AbsintheMan.com

A few years ago while I was in Moscow, Russia my wife and I headed to a big grocery store, similar to a COSTCO here in America. It is a German company that is expanding around Europe called METRO, and this store we went to was called a HYPER MARKET becuase it was enormous in size. Imagine a COSTCO that was 4 to 6 times bigger. It literally had everything you would need under one roof. You could also buy stuff in bulk as well. So we headed there to pick up some items and as we were canvasing the isles, I noticed absinthe for sale. I cant remember the brands they had offhand, but they were all made in Czech Republic, Romania or some other Eastern European country. They also all looked like the phony mouthwash versions too. I never did buy one, but looking back it would have been a fun and interesting souvenir to add to my absinthe collection. I'm going back to Russia soon, so I will keep my eyes open for any Absinthes. Hopefully the good stuff has arrived there by now.


While I was vacationing in Yalta on the Black Sea, there was a huge park with winding trails and small restaurants scattered along and I would stop in for a quick bite to eat, or relax for a couple hours and enjoy the scenery. This park in Alupka, called Воронцовский парк, is also next to Vorontsov's Palace which is known mostly today for the Yalta Conference of WWII. Anyways, having dinner with my wife we witnessed a new (or new to me) absinthe ritual of lighting it on fire and pouring it from glass to glass before finding its way into a flaming mixed cocktail. We saw this several places in the area and must have been the new "thing to do". It was cool, I admit, but to treat absinthe like this? It must have been the cheap Czech stuff! Lets hope so anyways. Thats it until next time folks. We are going to have some interesting changes here at AbsintheMan so pop in often and enjoy the ride!