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Absinthe Fountains are a Must Have!

-- By  Sam McEly in  Jefferson City, TN on Tue, 13 Mar 2007 at 06:35.

Approximately two months ago, a close friend of mine brought back several bottles of absinthe from an overseas trip (I won't get into the details of how he was able to do this ). Although we were very excited to have our first Green Fairy experience, we decided that we wanted to learn as much as we could about absinthe before we actually drank it.

During the course of my online research, I came across an article discussing absinthe fountains. Because there were no pictures included with article, I was a little confused about what an absinthe fountain looked like. However, with the help of Google Images, I was able to look at a variety of different absinthe fountains. After looking into the device a little more, I decided that we had to get one to use during our initial absinthe event. After discussing it with my friend, we decided on an absinthe fountain model that can simultaneously fill four cups.

We received our absinthe fountain two weeks after ordering it, and decided it was time to have our first absinthe experience. Since we had multiple bottles of absinthe, we decided a small dinner party of six would prove to be the best experience. This would also give us a chance to show off our eye-catching absinthe fountain. If you want to know how our party went and what our guests thought of the absinthe fountain, check out my story in the La Louche Ritual section.

 
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Absinthe fountains come in many shapes and sizes, but they all perform the same function: they deliver a drizzle of ice-cold water into a glass of absinthe. This dilutes the alcohol-rich drink and liberates the all-important herbal ingredients.

About absinthe fountains

The Virtual Absinthe Museum has pictures of vintage absinthe fountains, as well as a rare nineteenth-century postcard that shows French country folk using a fountain as they enjoy L'Heure Verte - the "Green Hour".

Close-up photos of a replica fountain can be seen on Vive La France Online - a New Orleans shop that sells this and other essentials for the modern-day absintheur: glasses, spoons, sugar holders... Obviously, they do not stock the drink itself.