If the real wormwood Absinthe is not easily available then one must know how to brew Absinthe at home.
A wine base and herbs including aniseed, hyssop, fennel, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, veronica, juniper, dittany and nutmeg were used by Henri-Louis Pernod for making his Absinthe. A blend of 13 herbs, in addition with chamomile and mint in addition to wormwood and a 100 year old recipe is used by Czech company Sebor to make their Absinthe.
There are 3 main ways to make your own Absinthe drink:-
1.Absinthe liquor can be distilled by a recipe.
2.Use an Absinthe Kit with a blend of herbs and instructions.
3.Use an Absinthe essence
How to Brew Absinthe Using a Recipe
Distilling liquor at home is illegal in most countries unless you have a license and is quite complicated. Typical home-brew recipes include:-
– Wormwood (Grande Wormwood, Artemisia Absinthium)
– Knowledge of Green Anise
– Fennel
– Alcohol
The ingredients are first macerated for several hours, heated and then slowly distilled and then colored with extra herbs such as lemon balm, hyssop and petite wormwood. The mixture is then heated again, then filtered and diluted.
Other recipes only require a blend of herbs with alcohol. Just for example:-
– Take 30g/ 1 ounce dried Wormwood
– A teaspoon of hyssop is needed
– 1 tablespoon angelica is required
– One can also use anise seeds in place of fennel seeds
– 1 teaspoon of lemon balm
– There is requirement of ¼ teaspoon each of caraway seeds and coriander seeds
– 1 liter of Everclear or vodka
In a bottle mix chopped dried wormwood with the alcohol and leave for 1-2 weeks in a cool dark place. After filtering the wormwood mix it in the other herbs. Refilter after 3 or 4 days. One can have the Absinthe now.
Brewing Absinthe at home in these ways is not recommended. Distillation is necessary for getting real Absinthe.
How To Brew Absinthe with a Herbal Blend Kit
There are many different herbal kits on sale online, for example the kits from Green Devil. Their kits include:-
– Their unique micron filtration system.
– Grande wormwood, hyssop, calamus, melissa, anise seed, fennel seed, star anise and coriander seed is available in an Absinthe blend.
– One has to use Absinthe flavoring and finishing blend.
Their Deluxe kit also contains two Absinthe spoons, two Absinthe glasses, a 1000ml bottle, two bottle labels, two muslin bags for infusing the herbs, a poster and a pamphlet containing information and instructions.
They claim that their finished Absinthe will contain as much as 70-90mg of thujone per liter which is the chemical found in wormwood and was believed to cause psychedelic effects. One will not get a true Absinthe without distillation.
How To Brew Absinthe With an Essence
Absinthe essences are available to buy from AbsintheKit.AbsintheKit.com is an easy way for preparing real Absinthe at home. Traditional Absinthe herbs are used for making essences and are already distilled. A person can easily prepare his own bottle of the Green Fairy by simply mixing the essence with Everclear or vodka.
A person can get 4 types of essence – one to make a classic verte Absinthe, one to make a clear La Bleue style Absinthe, one to make an orange flavored Absinthe and one to make a stronger more bitter Absinthe. Real wormwood is the main content of all and essences are utilized by the Absinthe industry.
AbsintheKit.AbsintheKit.com also sell Absinthe kits which contains essence, bottle labels and a plastic measure. See their website to get more information on how to brew Absinthe with their essences.