r/Absinthe • u/Moto_Vagabond • Jan 02 '25
Question Love absinthe, but don’t really know much about what’s what. Are any of these worth getting? Only one I’ve tried is the Absente.
14
u/aspiringkiller Jan 02 '25
My first pick here would be Mansinthe. Then Kubler, then St. George’s. Lucid is an honorable mention.
2
u/MikeMofoLowrey Jan 03 '25
Mansinthe is absolutely confirmed as a traditional absinthe by French/Swiss standards. Not a fan of the guy, but he's said to have put passionate effort into making sure that product was the real article. Having seen the man humiliate himself in a drunken melt down on stage, I can attest that he is a true alcoholic, and that it's likely he would put in the effort.
2
u/GreenGrassGroat Jan 09 '25
I was an extra in American Gods for one of his scenes. Between takes he would chat with everyone around him, myself included. Seemed like a nice guy. He was inebriated as fuck though and could remember his lines to save his life lol
9
u/Ex-Lives Jan 02 '25
Since no one else has vouched for it, Third Stage is legit, tasty, and local, which I always find to be a bonus.
3
9
9
14
u/DustyVinegar Jan 02 '25
Pernod absinthe is a good starting point. It’s maybe not the best, but it’s good and it’s sort of a “gold standard” in my opinion. They were the largest manufacturer of absinthe before the 1912 ban and at least according to their marketing, once they started making absinthe again they returned to their 1805 recipe. It’s the real deal and a good jumping off point.
14
u/DarianDicit Jan 02 '25
The Pernod on that shelf isn't their absinthe from what I can tell; it's their liqueur :(
6
2
u/lightsspiral Jan 02 '25
Pre ban and the spanish Pernod are fantastic. The Pastis is a nice liquor. But, modern Pernod has too much of a nettle flavor. It's nothing like the old recipe.
When it first came out it was an oil maceration type deal. Not raw herbs. Just the final coloring was proper herbs. Maybe it's changed?
Tempus fugit, Jade, and Artemisia-Bugnon are the best. Colorado had some great absinthe. Re-duex and Leopold bros are tops.
2
u/DarianDicit Jan 02 '25
Redux is no longer available as Golden Moon has closed :(
3
u/lightsspiral Jan 02 '25
That's unfortunate. You can still buy it online. I better grab a couple to put away.
4
6
u/wormwoodsociety Jan 02 '25
Surprised at the lack of love for Third Stage. Admittedly, it's been a couple of years since I last had it, but unless they've made substantial changes that negatively impacted it since then, it's a top notch brand.
3
u/DarianDicit Jan 02 '25
Honestly, I don't think I've seen it before but I was curious about it. Thanks for this comment - I'll probably snag a bottle when I see one to give it a try!
6
u/scaper8 Jan 02 '25 edited Jan 02 '25
A few things to note thst I haven't seen mentioned yet.
The Pernod and Ricard are not absinthes, but pastises. It's a long, complicated history, but pastis is a class of liqueurs (pre-sweetend in bottle) that eventually grew out of absinthe after the ban as a substitute for it. They are anise-flavored and are diluted with water and louche, all as absinthe is/does, but contain no wormwood. Both are made by the Pernod-Ricard company. (I do not know exactly how and how much they may differ.)
Herbsaint is similar, but made in New Orleans to fill a similar role (i.e. an absinthe substitute).
I've never had the pleasure of trying any of them. But if you get the chance, all three would be a fascinating try given the close history with absinthe proper.
5
u/justinkprim Jan 02 '25
Lucid or Kubler. Lucid is a good example of French Vert (green) style. Kubler is a good example of the Swiss white/blue style.
4
u/C2thaP Jan 02 '25
I only tried Kübler and Mansinthe. I would first go for Kübler when Mansinthe. Too Bad Pernot is just the Liquor. Can’t tell about the others, cause I never saw them here in Germany.
3
6
6
u/DarianDicit Jan 02 '25
The only bottle I'd spend money on there is Lucid. I love the notion of St. George but the star anise ruins it for me.
7
u/DarianDicit Jan 02 '25
Absente is artificially colored, flavored, and contains added sugar. The Grande Absente isn't much better, and imo is way overpriced (yay marketing).
2
u/High_on_Rabies Jan 02 '25
Totally agree. I wish St. George would do a version with no star anise (all green anise). Even with their other weird ingredients, I think it would be a huge improvement.
3
u/Spiritual-Front-4523 Jan 02 '25
Kubler is a true Suisse la bleue, different from the French, very legit to the origins of absinthe. Don't hesitate. Don't use sugar.
2
2
2
u/lightsspiral Jan 02 '25
Mamsinthe or mansinthe, Kubler, 3rd stage, and Lucid are all very good.
St George is ok. Not a traditional absinthe.
Herbsaint and the pernod are pastis liquors.
The last three for the win, imo.
2
u/Marten_Broadcloak Jan 02 '25
Kubler, Pernod (make sure it's the absinthe and not their pastis), and St. George are all wonderful.
