Absinthe always better?

[lemon_twist]

I'm working on building my homebar and coming up on my list of things to buy was a pastis - I was going to go with Herbsaint (in keeping with my NO roots). However, with all the newly available Absinthes, is it even worth it to buy pastis? Do some cocktails work better with pastis over Absinthe?

[slkinsey]

I'm sure there are certain cocktailian applications for which pastis is a better choice than absinthe, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. Also, with respect to Herbsaint (and with all due respect to it's city of origin) I'd put this one fairly near the bottom of my list as an absinthe substitute, which is how pastis and pastis-like spirits are typically used in cocktails. If you can't get actual absinthe, I'd suggest Absente brand as a good substitute (certainly much better than Herbsaint, IMO).

[eje]

The big difference between Absinthe and most Absinthe substitutes (Herbsaint included) is the amount of sugar. Most Absinthes are not (or only minimally) sweetened and almost all Absinthe substitutes are heavily sweetened.

There are modern cocktails created with Absinthe substitutes and their sweetening power in mind. These may need to be rebalanced to work with Absinthe.

Also... Slkinsey points out there are varying quality levels among Absinthe substitutes. There is also a lot of quality variation among modern Absinthes. The two available in the US currently, Kubler and Lucid, are actually both pretty good.

However, there are quite a few where I, when given a choice between them and Ricard, would choose Ricard.

Also, if yer interested in a reasonably priced Absinthe Substitute, a Lebanese Arak like Razzouk or Sannine is often considered more appealing than many of the modern over sweetened Pastis and other Absinthe substitutes.