How does one prepare absinthe for consumption? I purchased bottles of
various kinds of absinthe while in Prague recently, and I am curious
to know what to do with it/mix it with to drink. I have asked around
and done a
bit of internet research and many different ways have been uncovered,
including mixing it with water and sugar or pouring it into a spoon
with sugar and lighting the concoction on fire. There does not seem to
be a single answer -- perhaps there is no one way to prepare it.

I guess I am looking for the traditional way (hark back to the days of
Rimbaud and Van Goh), but any anecdotal evidence on approaches that
have been taken and worked out well would be helpful too.Also, a
suggestion on how much to consume would be appreciated.

Thank
you.

meanmedianmode...

Thanks for your very interesting question.  Absinthe is one of those
things that alot of people have heard about, but truly know nothing
about.  Being that you have purchased some of the "green fairy", the
question of how to consume it is not the question.

There are several traditional ways of drinking absinthe.  One of the
most traditional methods, known as pelle, is to pour ice water over a
cube of sugar that is sitting in a slotted spoon.  The sugar is
dissolved by the water and the solution goes into the absinthe.  This
is the traditional French method of drinking.

Another method is along the lines of the one you mentioned regarding
flaming the liquid.  This method is traditional in and around Prague. 
You pour a shot of the absinthe into a glass then take a teaspoonful
of sugar and soak it with some more absinthe.  Then light the teaspoon
and let it burn until the sugar carmelises.  Once the sugar
carmelises, plunge the spoon into the glassful of absinthe.  Now, the
absinthe in the glass may ignite, so have something nearby that you
can use to smother the glass.  You then add equal parts of water and
drink.  Obviously, there is some amount of danger involved here, so be
very careful and I would not recommend this method if you have already
consumed alcohol.  An alternative to this method is to not plunge the
spoon in the drink, but rather, using the special slotted spoon, light
the sugar and slowly pour water over the flaming sugar.  The is will
douse the flames and add the water to your drink.

You can find a wide variety of absinthe drinking apparatus on the web
at places such as:

http://www.eabsinthe.com/store/Absinthe_Spoons_x38_Glasses2133.htm
Great collection of glasses and spoons

http://www.crillonimporters.com/Absente/absente-glasses.htm
Nice set of glasses and spoons

http://www.absinthespoon.com/
Spoons, glasses and books about absinthe

A great resource that has great information about absinthe as well as
spoons, glasses and sets is AbsintheOriginals,
http://www.absintheoriginals.com/

Thanks again for your question and I hope the above information has
been helpful.  If you need any additional clarification, please let me
know prior to rating my answer.

Regards,

-THV

Search Strategy:
how to drink absinthe

References:
a rendezvous with the green fairy
http://www.surgeonsnews.info/docs/issue1-2/pdfs/greenfairy.pdf
(NOTE: Reuqires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Absinth Tour
http://www.pragamagica.cz/en/absinth/absinth.shtml

Absinthe Buyers Guide
http://www.absinthebuyersguide.com/faq.html

Absinthe
http://www.dotcomer.com/Absinthe.htm

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Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 30 Jan 2003 12:31 PST

Obviously, in my answer, "how to consume it is not the question"
should have read "how to consume it is now the question"

-THV

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Request for Answer Clarification by meanmedianmode-ga on 31 Jan 2003 08:56 PST

Thank you for the information, tar_heel. I printed your answer out and
went home last night to try the pelle method and I realized I didn't
know how much water to add. Any idea?

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Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 31 Jan 2003 10:01 PST

meanmedianmode..

The amount of water is entirely up to you.  I have see references to
equal parts absinthe and water, to two parts absinthe, three parts
water.  I think that is where you get to determine just what your
taste is.  Could be fun! :)

Let me know if you need anything else.

-THV

cheers!