Spinnaker liquor bazaar: Testing tastes from around the world

When it comes to strong drink, Americans have their minds made up.

Visit any local bar and listen to the orders - most run the gambit from vodka cranberry to rum and Coke, even a few gin and tonics. But step outside the U.S. borders and it's easy to find a slew of other distilled delights that tantilize the tastse buds.

Bravely compiled by Ross Brooks and Sarah Diener.

Sarah Diener
Ross Brooks

Razzouk arak A traditional liquor produced by many Eastern Mediterranean countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Syria. Arak is a clear, colorless liquor distilled from grapes and flavored with aniseed. Arak is usually imbibed as a mixture of 1/3 arak and 2/3 water over ice, giving it a distinctive milky white coloring. The milky texture and look of this drink threw me off at first. It was pretty strong, but the licorice taste helped. It wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. Certainly, this is an acquired taste. This would be a drink to sip slowly throughout the night. Well, I've never been a friend of anise, but all in all this wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. A little on the sweet side, it left me feeling very good. A nice minty-cool burn graced my throat and I could definetly drink it on a hot day.

Pitu cachaca Produced solely in Brazil, cachaca is a clear liquor distilled from sugar cane juice. The major difference between cachaca and rum is that cachaca is made almost exclusively from fresh sugar cane juices, where as rum is created by fermenting molasses. Brewing cachaca is a 400 year old tradition in Brazil and most modern Brazilians drink their cachaca in the country's most famous cocktail the Caipirinha. The smell of this liquor alone told me that I would not like it. It was extremely strong-tasting and I was physically nauseated after trying it. Maybe mixed with Coke or a juice, it would be more bearable. This is not for the faint of heart, or stomach. Blech. I see how one might call this a regional taste. Unless one was raised on cachaca, I don't think they could take more than one shot of this. It's taste is comprable to a plastic bottle of cheap rum left to steep in fish offal. I wouldn't even serve this to my enemies.

Boutari ouzo Ouzo - Produced in no other country in the world, Ouzo is the pride and joy of all Greek exports. Much like Arak, ouzo is distilled from grapes and often flavored with aniseed; however, coriander, clove, fennel, licorice, mint and hazelnut are also popular flavorings. Popular ways of drinking ouzo include mixing it with soda or diluting it with water and ice. After the last drink I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the third liquor. It had a licorice taste similar to the first one, but was much sweeter and not as harsh. I could see myself ordering this at a bar. Better than the arak, but only by a little. Very strong stuff, and it leaves a lingering aftertaste of fennel seeds and black licorice. I think I'd rather stick to whisky.

Julia grappa Born in Italy, grappa is made from grape pomace - the skins, seeds, stems and other plant materials left over after pressing the grapes. As is true in wine making, the better-quality grapes tend to make the more flavorful, less harsh grappas. Used in Italy as a digestive, grappa is usually sipped after dinner at room temperature in a cordial glass. After hearing the ingredients of this drink I was a little turned off, but again I was surprised at how good it was. It carried a sweet taste almost like an amaretto. Mixed with Coke, this would be a pretty good drink. I see how grappa has become a digestive. It almost tripled the speed of my normal digestion because as the glass left my lips. I nearly emptied my stomach's contents on the floor.

La Charlotte absinthe Outlawed by the United States and most European nations in the 20th century, Absinthe has made a resurgence across the globe in recent decades. But don't be fooled by this sheep in lions clothing: Thujone, or wormwood, which grants the liquor its supposed psychoactive properties, is currently outlawed in U.S. absinthes. The varieties for sale in American liquor stores tend to be little more than grain alcohol flavored with anise and other herbs which give the otherwise clear liquid its distinctive green coloring. The bitter taste of absinthe is usually combated by adding a tablespoon of sugar to a glass of absinthe and diluting with water. After hearing all the history of absinthe, I was apprehensive to try it but also excited to see what all the hype was about. I was disappointed that even mixed with sugar and water that this drink was pretty gross. It was very strong and burned going down. Pretty bitter, and not nearly as unique in flavor as I had hoped. I am left with one question, however. If a tree melts in the forest, and there is no one there to smell it, am I on absinthe?

