Wormwood Heart, Absinthe Rosary Necklace

I made this necklace in honor of the decadent beverage, and the whole thing started with finding the raw, druzy quartz stone bead that reminded me of a sugar cube.  Then, I found the little spoon and not much later the green heart, which just happens to be the same colour of just-stirred absinthe.

I love absinthe.  Beyond the beauty of the liquid– a livid green which turns milky and subtle when water is added– there is the smell, part medicinal, part grown-up candy that I find most seductive. And the ritual, doing it right.

I confess I am no connoisseur, having only imbibed what friends could smuggle to me while I lived in the U.S.  And, once in the UK, one bottle of La Fee (chosen for the label) has lasted me years.

You see I drink alone, (or as Homer Simpson would ask, “Does God count as a person?”) and relish the whole ritual. I don’t set the sugar cube on fire, instead preferring to watch it disintegrate slowly.  My delicate hand blown absinthe glasses were given to me by a dear friend and I think of her whenever I drink from them.  It was as if she knew exactly what was missing from my life!

Next week I am off to Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, where I hear there is an absinthe bar that serves breakfast.  While making this absinthe-heart necklace, I was musing on the promise of such a place, and looking forward to the end of my solitary absinthe indulgence– very soon I will be in a city full of such decadents.