Obsessives: You’re Not Hallucinating

By Meredith Arthur, Eric Slatkin, and Blake Smith

It’s very simple: alcohol, wormwood, and some anise characteristics. But not simple at all: The carefully calibrated mix of aromatics and herbs that goes into the absinthe made by Lance Winters of St. George Spirits took extensive testing to get just right.

Absinthe image courtesy of the Virtual Absinthe Museum.

Try these absinthe cocktails:

Death in the P.M.

Round Robin

Sazerac

This is a regular series called Obsessives, in which CHOW explores the worlds of singularly focused food-industry figures. These are the people with the dirty hands, answering detailed questions about the work they do.