Week 19: Butterfly Boston [52 Whispers From The Muse]

Butterfly Boston

Appearance: A very pretty, bright olive green. Vibrantly clear and richly dark. May be a bit dark for some, but I find it gorgeous. Louche: Much like the intensity of the color, the louche is quite thick with full, heavy trails. Very swirly in a bubble glass or Slipstream. The final result is a pale mint green with little to no opacity. Aroma: Very pretty Anise forward with a lot going on while it’s neat, evens out to a well balanced trinity with a hint of mint and sweetness. Flavor/Mouthfeel: That sweet and Anise dominance from the aroma are first and foremost but everything else parades across the tastebuds very well. Hints of a peppery spice and a bit or earthiness roll below that sweetness. Lots of fun. Finish: After the sweetness fades a bit the Wormwood takes a breath across the palate like the ending of a complete sentence. Butterfly lingers for a good long time. Overall: Another hit from Distillerie Artemisia’s little stills in Val de Travers, Butterfly is a sister to La Clandestine. This was the first Swiss Verte I ever tried and freely admit, as a Massachusetts resident that I was drawn to the bottle from the label and the name “Butterfly Boston”. From their site…

“Butterfly absinthe is a modern rendition of a classic pre-prohibition absinthe produced in Boston in the early 1900s. America was ripe with domestically produced absinthe prior to prohibition. The absinthe Americans created was unique in style and different from what was imported from Europe. Pre-Prohibition American absinthe made liberal use of the herbs growing in the Midwest and New England. Fields of wormwood were scattered across the country and yielded so much of the famed herb that it was exported to Europe. The style stands out from other classic absinthes by its use of mint, citrus zest and other herbs creating a complex but refreshing flavor profile.”

From the Absinthe Minded Mixologist presentation at the 2016 Steampunk Worlds Fair

Butterfly Boston has been a favorite of mine for a while now. It’s very drinkable nature and rich history combined with it’s skilled and passionate creation has wooed me since the very first time I opened a bottle. I’m very happy to see that it’s aggressively marketed here with La Clandestine (on the east Coast at least) and the brands are very active in dispelling many of the old myths and misconceptions about Absinthe.

Brendan Edwards and I, the Gentleman of Innsmouth

Just this weekend I took The Pretty One to The 2016 Steampunk Worlds Fair in New Jersey to attend a presentation sponsored on by Butterfly, La Clandestine, and the Slipstream Absinthe glass. Brendan Edwards (pictured to the side here… the charismatic guy in the white suit, not the handsome green guy. That’s me) put on a great session while we mixed some cocktails and drank these wonderful Absinthes from the awesome Slipstream glasses.

Me, The Pretty One and a new Slipstream

Throughout the presentation the Pretty One kept saying to me “All this stuff sounds strangely familiar, like I’ve heard it before… every time someone around you talks about Absinthe.” It was fun, entertaining, educational and I took home another 2 Slipstream Absinthe Glasses, one for The Pretty One and a second for myself. If you’re interested in one check out their site, SlipStreamAbsinthe.com, they’re great people. They’re working on a new design which I’m looking forward to ordering.

The last thing I’d like to say is that although Butterfly Boston isn’t the least expensive Absinthe available in stores, it’s very well worth the extra couple of dollars to get some real happiness in a bottle, I’d easily recommend as an introductory Absinthe to anyone as well as an Absinthe to enjoy even if you’re an old hat in the game.

Cheers, fhtagn