The Lucid Challenge

I finally got my order of Lucid Absinthe a week or two ago. The time has come for me to do a side-by-side face off with the other absinthe I had in house. (Yes, by "time has come" I mean "The Wife is out of the house".) Fair warning: The challenge involves me consuming two glasses of absinthe. Expect this first draft to be fine-tuned when I'm in a more sober state.

And so we go...

First an introduction:

Lucid Challenge: Bottles

  1. Brand A: La Fée Absinthe Parisian -- My brother-in-law, Chris, gave me a bottle of this last year when we went out to visit him in LA. While we were there we also helped him consume some other brand that he'd had delivered along with this one. (Perhaps he'll remind of of the brand?) My usual mode of consuming this one is the so-called "French method" with sugar and cold water.
  2. Brand B: Lucid, of course. So far I've been having this one with only the cold water. I read that absinthe geeks don't go for the sugar, so I thought I'd try it.

Now, let's get to the good stuff tasting notes:

How is it straight up?

Lucid Challenge: Straight

  1. La Fée Smell: Hmmmm.... Nyquil? Taste: Black jellybeans. Very strong. Like fire in the back of the mouth.
  2. Lucid Smell: Much softer. Sort of herbal. Taste: Herbal again. Still a twinge at the back of the mouth, but not as strong. Tart, almost citrus, finish.

What about with the water?

Lucid Challenge: Louche

I decided to continue abstaining from the sugar. I put ice in a martini shake, poured Brita-filtered water over the ice and gave it a good shake. I added water to the absinthe only until the louche was achieved.

  1. La Fée Taste: Oh, yum! Sweet liquorice! Who needs sugar?
  2. Lucid Taste: Much more subtle, almost weak. Super easy to drink.

Who wins?!

Well, I like them both, really.

I can easily imagine the Lucid as being a more authentic experience; the La Fée is much more artificial-tasting. That said, I really do enjoy the sweetness of the louched La Fée. Is the Lucid worth the extra cost (the trouble to get it is pretty much the same, since I had to order it from New York)? I'd say sure, if only for the experience. Once it's actually stocked at my local package store, it will definitely be a regular buy for me.

So yeah... Try it. You might like it. Just do us both a favor and don't bother if you know you don't actually enjoy liquorice flavored booze, OK? ;) Seriously -- I was the kid who made himself sick by eating a whole bag of black jelly beans. I'm made for absinthe. If you aren't, don't bother. You're not going to want to drink enough to see green fairies anyway.