Well, I am a bit older now and I don’t feel like I should allow peer pressure to determine what types of alcohol I drink. So, I decided to reduce the amount of beer that I drink and substitute wine in its place. Unfortunately, I know very little about wine.

As a result, I think it might be a fun exercise to start a wine of the month type experiment. Every month, I will make the trip to my local wine store and select a wine that I have not had before to sample for that month. This way, I will both enjoy drinking and learn a new skill so that when I go to an expensive restaurant and I am given a wine to sample, I will be able to make a sound judgment instead of just pretending to know what I am doing.

Let the games begin!

Here are the alcohol by volume levels of popular brands of Absinthe:-

La Fee XS Absinthe Francaise 68% alcohol by volume or 136 proof
Doubs Mystique Carte D’Or 65% alcohol by volume or 130 proof
La Clandestine Absinthe is 53% alcohol by volume (106 proof)
Jade Edouard is around 72% alcohol by volume or 144 proof
Sebor is 55% alcohol by volume or 110 proof
Jade Nouvelle Orleans 68% abv (136 proof)
Mari Mayans Collectors 70 is 70% alcohol by volume (140 proof)
La Fee Parisian 68% abv is 136 proof
Lucid Absinthe 62% abv (124 proof)
Jade Verte Suisse 65% alcohol by volume (130 proof)
Pernod Absinthe is 68% abv or 136 proof
Kuber 53 is 53% alcohol by volume or 106 proof
Pere Kermanns 60% abv (120 proof)
Jade PF 1901 68% abv is 136 proof
La Fee XS Absinthe Suisse is approximately 53% alcohol by volume or 106 proof
Roquette 1797 75% alcohol by volume or 150 proof
La Fee Bohemian 70% abv which is 140 proof

Let’s compare Absinthe to several other beverages:-

Whisky – Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch 40% alcohol by volume is 80 proof
Absinthe can be up to 75% alcohol by volume (150 proof)
Table Wine which is 9-12% alcohol by volume is 18-24 proof
Beer is only 4 or 5% alcohol by volume or 8-10 proof

Now, the alcohol-information.com website shows that 1 shot of 190 proof Everclear is equivalent to drinking 2.85 cans of beer and about 3 brandies. This information establishs that one shot of Absinthe is equivalent to 2.2five beers. So, the 22 shots of Absinthe is equivalent to forty-nine.five bottles of beer!

As you can see, Absinthe is stronger than types of fermented drinks such as wine and beer and even stronger than whisky. We therefore need to be careful when consuming Absinthe, not because it will make us have hallucinations, or any other psychedelic effects, but because it is strong and intoxicates quickly. We need to take particular care when mixing Absinthe with other alcoholic drinks in cocktails.

Care needs to always be taken when your are making your own Absinthe drink. If you buy an Absinthe kit like Green Devil then you are simply steeping herbs in a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Now, Everclear with an abv of 95% and a proof of 190 — is much stronger than commercial Absinthe. Absinthe essences for Absinthekit.some have to be mixed with a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Your finished Absinthe will be the proof or abv of the neutral alcohol you have used.

What is the percentage in Absinthe? For commercial Absinthe just look on the bottle label or if you order online, look at the product details for abv or proof. If you are making your own Absinthe from a kit, you need to look at the bottle of Everclear or vodka that you are using.

Since I moved to Australia recently, I have come to familiarize myself with the many excellent wines produced locally. I still only drink occasionally but I have been taking advantage of the many varieties of wine available here to try and extend my knowledge of Dionysus’ favorite drink.

Really appreciating a good glass of wine is an art in itself. Loving wine is not about drinking as much as one can and as quickly as possible. Drinking this fine beverage is also about savoring the moment. The more I learn about how wine is produced and what types of wine are best suited for different meals, I am starting to enjoy having a glass or two with dinner more than ever. In fact, I am considering starting a new wine of the month column for this website.

There are 4 essential steps to wine tasting

1. The swirl: Holding your glass by the stem flat on the table, swirl it in circles to release the aromas.
2. The sniff: Now that the swirl has released the wine’s aromas, bring the glass close to your nose and smell; make sure to inhale deeply. The aeration helps to bring out the wine’s flavor enhancing your ability to judge it.
3. The sip: Now that the wine’s aromas have been released and you have prepared your taste buds for what’s coming, bring the glass to your mouth and at first slurp a bit of wine and gurgle. Then swirl the swish the wine all over you mouth.
4. The spit: Once done tasting, spit. This step is only important if you plan to taste more than one wine in a row. Careful with this step because it might have some serious negative effect towards you image, especially if you are in a high class restaurant!

The tricky part about wine tasting is how to tell the difference among wine varieties such that you can pick your favorite. To achieve this you have to practice on your own time at home. Go out and purchase a number of different wines, blanc and red. You should start practicing with the broadest and most important wine-flavor categories: oak, acidity and floral aromatics in whites; fruit, tannins, and earth flavors in reds.

To figure out the difference in taste among the different wines, get yourself some green apples for cleansing your palate between sips (cheese will ruin you ability to discriminate) and apply the 4-step wine tasting process described earlier. For example, start with a chardonnay and notice the buttery-oak taste. Follow with a sauvignon blanc and notice how unpleasantly acidic it is. A Riesling will have a flower aroma that will transport you to the corner flower shop. If you have also brought home some reds then poor a glass of Bordeaux and enjoy its dry, chalky tannins. An Italian Cabernet Sauvignon should fill your while mouth with the bitter earthiness of a rocky hillside in Calabria.

This guide should get you started in wine tasting. If you really want to excel at it then you have to practice even more. Once you can identify the few major flavors mentioned above, you are read to graduate to finer wines.

90ml (3 oz) cranberry juice
90ml (3 oz) pineapple juice
90ml (3 oz) orange juice with pulp
90ml (3 oz) white grape juice
2 drops grenadine and a splash of lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with a large quantity of ice and enjoy!

60ml (2 oz) lemon vodka

30ml (1 oz) lemon juice

30ml (1 oz) Cointreau

1 drop sugar syrop (simmer one part water and one part sugar for five minutes, then cool.)

Shake it up! Mix the first four ingredients in a cocktail shaker with a large quantity of ice. Garnish with lemon zest for that extra touch.

Enjoy!