Sometimes subtitles kill: The Little Green Book of Absinthe is subtitled An Essential Companion with Lore, Trivia, and Classic and Contemporary Cocktails. I’m interested in the history of absinthe, so I thought I would take the book out for a spin. I was curious about how it came to be outlawed in the United States and how—in the Bush administration no less—it came to be legalized again. Though I am always skeptical about gothy, artist types who push the absinthe thing way too hard, it does feel like something different than boring old alcohol.
Unfortunately, Little Green is the furthest thing from “Essential.” The history of absinthe is glossed over in the first twelve pages (with a few info-boxes spread through the book later on), and the rest of the book is just a bunch of recipes for absinthe cocktails. This isn’t a problem if you’re looking to make, say, a G.W.’s Cherry Tree (absinthe, cherry liqueur, cherry sorbet, and cherries). But if you’re reading this book to learn about, say, lore and trivia, you’ll come away disappointed. If you’re looking to read about the history of absinthe, you’ll have to look somewhere else. But if you’re looking for sickly sweet-looking absinthe cocktail recipes, this looks like a great start. For bartenders and serious party-throwers only.
if all you ever make are Sazeracs, then your Absinthe will last forever.
Paul, if you want a good history of absinthe, check out Absinthe: History in a Bottle by Barnaby Conrad. It is a gorgeous book.
I haven’t read Conrad’s book, but there is no shortage of excellent histories of drinks that put them into a social and historical context: W. Rorabaugh, “The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition”; Eric Burns, “Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol”; and Iain Gately, “Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol”. Any of these is bound to be more interesting than a few pages about absinthe, which frankly isn’t that interesting a booze; all of its mystique is due to prohibition (where have I heard that before?)
jesus christ absinthe is sooooo 2007.
Slightly off-topic, but the best liquor book out there for aspiring bartenders is “The Joy of Mixology” by Gary Regan.
He does an incredibly useful (and unique, as far as I know) classification of drinks by number/type of ingredients. You’ll quickly learn that drinks a, b, c, and d differ only by the spirit (same mixer, same liqueur). If you want to quickly learn how to make all drinks, this is the book.
He also has an ridiculously anal chart that’s useful for making layered drinks. It lists every major brand of liqueur, ordered by specific gravity (!).
He covers the history of various cocktails as well, and his running commentary is hilarious. (I like the etiquette section.) He is the ultimate booze snob.
For all you need to know… http://www.wormwoodsociety.org/
The book does not cover the hows and whys of absinthe being legalized but they do recount the only absinthe bust in US history. It turns out the the guy the busted was one of the authors of this book so he should know something about the subject.
I checked his website:
http://www.absintheology.com
There is a lot more information on the subject there if you are curious.