Remember that Night Vividly, I Drove...

So apparently they are making absinthe in the US that approaches legitimate quality. My interest was spurred by a friend of mine who visited this weekend. He had a ridiculous cut on his chin. When I asked him what happened, he explained that his girlfriend found him on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood. We talked about the intrigue of the drink and tried to pinpoint the high. "It's like mushrooms without the craziness," I said. "It's very cool, like you're under water...not a sloppy drunk...lucid." "Yes," he said, "and that was the name of the stuff I drank, it's legal in the US."

I had one experience with absinthe. Some friends and I had tickets to see Kings of Leon in downtown Baltimore. One of the friends suggested we accept an invitation to congregate before the show over a nice dinner, some sporting, and absinthe brought back from Spain. The dinner was amazing, despite the fact I can't remember what we had. I just remember there being preparations, some formality and class to the whole ordeal. And I didn't indulge too much in the poker, I mostly just listened to the blues permeating the room via cable TV. Then, our hosts brought out a glorious bottle for us to partake in that wonderful process, which involves crystal glasses, special spoons, sugar cubes and ice water. We drank. It tastes distinctively like black Mike & Ike's, a bitter mint taste that runs slowly, warmly and surely down your throat, chest and stomach like liquid armor. We drank more. The high is clear and strong, positive, relaxed and with a confidence in one's reason and rationale. So we packed my sport utility vehicle and headed downtown into rush hour traffice. We rode unannoyed through the salty streets of Baltimore listening to music and feeling high.