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:
- 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.
- 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?
- La Fée
Smell: Hmmmm…. Nyquil?
Taste: Black jellybeans. Very strong. Like fire in the back of the mouth. - 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?
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.
- La Fée
Taste: Oh, yum! Sweet liquorice! Who needs sugar? - 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.
So, does this shit make one piss hot on a urinalysis or what? I’m thinking of ordering some just for shits and giggles, but not if it means I’ll lose my commission.
I have no effin’ clue. In theory, the Lucid (which has minimal thujone) should just look like booze.
Negative, Soldier. No failed wizz quiz in the future for you. As a Marine, I also consider these things. The thujone is not reviewed in the analysis. Not to mention…the hallucinagenic experience is most likely placebo. You’re cleared hot.
PS: I’m on FT Irwin training w/ 4IAD…man, what an interesting bunch the Army dogs are.
Miracle Ed was just telling me how much his Rangers enjoy meeting and interacting with Marines yesterday…
The stuff we had at my place is called Fruko Schulz Absinthe. It’s Cech. eabsinthe.com baby.
I was just informed that it’s Czech. Sorry.
Jeez, dude. Learn to spell in other languages already!
They’ve started selling this in Mass. now - thinking of buying some for my bro. So what’s the final verdict on this? Still sitting full in your liquor cabinet, or is it something you do drink from time to time?
The key is whether he likes the anise flavor or not.
Lucid is less cloying/more subtle than some of the European varieties I’ve tried, but absinthe in general tastes strongly of liquorice.
But yeah. I personally like it plenty.
Tried to buy Lucid but they didn’t have it, went with some Kubler instead. Part of me wishes it were green :-).
Now I need to try to find a spoon somewhere…