Here is some information about the mythical drink Absinthe, the Green Fairy, the favorite drink of the likes of Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Gauguin, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Degas and many other famous artists and writers.
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. A wine alcohol base used in the making of Absinthe and is flavored with herbs and essential oils including wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), aniseed and fennel. The preparation of Absinthe also involves other herbal ingredients such as hyssop, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, juniper, nutmeg, dittany, calamus root and mint.
Information about Absinthe History
Absinthe has a very long and interesting history. There had been medicinal use of wormwood since ancient times. According to the legend Absinthe was created by a French doctor, Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century, in the Swiss town of Couvet. It was used on the patients as an elixir which gave astonishing results.
Henri-Louis Pernod distilled Absinthe by using the Absinthe recipe in Couvet and under the name of Pernod Fils in Pontarlier. The Pernod company used to manufacture upto 30,000 liters of Absinthe each day!
Along with France, La Belle Epoque Absinthe was also famous in several other countries. Due to Absinthe the popularity of wine was affected in France. Health and the effects of Absinthe was also considered at the same time. The Bohemian culture of Montmartre was combined with the liquor. According to the people’s thought thujone was a psychoactive resulting in psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death.
People believed that Absinthe was responsible for Van Gogh’s insanity and his suicide, for a man killing his family and for the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France. Absinthe was banned in the USA in 1912 and France in 1915. It was also illegal to buy and sell Absinthe in other nations.
Absinthe Revival
During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. Studies and research showed that the claims made about Absinthe were untrue.
As per research thujone in Absinthe cannot cause any harmful side effects and intaking Absinthe was not risky than intaking other alcoholic beverages.
Absinthe with up to 10mg/kg of thujone was legalized in the EU in the late 20th century and in 2007, in the USA, certain brands of Absinthe, those containing up to 10 ppm, were legalized and Americans can now enjoy buying brands such as “Lucid” .
France, home of Pernod’s original Absinthestill has a ban on products labeled “Absinthe” and France also strictly regulates drinks containing fenchone, a chemical in fennel which is a key ingredient in Absinthe. In France, Absinthes are famous as “spirit a base de plantes d’absinthe” and should contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.
One can now get Absinthe from online or from a liquor shop.For further information about Absinthe essences one can go through the site AbsintheKit.com. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoonslike a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.