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“Making Absinthe: A Comprehensive Guide”
brought over from the old message boards:Anonymous12/14/02 10:14 AMsubject: Absinthe Making Notes I have tried several recipes. A recipe from Dick’s Practical Receipts involved steeping the herbs in alcohol for a week, filtering, and then distilling. I found that as this mixture was distilled, the bitterness level of the distillate increased with increasing temperature. Stop collecting when the mixture is bittered to your taste.The second recipe was the Scientific American version listed on this website. This one involved combining the herbs with the spirit and then distilling the combined mixture. This has the advantages of combining a hot ethanolic extraction with a later steam extraction depending on how long you collect spirit. My first trial, I stopped collecting when the distillate turned milky from a combination of low alcohol and high anisaldehyde concentration. The resulting licorice flavor was slightly lower than I would have liked. When I repeat this formulation, I will distill over more of the milky condensate. Since I am using drinkable spirit, feints are not an issue.Both recipes called for coloring the spirit with wormwood among other herbs. This made a liquor that was too bitter for my taste (nothing that redistillation didn’t fix). The solution to this problem was to make an extract of wormwood in spirit and then add it to the mixture like a seasoning allowing you to control the bitterness more carefully.Finally, plan on steaming your equipment clean to remove the anise flavors prior to using it for any other purposes.BlanchyAnonymous02/02/03 07:13 PMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]Thanks for posting this info. I have found that people thatmake absinthe don’t want to share any info. You are one of the first I have ever seen willing to share any info about it.I posted anonymously because you did as well. I wish I could pick your brain a little bit on this subject.Anonymous02/03/03 11:29 AMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]If you’ve got any specific questions, let me know.Anonymous02/10/03 01:53 PMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]o.k. here are a couple of questions. Pot still?or can a reflux be used. Or let me say this,couldn’t the base alcohol be made with areflux still? Or maybe use say… Brandy andthen redistill to get good base alcohol formacerating the herbs in before distillation?Anonymous02/10/03 02:12 PMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]You need to use a pot still for the final distillation. The main purpose is to leave behind bitter, but not volatile, absinthins and just collect the essential oils and alcohol. Since you are distilling a mixture that is already at 70% or so alcohol, you don’t need to concentrate it any further through the use of a reflux still. In fact you will need to dilute the distillate a bit to get it back to the 70% ethanol that is traditional in absinthe.The reflux still would work well to produce your initial base alcohol. Traditionally, absinthe was made from spirit of wine which is supposed to improve the flavor, but the anise flavor is so strong, I think that any remaining wine flavors are pretty much overpowered.Before anyone asks, absinthe does not have the hallucinogenic properties attributed to it in movies like From Hell. The main drug is ethanol, with possibly a few minor effects from some of the essential oils. The primary reason for its banning had to do with the practices of shady manufacturers adding methanol, copper sulfate, and antimony trichloride which sickened people and possibly drove them insane. This was coupled with some apparently substandard toxicological research that was performed by some so-called “scientists” at the time.Anonymous02/10/03 04:05 PMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]Yes the first anonymous is correct. Absinthe is booze.It will not produce a high,except of course from the alcohol.Some people claim magical properties for it. But in my expereince it just isn’t so. So in your opinion, a well madeturbo sugar wash would be fine for the base?? No need totry and re-distill grape alcohol?Anonymous03/16/03 08:41 AMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]I’m kindof late on my reply. Too many “Anonymous” people out there which made me think that I was the last post.Anyway, I think the Turbo yeast is fine as long as a very neutral spirit was prepared. Obviously in France at the turn of the century, prior to the phylloxera blight on the grape vines, spirit of wine would probably have been the most common “neutral” spirit. Using it to make absinthe runs the cost up for just a little extra flavor. Personally, if I’m going to make wine, I’ll drink it as a wine, but if you want to be spot on traditional, use the spirit of wine to make your absinthe.Blanchy09/18/03 03:23 AMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Anonymous]I just got back from Switzerland. While I was there I spent a little time in Italy and picked up a bottle of real absinthe with the wormwood. The flavor was identical to the Scientific American recipe found on this website.On my last day there, I was having dinner at a little old ladies house. When I mentioned that we had bought a bottle of absinthe in Italy, she pulled out a bootleg bottle from the Jura region which is where absinthe was originally from. This absinthe was pretty similar to the first, but did not have herbs steeped in it after the distillation which left it a clear, slightly yellow that did not have much floral flavor.I sampled my absinthe in Switzerland just in case customs took the bottle when I returned to the states. They didn’t even check and I was kicking myself for not buying a bigger bottle.Chuckandrew09/21/03 11:03 PMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: Blanchy]Ooooh, oooh, can you get the recipe? I’d love to see a modern Swiss home distiller’s absinthe recipe.After a particularly wet winter the wormwood plant out the back is looking rather dejected. Hopefully it’ll pick up with the summer so I can give absinthe a crack.CheersAndrewBlanchy09/23/03 12:25 PMRe: Absinthe Making Notes [re: andrew]Andrew,Sorry, but I can’t help you with a recipe. The lady that I got the absinthe from got it from a friend as a christmas present. If you dropped all post distillation flavoring of the absinthe, you would be close.Chuck