Romana sambuca If you've ever watched an episode of "The Sopranos," you've probably heard reference to sambuca. The name sambuca is derived from the latin "sambucus" for elder bush. Aside from elder berries, the liquor is often flavored with star anise or licorice root and sweetened with sugar. Sambuca varieties include white, red, green, blue, and black, with the darker versions containing more licorice and anise flavoring. Sambuca can be served straight up or in a number of cocktails. I had tried sambuca before and had liked it, so I was thinking that this one would be an easy try. It was pretty good, but very sweet - almost sickingly sweet. This is another drink to sip with a dessert or after dinner. I felt like Tony Soprano as this sweet liquor slid down my throat. Much better than the other anise - flavored liquor, I could actually drink this one for an extended period of time. Definelty the best of the five.

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Faculty trio first in history

By Laurel Wright
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

Nick Curry

From left to right, the faculty piano trio is made up by violinist Dr. Simon Shiao, pianist Dr. Gary Smart, and cellist Dr. Nick Curry. The three professors hope that thier performances will insipire and excite thier students.

The University of North Florida's first-ever faculty piano trio gave its premier on-campus performance Oct. 2 as the kickoff to a string of concerts.

The UNF piano trio is not only the first piano trio in the university's history, but also the only faculty trio at UNF, said Dr. Gary Smart, the trio's pianist.

The concert consisted of chamber pieces by composers Maurice Ravel, Antonin Dvorak and American Henry Cowell.

The trio plans on dedicating themselves mostly to American contemporary music, Smart said.

"I think this ensemble can foster an appreciation of chamber music in the student body," he said.

The trio has played together since the beginning of the school year, when new faculty member Dr. Nick Curry, the group's cellist, arrived.

"UNF has always had a great reputation in jazz," he said. "During the last few years, it has been building its classical side. I feel like we can do great things and grow in a positive direction."

The group is different from large orchestras and ensembles because the small size allows for an intimate feeling, Curry said.

There is only one player per part and no conductor, so the members can have more give-and-take.

"This combination really provides a chance for the violin and cello to be soloist and to match the piano," said Dr. Simon Shiao, the trio's violinist.

"The music played by the trio allows for communication through sound," Shiao saod.

"Some music will have anger, angst or passion. It's full of emotion," he said.

Smart said the music transcends words.

"Once in a while, music can make someone cry or [become] so excited that you think they are at a football game," he said.

The members of the trio said they feel it's good for their students to see them perform together and see that they have to practice to play well.

"It gives them a role model," Curry said. "They will only get more excited."

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Men on 'the pill?' Doctors say it's no dream

By Carol M. Ostrom
THE SEATTLE TIMES

At a conference of researchers looking at the future of male contraception, some nagging concerns poke through the fog of scientific jargon.

First: The male machinery that produces sperm - at a rate of 1,000 per heartbeat - is incredibly hard to disable.

Second: Would a man really trust some researcher to tinker with his testosterone? And would any woman believe a man who says, "I'm on the pill?"

Third: Men on the pill - are these researchers nuts?

As it happens, these concerns are not new to the doctors and scientists gathering at the University of Washington, many of whom have slogged through years of research on hormones, devices and treatments.

Yes, the sperm-production mechanism is hardy. Yes, attitudes of men and women will be key.

But no, these researchers are not nuts.

There is good evidence, including some large international studies, that a good percentage of men would use a new male contraceptive.

Now, if these researchers could only produce one.

At this point, hormone-based methods, including pills and injections that last three to six months, are the farthest along in the research process. They also have the best chance of drug-company funding and are what men say they'd prefer, said Dr. William Bremner, a University of Washington endocrinologist.

Bremner, chairman of the university's School of Medicine, is host of the conference, which is sponsored by the university, the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization and the Contraceptive Research and Development Program, an international consortium.But researchers have had a long, bumpy record with women's hormones.

Why would men trust them with theirs?

"I think that's a fair question," Bremner responded.

Researchers are shooting for a "normal range" of hormones, and working hard to eliminate any side effects. "It's a tall order," he said.

Bremner says many men join his studies because their female partners have had to give up their contraception. Using condoms "becomes burdensome," he says, and vasectomy is usually irreversible.

Even so, those male-based methods now account for a third of contraception used in the United States and Europe he says.

(c) 2007, The Seattle Times. Distributed by Mcclatchy-Tribune infomation services.

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Three top-10 rappers to party like rock stars at UNF Arena

By Laurel Wright
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

What do Shop Boyz, Sean Kingston and Fabolous have in common?

Probably quite a bit, but in this case they're all performing Oct. 7 at the University of North Florida.

Osprey Productions is bringing the three performers to the UNF Arena to perform for students and Jacksonville residents.

After a summer of planning, OP chose to bring the artists known for their hip-hop music to campus, said OP Director Jessi Odell.

