Absinthe is historically described as a
distilledDistillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in their volatilities in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
, highly alcoholic (45%–74%
ABVAlcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage...
) beverage. It is an
aniseis a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwest Asia known for its flavor that resembles liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :Anise is an herbaceous annual plant growing to tall...
-flavored
spiritA distilled beverage, liquor, or spirits is a drinkable liquid containing ethanol that is produced by means of distilling fermented grain, fruit, or vegetables.This excludes undistilled fermented beverages such as beer and wine, and often the term hard liquor is used to contrast distilled beverages...
derived from
herbA herb is a plant that is valued for flavor, scent, or other qualities. Herbs are used in cooking, as medicines, and for spiritual purposes....
s, including the flowers and leaves of the herb
Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood". Absinthe traditionally has a natural green color but can also be colorless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as "la fée verte" (the Green
FairyA fairy is a type of mythological being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.The word fairy derives from the term fae of medieval Western...
).
Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a
liqueurA liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.In some...
, absinthe was not bottled with added
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
and is therefore classified as a
spiritA distilled beverage, liquor, or spirits is a drinkable liquid containing ethanol that is produced by means of distilling fermented grain, fruit, or vegetables.This excludes undistilled fermented beverages such as beer and wine, and often the term hard liquor is used to contrast distilled beverages...
. Absinthe is unusual among spirits in that it is bottled at a very high
proofAlcoholic proof is a measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage. The measure is commonly used in the United States, where it is defined as twice the percentage of alcohol by volume, and has caused some people to question the necessity of dual labeling.The measurement of...
but is normally diluted with water when consumed.
Absinthe originated in the
cantonThe 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
of
NeuchâtelNeuchâtel is a canton of western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782 of which 39,654 are foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel.-History:...
in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
. It achieved great popularity as an
alcoholic drinkAn alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits....
in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian artists and writers. Due in part to its association with
bohemianBohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits, with few permanent ties...
culture, absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists.
Charles BaudelaireCharles Pierre Baudelaire was a nineteenth century French poet, critic, and translator. A controversial figure in his lifetime, Baudelaire's name has become a byword for literary and artistic decadence...
,
Paul VerlainePaul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
,
Arthur RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet, born in Charleville, Ardennes. As part of the decadent movement, his influence on modern literature, music and art has been enduring and pervasive...
,
Henri de Toulouse-LautrecHenri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa or simply Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French painter, printmaker, draftsman, and illustrator, whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of fin de siècle Paris yielded an œuvre of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern...
,
Amedeo ModiglianiAmedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian artist who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
,
Vincent van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age...
,
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
,
Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
, and
Alfred JarryAlfred Jarry was a French writer born in Laval, Mayenne, France, not far from the border of Brittany; he was of Breton descent on his mother's side....
were all notorious 'bad men' of that day who were (or were thought to be) devotees of the Green Fairy.
Absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously
addictiveThe term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction The...
psychoactive drugThe general group of pharmacological agents commonly known as hallucinogens can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. These classes of psychoactive drugs have in common that they can cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and...
. The chemical
thujoneThujone is a ketone and a monoterpene that exists in two stereoisomeric forms: -3-thujone or α-thujone and -3-thujone or β-thujone. It has a menthol odor. Even though it is best known for being a chemical in absinthe, recent tests show absinthe contains only small quantities of thujone, and may or...
, present in small quantities, was singled out and blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and in most
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an countries except the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
,
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although absinthe was vilified, no evidence has shown it to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, have been much exaggerated.
A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, when countries in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale. As of February 2008, nearly 200 brands of absinthe were being produced in a dozen countries, most notably in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, and the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
. Commercial distillation of absinthe in the United States resumed in 2007.
Etymology, spelling, pronunciation
The
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
word
absinthe can refer either to the alcoholic beverage or, less commonly, to the actual
wormwoodWormwood may refer to:*Various plants of the genus Artemisia but commonly Artemisia absinthium, also called grande wormwood or absinthe wormwood...
plant (
grande absinthe being
Artemisia absinthium, and
petite absinthe being
Artemisia pontica). The
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
name
artemisia comes from
ArtemisArtemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities. In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo...
, the ancient
GreekGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
goddess of the hunt.
Absinthe is derived from the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
absinthium, which in turn is a stylization of the Greek
αψίνθιον (apsínthion), for wormwood.
The use of
Artemisia absinthium in a drink is attested in
LucretiusTitus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem on Epicureanism De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe"....
’
De Rerum Natura (I 936–950), where Lucretius indicates that a drink containing wormwood is given as medicine to children in a cup with honey on the brim to make it drinkable. This was a
metaphorA metaphor is a figure of speech concisely comparing two things, saying that one is the other. The English metaphor derives from the 16th c...
for the presentation of complex ideas in poetic form.
Some claim that the word means “undrinkable” in
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
, but it may instead be linked to the
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
root
spand or
aspand, or the variant
esfand, which meant
Peganum harmalaHarmal is a plant of the family Nitrariaceae, native from the eastern Mediterranean region east to India. It is also known as Syrian Rue, an inaccurate name, since it is not in the rue family....
, also called Syrian Rue — although it is not actually a variety of
rueRue is a genus of strongly scented evergreen subshrubs 20-60 cm tall, in the family Rutaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, Macaronesia and southwest Asia. Different authors accept between 8 and 40 species in the genus...
, another famously bitter herb.
That
Artemisia absinthium was commonly burned as a protective offering may suggest that its origins lie in the reconstructed
Proto-Indo-EuropeanThe Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
root
*spend, meaning “to perform a ritual” or “make an offering.” Whether the word was a borrowing from Persian into Greek, or from a common ancestor of both, is unclear.
Variant spellings of absinthe are
absinth,
absynthe, and
absenta. In English it is ; in French, .
Absinth (without the final
e) is a spelling variant used by central European distillers. It is the usual
name for absinthe produced in the Czech Republic and in Germany, and has become associated with Bohemian style absinthes.
History
The precise origin of absinthe is unclear. The medical use of wormwood dates back to
ancient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
and is mentioned in the
Ebers PapyrusThe Ebers Papyrus of about 1550 BC is among the most important medical papyri of ancient Egypt. It is also commonly called Papyrus Ebers[ at WorldCat.] . It is one of the two oldest preserved medical documents anywhere, the other main source being the Edwin Smith papyrus...
, circa 1550 BC. Wormwood extracts and wine-soaked wormwood leaves were used as remedies by the
ancient GreeksAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
. Moreover, there is evidence of the existence of a wormwood-flavored wine,
absinthites oinos, in
ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the civilisation belonging to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the...
