“Absinthe was very popular in American cocktails up until prohibition,” she said. “The average person now isn’t really familiar with the anise flavor, so you have to convert them one-by-one.” Herself a convert, Lins’ varieties both contain the traditional ingredients of grande wormwood, anise, and fennel and three other standard ingredients – roman wormwood, hyssop, and lemon balm. But she also adds a special twist to each: lemon balm in her “Walton Waters” absinthe, and violet in her “Meadow of Love” blend. Both have received glowing reviews from the Wormwood Society and are selling extremely well at Drink Up New York and Astor Wine & Spirits, two large liquor stores in New York City.

Bottling at Delaware Phoenix Distillery

Despite the popularity of her products, Lins said she is going to begin producing whiskey, “something that everybody knows pretty well,” at her Delaware Phoenix Distillery in the western Catskill Mountains and will host a whiskey distillery workshop there later this fall. Regardless of where the new venture may lead her, Lins said she remains committed to distilling and improving her absinthe varieties. “There are a lot of interesting possibilities with the drink.”

Robinson said that the surge in popularity after 2007 has subsided a bit, but more and more people are developing a taste for the product, leading to an