"On the day we booked this concert in August, all three artists had songs in the top 10," she said. "We're going to party like rock stars."

Sean Kingston is known for his reggae sound in hits "Beautiful Girls" and "Me Love."

Fabolous' latest single is "Baby Don't Go."

And Shop Boyz are known for "Party Like a Rockstar" and "They Like Me."

This will be the second year in a row that OP has brought hip-hop artists to campus.

Odell said OP considered artists in other genres such as country and rock, but the three rappers worked best with OP's budget and availability.

The concert will cost OP $68,500 and is funded through Student Government and fees included in tuition, Odell said.

Profits from the show will be put back into OP's funds.

Tickets cost $15 for students and $20 for military at the UNF box office. Tickets cost $25 for the general public through Ticketmaster.

Odell said the she hopes to sell 3,000-4,000 tickets.

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Carnival of Carnage lacking scare value

By Matt Coleman
EDITOR IN CHIEF

Courtesy of Universal Studios

The three horror icons highlighting this year's Halloween Horror Nights might be the event's only bright spot.

Good: Inclusion of horror movie characters.
Bad: Lack of scare actors.
Ugly: Drunken patrons.

Universal Studios is trying to tread new ground this year with Halloween Horror Nights 17: Carnival of Carnage. There are more haunted houses, live shows and scary movie references, but the circus atmosphere can't mask a sub-par theme park offering.

Horror Nights producers seemingly upped the ante with the acquisition of a cache of horror icons - Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Thomas "Leatherface" Hewitt - but their presence is mostly relegated to T-shirts and other promotional devices. Each of the trio has their own haunted house to reign over, but they rarely leave the domiciles. A number of parkgoers that had recently exited Jason's Camp Blood attraction were taken off-guard when the masked blade-enthusiast left the house and stalked after them. One particularly confused looking woman screamed like an extra in a "Friday the 13th" sequel when she noticed Jason lurking behind her.

Other than movie characters, the park is occupied by a random pastiche of stock scare-actors. Inbred, chainsaw-wielding hillbillies and malevolent circus clowns roam the park scaring timid patrons.

A few of the additions are inspired - like a group of clowns representing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that ride motorcycles modified to look like merry-go-round seats (bets are being placed on how long it takes Famine to get involved in a hit-and-run accident with an inebriated visitor). However, a few particularly good ghouls don't make up for the otherwise-barren park.

In one loop around Universal, only about 20 scare-actors could be seen - far fewer than in previous years.

Some of the main roads, especially near the Leatherface and Vampyr houses, had the largest traffic of costumed creatures, while others were devoid of any characters. In addition to eight haunted houses, Halloween Horror Nights 17 has the most shows in the attraction's history.

The ubiquitous Bill and Ted make an appearance with another entry into their "Excellent Halloween Adventure" series.The pair skewers a wide variety of pop culture figures, like a coked-up Lindsay Lohan and a bald-pated Britney Spears. The jokes are fairly juvenile, but the show jumps from one topic to the next so quickly it's hard to notice.

"Freak Show" features illusionist Brian Brushwood, who performs a variety of gross sleight of hand magic tricks. David Copperfield would scoff at the small scale of Brushwood's tricks, but they fit the visceral Horror Nights ambience.

"Jack's Carnival of Carnage" is a dull circus act featuring this year's homicidal poster-clown. The show barely lasts 10 minutes and the "volunteers" are terribly unconvincing as actors.

The only redeeming aspect of the carnival is that it will be a topic of discussion as audience members wonder how so little fake blood can come out of a woodchipper when a body is supposedly run through.

Another new show is a "Rocky Horror" tribute concert, which will be a big hit among the cult-like fans of the film, but lost on most casual visitors. Halloween Horror Nights 17 features more attractions than ever, but the offering lacks heart and visceral scares.

Having more events and noticeable horror characters are steps in the right direction, but the absence of scare-actors around the park makes for a boring time.

The most disturbing thing about this carnival was the incredibly low tolerance to alcohol exhibited by parkgoers.

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Grad. teacher assistants lead double lives

By Alissa LaGesse
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Being a college student can be quite rigorous - almost as rigorous as being an instructor. Yet some students decide to double as teachers. Such is the case for all of the graduate teacher assistants here at the University of North Florida.

Karen Fountain is a graduate student as well as a teacher assistant in the Statistics Department. She teaches Finite Math and Elementary Statistics for Health and Social Sciences. Fountain said experience in teaching has helped her tremendously.

