Color: A mostly yellow-yellow-green, clear liquid. I see some opalescence after the louche; the finished glass of Lucid is mostly white with some blue and green highlights. It's acceptable.

Louche: Glass brouilleur was placed over my classic Pontarlier absinthe glass, which has a nice glass bubble on the bottom to hold and measure the correct amount of absinthe. Sugar cube was put into brouilleur and filtered ice water was poured in. A small stream of iced water poured into the Lucid through the brouilleur. (I can control the drip of the brouilleur by placing it flush over the top of he glass to create a tight seal. The water won't drip then. I slowly slide the brouilleur to open the seal to control the flow, from drip to slow stream.) This time I simply went with the slow stream all the way. Surprisingly, the louche took its time finishing. Nice oily trails appeared through the lower "bubble" in the Pontarlier glass, for what seemed a goodly time providing a nice show ... before turning into some lovely swirling white clouds, which went on for longer than usual before finally turning to an opaque, mostly white drink with very slight blue and green highlights.

Aroma: Strong anise and fennel aroma that is slightly peppery. Not very complex, but not bad.

Flavor: Again, strong anise and fennel taste, slightly peppery. Wormwood clearly numbs the tongue, so it's present. The "trinity" is there — it's a real absinthe — but I can't tell what are the other herbs. Not very complex is the main thing. Problem? Aftertaste is quite poor, perhaps due to the beet-based alcohol. Mouth ends up quite numb with not the most pleasant taste.

Finish: I'm through with the first glass and waiting for the second. Aftertaste of the first is a bit unpleasant and now I'm considering the elixir quality. So far it's mediocre. However, my mouth is numb; in that way, the slightly unpleasant background taste is thankfully minimized.

Minutes later ... OK, I've had most of the second glass. Again, it's a real absinthe, the "trinity" is there, my impression is slightly "complex," better than after just one. Still, the low quality of the beet-alcohol base is too evident. Why use beets and charge this price? There are plenty of wine- or brandy-based spirits in France, this country of elite alcohols, aren't there?

Overall: Again, it's a real absinthe. Lucid leaves you with not the most complex or pleasant taste, but a slightly complex "impression." It's very average, not the type of thing I would want to have at a sunny café late in the day, but rather something desired in a blues bar late at night while wearing dark glasses, if it was on "special." It is quite overpriced: I paid more than $80 including tax at a local liquor store in New Jersey for it. At this price range, I would certainly consider other absinthe "vertes," such as the Duplais Verte or the Pacifique Verte, a Swiss and an American brand respectively. They are far superior choices. Lucid's louche is nice, yes, but the beet-based alcohol has been cited as the main issue here concerning poor aftertaste, and it might be. Still, I'd cite the lack of excitement concerning the herbal ingredients as the main determining factor in giving this an average to slightly below average score. Also, the bottle with two light green eyes on a dark green bottle — the "green lady," is it? — with the word Lucid in dripping green, it's all a bit purposefully creepy. It makes what's in the bottle seem sinister. The half-empty bottle is going to the back of my liquor cabinet, a souvenir of the first offering of a real absinthe in the USA in a very long time.

Update May 20, 2010: This is often the best choice in liquor stores in New Jersey, as it beats out Pernod and all of the hyped Czech brands. New Jersey liquor stores have yet to catch up and it seems very, very few carry the superior brands, such as Pacifique, Walton Waters, Absinthe Duplais Verte (or Blanche!), La Clandestine, et al. But Lucid is usually stocked — So far, it's invariably the best thing on the shelves here, and it's a reasonable choice.

Update May 23, 2010: If it's Lucid or Pernod, then get the Pernod. Both are subpar when compared with Pacifique, Walton Waters — the "boutigue" brands — but he Pernod was just better for me for taste, aftertaste, and secondary effect. The Pernod's liquor base is also "cleaner" IMO. Still, these are very average brands, and I recommend St. George, Absinthe Duplais varieties and La Clandestine (as a blanche) as more better choices. All are far superior to Lucid or the current Pernod offering.

Dose was 40ml to 200ml of chilled water.

Color: I have purchased several bottles of Lucid. There is some inconsistency in the color. For this review, the color happened to be a pale yellowish-green, slightly cloudy, but I have had others where it is more green and clearer. Rather than a count against, I take this as a by-product of natural techniques applied.

Louche: I drip water from a measuring cup that has a "beaker-like" protrusion for pouring. The louche forms quickly from the bottom, and larger *blop* drops of water burst into clouds, as opposed to bursting into tangles of trails. So the louche is faster forming than some, but with nice refractive attributes and that "what color *is* that?" kind of green/greyish/amber hue.

Aroma: Pre-louche, it is somewhat strongly alcohol but with kind of a "smoky" melange around an anise core. Post-louche: I love this aroma. It is anise but subdued by a heady mixture, which seems to be that smokiness "exploded". That mixture... I live on a farm, in the spring, the meadow air has components of this aroma: that combination of flowery and weedy and grassy and woody. In this case, I am weighing more heavily in favor of the post-louche aroma with the number rating, because pre-louche is fairly harshly alcohol. Smelling the louched glass is almost as nice as drinking from it.

Flavor: Louched, I bring it up for a sip, and the combination of aroma and flavor reminds me of my great-grandmother's house. Is this because she was alive during the Belle Epoch? Because you don't just taste an alcoholic drink, you smell and taste it at once. Her house had a potpourri aroma mingled with a mixture of dusty antiquity and brass. Knickknacks everywhere, a clutter, but her ancient and thickly bespectacled visage also provided a focus, as the anise does in this flavor.


