Knowledge of brewing Absinthe at home is important when there is non availability of real wormwood Absinthe.
Henri-Louis Pernod used a wine base and herbs including aniseed, hyssop, fennel, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, veronica, juniper, dittany and nutmeg in his Absinthe production. Besides using a blend of 13 herbs Czech company Sebor also uses chamomile and mint in addition to wormwood and a 100 year old recipe to make their Absinthe.
There are 3 main ways to make your own Absinthe drink:-
1.One will need a recipe to distill his own Absinthe liquor.
2.Use an Absinthe Kit with a blend of herbs and instructions.
3.Use an Absinthe essence
How to Brew Absinthe Using a Recipe
Distilling liquor at home is illegal in most countries unless you have a license and is quite complicated. Typical home-brew recipes include:-
– Wormwood (Grande Wormwood, Artemisia Absinthium)
– Uses of Green Anise
– Fennel
– Alcohol
The ingredients are first macerated for several hours, heated and then slowly distilled and then colored with extra herbs such as lemon balm, hyssop and petite wormwood. After that the mixture is heated again, then filtered and diluted.
There is no requirement of distillation for the preparation of other recipes. Take an example:-
– 30g/ 1 ounce dried Wormwood is required
– 1 teaspoon hyssop is required
– One will need a tablespoon angelica
– Take a pinch of fennel seeds or anise seeds
– It will require a teaspoon of lemon balm
– ¼ teaspoon each of caraway seeds and coriander seeds is required
– 1 liter of Everclear or vodka
In a bottle mix chopped dried wormwood with the alcohol and leave for 1-2 weeks in a cool dark place. After filtering the wormwood mix it in the other herbs. Wait for 3 or 4 days and then filter or sieve again. The Absinthe is now ready.
Brewing Absinthe at home in these ways is not recommended. Distillation is necessary for getting real Absinthe.
How To Brew Absinthe with a Herbal Blend Kit
There are many different herbal kits on sale online, for example the kits from Green Devil. One can buy their kits to get these things
– Their micron filtration system is unique.
– An Absinthe blend containing grande wormwood, hyssop, calamus, melissa, anise seed, fennel seed, star anise and coriander see.
– Absinthe flavoring and finishing blend containing sufficient herbal contents.
Their Deluxe kit also contains two Absinthe spoons, two Absinthe glasses, a 1000ml bottle, two bottle labels, two muslin bags for infusing the herbs, a poster and a pamphlet containing information and instructions.
According to the claim their finished Absinthe can contain 70-90mg of thujone per liter which was once claimed to cause psychedelic effects. One will not get a true Absinthe without distillation.
How To Brew Absinthe With an Essence
Absinthe essences are available to buy from AbsintheKit.A real Absinthe can be prepared at home by visiting AbsintheKit.com. One can get essences that are distilled and made from traditional Absinthe herbs. Mix the essence with Everclear or vodka to have your own bottled Absinthe.
4 types of essence are available for making four different types of Absinthe. They all contain real wormwood and are essences used by the Absinthe industry.
AbsintheKit.One can get a Absinthe kit from AbsintheKit.com which has enough essence to make 14 bottles of Absinthe, bottle labels and a plastic measure. See their website to get more information on how to brew Absinthe with their essences.