.
The first clear evidence of absinthe in the modern sense of a distilled spirit containing green anise and
fennelFennel , is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
, however, dates to the 18th century. According to popular legend, absinthe began as an all-purpose
patent remedyPatent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The phrase is somewhat misleading because for the most part these products were trademarked, not patented...
created by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a
FrenchFrench people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law.* People whose ancestors lived in France or the area that later became France....
doctor living in
CouvetCouvet is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is claimed that Couvet was the birthplace of absinthe at the end of the 18th century and it is now the home of La Clandestine Absinthe...
,
SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
, around 1792 (the exact date varies by account). Ordinaire’s recipe was passed on to the Henriod sisters of Couvet, who sold absinthe as a medicinal
elixirIn medicine, a tincture is an alcoholic extract or solution of a non-volatile substance; . To qualify as a tincture, the alcoholic extract is to have an ethanol percentage of at least 40-60%...
. By other accounts, the Henriod sisters may have been making the elixir before Ordinaire’s arrival. In either case, a certain Major Dubied acquired the formula from the sisters and in 1797, with his son Marcellin and son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod, opened the first absinthe distillery, Dubied Père et Fils, in
CouvetCouvet is a municipality in the district of Val-de-Travers in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It is claimed that Couvet was the birthplace of absinthe at the end of the 18th century and it is now the home of La Clandestine Absinthe...
. In 1805 they built a second distillery in
Pontarlier, FrancePontarlier is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:...
, under the new company name Maison Pernod Fils. Pernod Fils remained one of the most popular brand of absinthe up until the ban of the drink in France in 1915.
Rapid growth of French consumption
Absinthe’s popularity grew steadily through the 1840s, when absinthe was given to French troops as a
malariaMalaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and...
treatment. When the troops returned home, they brought their taste for absinthe with them. It became so popular in
barsA bar is an establishment that serves drinks, especially alcoholic beverages such as beer, liquor, and cocktails, for consumption on the premises....
,
bistroA bistro, sometimes spelled bistrot, is, in its original Parisian incarnation, a small restaurant serving moderately priced simple meals in a modest setting. Bistros are defined mostly by the foods they serve. Slow-cooked foods like braised meats are typical...
s,
cafésA café , also spelled cafe, is an informal restaurant offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches. This differs from a coffee house, which is a limited-menu establishment which focuses on coffee sales. Depending on the jurisdiction, a café may be licensed to serve alcohol. The term...
, and
cabaretCabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.Cabaret...
s that, by the 1860s, the hour of 5 p.m. was called
l’heure verte (“the green hour”). Absinthe was favored by all
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
es, from the wealthy
bourgeoisieHistorically, the bourgeoisie were a social class of people, characterized by their ownership of capital and the related culture. They were a part of the middle or merchant classes of European feudalism, where their power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those...
to poor artists and ordinary working-class people.
By the 1880s, mass production had caused the price of absinthe to drop sharply. By 1910, the French were drinking 36 million
litres
of absinthe per year, which contrasts against their consumption of almost 5 billion litres of wine.
International consumption
Absinthe has been popular outside of France, including in
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
, New Orleans and the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
.
Absinthe was never banned in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, and its production and consumption has never ceased. During the early 20th century it gained a temporary spike in popularity corresponding with the French influenced Art Nouveau and Modernism aesthetic movements.
New Orleans also has a historical connection to absinthe consumption. The city has a prominent landmark called the Old Absinthe House, located on Bourbon Street. Originally called the Absinthe Room, it was opened in 1874 by a
CatalanThe Catalans are the people from, or with origins in Catalonia, an Autonomous Community in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France –known in Catalonia proper as Catalunya Nord, and in France as the Pays Catalan– are often included in this definition.-Extended concept:The...
bartender named Cayetano Ferrer. The building was frequented by many famous people, including Franklin Roosevelt,
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...
,
Mark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
,
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
, and
Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
.
Absinthe has been consumed in the Czech Republic (then part of Austria–Hungary) since at least 1888, notably by Czech artists, some of whom had an affinity for Paris, frequenting
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
’s famous Cafe Slavia. Its wider appeal in
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
itself is uncertain, though it was sold in and around
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
. There is evidence that at least one local liquor distillery in Bohemia was making absinthe at the turn of the 20th century.
The banning of absinthe
Spurred by the
temperance movementA temperance movement is a social movement against the use of Alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence, or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation....
and the winemakers’ associations, absinthe was publicly associated with violent crimes and social disorder.
A critic said that:
Edgar Degas’Edgar Degas
[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas , was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
1876 painting
L’AbsintheL'Absinthe—title also translated as The Absinthe Drinker or Glass of Absinthe—is a painting by Edgar Degas. Some original title translations are A sketch of a French Café, then Figures at Café, the title was finally changed in 1893 to L’Absinthe...
, which can be seen at the Musée d’Orsay, epitomized the popular view of absinthe addicts as sodden and benumbed. Although
Émile ZolaÉmile François Zola was an influential French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism, an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalisation of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused...
mentioned absinthe only once by name, he described its effects in his novel
L’AssommoirL'Assommoir is the seventh novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart. Usually considered one of Zola's masterpieces, the novel—a harsh and uncompromising study of alcoholism and poverty in the working-class districts of Paris—was a huge commercial success and established...
:
In 1905, it was reported that
Jean LanfrayJean Lanfray was a Swiss laborer convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two children in a drunken rage on the afternoon of August 28, 1905. It was later revealed by police that he had drunk an excessive amount of wine and hard liquors that morning, along with two ounces of absinthe...
murdered his family and tried to kill himself after drinking absinthe. The fact that Lanfray was an alcoholic who had consumed much more than his usual two glasses of absinthe in the morning, was overlooked; the murders were blamed solely on absinthe. The murders were the last straw, and a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland was subsequently signed by more than 82,000 people. The prohibition of absinthe was then written into the
Swiss constitutionThe Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons , contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights , delineates the responsibilities of...
in 1907.
In 1906,
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
and
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
banned the sale and distribution of absinthe, although they were not the first. Absinthe had been banned as early as 1898 in the colony of the
Congo Free StateThe Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II, King of the Belgians through a dummy non-governmental organization, the Association Internationale Africaine. Leopold was the sole shareholder and chairman, exploiting the state for rubber, copper and other minerals in...
. The Netherlands banned absinthe in 1909; the United States banned it in 1912, and France in 1915.
