My rule about absinthe is that if you can buy it in the supermarket, you should never, ever touch it. And yes, if it's any kind of bright color, stay the hell away. My favorite is Le Grenouille, Czech-made based on a traditional French recipe. It's a very pale greenish-yellow color, and one of the top rated absinthes in the world.
Basically, if you want to buy absinthe, research it first. Sadly, there is no regulation regarding what can be called absinthe, especially in this country, so artificial garbage is everywhere.
I don't put sugar in mine. I do the ritual with water-dripping, get that lovely louche, but I find it doesn't need any extra sweetening. I recently discovered that people actually think you're supposed to set the sugar on fire or melt it before mixing... *shudder* All that does is ruin the drink, make it taste like burnt marshmallows, and run a very high fire risk. If you want to add sugar, fine, but do NOT put fire anywhere near it! I also see people doing *shots* of it in bars. I want to go and slap that drink out of their stupid hands, but then I remember that it's probably not even real absinthe if they're drinking it in a bar, so I just close my eyes and think of happier things.
I've tried lots of different beers, actually. I'm just not a fan of darker beers, or anything really hoppy. My dad loves IPAs and always offers me some when I visit him, but I just don't like that sweet taste. I'm actually not quite sure how to translate the types of beer from Czech to English... My preferred beers are "světlý," which literally translates to "light" (color), so I'm not sure what they'd be called in English. There are some called "ležák" (lager), which I don't like as much because they're just too strong and I get drunk too fast. I guess the "light" ones would just be called pilsner? But that feels funny to say, because pilsner to me is Pilsner Urquell, brewed in Plzeň.
Hm.... Maybe someone should start an alcohol thread, so as not to too terribly derail the food thread...