Every year on the first weekend of October, absinthe lovers, distillers, sellers, authors, historians and collectors from all over the world come together in Pontarlier, France, for the Absinthiades.
These were already the 3rd Absinthiades that I attended, together with our team from Absinthes.com. Almost our whole team went to Pontarlier this year. Of course, I cannot compare 3 times with the number of times Andrew already attended 🙂
Dear absinthe lovers,
We’re back from an eventful weekend.
For the 15th year, the Absinthiades were held in Pontarlier last weekend. And this year was quite special: it was the 100th anniversary of the absinthe ban in France. From Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, absinthe distillers, sellers, historians, authors, collectors and absinthe freaks (we include ourselves among them) were reunited in Pontarlier.
It was the best Absinthiades for a long time. A long and exciting weekend, I prefer to talk about each day separately.
We stopped working earlier than usual and around 1:00 pm we headed towards Pontarlier.
Rather than stay in our usual hotel, we thought it was high time for change. And we found the perfect place, absolutely appropriate for an absinthe-tinged weekend: A turn of the century apartment complete with beautiful wooden and glass panelling inside. A belle-epoque treat! After we arrived, we dropped our bags and rushed over to where the action happens: the Théâtre Bernard Blier. And inside awaiting us, the facade of the Grand Café Georges: re-erected to resurrect the green hour, for just one weekend each year.
An eventful weekend, which passed by so quickly.
As every year, we drove to Pontarlier, in France for one weekend in October. This year was 14th Absinthiades taking place from the 3rd to the 5th of the month.
Read Stefanie’s account of what we got up to, below, and find out which absinthe brands were awarded medals at the end of this article.
In this article, you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about pastis. Discover what pastis is, how it is produced and how this spirit with a relatively young history has become a widespread aperitif. Thanks to this article you will also learn how to taste it and find multiple comparisons with other anise-flavoured beverages, from absinthe to anisettes. Finally, we prepared for you a few cocktail recipes with pastis – to get you started with this savoury classic drink!
To say pastis is very appreciated in Southern France would be somewhat of an understatement: the act of drinking pastis is very much interwoven with the culture and the lifestyle of the region. The main ingredients at the basis of every pastis recipe are anise and liquorice roots. Today, there are numerous different pastis recipes, more or less complex.