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12 Replies
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First of all, I’m glad I found a site that might help me!I have a problem using the scientific recipe… absinthe is suppose to turn milky white when mixed with water (a common fact), but my distillate does not. I’ve read that the milkyness comes from the anise seed oils that are soluble in alcohol but not in water. When distilling, I wait until the liquid coming out of the receiver is a yellowish color, and then stop. Just to test something out, I collected some of the yellow distillate and put some water into it and it turned a milky bright white. I decided to collect some of this and add it to the rest of my distillate… but it still doesn’t turn milky white, as if I don’t have enough of this anise seed oil.Another funny thing that happened is, I’m suppose to use 950 ml of alcohol and add 450 ml of water and then distill. I’m suppose to collect 950 ml of distillate… well, if I stop collecting when it turns yellow, I only get about 650 ml. Why is this? Is it telling me that I need to keep collecting this yellow liquid?I appreciate any help i can get.
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I have the same problem–don’t get nearly the same volume as the recipe says I should get, but I think it’s simply the nature of cooking from a recipe. I’m surprised you don’t get the milky “louche” affect–are you soaking in herbs a second time? How much water do you add to your glass?–it takes at least twice the amount of water to absinthe before it goes milky and it helps if your water is ICE cold.
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Well after I collect all of my distillate, I take almost half and soak it in roman wormwood, hyssop, and lemon balm. I heat it up to 60 degrees celsius.Let me ask you this… would a preservative supress this “louche” effect? Because I’m using a Hyssop from some herbal gel-capped pills, and the pills also contain a preservative called “magnesium stearate”.I’ll try coloring without the hyssop and see if that fixes it.Thanks for all of your help!
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One more question… am I suppose put all of the mixture into my distilling flask? Or just the liquid? Because I “press” the liquid from the herbs and then distill.Thanks again!
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Hey NewGuy,I just finished with a batch of absinthe and have been looking into it, so I might be able to help. 1)I doubt that a preservative would actively suppress the louching effect. The absinthe louches because of oils that are dissolved in the alcohol settling out when water is added. Unless the preservative is also an emulsifier, I don’t think it would do anything to keep the oils dissolved in the water when water is added.2)That said, don’t use hyssop out of broken gel caps. Most of the herbs you use in absinthe can be acquired from a multitude of different shops, from health food stores to decent Wicca shops. They’re guaranteed to be of much better quality than what you’re getting in gel cap pills (with preservatives in them…bleh) and they’ll be considerably less expensive. If you can find Roman wormwood, you can find loose leaf hyssop.3)I’ve seen recipes that say to heat the alcohol with the colorants. Personally, I’ve never done this, because you can get the herbs to do the same thing just by leaving them in the alcohol for a few days. 4)I’ve never been entirely clear on whether to leave the herbs in while distilling or to strain them out. Personally, I leave them in. It hasn’t ever hurt the flavor, and I think it’s almost guaranteed to get the most oils out of the herbs. When the distillate turns yellow, change the receiver, but keep the yellow distillate. Don’t add it to the final mixture, because it taints the flavor. But do add it to later absinthe macerations.5)Finally, don’t sweat the louche. The last batch I made didn’t louche particularly well (it got cloudy after a certain amount of water was added, but it had to be added very slowly, and it had to be ice cold…in fact, most of the time, I just dropped two ice cubes in it and let them melt to achieve the affect), but it tasted delicious. And that, in the long run, is what’s most important. As you taste this batch, ask yourself what flavors seem missing. What flavors do you want to find, what flavors do you think need enhancing. Spend some time tasting your raw herbs so that you’re familiar with the way they taste on their own, so that you can identify them in the absinthe. Then make notes of what you want to taste in your own absinthe, and adjust your recipe. Tweak it to your own personal desires. See, after having made a couple of batches of absinthe, I’ve decided that making absinthe is like making any recipe. There are ways that it’s been done historically, and there are certain elements that it has to have (wormwood, anise, hyssop), but in the end it’s up to the person making each batch to add a little of this, a little of that and tailor the recipe to their personal tastes. Which is the difference, in the long run, between craftsmanship, and paint-by-numbers. However, if you’re really worried about the way it’s louching, add some star anise to the recipe and up the amount of regular anise. Adding some fennel can also help, but make sure it’s good quality.
