Entries associated with the tag "Absinthe":

The Festival of Cheese, one of just two events in the American Cheese Society's 25th annual conference and cheese competition that’s open to the public, takes place 5:30-9 PM Saturday at the Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan). It features tastings of more than 1,000 artisan and specialty cheeses from producers all over North America—among them Capriole from Indiana, Everona Dairy from Virginia, Redwood Hill Farm from California, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese from Washington, and Rogue Creamery from Oregon—plus wine, beer, and specialty foods. $85.

The American Cheese Society’s cheese sale from 10 AM-1 PM Sunday at Kendall College (900 N. North Branch) will have offerings from all the producers at Saturday’s festival at what it promises will be “rock-bottom prices.”

Prefer a little less cheese and a little more beer? Rock Bottom Brewery (1 W. Grand) hosts Curds and Ale II from 2:30-5:30 PM on Sunday, with 20 American artisan cheeses (many purchased at the sale) and 20 American craft beers from breweries including Three Floyds, Two Brothers, and Dogfish Head. The focus will be on pairings of clothbound cheddars (in the tradition of English farmhouse cheddar) with British-inspired bitters and ales and stinky cheeses with wild-fermented Belgian-style beers. $35.

Pastoral Artisan Cheese's Loop location (53 E. Lake) is hosting special events to coincide with the ACS's conference. On Thursday at 3:30 PM San Francisco Chronicle cheese columnist Janet Fletcher, a CIA grad, will be signing copies of her latest book, Cheese and Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing, and Enjoying; cheese and wine selections from the book will be served. On Friday at 3:30 PM sample some cow's and goat's milk cheeses from Ann Arbor's Zingerman's Creamery; Zingerman's cheese maker John Loomis will attend. Both events are free. 

Slow Food Chicago hosts a four-course dinner 6 PM Monday at Uncommon Ground (1401 W. Devon) featuring fruit from Seedling fruit farm in South Haven, Michigan; each course is paired with a wine or spirit. Chilled melon soup with mint creme fraiche, for instance, comes with a shot of melon-infused North Shore vodka, while a terrine of red raspberry, black raspberry, and honey-vanilla bean gelato with peach puree is accompanied by a house-made honey-peach cordial fizz. There’ll also be a tour of the cafe’s rooftop organic garden and jazz by the Ted Sirota Trio. $65.

Evanston's Va Pensiero (1566 Oak Ave.) and the Land Connection host their Summer Abundance Dinner Saturday at 6:30 PM, featuring fresh produce from the organic and sustainable Henry's Farm, in central Illinois. The vegetarian three-course meal features a caramelized onion tart with Tallegio cheese, roasted garlic-hot pepper crostini, and a grilled vegetable napoleon with candied garlic and spicy beet puree; the cost includes wine service and an hors d'oeuvres reception. Henry Brockman, the farm's owner, will be selling produce at the dinner; his sister, Land Connection founder Terra Brockman, will discuss the group's efforts to promote sustainable farming in Illinois. Reservations required; 847-475-7779. $80. 

In Fine Spirits (5420 N. Clark) hosts a second Return of the Green Fairy tasting seminar, its celebration of absinthe's recent legalization, on Tuesday from 7:30-9pm. Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery will be back to discuss the mystique surrounding absinthe as well as its history and uses. Three types of absinthe--North Shore's Sirene Absinthe Verte, Kübler Swiss Absinthe Superieure, and Saint George Spirits' Absinthe Verte--and absinthe-based cocktails will be paired with tastings. $36. 

The almost 100-year-old U.S. absinthe ban was lifted a little more than six months ago, after it was determined that the negligible amounts of thujone (a substance that is toxic in large doses but appears in benign quantities in herbs such as thyme, rosemary, and, yes, wormwood) found in absinthe posed no major threat to public health, as the Victorians believed. 

I did my share of "absinthe" drinking as an Oscar Wilde-worshiping teenager, when my goth cronies devised concoctions of wormwood (from the spice aisle of Whole Foods) steeped in legal Pernod (illegally procured by older friends). While living in Japan, one of a handful of countries that was never subjected to an absinthe ban, I got my hands on the real thing. 

Now, postban, any number of Chicago drinking establishments have picked up this legendary spirit: Delilah's serves five varieties while Binny's sells six, the Violet Hour mixes it into cocktails, and Potter's Lounge, the newish hotel bar at the Palmer House Hilton, offers tableside absinthe drip-fountain service. There's no use telling people that nearly identical tipples such as Pernod, pastis, and Chartreuse have been on the market for years, and that it's more likely the insanely high alcohol content (50-75 percent) rather than the thujone content that accounts for the legendary "absinthe high." It's the wormwood mystique that draws drinkers in. 

I recently attended an absinthe seminar at In Fine Spirits (coincidentally the Reader's choice for Best Wine Bar 2008, though the selection of beer and cocktails there ain't bad either). Reps from two different companies were on hand with amusing anecdotes about the history of the drink: Kate Hartman from Kübler Absinthe, a Swiss "bleu" (clear) absinthe, and Sonja and Derek Kassebaum from North Shore Distillery, introducing  Sirene Absinthe, an herby green absinthe made locally in Lake Bluff, Illinois. We sampled a battery of pre-Prohibition cocktails involving absinthe (several of which are offered on the menu at In Fine Spirits), including the crisp, lemony Corpse Reviver No. 2: one ounce each of gin, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, and lemon juice, with a few drops of absinthe as a subtle accent, and the Sazerac (approved by Louisiana legislators as the official cocktail of New Orleans last month), which is crafted from absinthe, Peychaud bitters, and rye for a flavor that falls between Chinese medicine, potting soil, and a manhattan--in a way that isn't entirely unpleasant. On a recent visit to the wine bar I indulged in "Death at Dusk"--a variation on Ernest Hemingway's recipe for "Death in the Afternoon"--a shot of absinthe topped with champagne and a dash of creme de violette (which accounts for the "dusk," a creepy gray-green hue). It's weirdly reminiscent of the salty-sour Dutch licorice Dubbel Zoute, which is to say it's an acquired taste, but one worth acquiring.

Fortunately we were spared the "modern" absinthe cocktails like the "Green Mint Machine" and the "Root Beer Float" at the seminar. Absinthe is far too subtle (and expensive) to dilute with dreck like chocolate-mint Bailey's and root beer Schnapps. 

Don't fret if you missed the event: In Fine Spirits will be putting on another one July 29.