The prohibition of absinthe in France led to increased popularity of
pastisPastis is an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France, typically containing 40–45% alcohol by volume, although alcohol-free varieties exist.-Origins:...
(and of
ouzoOuzo is an anise-flavored spirit that is widely consumed in Greece and Cyprus. Its taste is quite similar to arak/raki in the Levant and Turkey, pastis or absinthe , Sambuca , mastika . It can be consumed neat or mixed with water....
, to a lesser extent), which are anise-flavored spirits that do not contain wormwood. The Pernod brand resumed production at the Banus distillery in
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
, Spain, where absinthe was still legal, but slow sales in the 1960s eventually caused them to shut it down.
In Switzerland, the ban drove absinthe underground. Clandestine home distillers produced absinthe after the ban, focusing on
la Bleue, which was easier to conceal from the authorities.
Many countries never banned absinthe, notably
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, where it had not been as popular as in
continental EuropeContinental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas. Notably, in British and Irish English usage, the term means Europe excluding the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Channel...
.
Modern revival
In the 1990s an importer,
BBH SpiritsGeorge Rowley is a British entrepreneur who is credited with starting the absinthe revival in the popular market.Rowley was born in England, started his career within insurance and moved to Prague in the early 1990s to assist run a local subsidiary.It was in Prague that he first experienced both...
, realized that there was no UK law prohibiting the sale of absinthe, as it had never been banned there. They began to import Hill’s Absinth (not a true Absinthe) from the
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe that is sometimes considered to be Eastern European. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague...
, which encouraged a modern resurgence in absinthe’s popularity.
Absinthe had also never been banned in other European countries where it was never truly popular. As a result, it is in these countries where absinthe first began to reappear during the revival in the 1990s. These absinthes — mostly Czech, Spanish, and Portuguese brands — are generally of recent origin, typically consist of
Bohemian-styleBohemian-style absinth is more accurately described as a wormwood bitters...
products, and are therefore considered by absinthe connoisseurs to be of inferior quality.
France
La Fée AbsintheLa Fée Absinthe is a brand of absinthe; it is a highly alcoholic, anise-flavored, distilled spirit containing the herb wormwood...
, released in 2000, was the first brand labelled absinthe distilled and bottled in France since the 1915 ban, initially for export from France, but now one of roughly 50 French-produced absinthes available in France. This has resulted in the re-emergence of French absinthes, which now must be labeled as
spiritueux aux plantes d'absinthe,
absinthes distillées or equivalent. Absinthes marketed openly in other countries must be relabeled to meet these guidelines to be sold legally in France. As the 1915 law regulates only the sale of absinthe in France but not its production, many manufacturers also produce variants destined for export which are plainly labeled
absinthe.
Spain
Absinthe has a deep history in the Northern Catalan region encompassing
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
,
TarragonaTarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia and east of Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès...
,
LleidaLleida is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain.It had 131,731 inhabitants , including the contiguous municipalities of Raïmat and Sucs...
, and a section of the
Pyrenees mountainsThe Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain...
. While the drink was never officially banned in Spain, it fell out of favor from the early 1940s to present day. Since 2007 it has enjoyed a significant resurgence in the region and has at least one major export brand.
Australia
Absinthe has never been illegal to import or manufacture in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. Importation requires a permit under the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulation 1956 due to a restriction on importing any product containing oil of wormwood. In 2000 there was an amendment by Foods Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) as part of a new consolidation of the Food Code across Australia and New Zealand. This made all wormwood species prohibited herbs for food purposes under
Food Standard 1.4.4. Prohibited and Restricted Plants and Fungi, however it was found to be inconsistent with other parts of the pre-existing Food Code. The proposed amendment was withdrawn in 2002 during the transition between the two Codes, thereby continuing to allow absinthe manufacture and importation through the existing permit-based system. These events were erroneously reported by the media as Australia having reclassified it from a prohibited product to a restricted product. There is now an Australian-produced brand of absinthe called
Moulin Rooz.
Netherlands
In the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, restrictions on the manufacture and sale of Absinthe were successfully challenged by the
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
wine seller Menno Boorsma in July 2004, making absinthe legal once again.
Belgium
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, as part of an effort to simplify its laws, removed its absinthe law on 1 January 2005, citing (as did the
DutchThe Dutch people are the dominant ethnic group of the Netherlands.Dutch people, or descendants of Dutch people, are also found in migrant communities world wide, notably in Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the United States....
judge) European food regulations as sufficient to render the law unnecessary (and indeed, in conflict with the spirit of the
Single European MarketThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
).
Switzerland
In Switzerland, the constitutional ban on absinthe was repealed in 2000 during an overhaul of the national constitution, although the prohibition was written into ordinary law instead. Later that law was repealed, so from 1 March 2005, absinthe was again legal in its country of origin. Absinthe is now not only sold but is once again distilled in its
Val-de-TraversThe Val-de-Travers is a district in the canton of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland. It is famous for its clock industry. It is also famous for being the historical birthplace of absinthe which is now once again being distilled in the region...
birthplace, with
KüblerKübler Absinthe Superieure is a brand of absinthe, distilled in the Val-de-Travers region of Switzerland also known as the birthplace of absinthe'. Kübler Absinthe was first produced in 1863 and was the first brand to be sold legally in Switzerland after the national ban on absinthe was lifted in...
and
La Clandestine AbsintheLa Clandestine Absinthe is a Swiss La Bleue, or clear, absinthe brand produced by Artemisia-Bugnon distilleries. It is an anise-flavored, distilled liquor containing the herb wormwood , and when prepared with cold water will louche....
among the first new brands to reemerge.
USA
On March 5, 2007, the French
Lucid brandLucid Absinthe Supérieure is a traditional, French-made absinthe verte , whose formula was first approved in 2006 after being developed by Ted Breaux. It was granted a COLA in the United States on March 5, 2007, making it the first genuine absinthe to gain approval for legal distribution in the...
became the first genuine absinthe to receive a COLA (Certificate of Label Approval) for legal importation into the United States since 1912, following independent efforts by representatives from Lucid and Kübler to topple the longstanding U.S. ban. In December 2007, St. George Absinthe Verte, produced by St. George Spirits of
Alameda, CaliforniaAlameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on a small island of the same name next to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. An additional part of the city is Bay Farm Island, which is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. The city has a small town feeling...
, became the first brand of American-made absinthe to be legally produced in the United States since the enactment of the ban. Since that time, other micro-distilleries have started making small batches of high-quality absinthe in the U.S.
