Before getting into the absinthe culture I would have never known such a device existed, but now life has changed as I’ve got myself a few quality Absinthe Drippers. An Absinthe Dripper, or Brouilleurs, makes a great substitution for a full absinthe fountain and commands a lower cost. While you can rightfully use a carafe or slowly pour a glass of water into your absinthe, you’re losing a sense of the culture by taking the low road.
One key advantage of an absinthe dripper is the footprint it leaves on a shelf. You can easily tuck an absinthe dripper beside the glasses on your shelf or in a cabinet. A large glass fountain can be difficult to store and costs a significant amount of money. Enter the Cusenier Absinthe Dripper Auto Verseur, available at AbsintheOnTheNet.com. This is, by far, one of the coolest accessories one can get for a spirit and its simplicity is key.
The Cusenier Absinthe Dripper Auto Verseur is a silver dripper that sits atop your absinthe glass and funnels water into the glass using a mechanical dripper that slowly drips water from one side and the next using a rocking motion. I brought this to a party this fall and everyone slowly gravitated towards this little device on the table which was consistently and thoughtfully louching the absinthe–it was a hit.
Within moments it looked like a fight broke out as everyone circled the happy little device rocking away at the spirit. Questions rang out, “what is that?” and “what are you doing?” or “wow, that is really cool!” This dripper was the hit of the party and everyone wanted to know where I got it. I also showed off a basic glass Brouilleur which is much more affordable but nobody seemed to really care to watch it drain its water into the glass. It’s practical, no doubt, but people seem to like watching the little metal rocker bouncing back and forth using nothing but gravity.
The glass Brouilleurs costs USD $25.99 compared to the Cusenier Absinthe Dripper Auto Verseur which will run you a costly USD $109.99, half the price of a normal absinthe fountain. However, you’re paying for the uniqueness, the style and the small size but you’re limited to louching one glass at a time where a fountain can usually handle at least two for about the cost of the fountain.
When considering an accessory for louching your absinthe you’ve now got to consider a carafe, drippers/brouilleurs and a larger absinthe fountain each with a cost, size and style to uniquely identify you and the culture of absinthe drinking. If you’re looking for a birthday or holiday gift for dad or your absinthe enthusiast, you definitely want to do a bit of research into a Dripper/Brouilleur.
7 Comments
JustinSane80
December 20, 2011 at 1:55 pmWhen you’re using an absinthe dripper/brouilleur, how do you incorporate the sugar (if you want to use it) into the absinthe? Does using an dripper eliminate the need for an absinthe spoon?
dschommer
December 20, 2011 at 9:07 pmI don’t often use sugar, but if I do, I’d just hold the dripper above the spoon with the sugar on it. Or, some drippers have enough room to slide a spoon under it, but not always. I usually only use sugar for new absinthe drinkers, when serving to them at least.
Peter
February 20, 2012 at 6:28 pmYour supposed to put the sugar cube in the brouilleur with the water
dschommer
February 21, 2012 at 11:44 amSugar is optional, personally, I don’t use it. But there is no hard and fast rule that says you “have” to if you don’t want it. With new absinthe drinkers, I usually recommend it.
Susie
October 13, 2012 at 9:32 amYou could also use ice cold simple syrup to incorporate the sugar using this method with the brouilleur.
Jeannie
October 28, 2012 at 9:30 pmYou’re supposed to put a sugar cube on a slotted spoon under the dripper on the edge of the glass. The dripping gradually melts the sugar and turns the absinthe cloudy.
dschommer
October 28, 2012 at 9:45 pmthat’s not a hard requirement, it’s an addition that was added later in the tradition that I don’t always agree with 🙂