"I have been teaching for six years, so it is not as hard for me as it is for others," Fountain said.

Fountain said it's not mandatory to be a teacher assistant to get a graduate degree, but that the job offers the best experience.

"I wanted university-level teaching experience, and it pays a good part of my tuition here," she said. "You also learn a lot more about the subject you teach than you did when you took the course. It helps you with the graduate work and it is good practice."

Fountain said that she does not want to continue teaching after she gets her master's degree.

"I am getting my master's to get out of teaching," she said. "I want to work in risk management and business as an actuary."

Bill Healy teaches Core I as a graduate teacher assistant at UNF."Teaching undergraduate courses reminds me a lot of when I was an undergrad," Healy said.

"It is a strange transition. You are not professor, you are closer to being a student because you are still learning and still responsible for your own coursework," he said.

Unlike Fountain, Healey hopes that his time spent in front of the classroom as an assistant will translate into real teaching success.

"My interest is in Irish history, so I anticipate graduating with my master's to teach at the high school or community college level while I apply for my Ph. D," he said.

David Miller, a graduate student and teacher assistant in the Mathematics Department, instructs students in finite math and grades papers for business calculus.

"To teach others is to teach yourself," Miller said. "You relearn everything, and you ask questions that you wouldn't have thought of asking," Miller said.

"Sometimes it is hard to juggle, though, because I have my own homework, and I also have to do my students' homework to find out their potential mistakes. It's a workload."

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YouTube gives student voices a face

By Chris Anderson
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Chris Anderson

Members from the group "onetwentysix126" fight the forces of boredom by making lipsynch videos in the wee hours of the morning.

For the bored college student, YouTube offers hours of mindless amusement. Search hard enough and you can even find a few friendly faces. A number of UNF students regularly post videos on YouTube. Some have even made loose groups based around the making of these videos.

One such group, alternatively known as OneTwentySix and 126, is made up of a core of six members.

Joe Watson, a sophomore communications major, does the editing and kind of started the group. Ian McGuigan, a sophomore business major, is Watson's roommate and an original member.

And Ryan Taggart, a sophomore chemistry major, joined the group later, and now lives with Watson and McGuigan.

Other big contributors include Josh Earl Frank, a sophomore economics and marketing major, Garrett Schneider, a sophomore psychology major, and Sean Yeslow, a sophomore political science major.

"But we have special guests," McGuigan said, accounting for the many others that appear in their videos.

The group began in summer 2006 after the freshman year of all those involved. The group traces its beginnings back to Watson's antics one particular night.

"It was like 4:30 in the morning, and we were all hanging out in my dorm," Watson said. "I was on the computer flipping through iTunes, and I started playing a Michael Jackson song. Since I have a camera for my Mac, I started to record myself dancing around and singing it. When the others realized what I was doing, they wanted to do it too. It kinda went from there."

Early videos were shot and then minimally edited, whereas the newer videos such as "Slight of Hand" and "Auto Magic," feature extensive editing and cutting.

Watson said the group is named after the dorm room of several of the group's members, where contributors used to hang out.

"We've moved now, but the name never changed," he said.

Most of 126's videos feature various members of the group lip-syncing to different songs.

"The 'pop-ier' the better," Watson said. The ideas for the videos come from the songs, he said.

"We just go through iTunes until we hear something, and someone in the room will say 'nah' or 'yeah, let's do that one'" Watson said. Taggart calls the process "organized anarchy."

So far, there are 14 videos of 126 on YouTube. At deadline, the most popular was "The Christmas Medley," a collection of Christmas songs "sung" by Watson and Taggart, with 3,241 hits.

Their most recent is "Jungle Jam." "Ian loves the Backstreet Boys one," Watson said. McGuigan confirmed it, saying, "'Larger Than Existence.' Yeah, that's my favorite."

Taggart said he doesn't have a favorite, but after pestering from the other two, he named "Run." Watson names his favorite as "Sleight of Hand."

"That one took a long time to make," he said. "It was a lot of fun."

McGuigan said the group makes a video whenever the members are bored.

Watson said it takes roughly an hour and a half to shoot a video, "cause we screw up a lot."

From there, Watson said, he spends at least two hours editing and cutting on his Mac. Then the video will go on YouTube.

The group's videos can be found at http://web.mac.com/imcguigan/onetwentysix.

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Tips for seeking scholarship dollars

By Mark Oleson
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

For those that have been successful finding scholarships ("free money") to assist in funding their education, the overriding theme mentioned is persistence.