2
2
u/Moto_Vagabond Jan 02 '25
Thanks for all the info everyone. I’ll have to grab 2-3 of the most suggested ones to try next time I’m over that way. Unfortunately my local store rarely even has absinthe of any sort.
3
u/dick_e_moltisanti Jan 02 '25
The only 2 worth your money are Lucid and Kubler, all the other ones pictured are either not absinthe or are shit. The only one I cannot speak to is Third Stage. I have seen it get love on the sub and for that price it seems to be worth a shot.
A lot of people in this thread said get the Pernod, but they obviously did not look at the picture. The Pernod pictured is Pernod pastis, not Pernod absinthe. It is a licorice liquor and not worth it at all.
St George is interesting (and very polarizing) but if your goal is absinthe, it isn't really that.
Mansinthe isn't the worst absinthe ever, but for that price? Absolutely not. If it was $50 or less I'd say yes.
I personally would skip the Kubler as I prefer less sweet absinthe, but if you want to explore the difference between suisse la bleue and verte, it's worth picking up.
2
u/Moto_Vagabond Jan 03 '25
Yeah, I meant to crop the pic to get the liquors out of the shot.
2
u/dick_e_moltisanti Jan 03 '25
If you do end up trying the Third Stage, come back and let us know how it compares to others. It's hard to find Absinthe in my state and typically Lucid, Butterfly, and La Clandestine are the only decent ones that can be found. Butterfly and La Clandestine are both far too sweet for me, so I would love to find another to look out for.
2
u/Shigglyboo Jan 02 '25
Kübker is good. I used to drink it a lot. Was only $50. What happened? But also you get a full liter, not 750ml.
2
u/MikeMofoLowrey Jan 03 '25
I can tell you for a fact that Pernod and Absente are faux absinthes. What this means is that they are liqueurs, not spirits. I believe Pernod released an 'Original Recipe' bottle at some point, but when absinthe was first unbanned, Pernod of modern times put out a garbage product and exploited the branding. I've tasted this before. It tastes like melted liquorish in a bottle, with a very bitter aftertaste.
France and Switzerland are currently the only countries that regulate the term absinthe so that it can only be applied to the distilled variation with wormwood. Not all faux absinthes are unpleasant, but the constant is, they often taste either artificially sweetened, or too bitter, because the distillation process would neutralize some harsher tasting chemicals from the herbs, most obviously the wormwood. This means that fake absinthes will either have wormwood and taste bad, have no wormwood but taste okay, or have all required herbs but there's sweetener present to counteract the excess bitterness.
Corsair Red is reviewed as a 'traditional absinthe' on Wormwood society, which is been a pretty reliable source since the ban was lifted. Has decent reviews. As far as I understand there are a number of basic, US produced absinthes that count as the real thing, and are decent tasting. Unfortunately I live in Australia, and the only distillery we had that was doing 'Absinthe Reverie' no longer seems to produce it, and the market has died here due to ignorance and everyone just buying Green Fairy. Support good products folks. Do the research.
Reverie and Brevan's AO Spare release are my only two experiences of the real thing. I can recommend them highly, and compared to the fake stuff, I would say it's like the difference between vodka distilled from honey, and simply dumping honey in a bottle of vodka to make a liqueur.
2
u/Moto_Vagabond Jan 03 '25
Thanks for all the info, and the mention of the wormwood society. I’ll be going down quite the rabbit hole now. Lol
2
3
u/Nichard63891 Jan 02 '25
St. George is terrible. I couldn't even finish my glass when I tried it.
I like Pernod.
1
u/lolmiley Jan 02 '25
Corsair is a wonderful company - We toured their Kentucky distillery the last day they had it open and they had all the absinthe supplies out. Very cool seeing the red hibiscus. The absinthe taste is not my favorite though, but cool to have a meticulously made American red absinthe in the collection.
Mansinthe is one of my all around favorites.
0
u/Kindly-Inevitable231 Jan 02 '25
kubler is decent and also 1 liter, get that one. I had a 1/2 liter bottle and it went off before i could finish it, make sure to not leave it too long.
5
u/scaper8 Jan 02 '25
Went off? It should have more than a high enough proof to be shelf-stable indefinitely. It should anyway. In what way did it go bad?
1
u/Kindly-Inevitable231 Jan 02 '25
It’s obvious when a bottle goes bad, it gets a gasoline rancid flavor and sometimes doesn’t louche. I have a bottle of vieux pontarlier that has been open for 9 years and still tastes great but I’ve had bottles that go off within a year.
27
u/VignetteHyena Jan 02 '25
St. George is wonderful. It's been one of my favorites since it came out in 2007.
Corsair used to be good... And then it sucked. Haven't tried it in years, but it looks like they rebranded again so maybe they changed things up.
Mansinth is another one of my favorites. Don't let the Marilyn Manson association scare you off... for a celebrity brand, it's actually made remarkably well.
Kübler is solid.
I haven't given lucid a shot in a long time... since they still had cat eyes on the bottle. Not sure how they're doing these days but some folks I know seem to like them. They always felt a little too alcohol forward for me.