Source: Liquor.com
Absinthe became legal again in the United States seven years ago, but only recently has it broken free of the chains of a silly reputation.
The herb-driven liqueur has been wrapped in a rather grand coil of myth that includes green fairies and hallucinations, elaborate services and exotic jade color. Those trappings have become the tool by which some absinthe brands have attracted new drinkers. More often than not, though, they’re the rope that’s hung the genre, keeping it locked in pomp and frivolity while the cocktail movement marches toward a more modest sensibility.
THE BAR MOVEMENT
A few spots have incorporated absinthe’s romance into a more accessible storyline. The newish Brooklyn bar Maison Premiere was a leader in the effort to move absinthe beyond gimmick. It has a broad selection and some of the best absinthe-based cocktails in the country. (Here’s looking at you, absinthe piña colada.)
Greater availability of small-batch imports in the absinthe market has prompted a new concentration of bars with an absinthe focus. Miles Macquarrie, co-owner and bar manager of the new Kimball House in Decatur, Georgia, offers 12 different absinthes, a selection impossible even five years ago. The bar features two absinthe fountains for traditional service, but Macquarrie recommends that newbies start with a cocktail. “The Absinthe Frappe is a classic, and it shows off the distinct flavor of the spirit,” he says.
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