The louche in real absinthe

Topic created by Old Nick
on Tue, 3 Feb 2009 at 12:17

Old Nick said on Tue, 3 Feb 2009 at 12:17...

Take a look at this:

"As the alcohol concentration drops, the terpenoids come out of solution to form a yellow opalescence. This louche effect is retained in modern absinthe substitutes (pastis, such as Pernod and Ricard), which are rich in anise but contain no thujone"

British Medical Journal
Professor John Strang, King's College, London SE5 8AF

That yellow opalescence was not due to anise! The modern day absinthe louche is not the same as pre-ban absinthe louche. Like I have said before, modern day absinthes are anise bombs. The louche of old came from the high levels of thujone which is a terpenoid, it was from the wormwood. Anisesinthe is what we have today and not absinthe?

ty9 said on Wed, 4 Feb 2009 at 09:56...

Look, the sudden "white shock" of arak or ouzo is the anise "louche" To call it a louche is not even right, is it? The yellow - yes yellow - opalescence, that slow clouding which resembles a dance, can indeed be seen in high thujone (i.e wormwood rich) absinthes. Anethole held in suspension in alcohol will turn white upon the addition of water and that is Anisesinthe :-) not much wormwood needed.