Wormwood, yum

That's two glasses of Fraîche bartender extraordinaire Albert Trummer's version of absinthe, a tincture he makes with his special combination of ingredients (which he says does include wormwood); you can see the concoction steeping in an original absinthe tower from New Orleans that sits atop the bar. It's not on the cocktail menu, but Trummer was kind enough and enthusiastic enough to demonstrate his absinthe ritual. He uses the traditional slotted absinthe spoon topped with a cube of sugar, then pours over the absinthe (it actually drips in from a spigot in the tower) along with some of his other elixirs. And then he goes through several steps of flambéing and hands you a glass of it hot. "The first sip should be a big one," he says. As soon as you bring it up to your nose, you feel its effects. Take that big sip and it hits all your senses at once. And it's delicious, both floral and herbal and milder-tasting than you might expect -- with no deleterious effects that I could tell. 

-- Betty Hallock

Fraîche, 9411 Culver Blvd., Culver City, (310) 839-6800

Photos by Betty Hallock