What is the best way to consume absinthe?
“………How should absinthe be served? Because it’s an extract, a concentrate of sorts, absinthe is intended to be mixed with water before drinking. Because of the high alcohol content, most people will find it more than a little hard to swallow straight. It can be used in a number of mixed drinks, some of which are traditional (the famous New Orleans Sazerac, for example), but because absinthe is a sort of herbal cocktail by itself, purists drink it only with water, the cleaner and colder the better (no tap water please, unless your tap water is free of contaminants such as chlorine, which lend their own flavor and spoil the drink). How the water is added does matter. A sudden deluge doesn’t bring out the delicate nuances of the drink as well as a drop by drop process, and therein a ritual was born. Essential oils from the herbal ingredients (mostly from anise, but the other herbs contribute as well) are dissolved in the high-proof liquor, and therefore invisible. These oils, if add
