Color- Thin green. A little bit hazy as well. No sediment and it’s leaning towards a nice peridot.

Louche- It takes a while to develop and is a welcome change from some ‘premature’ star anise louches that are over in an instant. Decent refractions and a nice green tinge at the edge of the glass.

Aroma- Fennel and anise dominate with a bit of ‘dirty sock’ funk that brings it down a notch

Flavor- Heavy on the fennel with the anise in equal measure. Decent wormwood bite mid palate. A nice creamy mouth feel is interrupted by some peppery aftertastes that are kind of annoying. I can detect the ‘saltiness’ as others have noted.

Finish- Lingers for a while but is nothing but pure anise. Doesn’t leave a sense of complexity in the mouth.

Overall- This is a decent verte and is a good place to start absinthe tasting. Decent value depending on where you buy it.

I found Lucid to be okay, but not great. It is not one I would consider stocking regularly. The color and louche are generally average, and nothing really stuck out. The aroma was not at all appealing to me. While it did have some of the complexity of an absinthe, none of the components in that complexity was particularly pleasant. The flavor comes across very similarly. It is as if every flavor in the drink is individually muted and blended instead of stirred. The finish lingers, unfortunately and the bottle just looks kind of silly, compared to any of the better brands. It's almost like some marketing MBA got the design job and felt a bad boy image would be needed to reintroduce Absinthe in the US market.



I've served Lucid at home tasting parties and it generally ranks poorly. Mediocre is really the best word to describe this product.

I had a gathering with some friends, served this brand along with two others and this was the least favorite.

This was the first absinthe that I have tried and at first I hated the taste but it started to grow on me and soon I found my self consumed by ever aspect of it. I am talking about absinthe its self not lucid. All I can say is that it is much too censored by the FDA.

Update to previous review-- hope this works right...

Basically, one change on the scores-- after a lot of reflection, I decided that Lucid deserves a 4 in Flavor/Mouthfeel: According to the WS Absinthe Evaluation sheet, 4 = "Correct, interesting, pleasant, enjoyable" and to me, Lucid is definitely that. The "burn" I reported earlier is more in the finish than the flavor, and it just works well. It's still the solid "proper midmarket standard" but it does well at that, and I think Mr Breaux managed to formulate an excellent absinthe for the masses here.

Also, yeah, Lucid is "Jade Light"-- but sometimes I'm not in the mood for the full complexity of a real Jade and "Jade Light" is exactly what I want. :)

Original Review:

Lucid, the basic standard

Broke out my bottle of Lucid for a night-cap and a tasting session with the WS Absinthe Score sheet last night (and posted the initial version of this in the forum, but now I can post it where it belongs… ?
The appearance is natural, correct, clear, acceptable-- but IMO too pale for the 4 or 5 ratings.
Louche: well, it's a great Louche—I’m tempted to give it a 5, except that I've seen Jade N.O. and La Clandestine after louching... Lucid’s good, but not the best
Aroma: I think it's acceptable, correct, good proper absinthe-- it's just a little undistinguished compared to the great ones, but there's nothing wrong with it. I didn’t catch any of the “funk” I’ve heard others report (admittedly my bottle is, at this point, quite well-aged though…).
Flavor/Mouthfeel: It's correct & proper-- I still like Lucid, even after trying several other varieties of Absinthe-- if it's got a flaw, it's that there's still a little more "burn" instead of "smooth" than I'd expect from a top-notch absinthe, and set next to Jade & La Clandestine-- two of the others I've tried-- it comes off as undistinguished, but only by comparison though. Still totally acceptable & nothing wrong with it – I’m tempted to give it a 4, but in the end I think 3.5 is the right spot.
Finish: The standard descriptor by the 3, "Lingers pleasantly, no outstanding characteristics." says it all-- nothing wrong, just not truly "outstanding".
Overall: It fits the 3 rating perfectly-- IMO, entirely acceptable and it's the very epitome of the proper mid-market standard.
Further comments:
As I've indicated previously-- I like Lucid, I'm going to keep drinking it occasionally, and when I finish this bottle, I'm going to buy another one. It's my standard, go-to, ordinary occasion Absinthe. It's my "I just want to enjoy sipping on a simple glass of absinthe at the end of a long day..." choice. I gave it the ratings I did because Lucid is the middle of the road standard: I'm well aware there are absinthes that are made better, are more complex, perhaps ultimately tastier-- and I plan to indulge in them when I can, whenever I want something good & complex; and definitely for special occasions. The existence of higher end absinthe doesn't change my decision that Lucid has a place in my liquor cabinet and at my table. However, since Lucid is readily available, it's also still my "baseline"-- I find Lucid fully acceptable, but any Absinthe that doesn't compare favorably with Lucid is unacceptable to me-- it is the basic standard that others must equal or exceed.

For those interested: I'm actually not quite sure of the exact water-to-absinthe ratio I use as a fractional measurement-- but I use the same glasses, I fill the reservoir with absinthe to the same line, I fill it to 1/2" from the brim with ice water every time I prepare absinthe, using a broullier or dripping over a spoon, with a sugar cube-- so I am consistent in my methods and amounts each time. And yes, I'm one of those who always takes absinthe with sugar by preference.