Preparation
Traditionally, absinthe is prepared by placing a sugar cube on top of a specially designed
slotted spoonA slotted spoon is an implement used in food preparation. The term can be used to describe any spoon with slots, holes or other openings in the bowl of the spoon which let liquid pass through while preserving the larger solids on top...
and then placing the spoon on the glass which has been filled with a shot of absinthe. Ice-cold water is then poured or dripped over the sugar cube so that the water is slowly and evenly displaced into the absinthe, typically 1 part absinthe and 3 to 5 parts water. During this process, components not soluble in water (mainly those from
aniseis a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwest Asia known for its flavor that resembles liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :Anise is an herbaceous annual plant growing to tall...
,
fennelFennel , is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
, and
star aniseStar anise, star aniseed, badiane or Chinese star anise, or hoa hồi is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China...
) come out of solution and
cloud the drinkThe ouzo effect is a phenomenon seen when water is added to ouzo and other anise-flavored liqueurs and spirits : a cloudy oil-in-water microemulsion forms...
. The resulting milky
opalescenceOpalescence is a type of dichroism seen in highly dispersed systems with little opacity. The material appears yellowish-red in transmitted light and blue in the scattered light perpendicular to the transmitted light. The phenomenon is named after the appearance of opals.There are different degrees...
is called the
louche (Fr. "opaque" or "shady", IPA [luʃ]). Releasing these components allows herbal aromas and flavors to "blossom" or "bloom" and brings out subtleties originally over-powered by the anise. This is often referred to as "The French Method."
"The Bohemian Method" is an alternative that is popular primarily due to the use of fire. Like the French method, a sugar cube is placed on a slotted spoon over a glass containing one shot of absinthe. The difference is that the sugar is pre-soaked in alcohol, usually more absinthe, and then set ablaze. The flaming sugar cube is then dropped into the glass igniting the absinthe. Finally, a shot glass full of water is added to douse the flames. This method tends to produce a stronger drink than the french method. Teenagers trying to get away with drinking alcohol will often use a variant of "The Bohemian Method" in which the fire is allowed to burn itself out. This variant called "Cooking the Absinthe" or "Flaming Green Fairy," removes much but not all of the alcohol.
Originally a waiter would serve a dose of absinthe, ice water in a carafe, and sugar separately, and the drinker would prepare it to their preference. With increased popularity, the absinthe fountain, a large jar of ice water on a base with spigots, came into use. It allowed a number of drinks to be prepared at once, and with a hands-free drip, patrons were able to socialize while louching a glass.
Although many bars served absinthe in standard glasses, a number of glasses were specifically made for absinthe. These had a dose line, bulge, or bubble in the lower portion denoting how much absinthe should be poured in. One "dose" of absinthe is around 1 ounce (30 ml), and most glasses used this as the standard, with some drinkers using as much as 1½ ounces (45 ml).
In addition to being drunk with water poured over sugar, absinthe was a common cocktail ingredient in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and continues to be a popular ingredient today. One of the most famous of these is
Ernest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation." He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel Prize in Literature...
’s "Death in the Afternoon" cocktail, a concoction he contributed to a 1935 collection of celebrity recipes. His directions are as follows: "Pour one
jiggerA jigger or measure is a bartending tool used to measure liquor, which is typically then poured into a cocktail shaker. It is named for the unit of liquid it typically measures, a 1.5 fluid ounce jigger or shot...
absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.".
Production
Currently, most countries have no legal definition of absinthe, although spirits such as
Scotch whiskyScotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland. In Britain, the term whisky is usually taken to mean Scotch unless otherwise specified. In other English-speaking countries, it is often referred to as "Scotch"....
,
brandyBrandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine, the wine having first been produced by fermenting grapes. Brandy generally contains 36%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
, and
ginGin is a spirit flavoured primarily with juniper berries. Distilled gin is made by redistilling white grain spirit which has been flavoured with juniper berries. Compound gin is made by flavouring neutral grain spirit with juniper berries without redistilling.The most common style of gin,...
generally have such a definition. Manufacturers can label a product “absinthe” or “absinth” without regard to any legal definition or minimum standard.
Producers of legitimate absinthes use one of two processes to create the finished liquor: either distillation, or cold mixing. In the few countries which have a legal definition of absinthe, distillation is the sole permitted process. An online description of the distillation process (in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
) is available.
Distilled Absinthe
Distilled Absinthe is produced in a form similar to high quality gin. The botanicals are macerated in the already distilled alcohol before being redistilled one or more times with the herbal ingredients to impart complexity and texture to the beverage.
The distillation of absinthe first produces a colorless distillate that leaves the
alembicAn alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two retorts connected by a tube. Technically, the alembic is only the upper part , while the lower part is the cucurbit, but the word was often used to refer to the entire distillation apparatus...
at around 72 percent
ABVAlcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage...
(144 proof). The distillate can be bottled clear, to produce a
Blanche or
la Bleue absinthe, or it can be colored using artificial or natural coloring. Traditional absinthes take their green color from
chlorophyllChlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek χλωρός and φύλλον...
, which is present in some of the herbal ingredients during the secondary
macerationMaceration is the winemaking process where the phenolic materials of the grape— tannins, coloring agents and flavor compounds— are leached from the grape skins, seeds and stems into the must. The term is usually used in reference to wine, but is sometimes used with other drinks, such as...
.
The natural coloring process is considered critical for absinthe aging, since the chlorophyll remains chemically active. The chlorophyll plays the same role in absinthe that tannins do in wine or brown liquors.
This is done by
steepingSteeping or weltering may mean:# Soaking in liquid until saturated with a soluble ingredient. Tea is brewed by steeping the leaves to release the flavor and nutrients...
petite wormwood, hyssop, and
melissaMelissa is a genus of five species of perennial herbs native to Europe and Asia. The name Melissa is derived from a Greek word meaning bee, owing to the abundance of nectar in the flowers which attracts bees. The stems are square, like most other plants in the mint family...
(among other herbs) in the liquid.
ChlorophyllChlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek χλωρός and φύλλον...
from these herbs is extracted giving the drink its famous green color. This process also provides the herbal complexity that is typical of high quality absinthe. This type of absinthe is known as a
verte. After the coloring process, the resulting product is diluted with water to the desired percentage of alcohol. Historically, most absinthes contain between 50 and 75 percent alcohol by volume (100 to 150 proof). It is said to improve materially with storage, and many pre-ban distilleries aged their absinthe in neutral barrels before bottling.
