The task: Drinking absinthe in the French manner.
The pro: Jared Gurfein, president of Viridian Spirits, the company that sells Lucid—the first absinthe to legally light up these shores since 1912.
[For a photo slide show depicting each mixing step, please click on thegallery at left.]

Step 1

Step 1 Pour a shot (roughly 1.25–1.5 ounces) into a transparent chalice-like vessel.

Step 2

Step 2 Lay a slotted spoon over the glass. If you don’t have an “absinthe spoon,” a fork will work. Place a sugar cube on top.

Step 3

Step 3 Drip (or pour slowly) a glass of ice water over the sugar cube. The water and sugar will dilute the absinthe. The ratio should be two parts water to one part booze. The absinthe will slowly become cloudy—or, in absinthe parlance, louche—and a green ring will form around the periphery of the glass. When the green ring disappears, the absinthe has been properly diluted.

Step 4

Step 4 Drink. The French and Swiss prefer to sip, but if your American drinking sensibility gets the best of you, go ahead and knock it back.

Don’t…
set it on fire. Yes, it was very cool to light your absinthe-laced spoonful of sugar on fire before stirring it into your glass in that dingy Prague pub, but that’s how the Czechs drink it. The only (legal) absinthe you’ll find on these shores is produced in the French style, and thus should be consumed the French way.

Beginner’s tip
Lest you want to cut off your ear or paint lots of pretty swirls, don’t drink this 124-proof beverage straight.

A 750-ml bottle costs $59.99 at Park Avenue Liquor Shop (292 Madison Ave between 40th and 41st Sts, 212-685-2442) and Morrell & Company (1 Rockefeller Plaza between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-688-9370).