Events: Absinthe Tasting

Known as “the Green Fairy,” absinthe is a liquor that’s gotten a bad rap over the centuries. Usually drunk as a shot, the pale green, licorice-tasting beverage originally was made with an extract from the wormwood plant that reportedly gave it mildly hallucinogenic properties — like seeing fairies. Such legends caused absinthe to become a favorite beverage of writers, artists and other free spirits across Europe in the 19th and early-20th centuries. Its effects became exaggerated, however, like a critic who claimed, “absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis and has killed thousands of French people.” Many nations banned the liquor for awhile, including the United States in 1915. Nowadays, absinthe — in a weaker form — is making a comeback. Morton’s The Steakhouse downtown is hosting an absinthe-tasting at 6 p.m. Priced at $45 per person, the event will feature three Pernod Absinthe cocktails and Pernod Absinthe served in the traditional ritual, which involves dripping ice water very slowly over a sugar cube that is placed on a slotted spoon over a glass of absinthe. Get details and make reservations here.