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Katofong is right. Go here and download the Duplais and Fritch manuals to see how it was done in the day. There are some great recipes and procedures in those books.When scaling down the recipes, scale down the coloration herbs by another ten. In a recipe that makes 100 liters, you’ll make one liter. Where it calls for 1 kilogram, instead of using 10 grams, use one.For example:PONTARLIER SWISS ABSINTHE(for 100 liters)Grand wormwood dried and stripped. ……….. ………. 2 kilograms 500Green anise ….. ………. ……….. ………. ……….. ………. 5 kilogramsFlorence fennel ………. ……….. ………. ……….. ………. 5 kilograms85% Alcohol … ………. ……….. ………. ……….. ………. 95 litersMacerate in the still for 24 hours with the alcohol, add 45 liters of water at the time of distillation, proceed with the distillation and collect 95 liters of scented spirit. For the phlegms, proceed as we have already described.Coloration:Petite wormwood dried and stripped.. ……….. ………. 1 kilogramHyssop (dried flower tops) ….. ………. ……….. ………. 1 kilogramMelissa dried and stripped…… ………. ……….. ………. 500 gramsBy phlegms, he means tails; the yellow distillate you’re talking about. Except that yellow means you’re cooking your herbs too hot. You should always use a double boiler to make absinthe, and the Portugese alembics are just the perfect unit for the job.Tips:To get a good louche, I use between 5 to 6 grams of star anise in the macerate. Lately, I’ve had success with as much as 12 grams. Too much and it gets nasty and tastes like strong licorice.Powder all your herbs as much as you can.Green ansie from herb stores has had most of the anethol washed out prior to sale for the Mediterannean liquor industry.Herb store fennel is the wrong kind. You need Florence fennel.Petite, or Roman, Wormwood (A. pontica) is not bitter and a totally different plant than Grand Wormwood (A. absinthium).I also use a cold maceration for coloring; substitute temp with time.Absinthe should be a light, peridot green, not a dark emerald green.
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BURN HER! She’s a witch! She turned me into a newt!You don’t look like a newt.I got better. Purposeful motion, for one so insane…
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Finding the shops where these people sell their wares can be a real witch hunt, too…
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That’s a good looking recipe, Vert. I’ll have to try one of the recipes on La Fee next. There’s one that uses Angelica. Mmmm…Angelica.
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About distillation & Tails (phlegms)Recycling the tails is probably the most important part of making a genuine “absinthe suisse.” It’s pretty much like cycling a sour mash. Generations of essence build up over time to create a more uniform and herbally balanced drink.If you want your absinthe to stay a nice green color, keep it above 72% ABV. The chlorophyll breaks down rapidly in a lesseer percentage.I don’t powder my coloration herbs and as I said above I color cold rather than hot. With heat it’s too easy to make your absinthe yellow and grassy tasting and smelling.Once it’s done, here is a good place to learn how to properly prepare and serve it.I hope this helps. P.S. You want to spell it “absinthe”. “Absynthe” is a frequent mispelling but is applied to fake absinthe that is macerated only and tastes like hell. This is real popular with the stoner and goth crowds who think absinthe is a drug, which it isn’t. “Absinth” on the other hand is Czech fake absinthe 99.9% of the time.
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Hey NewGuy:Where did you get the Roman Wormwood from? I’ve been looking for it, but can’t seem to find it. Vert: Have you ever tried substituting mugwort for A. pont. in the coloration process? Any idea how that would affect the flavor?
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I know this is an old post, but any suggestions on not using a double boiler method? Just a regular pot still?Is there such a thing as adding too much water to my 1 liter herbal/alcohol mix to get my still up to about halfway full…?
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