Cold Mixed
Many modern absinthes are produced using the cold mix system. This process is forbidden in countries with formal legal designations of absinthe. The beverage is manufactured by mixing flavoring essences and artificial coloring in high-proof alcohol, and is similar to a flavored
vodkaVodka is a clear distilled liquor composed of water and ethyl alcohol, made from a fermented substance of either grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses; it also might contain trace amounts of other substances, either a flavour or unintended impurities...
or "absinthe
schnappsSchnapps is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage. The English word schnapps is derived from the German Schnaps , which can refer to any strong alcoholic drink but particularly those containing at least 32% ABV . American schnapps, however, are liqueurs.Both the German and the English word are...
". Some modern Franco–Suisse absinthes are bottled at up to 82.3 percent alcohol and some modern bohemian-style absinthes contain up to 89.9 percent. Because of the lack of a formal legal definition of absinthe in most countries, many of these lesser brands claim their products to be "distilled" (since the alcohol base itself was created through distillation) and sell them to unsuspecting consumers at prices comparable to more authentic absinthes that are traditionally distilled directly from whole herbs.
Ingredients
Absinthe is traditionally prepared from a distillation of neutral alcohol, various herbs, and water. Traditional absinthes were redistilled from a white grape spirit (or eau de vie), while lesser absinthes were more commonly made from alcohol from grain, beets, or potatoes. The principal botanicals are grande wormwood, green anise, and florence fennel, which are often called "the holy trinity." Many other herbs may be used as well, such as petite wormwood (
Artemisia pontica or Roman wormwood),
hyssopHyssop is a genus of about 10-12 species of herbaceous or semi-woody plants in the family Lamiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to central Asia. They are aromatic, with erect branched stems up to 60 cm long covered with fine hairs at the tips. The leaves are narrow oblong, 2-5 cm long. The...
,
melissaLemon balm , not to be confused with bee balm, Monarda species, is a perennial herb in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region....
,
star aniseStar anise, star aniseed, badiane or Chinese star anise, or hoa hồi is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China...
,
angelicaAngelica is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far North as Iceland and Lapland...
,
sweet flagSweet Flag, also known as calamus and various rushes and sedges, is a plant from the Acoraceae family, in the genus Acorus. It is a tall perennial wetland monocot with scented leaves and more strongly scented rhizomes, which have been used medicinally, for its odor, and as a psychotropic drug. ...
,
dittanyDittany can refer to three different plants, the first two with similar medical properties:*Dictamnus albus, White Dittany, also known as Fraxinella*Origanum dictamnus, Dittany of Crete*Cunila mariana, Stone Mint, also known as Common Dittany...
,
corianderCoriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. It is also known as Chinese parsley or, particularly in the Americas, cilantro. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to 50 cm [20 in.] tall...
,
veronicaVeronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species; it was formerly classified in the family Scrophulariaceae...
,
juniperJunipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
, and
nutmegNutmeg or Myristica fragrans is an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia, or Spice Islands. Until the mid 19th century this was the world's only source...
.
Alternative Coloring
Absinthe can also be naturally colored red using
hibiscusHibiscus is a genus of plants with member species often noted for their showy flowers and commonly known as hibiscus or less widely as rosemallow or flor de Jamaica. This large genus includes about 200–220 species of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae native to warm, temperate,...
flowers. This is called a
rouge or
rose absinthe. As of now, only one historical rouge brand has been discovered.
Absinthe Kits
The interest in absinthe has spawned a rash of "absinthe kits", which are claimed to produce homemade absinthe (not to be confused with hausgemacht absinthe, despite "hausgemacht" translating as "homemade" in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
). Kits often call for soaking herbs in
vodkaVodka is a clear distilled liquor composed of water and ethyl alcohol, made from a fermented substance of either grain, rye, wheat, potatoes, or sugar beet molasses; it also might contain trace amounts of other substances, either a flavour or unintended impurities...
or alcohol or adding a liquid concentrate to the same in the hopes of creating an
ersatzErsatz is a German word literally meaning substitute or replacement. Although it is used as an adjective in English, Ersatz can only function in German as a noun on its own, or as a part in compound nouns such as Ersatzteile or Ersatzspieler...
absinthe.
Such practices usually yield a harsh substance that bears little resemblance to the genuine article, and is considered to be inauthentic by any practical standard. Some concoctions may even be dangerous, especially if they call for supplementation with potentially poisonous herbs, oils and/or extracts. Of particular concern is the use of the extract or oil of wormwood in a misguided attempt to induce alleged psychoactive effects. It should be noted that the consumption of oil of wormwood is directly linked to
kidney failureRenal failure or kidney failure is a situation in which the kidneys fail to function adequately. It is divided into acute and chronic forms; either form may be due to a large number of other medical problems....
and uncontrollable
convulsionsAn epileptic seizure is a transient symptom of excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. It can manifest as an alteration in mental state, tonic or clonic movements, convulsions, and various other psychic symptoms...
.
Styles
Most categorical alcoholic beverages have regulations governing their classification and labeling, while those governing absinthe have always been conspicuously lacking. According to popular treatises from the 19th century, absinthe could be loosely categorized into several grades (
ordinaire,
demi-fine,
fine, and
Suisse – which does not denote origin), in order of increasing alcoholic strength and quality. Many contemporary absinthe critics simply classify absinthe as
distilled or
mixed, according to its production method. And while the former is generally considered clearly superior in quality to the latter, an absinthe simply classified as 'distilled' makes no guarantee as to the quality of its base ingredients or the skill of its maker by default.
Blanche, or la Bleue
Blanche absinthe (also referred to as
la Bleue in Switzerland) is bottled directly following distillation and reduction, and is uncolored (clear). The name
la Bleue was originally a term used for bootleg Swiss absinthe, but has become a popular term for post-ban style Swiss absinthe in general.
Verte
Verte (“green” in French) absinthe begins as a blanche. The blanche is altered by the “coloring step,” by which a new mixture of herbs is placed into the clear distillate. This process greatly alters the color and flavor, conferring a peridot green hue and an intense flavor. Vertes are the type of absinthe that was most commonly drunk in the 19th century.
Artificially colored green absinthe is also called “verte,” even though it lacks the herbal characteristics that are imparted by the coloring step.
Absenta
Absenta ("absinthe" in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
) is a regional variation and typically differs slightly from its French cousin. Absentas typically are sweeter in flavor due to their use of Alicante anise, and contain a characteristic citrus flavor.
