Halloween 2025: Day 28

Jezibaba Absinthe Violette, Weiss Distilling

Ježibaba is a witch in West Slavic folklore, similar to the more familiar (and more East Slavic) Baba Yaga. Weiss is a fairly new Detroit-area distillery that promises “magical spirits of legendary quality.”

This is the fifth Michigan absinthe I’ve found and the second one that calls itself “violette”, but where Arbor Distilling tried to use blueberries as their coloring agent (with mixed results at best) Weiss has opted for the very trendy butterfly pea flower. This is still going to have a limited shelf life but in my experience fades to nothing rather than heading in the direction of brown. It also changes drastically in colour depending on the pH, so you can probably do some interesting cocktail showmanship. The rest of the recipe is very pared-down, featuring only three other botanicals: wormwood, fennel, and green anise.

The wormwood tastes a bit off and there’s no real complexity, but it’s also not offensive. Not really worth $60/bottle on taste, maybe justifiable if you have a great idea for how to utilize the colour.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

“This mask is jolly tight!”

Very fun, very camp, strong hat game, has Terry-Thomas ecstatically cranking it.

Dr. Phibes Rises Again

“On arrival, I found the man’s body surrounded by…”

“Balls.”

Holy retcon, Batman. Less camp, weak hat game, inexplicably has Terry-Thomas again as a different and less interesting character. Still pretty fun but held back by a cowardly refusal to let Phibes be silent.

Fright Night (1985)

“Then he’ll be able to suck his way through the entire town!”

Probably ranks slightly under the remake, though it’s been so long since I’ve seen that I can’t be positive. Chris Sarandon is great.