NATASHA GORBACHEV: PADDY COYNE’S SELLS ABSINTHE >>>

Recently the Washington State Liquor Control Board approved a measure that will offer devoted drinkers a beverage that’s been banned for 100 years.

I know you won’t believe me when I say this, but now, right now, you can get absinthe at Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub.

Here’s how Wikipedia describes this beverage: Absinthe is traditionally a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It has similar effects to anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, also called wormwood. Absinthe is typically of a natural green color but is also produced in a clear style. Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a liqueur, absinthe is not bottled with added sugar and is therefore classified as a liquor. Absinthe is unusual among spirits in that it is bottled at a high proof but is normally diluted with water when it is drunk.

But don’t expect people to be running around and cutting each other’s heads off after sipping on the green fairy. The tall tales of any psychoactive properties associated with this alcohol have been highly exaggerated, and was probably more on an indicator of the drugs that people from the late 1800s were mixing with absinthe, but it’s still amazing that this forever-banned product is now gracing at least one bar shelf in Tacoma (so far you can only purchase it from Seattle liquor stores).

From what Paddy Coyne’s knows, they’re the only restaurant that’s serving absinthe so far, and I tried it out with hot water that’s poured over a very special spoonful of sugar.

And the only psychoactive experience I had was the sheer amazement that you can now enjoy this old-world wonder.

[Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub, Ninth and Pacific, downtown Tacoma]