Hausgemacht absinthe
Hausgemacht (German for
home-made, often abbreviated as
HG) is a type of absinthe that is home-distilled by hobbyists. It is often called
clandestine absinthe. It should not be confused with the Clandestine brand, nor should it be confused with absinthe kits.
Produced mainly in small quantities for personal use and not for sale, hausgemacht absinthe enables experienced distillers to select the herbs personally and to fine-tune each batch. Clandestine production increased after absinthe was banned, when small producers went underground, most notably in Switzerland.
Although the Swiss had produced both vertes and blanches before the ban, clear absinthe (also known as
la Bleue) became more popular after the ban because it is easier to hide. Although the ban has been lifted, many clandestine distillers have not made themselves legal. Authorities believe that high taxes on alcohol and the mystique of being underground have given them a reason not to. Those hausgemacht distillers who have become legal often place the word
clandestine on their labels.
Bohemian-style absinth
Bohemian-style absinth (also called Czech-style absinthe, anise-free absinthe, or just "absinth" (without the "e")) is best described as a wormwood bitters. It is produced mainly in the Czech Republic, from which it gets its designations as "Bohemian" or "Czech," although not all absinthe from the Czech Republic is Bohemian-style. It contains little or none of the anise, fennel, and other herbs that are found in traditional absinthe and bears very little resemblance to historically produced absinthes.
Typical Bohemian-style absinth has only two similarities with its authentic, traditional counterpart: it contains wormwood and has a high alcohol content. In the 1990s Czech Absinth producers introduced the method of lighting the sugar cube on fire. This type of absinth and the associated "fire ritual" are modern creations and have little to no relationship with the history and tradition of real absinthe as a cultural phenomenon.
Storage
Absinthe that is artificially colored or clear is relatively stable and can be bottled in a clear container. If naturally colored absinthe is exposed to light, the chlorophyll breaks down, changing the color from emerald green to yellow green to brown. Pre-ban and vintage absinthes are often of a distinct amber color as a result of this process. Though this color is considered a mark of maturity in vintage absinthes, it is regarded as undesirable in contemporary absinthe. Due to this fragility, naturally colored absinthe is typically bottled in dark UV resistant wine bottles.
Absinthe should be stored in a cool,
room temperatureRoom temperature is a common term to denote a certain temperature within enclosed space at which humans are accustomed. Room temperature is thus often indicated by general human comfort, with the common range of 68°F to 77°F , though climate may acclimatize people to higher or lower...
, dry place away from light and heat. It should also be kept out of the refrigerator and freezer as
anetholeAnethole is an aromatic compound that occurs widely in nature, in essential oils. It contributes a large component of the distinctive flavors of anise and fennel , anise myrtle , licorice , and star anise...
can crystallize inside the bottle, creating a "scum" in the bottle which may or may not dissolve back into solution as the bottle warms.
Cultural influence
The legacy of absinthe as a mysterious, addictive, and mind-altering drink continues to this day. Absinthe has been seen or featured in fine art, movies, video, music and literature. The modern absinthe revival has had an effect on its portrayal. It is often shown as an unnaturally glowing green liquid which is set on fire before drinking, even though traditionally neither is true. In addition, it is most portrayed in the media as causing over-the-top hallucinations.
Historical
Numerous artists and writers living in France in the late 19th and early 20th century were noted absinthe drinkers who featured absinthe in their work. These included
Vincent van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age...
,
Édouard ManetÉdouard Manet , 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883, was a French painter. One of the first nineteenth century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
,
Amedeo ModiglianiAmedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian artist who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
,
Arthur RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet, born in Charleville, Ardennes. As part of the decadent movement, his influence on modern literature, music and art has been enduring and pervasive...
,
Guy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer and considered one of the fathers of the modern short story....
,
Henri de Toulouse-LautrecHenri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa or simply Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French painter, printmaker, draftsman, and illustrator, whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of fin de siècle Paris yielded an œuvre of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern...
, and
Paul VerlainePaul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
. Later artists and writers drew from this cultural well, including
Pablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. Commonly known simply as Picasso, he is one of the most recognized figures in 20th-century art...
,
August StrindbergJohan August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg ( (22 January 1849 – 14 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright and writer. He is arguably the most influential of all Swedish authors, and one of the most influential Scandinavian authors, along with Knut Hamsun, with whom he...
,
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
, and
Ernest HemingwayErnest Miller Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the veterans of World War I later known as "the Lost Generation." He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel Prize in Literature...
.
Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, was an English occultist, writer, mountaineer, poet, yogi, and possibly a spy...
was also known to be a habitual absinthe drinker.
Emile CohlÉmile Cohl , born Émile Eugène Jean Louis Courtet, was a French caricaturist of the largely-forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest Parisian"....
, an early pioneer in the art of animation, presented the effects of the drink in 1919 with the short film,
Hasher's delirium.
Modern
The aura of illicitness and mystery surrounding absinthe has played into modern literature, movies, and television shows. Such depictions vary in their authenticity, often applying dramatic license to depict the drink as anything from an
aphrodisiacAn aphrodisiac is a substance which is used in the belief that it increases sexual desire. The name comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sensuality and love. Throughout history, many foods, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable...
to a
poisonIn the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism...
.
Effects of absinthe
Absinthe has been frequently and incorrectly described in modern times as being hallucinogenic. In the 1970s, a scientific paper mistakenly reported thujone was related to
THCTetrahydrocannabinol , also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , Δ
1-THC , or dronabinol, is the main psychoactive substance found in the Cannabis plant....
, the active chemical in
cannabisCannabisalso known as marijuana or marihuana, and ganja , among many other namesrefers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug...
.
Ten years after his 19th century experiments with wormwood oil, Magnan studied 250 cases of alcoholism and claimed that those who drank absinthe were worse off than those drinking ordinary alcohol, and that they experienced rapid-onset hallucinations. Such accounts by absinthe opponents were embraced by its most famous users, many of whom were bohemian artists or writers.
Two famous painters who helped popularize the notion that absinthe had powerful psychoactive properties were Toulouse Lautrec and
Vincent van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. He suffered from anxiety and increasingly frequent bouts of mental illness throughout his life, and died largely unknown, at the age...
. In one of the best known accounts of absinthe drinking,
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
described the feeling of having tulips on his legs after leaving a bar.
Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations. Thujone, the active chemical in absinthe, is a
GABAγ-Aminobutyric acid is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. It plays an important role in regulating neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. In humans, GABA is also directly responsible for the regulation of muscle tone...
antagonist; and while it can produce muscle spasms in large doses, there is no evidence that it causes hallucinations. It has been speculated that reports of hallucinogenic effects of absinthe may have been due to poisonous chemicals being added to cheaper versions of the drink in the 19th century, to give it a more vivid color.
However, the debate over whether absinthe produces effects on the human mind additional to those of alcohol has not been conclusively resolved. The effects of absinthe have been described by some as mind opening. The most commonly reported experience is a "clear-headed" feeling of inebriation — a form of "lucid drunkenness". Chemist, historian and absinthe distiller Ted Breaux has claimed that the alleged secondary effects of absinthe may be caused by the fact that some of the herbal compounds in the drink act as stimulants, while others act as sedatives, creating an overall lucid effect of awakening.
Long term effects of low absinthe consumption in humans remain unknown, although the herbs in absinthe have both painkilling and antiparasitic properties.
Controversy
It was once thought that excessive absinthe drinking had worse effects than those associated with overindulgence in other forms of alcohol, a belief that led to diagnoses of the disease of "absinthism". One of the first vilifications of absinthe was an 1864 experiment in which a certain Dr. Magnan exposed a
guinea pigThe guinea pig , also commonly called the Cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not pigs, nor do they come from Guinea...
to large doses of pure wormwood vapor and another to alcohol vapors. The guinea pig exposed to wormwood experienced convulsive seizures, while the animal exposed to alcohol did not. Magnan would later blame the chemical thujone, contained in wormwood, for these effects.
Past reports estimated thujone levels in absinthe as high — up to 260 mg/kg of absinthe. More recently, published scientific analyses of samples of various original absinthes have disproven earlier estimates, showing that very little of the thujone present in wormwood actually makes it into a properly distilled absinthe when using historical recipes and methods. Most proper absinthes, both vintage and modern, are within the current EU limits.
Tests on mice showed an
LD50In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 , LC50 or LCt50 of a toxic substance or radiation is the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population...
of about 45 mg thujone per kg of body weight, which is much more than could be consumed in absinthe. The high percentage of alcohol in absinthe would kill a person before the thujone would become life-threatening. In documented cases of acute thujone poisoning as a result of oral ingestion, the source of thujone was not commercial absinthe, but rather non-controversial sources such as common essential oils, which can contain as much as 50% thujone.
A study in the
Journal of Studies on Alcohol concluded that a high concentration of thujone in alcohol has negative effects on attention performance. It slowed down
reaction timeReaction time , is the elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. RT is often used in experimental psychology to measure the duration of mental operations, an area of research known as mental chronometry...
, and caused subjects to concentrate their attention in the central field of vision. Medium doses did not produce an effect noticeably different from plain alcohol. The high dose of thujone used in the study was larger than what can currently be obtained, even in claimed "high thujone" absinthe that cannot be sold legally in the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
. While the effects of this high dose were
statistically significantIn statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The phrase test of significance was coined by Ronald Fisher....
in a double blind test, the test subjects themselves were unable to reliably identify which samples were the ones containing thujone.
Regulations
Currently, most countries do not have a legal definition of absinthe (unlike
Scotch whiskyScotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland. In Britain, the term whisky is usually taken to mean Scotch unless otherwise specified. In other English-speaking countries, it is often referred to as "Scotch"....
or cognac). Manufacturers can label a product 'absinthe' or 'absinth', whether or not it matches the traditional definition. Due to many countries never banning absinthe, not every country has regulations specifically governing it.
Summary
Absinthe is now legal in almost every country where alcohol is sold, albeit with different labelling requirements in USA and France. With the exception of those Middle East countries where alcohol is banned, Vanuatu (see below) and some South American countries, absinthe is legal in all countries. Absinthe can now be found in every country in Europe and North America, and in almost every country in Asia Pacific (the North Korean situation is not known).
Australia
BittersA bitters is an alcoholic beverage that contains herbal essences, has a bitter or bittersweet flavor, and is typically flavored with citrus...
can contain a maximum 35 mg/kg thujone, while other alcoholic beverages can contain a maximum 10 mg/kg of thujone. In Australia, import and sales require a special permit although absinthe is readily available in many bottle shops.
Regulation 5H of the
Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 (Cth) (the Regulations) prohibits the importation of Absinthe (Schedule 8), unless the permission (in writing) of the Secretary or an authorised person has been granted permission to import the goods and the permission has been produced to the Collector.
Item 12A of Schedule 8 of the Regulations, refers to "oil of wormwood, being an essential oil obtained from plants of the
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
ArtemisiaArtemisia can mean:Botany*Artemisia , a genus of plants including the sagebrush and wormwoodGeography*Artemisia Geyser in Yellowstone National Park*Artemissia, Messinia, a Greek village west of Taygetus mountain in the Peloponnese...
, and preparations containing oil of wormwood."
The administrative arrangements include the Secretary and authorised officers (appropriately delegated TGA officers) of the
Therapeutic Goods AdministrationThe Therapeutic Goods Administration or TGA is the regulatory body for therapeutic goods in Australia. It is a Division of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing established under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 ...
may grant permission to import absinthe. The
Australian Customs ServiceThe Australian Customs and Border Protection Service is the Australian Federal Government agency responsible for managing the security and integrity of the Australian border, facilitating the movement of legitimate international travellers and goods, and collecting border related duties and...
is the Collector for the importation of Schedule 8 goods.
The domestic production and sale of Absinthe is regulated by State licencing laws.
Canada
In Canada,
liquor lawsLiquor laws is a term that refers to any legislation dealing with the abolishment, restriction, or regulation of the sale, consumption, and manufacture of alcoholic beverages...
are established by the various
provincialThe provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces are jurisdictions that receive their power and authority directly from the Constitution Act, 1867, whereas territories...
governments. As with any spirit, importation by individuals for personal use is allowed, provided that conditions for the individual's duration outside the country are satisfied. (Importation is a federal matter, and is enforced by the
Canada Border Services AgencyThe Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard and customs services....
).
- British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . In 1871, it became the sixth province of Canada.The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, the 15th largest metropolitan region in Canada...
- no established limits on thujone content
- Ontario
Ontario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
- 10 mg/kg
- Alberta
Alberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....
and Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
- 10 mg/kg
- Manitoba
Manitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
- 6–8 mg
- Quebec
Quebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
- 5 mg/kg
- New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province in the confederation. The provincial capital is Fredericton...
- no absinthe sold
- Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. This easternmost Canadian province comprises two main parts: the island of Newfoundland off the country's eastern coast, and Labrador on the mainland to the northwest of the island.A...
