The Errant Æsthete

With the announcement that absinthe will be sold in the United States again for the first time since 1912, stories on the wickedly legendary liquor are appearing everywhere. EA 10/16/07 & 11/15/07.

Pete Wells of The Times profiles an engineer who spent eleven years perfecting an absinthe he developed at St. George Spirits, the distillery where he works in Alameda, California and has the good fortune to test the results. For the discriminating aesthete, this primer will help you distinguish between the exceptional and the bad (apparently some absinthes are not very good).

And from the San Francisco Chronicle, great news for locals of the area, “come Dec. 21, St. George will begin selling 3,600 bottles of its Absinthe Verte. That’s too few to distribute to big chains, so for now the company will offer it at its Alameda tasting room and at limited liquor stores for $75 for a 750 ml bottle.” So this Christmas, you too can create your own yuletide sojourns into the unknown reaches of genius joining legendary imbibers like Degas, Picasso, Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde or Papa Hemingway who used to have a glass or two before running with the bulls.