Absinthe

Absinthe
Absinthe is a yellowish-green Swiss liqueur made from angelica root, aniseed, fennel, hyssop, liquorice, star aniseed and wormwood.

It has a bitter taste and turns cloudy when mixed with water.

It is usually served with water or in mixed drinks. To serve it, a special spoon with a hole or slots in it is placed over a glass with some Absinthe already in it. A sugar cube is placed on the spoon, then water is dripped slowly over the sugar cube through the spoon holes into the glass. The sugar helps to offset the bitterness.

It is believed by most medical authorities that a compound in wormwood called "thujone" (also present in the herb Yarrow) causes hallucinations and eventual brain damage. Absinthe versions are now being made that reduce the amount of thujone in them. In EU, the maximum legal limit of thujone allowed in Absinthe is 10 mg per litre.

A company in the Czech Republic called "Logan fils" claims (as of 2004) to make a full-strength version of Absinthe in the original way. It is 68% proof. This version, called "Extrait d'Absinthe", retails for about $200 US (2004 prices), and can't be sold in the EU. With the Czech Republic having joined the EU, it's not known if or how Logan fils will be able to continue making and selling its version of Absinthe.

History
Absinthe was first made commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod. He bought the recipe from someone living in the Val de Travers part of Neuchatel canon in Switzerland.

Absinthe became known as the "Green Fairy" and was beloved by artists precisely because it caused hallucinations. Oscar Wilde was very fond of it. As health side-effects became suspected, it was banned in Belgium in 1906, in Switzerland in 1908, in The Netherlands in 1909, in America in 1912, in Italy in 1913, in France in 1915 and then in German in 1923.

Reduced-thujone Absinthe was allowed back into the EU in 1981. The Swiss ban was lifted in June 2004. The Belgian and Dutch bans were lifted in 2005.

The liqueur Pernod was developed as an alternative.

Literature & Lore
"The first stage is like ordinary drinking, the second when you begin to see monstrous and cruel things, but if you can persevere you will enter in upon the third stage where you see things that you want to see, wonderful curious things." Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

Also called: Absinthe, Fée verte (French) Absinto (Spanish)

It's a myth that Absinthe isn't being made any more. Reduced hallucinogen versions are made in the EU, and a full-strength version is still made by Logan Fils in the Czech Republic.