Curious Cook in the New York Times: Absinthe and champagne

In today's dining section I write about a recent analysis of the fact and fiction surrounding absinthe and its distinguishing ingredient, wormwood. And about the latest from the bubble laboratory of Gérard Liger-Belair, deep in champagne country. And what happens when you mix absinthe and champagne.

Anyone who enjoys sparkling wine will love Professor Liger-Belair's informative and poetic book Uncorked: The Science of Champagne, published by Princeton University Press in 2004.


Lachenmeier, D.W. et al. Absinthe: a review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2006, 46: 365-77.

Liger-Belair, G. et al. Modeling the kinetics of bubble nucleation in champagne and carbonated beverages. J. Physical Chem. B 2006, 110: 21145-51.

Liger-Belair, G. Et al. Champagne experiences various rhythmical bubbling regines in a flute. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2006, 54: 6989-6994.

Cognacs contain more dissolved taste substances than other spirits

In a French study of the solids content of various spirits, cognacs and other brandies turned out to be more than 1% by weight polyphenols, carbohydrates, and caramel materials, all of which the spirits extract from the wood barrels in which they're aged. Armagnacs and rums contained about half the solids of cognacs, bourbons about a fifth, and whiskies a tenth. From 4 to 51 samples of each spirit were tested. These are large differences, and indicate that brandies should often seem more astringent, sweet, and full-bodied than their distilled cousins.

Picque, D. et al., J. Agric. Food Chem. 2006, 54 (15) 5220