Famous artists and writers like Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Gauguin, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Degas and many more enjoyed drinking Absinthe.
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. The preparation of Absinthe liquor is done from a wine alcohol base and is flavored with herbs and essential oils together with wormwood, 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. Legend says that Absinthe was created by a French doctor Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century, in the Swiss town of Couvet in the Val-de-Travers. Ordinaire used it on his patients as a medicine.
In Couvet Henri-Louis Pernod distilled Absinthe with the use of the Absinthe recipe and then under the name of Pernod Fils in the French town of Pontarlier. Absinthe was produced upto 30,000 liters each day by the Pernod company!
Absinthe was a popular drink in most of the countries. In France Absinthe overtook wine as the favorite drink. Health and the effects of Absinthe was also considered at the same time. One can also find the liquor to be connected with the Bohemian culture of Montmartre. People became convinced that the psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death were caused due to the thujone content in wormwood.
Van Gogh’s madness and his suicide, a man killing his family and the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France all had been caused due to Absinthe. The USA and France restricted Absinthe in the year 1912 and 1915 respectively. Absinthe was unauthorized in other countries also.
Absinthe Revival
During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. A large number of people were satisfied with the results that came out from the studies and research related to Absinthe.
Studies showed that effects of Absinthe was same as consuming other strong alcoholic beverages and the thujone content in Absinthe is not harmful for anyone.
The EU legalized Absinthe with up to 10mg/kg of thujone in the late 20th century and in 2007 the USA legalized certain brands of Absinthe which contained up to 10 ppm of thujone .
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. To be sold in France, Absinthes have to be called another name like “spirit a base de plantes d’absinthe” and only contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.
Absinthe is now available from various sources.One can get more information about Absinthe essences on AbsintheKit.com. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoonslike a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.