Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Absinthe is HOT!

I just did a keyword search on the liquor category and was flabbergasted to see so 4 variants of Absinthe in the top ten:
1. martini recipes
2. buy absinthe
3. martini
4. chocolate martini
5. absinthe
6. absinth
7. martini recipe
8. absinthe alcohol
9. whisky
10. lime martini Sphere: Related Content

Monday, February 18, 2008

Vermouth...a bit of history you probably didn't know

Vermouth, which was originally made using the flower heads from the wormwood
plant, takes its name from the German "wermut" ("wormwood"). Aside from absinthe, other popular liquors, including vermouth, Chartreuse, and Benedictine, also contain small amounts of thujone. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Absinthe...a relatively unknown footnote

Here's an interesting bit of believable mythology regarding the history of Absinthe. In the 1840's during the Algerian War, the French soldiers commonly suffered from dysentery. The Army's solution was to issue opium to the troops because one of its side effects is constipation. But opium was bitter, so they also issued Absinthe to help them make the medicine go down easier. Absinthe also has some anti diarrheal properties of its own. But the soldiers figured out that a "spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" and they put the opium on a lump of sugar, poured cold water over it through a slotted spoon and "Voila" a tasty beverage, the "louche" effect, and regular bowel movements. Well, anyway, that's the story Sphere: Related Content