A few weeks ago, I was approached by Alan Moss, a long time Wormwood Society member, who asked if he could do a complimentary article to a piece I did recently. Who am I to say ‘no’? Alan is the Global Ambassador for La Clandestine absinthe and the main contributor to the Real Absinthe blog. I thought you all might like a global perspective on the absinthe renaissance.
I enjoyed Brian’s earlier article about absinthe in Spain: it showed absinthe can be different in some countries, and yet very similar. A range of qualities, pricing and packaging, and a trend almost everywhere towards quality.
I’ve been a member of the Wormwood Society for six years and I’ve been working on La Clandestine absinthe almost all that time. I’ve sold liquor in 50 plus countries since 1989 so I’ve been privileged to travel, to experience and to observe. I see interesting global trends on absinthe and it will be interesting to see how they affect the US market (and vice versa).
QUALITY
In the USA, absinthe quality is generally much higher than in most countries around the world. You can easily find shops in NYC, LA, Chicago, etc with more than a dozen good quality absinthes. This is almost impossible in Europe where just one or two cities may have one or two shops like that (mixed with lower quality lines).
In addition to all the fine beverage news we posted on our blog this week, several other noteworthy things happened over the past few days. We have summarized them into a weekly roundup:
FDA Warning Letters Issues To Four Makers Of Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned four companies that the caffeine added to their malt alcoholic beverages is an “unsafe food additive” and said that further action, including seizure of their products, is possible under federal law.”
Read the full article
Georges and Anja of the World Wine Tour have begun posting about their adventures as they travel around the world on a mission to collect wines to benefit humanitarian efforts in Laos.
From the World Wine Tour blog: What made our stay in Moscow so pleasant? Great wine, great people, and an inviting atmosphere! It is our second day in Moscow. Still no bears in sight, but we have found the grotto of wines, thanks to Legenda Kryma. To help us better understand the Russian wine industry and tastes, we were invited to taste a variety of Russian wines. Legenda Kryma actively tries to increase wine knowledge of those interested by offering educative tastings on the wide range of wines they offer.Continue Reading »
Here’s what we know: This is arguably the most epic fine beverage failure I’ve ever seen, and it took place in Moscow. That’s about it. The epicness of this crash is overwhelming to even the most credible of news organizations, who can’t seem to get their stories right about what actually happened. Damage estimates range from approx. $98,000 to $200,000, The New York Times suggests a conspiracy theory, while the Huffington Post is convinced the forklift driver was drunk, though no other news organization seems to agree with them. Continue Reading »
Updating from our last blog about space beer: The brew has finally arrived. To recap, the beer was brewed from barley grown in micro-gravity on the International Space Station. Sapporo, Japan’s Okayama University and the Russian Academy of Science are now the owners of 100 liters of some of the most unique beer ever brewed. Unfortunately it isn’t for sale, but it is said that Sapporo is giving tastings to a few lucky Earthlings. One of the next projects could be to grow potatoes, and we all know the most beloved Russian spirit vodka can be made from that vary ingredient. Lets look forward to the days of cheap space travel and home brewed space beverages.
