It was a day seemingly like any other; after some days out of town, he leisurely arrived home. Everything seemed in order, everything looked as though it was in place. Just as he went past the living room, he noticed the pile of mail. Nothing unexpected, really: a couple bills, a couple checks, a good measure of adverts, and then something neat standing out from the pile: a cylinder-shaped package. Somewhat surprised, he wondered what it might be, since he didn’t remember having purchased anything over the Internet as of late. With avid curiosity, he tore the package apart. This is what he found.
All of a sudden, it came back to him: a couple of weeks ago he had signed up to review a sample of absinthe. The newly arrived package contained a sample of the said beverage, plus a couple of postcards, a letter with instructions and one of those peculiar absinthe spoons.The apple didn’t come in the package; he added it on his own volition, since the instructions stated that some kind of herbal flavor might positively affect the experience. Without wasting time, he decided he might as well mix a little cocktail and get acquainted with the infamous green fairy, aka absinthe.
Pausing to observe the sampler bottle of absinthe, he was immediately struck by the high alcoholic content (48%). Further, he was a little dismayed because his camera was out of order, which forced him to document the process using his less than ideal cell phone camera. “The pictures won’t look so sharp” he mused “but I suppose this is how blurred my vision will become after I’ve had this cocktail”. With unwavering resolution, he proceeded to pour half of the sampler bottle in a glass, filling it up with ice cold water. Ideally he would have used the peculiar spoon to help dissolve a sugar cube. Lacking cubic-shaped sugar, he just mixed a regular half spoon of sugar in. The result:
The first thing that struck him as he mixed his cocktail was an interesting chemical reaction. Having diluted the absinthe in water, the mixture instantly became of a while opal translucent color, whereas both water and absinthe were completely transparent. Taking one sip of the cocktail, we was truly amazed: it actually tasted nice! And it didn’t feel like it was such a strong beverage. Nevertheless, he proceeded with caution while sipping down the remaining drink, lest he not suddenly get caught up in some kind of hallucinatory state. A hour or so later…
nothing. Well, except from the pleasure of drinking a nice cocktail that tasted surprisingly like Dr. Bayard’s candy… which isn’t a bad thing, really. But as far as green fairies go, he couldn’t help but wonder what the fuss was all about. Absinthe turned out to be a nice drink, and the chemical reaction a nice added touch. The flavor was actually very nice, but he didn’t feel as though it was such a strong drink, really.Other than feeling the urge to write a post detailing his experience in the third person, everything seemed normal in his perception of the world.
Having gulped down a second cocktail, he reached the following verdict: “People who want to try a new and interesting drink should buy absinthe, that’s granted. But don’t fall for the hype that you’ll see some kind of green fairy, or have some kind of otherworldly experience. Other than that, get a bottle of absinthe if you want to surprise your friends with highly enjoyable and unique cocktails that change color when you mix water in”.