Absinthe paired with a multi-course dinner?? Gosh. I’ve been to countless wine dinners, but an absinthe dinner is unheard of. In fact, it was supposedly the first in Asia!

Obviously i didnt dodge it. Mainly coz Alan Moss was in town to host the dinner. Alan is the distributor of La Clandestine and Angelique, good stuff dat was launched last year.

It was titled “A Decadent Affair”.

La Clandestine is distilled using a 1935 recipe, in Couvet, Val-de-Travers, Switzerland. Using botanicals from the region, La Clandestine is distinctively hand-crafted in the birthplace of absinthe, meaning its not mass, machinery-produced like other absinthes. In fact the owner himself still makes it in his basement!

Moonshiner.

Double trouble

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We began the evening at Vanity Mansion with a sweet, easy-drinkin cocktail – Petale, with peach syrup as its main mixer.

Pre-starter

Knocked quite a few of this before we sat at the tables for the five-course dinner. A greenish cocktail called Le Perroquet (Green Parrot) greeted us. Its Angelique, green mint syrup + water. Back in da day in Paris, the codeword for havin absinthe was “to strangle a parrot.”

Huh?

Eager diners

The Clandestine Caipirinha accompanied the excellent starter of ravioli. Its like a caipirinha, but with absinthe instead of cachaca. A well-received drink. Clandestine + lime + sugar.

Cheese-stuffed ravioli

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D line-up

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Alan addressing the diners

Next came Hemmingway’s fave, Death in the Afternoon, a cocktail dat combines champagne with absinthe. Not d easiest drink to swallow, but gets u there. Smoked salmon suits the drink well.

Smoky

Gettin crowded at the 4th course

Soon it was time for the Classic Serve. Cold water slow-dripped into absinthe over a cube of sugar. This is probably d best way to truly appreciate absinthe. It produces a nice louche as the water releases the herbal oils from the absinthe.

Water tower in dahaus

Originally the chef proposed rabbit stew with the Classic Serve, but due to fear that some pussies wont eat rabbit “coz they’re cute”, we had chicken.

Tastes like chicken

The highlight for me was the dessert, deceivingly called the Tiramisu Shooter. It’s a tray of three shot glasses, to be downed left to right.

Yum

Glass 1 – Strawberry swimming in white chocolate; Glass 2 – absinthe + Baileys + caramel; Glass 3 – dark chocolate goo.

It was an awesome combination n d perfect end. I asked for another tray but they were out. Dam.

Young chef Amin did a great job comin up with d pairing menu. I never dreamt of havin absinthe cocktails over dinner, but this experiment proved dat its very possible and in fact quite successful! The absinthe did not overpower the meal, as obviously u dont take it neat. With a combination of drnking styles, absinthe can be pretty versatile.

O yea, there was one last finale – the aged absinthe. Alan has aged some absinthe in barrels back in the HQ for a few years (only 1,000 bottles for d world), and he brought some. It looked like cognac! Taste-wise, its less intense and herbal that usual, and smooth, but maintaining most of its alcohol. Alan’s wife doesnt drink absinthe, but she loves this one.

The night's surprise

Very interesting. Alan is experimenting and plans to age it longer.

Bravo chef! Good job. In d foreground are the herbal ingredients dat go into absinthe, which Alan brought from Switzerland

With Alan

Petite wormwood??? Looks more like Grade A Skunk to me

Brain damage: 8/10

Starter