When searching for scholarships, use all of the resources at your disposal: the Internet, family and friends, the library, your school/potential school, as well as basing your search on different "levels."

Your search should be done at the national, state and local level, as well as by school.

National
There are lots of free national scholarship search tools - no need to pay the $50+ that many agencies charge.

FastWeb (http://fastweb.com) is one of the most popular (it is the largest, most frequently updated database) scholarship searches - other free search sites/tools are listed at:

-http://sfa.missouri.edu/sch-free.php
-http://www.finaid.org/scholarships/other.phtml
-http://www.mapping-your-future.org/features/schrlshp.htm

State
Your State Department of Higher Education is a great place to start as is your State Loan Guarantee Agency.

There are likely others [depending on your State's educational resources], but these are two offices I'd suggest starting with to find money regardless of where you reside.

Local
Numerous scholarship opportunities are available within the community in which you reside. Kiwanis, Elks, Church Groups, and Rotary Clubs are common examples.

Specific school
The notion of conducting `levels of searches' also holds true at Universities/Colleges.

There will normally be school-wide options.

In addition to applying at the university level, seek out money offered by your college and department of interest.

For example, if you were interested in Personal Financial Planning, talk to the PFP department about scholarship possibilities.

Also look at scholarship opportunities within the College of Human Environmental Sciences [in that example]. Approach things similarly with any department/college you are applying to.

Something else to consider is if you're interested in a specific field of study.

Many "special programs" (loan forgiveness, scholarships, etc.) are available for particular fields of study such as teaching, nursing, social work, etc. Scholarship suggestions

Start early!

Pay close attention to deadlines.

Read [and follow] the directions closely. Look outside the box.

Everyone knows about scholarships awarded on academic performance or financial need, but don't overlook scholarships offered by professional or trade organizations.

Healthcare, engineering, education, computer science, and social work are all examples.

The military offers scholarships if you're willing to serve ...

There are also plenty of "oddball" scholarships - awards for left-handed students; graduates of specific high schools.

Heck, you and your prom date can enter the scholarship fray if you're willing to wear outfits or accessories made out of duct tape to the prom! Don't believe me? Check it out - www.stuckatprom.com/contests/prom.

When searching for scholarships, be cautious, as numerous scams abound.

Some common scholarship scams include:

(1) Guaranteed scholarship or your money back.
(2) This information isn't available anywhere else.
(3) "You're a finalist" but never entered the competition.

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Oddball Antics

By Mike Pingree
MCCLATCHY TRIBUNE

We're really not rowdy and drunk at all ... well, usually
After a newspaper wrote that students at Bloomsburg University engaged in rowdy and alcohol-fueled parties, the student government president complained that the stories "painted (the) students with a broad and negative brush and are both inaccurate and extremely unfair." A few weeks later he was arrested for drunk driving.

Oh, our relationship is just going through a rocky patch
A man got drunk and, intending to "surprise his girlfriend," went down the chimney of her home in Evanston, Ind., where he got stuck.

Firefighters had to come and break away the bricks to get him out. Alas, the woman said that she is actually not his girlfriend at all. In fact, she suggested that the rescuers "leave him in the chimney and let him die."

If this car's a'Rockin', you should pull over
After he crashed his Chevy Blazer into a telephone pole in Moscow, Idaho, he explained to police that the couple having sexual intercourse in the back seat caused the vehicle, "which was top heavy anyway," to become "tippy" and caused him to lose control.

Yes, that's right officer, a monkey
A man visiting the zoo in Fuzhou, China, had his cell phone stolen by a monkey.

The man was trying to photograph a troop of Assamese macaques with the phone, and, when he reached it inside their cage, one of the animals snatched it and would not give it back.

This is a stick up ... hey, is that you bob?
A man robbed a bank in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he was a regular customer. To disguise himself, he put a pair of men's underpants over his face. It didn't work.

Come home, dad, we just want to ask you a few questions
A man in Littleton, England, tricked his family into believing that he won an $86 million Euro lottery jackpot.

His son quit his job and made plans to move to Australia with his pregnant girlfriend. Everyone was overjoyed.

That is, until the real winner came forward. The family is so furious that the man had to go into hiding. No one knows why he did it.

Right on sisters! Right on! We're with you!
Two young women were ejected from a public swimming pool in Uppsala, Sweden, for refusing to wear the tops of their bathing suits. They have appealed to the government for the right to swim topless.

