5 to Try: Absinthe
Updated: September 02, 2008
Now that the-powers-that-be have once again made absinthe legal in the United States, not even the gatekeepers at the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board are keeping it out of the city's bars and clubs. So whether you opt to take your absinthe the traditional way--diluted with water that's strained through a sugar cube--or you just go au natural, beware the witchy Green Fairy who arrives as an uninvited guest of those who drink too many. Remember, it used to be illegal for a reason.
Chasing the Green Fairy
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APO
Read Reviews102 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (map)
The very first entry to grab a reader's eye on the complex menu of elixirs is the French Buck, comprised of Absinthe, Creme de Cassis, fresh lemon, ginger beer and a "healthy dose" of Siberian ginseng.
Time
Read Reviews1315 Sansom St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (map)
The classic-cocktail-specializing speakeasy devotes an entire floor to its Bohemian Absinthe Lounge, where drinkers can revel in an atmosphere similar to Hemmingway's alcohol- saturated Paris with six different kinds of the liquor that helped write The Sun Also Rises.
Slate Bleu
Write a review100 S Main St, Doylestown, PA 18901 (map)
The well-heeled crowd at this European bistro sips the Absinthe Cocktail made of absinthe and Chandon Brut, and the Death in the Afternoon, a martini-like drink that combines absinthe and B&B, shaken, not stirred.
Brasserie Perrier **CLOSED**
Read Reviews1619 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103 (map)
For a variation on the original, try an updated Absinthe Drip: club soda poured over an ice cube into an absinthe-filled shaker and presented in an ungarnished martini glass.
Coquette Bistro
Read Reviews700 Fifth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147 (map)
Four friends can simultaneously partake in the old-fashioned absinthe ritual that involves the releasing of water from a four-spouted decanter onto a sugar cube, through a slatted spoon and into a rocks glass where the seductive spirit awaits.
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