Trillium Absinthe
Perhaps it was best to take my first taste of absinthe on a hearty Oregon afternoon in July.
Sunlight seems suitable inoculation against the potion's legendary sorcery.
My guides were Kieran Sienkiewicz and Rich Phillips, owners of Integrity Spirits, a Southeast Portland micro-distillery making artisanal vodka, gin and now the once-banned absinthe. Come this weekend, they will become the first in Oregon and the second in the nation to bottle and sell the mystique-laden drink, known for centuries as the green fairy....
At the start of the 20th century, the French wine industry pushed its government to ban absinthe. Other countries in Europe followed, and the U.S. ban was applied in 1912. On the fundamental rule of human behavior that something forbidden must be sampled, thousands of tourists visited Spain and other countries that still made and served absinthe....
Last year, the United States recognized that fact by lifting the ban. An Alameda, Calif., distiller was first to market. Sienkiewicz and Phillips said Integrity Spirits is the second with a product ready for sale.
Trillium Absinthe Superieure is expected to be in Oregon liquor stores by the weekend. Cost: $59.95 a bottle.
If you'd like to read a truly fascinating account of absinthe, I can direct you to an article from a couple years ago by Jack Turner in the New Yorker.