This Easter will be one to remember…No eggs were hidden in the yard. No chocolate bunnies. I didn’t even have my mom’straditional ham dinner (sorry mom). Instead, some friends and I spent the holiday enjoying one of the most misunderstood liquors around, absinthe. Absinthe carries with it the lore of being a psychedelic spirit, that had been banned from the U.S. until just recently.
While absinthe was unavailable in the U.S. until just 3 years ago, the idea of it being a hallucinogenic is a misconception, 
trust me, I didn’t even see the Easter Bunny! It is however a delicious anise/wormwood flavored spirit on its own, or in a cocktail. My friends and I had the pleasure of tasting Lucid, one of the first absinthes to hit the U.S. market. Sipping it the traditional (Czech) style by burning a sugar cube then slowly dripping water over the absinthe, it turned the clear spirit into a cloud of green. It had appealing licorice flavors and a strong well-balanced complexity, making me believe absinthe does make the mouth grow warmer…
As for the cocktails…they were killer!
The Asylum: gin, grenadine, absinthe.
Corpse Reviver #2: gin, lillet, cointreau, lemon, absinthe.
Sazerac: rye, lemon, peychaud bitters, sugar, absinthe rinse.
Death in the Afternoon: champagne, absinthe.
Some of these classics will be appearing on The Real McCoy menu very soon…
