Mind eraser

A long time ago, I used to frequent with my friends a place called Deborah, an excellent restaurant on Carmine Street in the Village, with interesting cocktails such as the "Mind Eraser".  I bring this up because of late, I think my mind has been erased as well, hence the lack of any articles.

Recently (by which I mean some time in the last 12 months), I had a little birthday gathering that ended with some very drunk women forcing me to knock back absinthe. This was an excellent party, with past, present and future love interests gathered in one place. and no men in sight. Yes, I know, my middle name is "Danger".

Back to the story - absinthe, as I might have mentioned, is made of aniseed, which belongs to the "Satanic" food group (or at least the Satanic condiment group). They always serve this at the end of a meal at Indian restaurants and it is nasty stuff. Especially when it is liquid, green and called "Green Fairy". I was drinking "Green Fairy". Good lord, if that is on Youtube, I have to resign life.

However I was pleasantly surprised at the very mild hangover the next day. My first encounter with this stuff was not so benign, back when I lived a humble student's life in Barcelona. The Iberian peninsula was probably the only place where absinthe was legal. After a night of carousing - or a regular night, by Spaniards' standards - we ended up at a bar downing this stuff, sugar cube and all. I never understood how they did it - dinner at 10pm, party till 4 am and turn up in school at 8 am. The only way I could handle that is by losing my mind/brain, sending my liver to find it, while also giving my duodenum a holiday.

But as for the  best hangover-free drink, I have been made to discover the "Jaeger bomb". Another product from the evil aniseed family, this is a shot of Jaegermeister served with red bull. Now, Red Bull is not to everyone's taste, but it is to mine, and the good thing is it kicks in at roughly 7 am guaranteeing you will not lose the rest of the day to a hangover.

Back to absinthe - the reason it was banned for a long time involves the role of the (supposedly hallucinogenic) wormwood, traditionally used to make the absinthe barrels. The interesting conclusion to this article is that the other mind-erasing, liver-obliterating, stomach-churning but thoroughly enjoyable drink - the martini - makes use of Vermouth, whose name is a derivative of  "wormwood".

Small world.