Zürcher Fee, Reviewed Options

[hartsmar]

Distilled by the Brennerei Hans Erismann distillery in Eschenmosen, Switzerland.

Zürcher Fée 53%

AVERAGE SCORE 76

Reviewed by hartsmar 12/2/2005

COLOR BEFORE WATER 10/10
It's a blanche and it's crystal clear.

LOUCHE ACTION 8/10
Extremely thick louche! Probably one of the thickest I've seen... It louches in a really nice super-cloudy way. It's rather predictable somehow and lacks that extra touch to make it perfect but it's damn thick!

COLOR AFTER WATER 10/10
This is whiter than milk a snowy christmas morning!

AROMA 21/30
Before adding water it presents a clear scent of wormwood and a touch of fennel. There are notes of mint.
After adding water the alcohol bite that was present before goes away and the wormwood is more noticable along with the mint which is enhanced. Something slightly dirty can be found but not obtrusive or bad. Nice enough.

MOUTH-FEEL 6/10
Nice and quite full. Could be a bit more creamy like the fennel-laden La Bleues but it's alright.

TASTE 14/20
Nothing spectacular but a nice taste of wormwood. Still slightly dirty but nothing that makes it bad. I enjoy it.

OVERALL IMPRESSION 7/10
A rather fine absinthe which I'd buy again. Nice change from the regular La Bleues yet a strong resemblance.

hartsmar scores Zürcher Fée 53% 76 out of 100

[Kallisti]

added to guide!

[Bruno Rygseck]

I just opened my Zürcher Fee and prepared a glass of it. Only a faint louche. Slow drip, cold water. The aroma is OK, it does have wormwood in it. But very little anise, it seems. The bottle was bought last summer from Zürich. Have they changed the recipe? I am puzzled.

(happy new year by the way)

BR

[hartsmar]

AFAIK there are 2 different ZF's...

[Bruno Rygseck]

An update to those interested in Zürcher Fee:

I have not received any reply yet from the Erismann distillery about the change of recipe. We exchanged ZF samples with Hartsmar and I agree upon everything the previous reviewers have written about it: stunning louche, floral aroma, great taste. But this, sorry to say, swill-ish disappointing product that I bought 2 (!) bottles, dragged all the way back home from Zürich, waited for an occasion to open a bottle just to be let down in such a colossal way, I only want to sink... maybe I keep them as souvenirs from an otherwise very successful trip.

So, be warned, there could be two different ZFs on the market

There is, however, the possibility that I was sold something else rebottled in a ZF bottle, but I doubt it...

[hartsmar]

Yes, I've had a glass of the ZF Bruno bought and it is terrible. I will do a side-by-side of the two to provide photos showing how big the difference is in the louche.

[Steyr850]

Glad I took your advice, Hartz.

[hartsmar]

Here are the photos as promised. Better late than never.
The glass on the left contains the "original" (?) Zürcher Fée obviously with anise and the glass on the right is the one that Bruno got. The problem is that the bottle and label is identic on the two (no - not the sample bottle...) with no indication of any differences.

Pre-louche:


1:1 ratio:


2:1 ratio:


3:1 Fully louched with anise:


3:1 Fully louched no anise:

[Steyr850]

Looks like UE 68 minus the straw.

I suspect that is the same one I found last year?

[hartsmar]

Not sure. If I recal correctly the one you found was a different bottling all together. Other bottle, other label, right?

This here looks just the same as the one that does louche...

[Bruno Rygseck]

Thank you Markus for posting the photos! I try to post one myself of the bottle. But, all the pictures of ZF bottles I have seen look exactly the same as mine. Well, not all, this is green glass and I remember seeing a picture of a clear ZF bottle. There is not, however, any stamp of date of manufacture on the label. The T-cork is real cork with wooden top, sealed with plastic.

Maybe I should open the other bottle and check whether that one is different...


BRs BR

[Bruno Rygseck]

Bump. I bought a new bottle of ZF from Zürich this summer and this one louches properly. There is nothing on the label indicating date of manufacture, but from what I understood (and tried to ask in my poor German) from the shopkeeper, this is a recent distillation. It has quite a nice herbal/wormwood aroma during louching and tastes also good. I cannot say whether the base is wine alcohol or not. Hopefully this is a permanent change.

[Bruno Rygseck]

Another glass. Aromas of fennel and wormwood are strong, taste of anise makes it sufficiently sweet, good…