Now while i did get 80g of wormwood in total, i previously harvested a lot and dried that but that turned out to be a mere 30g so i went and harvested a bit more from my wormwood plants and that of course was much heavier due to being fresh and filled with moisture
So i opted to add 10g more fresh wormwood and im hoping that because its fresh the flavor will be much more intense so itll work out
So i opted to add 10g more fresh wormwood and im hoping that because its fresh the flavor will be much more intense so itll work out
For the coloring, traditionally theres just the green and white absinthes, green being the same as white with a few herbs added after distillation to give a bit of color and maybe some flavor
Though there apparently was one historic brand of absinthe that used red coloring
Though there apparently was one historic brand of absinthe that used red coloring
So i will probably make mostly green absinthe but a bit of red as well since i have some rose leaves from my garden as well as some hibiscus
The Alchemist's Shack
Well for some reason instead of being green its now red
apparently this is chlorophyll fluorescence
It doesnt come across well in the picture but its a very vibrant pink
Im not going to taste the colored absinthes today since all the vapors and such made me a bit light headed but they shouldnt differ much from the white absinthe
Its nice and well rounded though honestly its missing that strong fennel/anise flavor im used to
Perhaps i shouldve ground up the fennel and anise more but thats for next time i will be making absinthe
Ive gone ahead and tasted both the red and the green absinthe now
the red absinthe smells more like the absinthes ive bought before, the fennel comes forward much more and while it isnt as intense as a le bleue kübler absinthe, it still is quite noticeable
taste isvery rounded, the hibiscus gives a nice little touch of perceived sweetness and the other herbs are quite balanced, it isnt as anise and fennel heavy as the absinthes ive had so far, but i kind of prefer this due to the greater balance between the main three herbs of wormwood, anise and fennel
despite being made from the exact same le bleue absinthe, the green absinthe has a more grassy smell, that is probably due to the hyssop and melissa i used in coloration, the fennel takes a bit of a back seat to the anise and the wormwood, it isnt quite as balanced as the red absinthe but it is also very pleasant
i think the vodka i made to fit the absinthe played a very large role in how it turned out, the high quality neutral alcohol was very smooth and not at all rough despite being a very high ABV, the very slight fruity and grainy flavors of the vodka may also have helped smoothe the herbal flavor out but its hard to tell
All in all, im very surprised about how different the red and green absinthes turned out, in future ill probably make a 50-50 split between red and green absinthe, though perhaps ill also keep some white since i quite enjoyed that as well
Adding some water as is usual with absinthe is quite alright for the green absinthe, it mellows it out a bit and pushed the anise and wormwood a bit further back, allowing the other flavors to come through, the red absinthe however is completely ruined through the addition of water, it comes out of the great balance it had before and just tastes unpleasant
the red absinthe smells more like the absinthes ive bought before, the fennel comes forward much more and while it isnt as intense as a le bleue kübler absinthe, it still is quite noticeable
taste isvery rounded, the hibiscus gives a nice little touch of perceived sweetness and the other herbs are quite balanced, it isnt as anise and fennel heavy as the absinthes ive had so far, but i kind of prefer this due to the greater balance between the main three herbs of wormwood, anise and fennel
despite being made from the exact same le bleue absinthe, the green absinthe has a more grassy smell, that is probably due to the hyssop and melissa i used in coloration, the fennel takes a bit of a back seat to the anise and the wormwood, it isnt quite as balanced as the red absinthe but it is also very pleasant
i think the vodka i made to fit the absinthe played a very large role in how it turned out, the high quality neutral alcohol was very smooth and not at all rough despite being a very high ABV, the very slight fruity and grainy flavors of the vodka may also have helped smoothe the herbal flavor out but its hard to tell
All in all, im very surprised about how different the red and green absinthes turned out, in future ill probably make a 50-50 split between red and green absinthe, though perhaps ill also keep some white since i quite enjoyed that as well
Adding some water as is usual with absinthe is quite alright for the green absinthe, it mellows it out a bit and pushed the anise and wormwood a bit further back, allowing the other flavors to come through, the red absinthe however is completely ruined through the addition of water, it comes out of the great balance it had before and just tastes unpleasant
Tl;dr the red and green absinthes are very nice, red is very balanced and the hibiscus adds a note of sweetness while the green one is more grassy and wormwood and anise heavy