Le Tourment Vert

'For two hundred years absinthe has inspired some of the world's greatest creative minds, from Van Gogh to Hemingway. In search of inspiration we scoured France for an authentic absinthe that could not only be enjoyed in the traditional way (with sugar and water) but was smooth and versatile enough to inspire the creation of a whole new generation of cocktails.

Hand crafted in small batches by Bruno Delannoy of Distillerie Vincet Ege, Le Tourment Vert is unique. A delicate blend of fourteen herbs including Grande Wormwood, Star Anise, Eucalyptus, Sage and Fennel give Le Tourment Vert its unusually palatable flavor and distinctive color. We hope it will inspire you as it has inspired us.'

-Disteillerie Vinet Geg SA, San Francisco , California-

Le Tourment Vert translates to mean 'The Green Torment' which was the name given to it by the powers that be, back in the day when it was banned. It was given a bad rap in hopes people would drink more wine and give up the absinthe.
You see way back some 200 years ago there was a bad drought in Europe and the wine production took a terrible dive. During this time the people of Europe could not do without some form of booze so they turned to absinthe. In that time the people fell in love with this devilish drink and it soon took the place of wine as the drink of choice.
Well, the wine production came back but the level of want did not. The people of power got together and made the plan to demonise this green drink of happiness to help bring people back to wine. Soooooo they being all powerful, they started all kinds of rumors about the dangers of absinthe and how it will make you go mad, blind, and see shit. And as we all know how that works, thank you Reefer Madness, it was all bullshit. I was soon banned and wine came back to the table as number one.
A few years back the 200 year band was finally lifted and it became legal to make, own and drink. But the sigma of its maddening effects still lingered, it also did not help that those who have been known as absinthe drinkers were crazy! I mean why else would Van Gogh cut off his ear....he was drinking absinthe! Or why would Hemingway blow off the top of his skull...he was drinking absinthe and why else would Marilyn Mason kill his career with an emo crap album....he was on absinthe!?! See where I am going with this?
But all in all it is just another form of one of humanities favorite past times....Drinking fermented stuff that gets you high.

Now, as I mentioned in my last post I walked into the Happy Store just to get me some beer and I found this:



The bottle itself was freak cool as hell to boot! This one happens to be only 100 proof, there was another one there that was 138 but it was also 20$ smackers more! And for $50, I was willing to try it. And you know what? I will be back for more! Here are the instructions on how to do the 'Traditional Drip'
1oz. Absinthe
3oz Ice water
1 sugar cube
Place an absinthe spoon (which I don't own as of yet so I used a fork) with the sugar cube on it on top of the glass. Slowly drip the water onto the sugar cube so it melts into the absinthe.
If you use this method it is much easier to drink and does not taste all that bad. But I am lazy and really do not want to wait for my buzz.....so to THE HEAD I go!



It has a really cool color to it as well, it looks, smells and taste like.....mouthwash?!?! But then again most hard liquors smell and taste like gasoline so mouthwash really doesn't seem all that bad in comparison lol.


This is a really cool drawing in the back of the little booklet that comes with it.

So, in my humble opion Le Tourment Vert (pronounced LUH TORMON VEHR) is well worth a try. And the buzz is very different that any other buzz you might get from other liquors. I am not sure if it is offered in bars as of yet but I am sure when they do it is going to a kick in the wallet. Anything exotic atomaticlly has 8$ added to the price!