This photograph sent to Mondo Boulder by the subjects, shows them enjoying a bottle of the Christmas, 1994. The legendary Gurnie Dobbs is on the left. 

Keeping in mind that there is no strict definition for absinthe, it can, technically, be nearly any alcoholic preparation with wormwood in it. But the best absinthe is crystal clear, and green or yellow-green in color. It should be made by distillation from herbs and not essential oils and use no colorants other than the herbs themselves. When diluted with water, it should turn a cloudy, opalescent color, sometimes called the louche.

Once you have some good absinthe, skip anything involving lighting things on fire, and avoid dousing it with sugar and fruit syrups and other such fripperies. You have paid the Big Bucks (or gone to a lot of trouble) to get your absinthe, why muck up its subtle and complex flavor with adulterants? By far the prevalent way of drinking absinthe was the simple method of putting some in a glass and dripping cold water into it over a single (!) sugar cube. I particularly like it with seltzer.

Don't be afraid to dilute your absinthe. Old recipes specify 20 - 25% absinthe, and a drink of absinthe that stiff is a unique experience. But absinthe can be very refreshing if much more diluted, especially with seltzer, allowing the complexities of its flavor come out. A variation is to fill a tumbler with cold water and carefully add a little absinthe. It will float as a cloudy, pearlescent layer on top. The taste should be a pronounced to strong anise flavor, with a bitter overtone that has been compared to "sucking on a copper penny."

Forget the psychedelic experience. The people who wrote such hyperbolic accounts of absinthe drinking were, to put it mildly, "imaginative," and were often people with serious alcohol problems. (The people who made "Moulin Rouge" were probably both.) It's true there is a peculiar quality to absinthe intoxication, often described as a special "clarity," but even with an absinthe with a thujone content similar to the old-fashioned varieties, alcohol still predominates. In modern commercial absinthes, with but a small fraction of those thujone levels, alcohol dominates even more. So while absinthe is a wonderful drink with a fascinating history, there are much better ways to achieve the psychedelic experience.

And be sure and hoist a glass o' the green on St Patrick's Day!