Clover Club
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[caption id="attachment_338" align="aligncenter" width="229" caption="The bar at Clover Club"][/caption] As you may have read last week, I recently made my first visit to Clover Club (210 Smith ...
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[caption id="attachment_264" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I so want one of these for my place!"][/caption] To many mixologists and imbibers delight, the ban on absinthe in the US was repealed earlier this year. Since the spring/summer, bottles have been making their way back on the bar and store shelves. And of course new brands are popping up all the time. I've tasted a couple brands over the years (mostly UK based that were trying to increase online sales) but had yet do it the traditional way. So on Monday I went to Clover Club (great place-its own post soon to come!) and met with Julie Reiner to experience the real deal absinthe ritual. We used Pernod Absinthe, the which was the first major distillery to produce absinthe back in 1805. Now they're back on the market, with a recipe as close to the original as regulation would allow. (Food for thought- Pernod is the only asbinthe Julie stocks at Clover Club and Flatiron Lounge) The absinthe drip is how absinthe was consumed back when Van gogh and his crew were into it, and it really makes for a more involved, convivial experience. So first, Julie poured 1 oz Pernod Absinthe into a glass, then placed the perforated spoon over the rim and added one sugar cube. She then let ice-cold, filtered (very important you're not tainting it with funky water) drip directly over the sugar cube, slowly dissolving it. She let it fill until it was about 5 parts oz water to the 1 oz of Pernod. She gave it a quick stir, and handed over my now cloudy absinthe (cloudiness is an indication of quality, so even though it looks a little strange trust the experts it's ok!) [caption id="attachment_258" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Pernod Absinthe-nice & cloudy!"][/caption] Newbies be warned, absinthe has a very intense flavor. While recipes vary, all absinthes include the herbs wormwood, anise and fennel. The anise gives it a licorice-y taste, so you've got to be into that flavor to appreciate it. Julie also showed me a couple cocktails that include absinthe but are well-suited for someone looking for an introduction to absinthe. Check out the Absinthe Frappe, Death in the Afternoon and more after the jump!
