mild hallucinogenic properties of the wormwood, however you need massive amounts. For absinthe to make you trip like the myths around it, you'd have to be pretty much on deaths bed requiring a stomach pump to save you from alcohol poisoning ;)
@@DGPHolyHandgrenade I went to a few Green Fairy parties and the it definitely felt like a pre ecstasy buzz.
@@DGPHolyHandgrenade the reason that there are stories of people tripping from it are from copper based compounds that were used in cheap absinthes to color them green back in the day that were literally poisoning the drinker. The thujone from the wormwood gives it a very slight stimulant property in comparison to a standard alcohol but not like a hallucinogenic experience
@@noodlelynoodle. copper poisoning doesnt tend to create the "absinthism" effects documented. What was discovered though is that because it was an ethanol extraction that it did compound the effects of severe alcoholism, which does induce hallucinogenic effects.
From a relatively recent scientific paper "Thujones’ purported hallucinogenic and epileptogenic effects have been disproven except at extremely high concentrations, and “absinthism” has been largely proven to be a result of alcoholism."
The point remains though....wanna trip, absinthe isnt the way to go.
Great adventure...alchemy!
I think the reason for the 48/52 split comes from one of two places, either it has its roots in Sacred Geometry and Western European Christian Mystic Esotericism, OR its because if you do a 50/50 split on the colouring it becomes too green and doesnt look right, and to be honest in my opinion its probably a combination of the lot.
Great video Jesse, really reminds me of somethings i found doing research into older Gin and Genièvre practices.
Very close and correct on the Christian mysticism, 48 is an Angelic number representing abundance and health etc.
I'll have to add a caveat to that previous statement. I was fortunate to have a distiller make true absence for me once and the euphoric experience that it gave me was almost like me eating a mushroom. It opened my eyes to a world that was hidden behind a veil and really helped me find peace in my soul
This really looks proper, good absinthe is more of a yellowish lighter color (Like Hill's Absinthe Verte - not the regular Hill's Absinthe, that is cheaeted and sweetened to boot).
edit: You can make a quick and dirty cheap absinthe look-a-like by buying 95% spirits and throwing in wormwood (it is sold as tea in some pharmacies and eko shops), mint and anise. I also add a splash of lime and a spoon of honey. Leave that for a week, strain. Tastes pretty good and hell of a lot cheaper.
I hope to see more absinthe videos. I am getting ready to work through a long list of different spirits. Absinthe is close to the top of that list.
These videos always come at the right time! I was just thinking about making some.
great video and grest with historical facts.
Thanks for taking the time to make the video and share it.
As you know this has been my siren song. And now that I know the old style ways to do it. I think mine will be a lot better. Now to get more botanicals. 😂
Why do I get the feeling we are forever going to be saying "where did all the botanicals go?"
I added wormwood to a 5 gallon cask of fresh blackberry and sweet blackcherry mead made with cactus and lemon tree honey. i aged it for 15 months with the wormwood and racked it and carbonated a bunch of cans and put the rest in a glass cask. Everyone loved it. Had a unique buzz to it for sure.