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The enthusiast audience for absinthe is largely male, and that's a shame, because the fairer sex would find just as much to like in the "green fairy." Women in 1870s and 1880s Paris drank it openly and enthusiastically. They might have enjoyed it even more if they weren't seen as charity cases or prostitutes for drinking it and could dress it up with something more than water and a little sugar. Absinthe cocktails to the rescue. Give these two drinks (featured in The Little Green Book of Absinthe) a try, and revel in your undiminished reputation:

Poison Apple Martini
1 oz. Le Tourment Vert absinthe
1 oz. sour apple schnapps
1 oz. orange juice
1 oz. sweet and sour mix
Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Haze
2 oz. Le Tourment Vert absinthe
1 oz. rock candy syrup
1 oz. sweet and sour mix
6 muddled blueberries or 1/2 oz. blueberry puree
1 lemon wedge
Squeeze lemon wedge and add absinthe to a mixing tin filled with ice. Shake well. Add the rock candy syrup, sweet and sour mix, and muddled blueberries, and shake again. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist flag.

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Both of us discovered real absinthe on separate treks through Europe in the 1990s, and we were amazed by how common it was and how immediate the history felt, even centuries later, especially in the mountains of western Switzerland and eastern France. We've argued in The Little Green Book of Absinthe and in a previous blog post that drinkers shouldn't slavishly follow absinthe's traditions, but hey, we're still pretty impressed by the deep roots of European absinthe culture and the serious attitude distillers take toward doing things the right way. Take a look at some of Paul Nathan's discoveries at the Père François Museum in Môtiers, part of a Swiss valley known as the birthplace of absinthe.

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People at parties ask us all the time about what kind of absinthe they should try. The short answer is, all of them. But since there are now about 20 absinthes available in the U.S., your time is limited, and your boss probably frowns on drinking on the job, we'll offer a quick primer.

There are three basic types of absinthe: Swiss, French, and Bohemian. Swiss absinthes tend to be lighter and mix well with more subtle flavors and other liquors. They make great martinis and spritzers and are easily drinkable even without sugar.

French brands are almost always more bitter but also more complex and interesting. They mix well with punches and fruit drinks, as the bitterness and sugar complement each other. We tend to sub French brands for whiskey in cocktails.

Bohemian absinthes are even more bitter and less complex than French absinthes. Some people would insist that they aren't absinthes at all. While we won't judge them that harshly, with a handful of good exceptions, they're best broken out for spring break, war wounds, and visiting exes.

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By now, you've heard all the brouhaha over the legalization of absinthe and probably read a few stories about the traditional way it's served and all the famous Belle Epoque artists who once drank it. We love to knock back a glass of absinthe and water, and we can't find much to complain about in Paris, but the "Absinthe Is Back" stories missed the point.

The point is not that absinthe is fashionably naughty again. The point is that one of the world's great liquors-with the virtuosity of wine and the punch of a good whiskey-has taken its rightful place on the modern bar and opened up a cocktail gold rush. It's like someone just discovered an eighth continent and mailed us all flagpoles.

We got so overwhelmed by the possibilities that we started writing them down and ultimately made them into a book: The Little Green Book of Absinthe. Here we offer a favorite recipe not included in the book:

The Deep End

3 oz. Le Tourment Vert absinthe
3 oz. fresh mango juice
1½ oz. agave water blend

Add ice, then ingredients, into a blender. Blend for 7 to 8 seconds. Pour into a 16-oz. glass and garnish with a slice of lime and two slices of mango. Paul Owens serves this cocktail at his San Francisco restaurant, Tortilla Heights.

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Paul Owens (pictured, left) and Paul Nathan (pictured, right) are guest bloggers during the week of February 8th. If you have any questions for either Paul, add a comment to any of their posts. Here is some more information about The Little Green Book of Absinthe: An Essential Companion with Lore, Trivia, and Classic and Contemporary Cocktail:

A celebration of "the green goddess"-this is the first book to share absinthe recipes since it was recently legalized in the U.S.

This enticing little volume presents a collection of more than 100 absinthe cocktail recipes that draw upon the classic roots of the drink as well as its new iterations. Readers will be entertained with nuggets of absinthe history and trivia, including the tradition of the green fairy, famous devotees of the drink, and the myths (or facts) of its hallucinatory properties.

Readers will learn that: