a night out in newport

awhile back, veggie option offered to satiate my curisosity and take me to the crazy fox for some absinthe. last week we were finally able to meet up.

we had dinner at the pepper pod, a classic greasy spoon on monmouth in newport.

unfortunately, the table juke boxes no longer work. we figured, based on the selections, they stopped working sometime in the 80s.

salisbury steak slathered with gravy, mac and cheese, fries - all for $5.50! it was pretty much what one would expect. note the shine on the gravy.on to the crazy fox. it was a pretty low key crowd, but it was a wedensday. veggie said on weekends it can get pretty packed, especially if there's a band.

the crazy fox has a sense of humor about itself

we had a blanche and a verte absinthe, i cannot remember the names. i believe, from what i've read, that it was prepared in the classic french absinthe ritual. basically, a flat, perforated absinthe spoon is laid across the rim of the glass, and a cube of sugar is placed on the perforated area of the spoon. the sugar is used to balance the bitter taste of the wormwood. ice cold water is dripped into the absinthe from a small pitcher. this very slow and gradual addition of the water forms the heart of the absinthe ritual, and is done with or without the sugar.

it is desirable for absinthe to gradually demonstrate increasing turbidity or turn partially translucent as ice water is gradually added to it, known as the louche effect. the louche effect is primarily produced by the herbs anise and fennel, and the precipitation of the herbal essential oils. (reference here)

the louche effect in all its glory

my first glass of absinthe

i have to say, the absinthe smelled much better than it tasted. it smelled subtly of anise, but the actual flavor was much more pronounced. it also became significantly more potent as it warmed to room temperature while veggie and i gabbed about everything from fresh popcorn to traveling abroad. i liked the licorice flavor; it was like jagermeister with the frat boy removed (beth's paraphrasing of my description). definitely more refined and complex than jager, it is still not really something i ever see myself drinking a lot of. i barely had a third of the glass and was beginning to feel warm and tingly. oscar wilde is quoted as saying of absinthe, "after the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. after the second, you see things as they are not. finally, you see things as they really are, which is the most horrible thing in the world.” regrettably, i don't even think i could drink enough to see things as i wish they were.

i did have a fab time hanging out with veggie option, even if absinthe didn't make my list of favorite liquors. maybe next time i'll try it in a cocktail, like the chrysanthemum.