A crystal clear, bright green liquid in a clear bottle emblazoned with a huge eye that stares out at you and dares you to lick it. While the colour before louche is clear, it is a heightened and artificial green which makes for fun photographs but doesn't inspire confidence

Neither does the aroma which smells hugely of alcohol with a generous dollop of jelly bean liquorice. After louching, there's not much difference, except for the alcohol being somewhat dimmed

Louching is the best part of this drink. There are some lovely oil trails but it is over all too soon. The final colour is attractive but enough of that eye popping green remains to detract from it. I would have given this 3.5 if the system allowed for it

It's obvious this is an oil mix** as soon as it hits your tongue and the flavour reminds me far more of a less sickly version of Pernod (the pastis), with a possible hint of wormwood bitterness that is immediately washed over by alcohol and jelly beans. The oiliness of the drink lingers like a painful memory.

Given a choice between this and Green Fairy toilet rinse for a night out on the town, I'd easily choose this. It's like the big brother of pastis and has some pleasant and gentle secondaries (but remember kids, drink for the taste!). The problem is that it costs about twice as much as a pastis and isn't anywhere near twice as good.

**Editor's note: according to the brand owner, La Fee Parisienne is 100% distilled, with no added essences or oils.

Color: Fake, bright green. Similar color to that Sour Apple Pucker Liqeur. Clearly unacceptable. What saved it from a 1 is the fact that it is clear, bright, and free of sediment.



Louche: The louche was full and came in quickly even with a relatively quick pour. It took the fake green and made it more attractive, proper degree of opalescence, attractive. A 5 here was out of the question though as it still has an artificial slant to it.



Aroma: Aroma is strongly of alcohol with some anise on the side. Not complex or particularly attractive. No hint of wormwood at all.



Flavor: Sweet licorice candy. I knew this beverage would be a little funky based upon what I had read about it previously, but the flavor itself was even more disappointing that what I had anticipated. One dimensional, not pleasant, wrong flavor. No wormwood detectable. First 'absinthe' I came close to sinking half way through.



Finish: Immediately numbed my tongue, which in a way was good because it made it harder to taste the unpleasant flavor.



Overall: Disappointing. Definitely my least favorite tasting so far. I'm not overly experienced with tasting absinthe, but from what I do know, this is NOT what it should taste like.