Mardi Gras is not about partying. I mean it definitely is, but it’s about more than that. Mardi Gras is about exuberance. Obviously, it’s a drinking holiday, but you shouldn’t just drink anything; ...

I’ve been on an absinthe kick at work lately. I’ve been trying to get my coworkers on the bandwagon, but they keep wrinkling their nose at the black licorice aroma that I find so alluring. All the ...

Yesterday, we blogged about how you can make distilled absinthe, with links to websites that either sell stills or provide directions for creating homemade stills. But since distilling alcohol without ...

Let’s say you’re cooking dinner for your significant other. Wine is poured, candles are lit, music is playing, it’s all going well. The recipe calls for some gentle heat from a few slices of jalapeño, ...

Let’s start with a few things that absinthe is not. Absinthe is not hallucinogenic. Absinthe won’t make you go crazy. Absinthe isn’t illegal. If you’re like most people, those three statements have ...

Cocktail Queries is a Paste series that examines and answers basic, common questions that drinkers may have about mixed drinks, cocktails and spirits. Check out every entry in the series to date.

Picasso sipped absinthe. Hemingway mused on it. It may have helped persuade Van Gogh to lop off his ear. Now a drink banned in the U.S. for nearly a century (it was wrongly considered a hallucinogen) ...