Finish: Yes, there is a murkiness, an indeteriminant jumble, like the items cluttering the shelves, and this fades behind the gentle insistence of the wormwood, but also a sweet clarity in the integration of the anise. The pressed meadow foliage reconstituted in the louche, tethered by the wormwood, dancing around that sweet anise maypole, fading softly into light anise notes as the wormwood dances up just slight into the sinuses! Did I mention I was slightly biased in the title of this review!?!

Overall: Ok, ok. So I have not tasted the greats of antiquity. The sole "solid 4" rating among these reviews that I have experienced is Kubler 53, and I would rate it higher than Lucid. But there is obviously a crafted effort that has gone into this liquor that surpasses an artful bottle and cashing in on the absinthe mystique. The sweetness of the anise, and the numbing of the wormwood is nicely balanced, with a host of herbal flavors that are at times maybe murkily tangled, but not unpleasantly so. The only real "dings" in the experience as I see them would be the aroma as poured out of the bottle, and some inconsistency in the coloration.

the Color is nice, but I've seen clearer. Good peridot hue, not too blue or yellow.

the Louche is right there from the word go. I personally like the louche to be pretty substantial but not completely opaque. It comes on a little too quick for my taste but is lots of fun to watch.

the Aroma is nice, but not what I'd call complex.

the Flavor is also quite nice, but once again, Complex is not a word that comes to mind.

the Finish is technically what I like in a Verte, with a semi-crisp semi-peppery bite at the end. I really like this quality but with this brand it seems like a destination without much of a journey.I'm not sure how else to say it.

I must agree with Peridot,the components are there but don't all the way add up. Still, you can bet the farm that I like this better than he does.

I'd keep it around for guests or the occasional once in a while, but I don't think I'll be drinking it as regularly as Mystique, for example.

A good starter absinthe, if you don't like this stuff then don't drink Absinthe. If you do, then prepare for the rest of your life to be a delicious aesthetic adventure.

Color was a nice light peridot, not quite as clear as it could have been, but it looked natural.

Louche was appropriate, and detailed. Nice trails and clouds that built up from the bottom with a nice layer above.

Aroma was anise and fennel for the most part, with a mild spice.

Flavor was a balance of anise, fennel and wormwood. I found none of the "funk" a few have mentioned.

The finish was clean and crisp, lingered well. Not as 3-D as the best out there, but again, you could do a lot worse.

I was expecting this entry level absinthe to be mediocre, but it was pretty good!
In fact, I'd suggest this to someone who wanted to try absinthe to see if they like the general vibe, letting them know there are better absinthes to be had...but for the $60 kit which includes 2 glasses and a spoon, it's a good starter for someone to test the waters. I think it would lead one to purchases of higher end absinthes.

This is my first review, though not my first absinthe. Lucid's general status seems to be in the "damned with faint praise" category, so I'm interested in seeing how I score it out. Some things unrelated to score - I like the newest bottle design, the prior version with just the "cat's eyes" graphic has rubbed me the wrong way on viewing it. The new version, with a silver-and-green wormwood motif, with the cat's eyes still there but more subtle, is a big improvement, in my opinion. I'm using my second glass of the evening for the purposes of this review.

This bottle was opened yesterday, and it seems that on freshly opening a bottle I always get a strong whiff of alcohol. Having sat opened for a day, the aroma from the bottle is more anise-y and almost a caramel sort of scent. It smells sweet. Pouring it into a glass, the sweetness fades away and it's more anise and fennel. There is no "funk" coming from the bottle or neat from the glass.

APPEARANCE: No haze that I can see on raising the glass parallel to the light, but a somewhat pale, golden/honey color. It should be noted this bottle is from a holiday gift pack that had gone unsold in a local liquor store, so it's been sitting for at least 4 months. It's clean and attractive, but a little pale, overall.

LOUCHE: Not too thin, not too thick; I would not describe it as opalescent, but it's a bit one-dimensional. There's nothing terribly wrong with it, but also nothing outstanding.

AROMA: Not a hint of alcohol. Mostly dominated by anise and fennel, but there are some faint, trailing odors of flowers and pine. It's an attractive, enticing aroma; somewhat above average.

FLAVOR/MOUTHFEEL: Probably the area where I feel Lucid is strongest. The texture is very smooth, not at all oily or grainy, and is somewhat creamy - it feels good to move it over and around my tongue. The upfront flavor is dominated by anise and fennel, with some woody/flowery notes I'm not really able to properly identify, with some bitterness and peppery notes hitting later on. Very satisfying.

FINISH: Unfortunately, those bitter and peppery notes hijack the finish to a degree that seems excessive. There's some additional heat, here, as well. As good as this absinthe tastes, the finish is somewhat poor. Not enough to ruin it, but in my opinion it's a sub-par finish.

OVERALL: Overall, I feel this is a slightly above-average absinthe. It's not in the same league as the other, more highly-acclaimed absinthes I've had before it, but I think it deserves a little more acclaim than it gets. Lucid is one of the most widely-available absinthes in the U.S., and there are many other industries that would be lucky to have this "level" of product to be as good as this. It's not amazing, but it is a good, solid absinthe.

Review was done with a 4:1 ratio, with sugar.