We were off to the Moulin Rouge, and I was to taste my first glass…of …Absinthe
~ Moulin Rouge
Considering how long I’ve been dressing as The Green Faery for Halloween, one would think that the drink she represents would have crossed my lips long before this. But it hadn’t. I had a long standing agreement with Silver that we would try Absinthe together, but time and tide just never aligned, and even the bottle I brought her back from France collected dust on the shelf.
And then Amras and I walked into a really funky bar in Bar Harbour, Maine and there it was sitting on the menu. That was a few weeks back, and while he treated himself to a shot, I didn’t, when a promise has stood for over a decade, you at least have to check with the other person before you break it. So I wrote to Silv, and within a day or so, got a response back that consisted of only three words:
Go for it.
So this was a long planned thing, one we thought was going to be thrown off the rails by a combination of Immigration and the massive USCG (coast guard) drill that we had to run this morning. But…we got lucky, and the drill ran smoothly and quickly enough that we were able to be off the ship before 11, which left us time for lunch before anything else, which is a good thing; because I was pretty sure the Green Fairy was going to pack a punch in those wings of hers.
So, setting up an Absinthe shot is not quite like any other drink, it’s a procedure, involving sugar cubes, and matches and coasters. Essentially it’s a kit. And it burns going down your throat, that stuff is strong, not so much in the strength just in the taste. It tastes like…licorice intensified. Not bad at all, but it does make your eyes water.
For those of you who are wondering – I didn’t ‘see’ anything 
I’m pretty sure it takes more than one glass for the supposed effects to become apparent, I will however, say that colours did start looking a fair sight more intense.
I’m ashamed to say that there are no pictures, except one of the glass before I drank it, I’m sure Amras would have made sure there was photographic evidence of the event if I had thought to ask him, but I’m afraid I completely forgot…
So in this case y’all are just going to have to take me at my word…