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		Sarah Diener	Ross Brooks
Razzouk arak	A traditional liquor produced by many Eastern Mediterranean countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Syria. Arak is a clear, colorless liquor distilled from grapes and flavored with aniseed. Arak is usually imbibed as a mixture of 1/3 arak and 2/3 water over ice, giving it a distinctive milky white coloring.	The milky texture and look of this drink threw me off at first. It was pretty strong, but the licorice taste helped. It wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. Certainly, this is an acquired taste. This would be a drink to sip slowly throughout the night.	Well, I've never been a friend of anise, but all in all this wasn't as bad as I had expected it to be. A little on the sweet side, it left me feeling very good. A nice minty-cool burn graced my throat and I could definetly drink it on a hot day.
Pitu cachaca	Produced solely in Brazil, cachaca is a clear liquor distilled from sugar cane juice. The major difference between cachaca and rum is that cachaca is made almost exclusively from fresh sugar cane juices, where as rum is created by fermenting molasses. Brewing cachaca is a 400 year old tradition in Brazil and most modern Brazilians drink their cachaca in the country's most famous cocktail the Caipirinha.	The smell of this liquor alone told me that I would not like it. It was extremely strong-tasting and I was physically nauseated after trying it. Maybe mixed with Coke or a juice, it would be more bearable. This is not for the faint of heart, or stomach. Blech.	I see how one might call this a regional taste. Unless one was raised on cachaca, I don't think they could take more than one shot of this. It's taste is comprable to a plastic bottle of cheap rum left to steep in fish offal. I wouldn't even serve this to my enemies.
Boutari ouzo	Ouzo - Produced in no other country in the world, Ouzo is the pride and joy of all Greek exports. Much like Arak, ouzo is distilled from grapes and often flavored with aniseed; however, coriander, clove, fennel, licorice, mint and hazelnut are also popular flavorings. Popular ways of drinking ouzo include mixing it with soda or diluting it with water and ice.	After the last drink I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the third liquor. It had a licorice taste similar to the first one, but was much sweeter and not as harsh. I could see myself ordering this at a bar.	Better than the arak, but only by a little. Very strong stuff, and it leaves a lingering aftertaste of fennel seeds and black licorice. I think I'd rather stick to whisky.
Julia grappa	Born in Italy, grappa is made from grape pomace - the skins, seeds, stems and other plant materials left over after pressing the grapes. As is true in wine making, the better-quality grapes tend to make the more flavorful, less harsh grappas. Used in Italy as a digestive, grappa is usually sipped after dinner at room temperature in a cordial glass.	After hearing the ingredients of this drink I was a little turned off, but again I was surprised at how good it was. It carried a sweet taste almost like an amaretto. Mixed with Coke, this would be a pretty good drink.	I see how grappa has become a digestive. It almost tripled the speed of my normal digestion because as the glass left my lips. I nearly emptied my stomach's contents on the floor.
La Charlotte absinthe	Outlawed by the United States and most European nations in the 20th century, Absinthe has made a resurgence across the globe in recent decades. But don't be fooled by this sheep in lions clothing: Thujone, or wormwood, which grants the liquor its supposed psychoactive properties, is currently outlawed in U.S. absinthes. The varieties for sale in American liquor stores tend to be little more than grain alcohol flavored with anise and other herbs which give the otherwise clear liquid its distinctive green coloring. The bitter taste of absinthe is usually combated by adding a tablespoon of sugar to a glass of absinthe and diluting with water.	After hearing all the history of absinthe, I was apprehensive to try it but also excited to see what all the hype was about. I was disappointed that even mixed with sugar and water that this drink was pretty gross. It was very strong and burned going down.	Pretty bitter, and not nearly as unique in flavor as I had hoped. I am left with one question, however. If a tree melts in the forest, and there is no one there to smell it, am I on absinthe?
Romana sambuca	If you've ever watched an episode of "The Sopranos," you've probably heard reference to sambuca. The name sambuca is derived from the latin "sambucus" for elder bush. Aside from elder berries, the liquor is often flavored with star anise or licorice root and sweetened with sugar. Sambuca varieties include white, red, green, blue, and black, with the darker versions containing more licorice and anise flavoring. Sambuca can be served straight up or in a number of cocktails.	I had tried sambuca before and had liked it, so I was thinking that this one would be an easy try. It was pretty good, but very sweet - almost sickingly sweet. This is another drink to sip with a dessert or after dinner.	I felt like Tony Soprano as this sweet liquor slid down my throat. Much better than the other anise - flavored liquor, I could actually drink this one for an extended period of time. Definelty the best of the five.