- no absinthe sold
Absinthe is not sold in some provinces, although, in
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of and a population of 1,023,810 , mostly living in the southern half of the province. Of these, 233,923 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 194,971 live in the provincial capital, Regina...
, an individual is permitted to import one case (usually 12 bottles x 750 ml or 8 x 1L) of any liquor. Individual provincial liquor boards must approve each product before it may be sold.
Production of spirits in Canada is provincially regulated. Okanagan Spirits in British Columbia released the Taboo brand in 2007: this is possibly the first commercial absinthe crafted in Canada.
Brazil
Absinthe was prohibited in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
until 2007, but the beverage must obey the liquor laws established by the Brazilian government. The Absinthe sold in Brazil must not contain more than 53.8% of alcohol.
European Union
The European Union permits a maximum thujone level of 10 mg/kg in alcoholic beverages with more than 25% ABV, and 35 mg/kg in alcohol labeled as bitters. Member countries regulate absinthe production within this framework. Sale of absinthe is permitted in all EU countries unless they further regulate it.
France
In addition to EU standards, products explicitly called 'absinthe' cannot be sold in France, although they can be produced for export. Absinthe is now commonly labeled as
spiritueux à base de plantes d’absinthe ('wormwood-based spirits'). France also regulates
fenchoneFenchone is a natural organic compound classified as a monoterpene and a ketone. It is a colorless oily liquid. It has a structure and an odor similar to camphor.Fenchone is a constituent of absinthe and the essential oil of fennel....
, a chemical in the herb fennel, to 5 mg/l. This makes many brands of Swiss absinthe illegal without reformulation.
Republic of Georgia
It is legal to produce and sell absinthe in the Republic of Georgia, which has several absinthe production facilities.
Germany
A ban on absinthe was enacted in Germany on 27 March 1923. In addition to banning the production of and commercial trade in absinthe, the law went so far as to prohibit the distribution of printed matter that provided details of its production. The original ban was lifted in 1981, but the use of
Artemisia absinthium as a flavoring agent remained prohibited. On 27 September 1991, Germany adopted the European Union's standards of 1988, which effectively re-legalized absinthe. Unlike Switzerland and France, there are no further restrictions.
New Zealand
Although the substance is not banned at national level, some local authorities have banned it. The latest is
MatauraMataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand.It is situated on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line railway, thirteen kilometres south west of Gore and 53 kilometres north east of Invercargill...
in
Southland-North America:* Southern United States* Greater Los Angeles Area * Chicago Southland, the south suburbs of the city of Chicago* Southland, Texas* Dunbar-Southlands, a neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia...
. The ban came in August 2008 after several issues of misuse drew public and police attention. One incident resulted in breathing difficulties and hospitalization of a 17-year-old for alcohol poisoning. The particular brand of absinthe that caused these effects contained 89.9% vol. alc.
Sweden
The sale and production of absinthe has never been prohibited in Sweden. However, the only store that may sell alcoholic beverages containing more than 3.5% alcohol by volume is the government-owned chain of liquor stores called
SystembolagetSystembolaget is a government owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol. Systembolaget also sells alcohol-free beverages...
.
SystembolagetSystembolaget is a government owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol. Systembolaget also sells alcohol-free beverages...
did not import or sell absinthe for many years.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, the sale and production of absinthe was prohibited from 1910 to 2005; the ban was lifted on 1 March 2005. To be legally made or sold in Switzerland, absinthe must be distilled and must be either uncolored or naturally colored.
United States
The prevailing consensus of interpretation of
United States lawThe law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States...
and regulations among American absinthe connoisseurs is that, with the revision of
thujoneThujone is a ketone and a monoterpene that exists in two stereoisomeric forms: -3-thujone or α-thujone and -3-thujone or β-thujone. It has a menthol odor. Even though it is best known for being a chemical in absinthe, recent tests show absinthe contains only small quantities of thujone, and may or...
levels by the
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade BureauThe Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, originally designated Tax and Trade Bureau in the statute and frequently shortened to TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury...
(TTB), it is now legal to purchase such a product for personal use in the U.S.
According to the US
Food and Drug AdministrationThe Food and Drug Administration is a Government agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is responsible for regulating and supervising the safety of foods, tobacco products, dietary supplements, Medication drugs, vaccines, Biopharmaceutical, blood transfusion,...
(FDA) food and beverages that contain
ArtemisiaArtemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with between 200 to 400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. It comprises hardy herbs and shrubs known for their volatile oils. They grow in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, usually in dry or semi-dry...
species must be thujone free. Thujone free is defined as containing less than 10ppm thujone. There is no corresponding US
Drug Enforcement AdministrationThe Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the U.S...
(DEA) regulation. Regarding importation of absinthe,
U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionU.S. Customs and Border Protection is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing hundreds of U.S...
allows importation of absinthe products subject to the following restrictions:
- The product must be thujone-free as described above,
- The name "absinthe" can neither be the brand name nor stand alone on the label, and
- The packaging cannot "project images of hallucinogenic, psychotropic or mind-altering effects."
Absinthe imported in violation of these regulations can be seized.
Absinthe can be and occasionally is seized by United States Customs if it appears to be for human consumption.
A faux-absinthe liquor called
AbsenteAbsente is a brand name of 110 proof anise liqueur that has been marketed under the tagline "Absinthe Refined" since circa 2001. "Absente" is a French word that translates as "absent" in English.-In the U.S.:...
, made with
southern wormwood (
Artemisia abrotanum) instead of grande wormwood (
Artemisia absinthiumArtemisia absinthium is a species of wormwood, native to temperate regions of Eurasia and northern Africa....
), is sold legally in the United States. This was the first US approval referring to "absinthe" on the front label; the front label says "Absinthe Refined" but the TTB classified the product as liqueur.
In 2007, TTB relaxed the US absinthe ban, and has now approved over 50 brands for sale. These brands must pass TTB testing, which is conducted using
Gas Chromatography-Mass SpectrometryGas chromatography-mass spectrometry is a method that combines the features of gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within a test sample. Applications of GC-MS include drug detection, fire investigation, environmental analysis, explosives investigation,...
. The TTB considers a product to be thujone-free if the FDA’s test measures less than 10ppm (equal to 10 mg/kg) thujone. A US distillery also began producing and selling absinthe in 2007, the first US company to do so since 1912.
Vanuatu
The Absinthe (Prohibition) Act 1915, passed in the
New HebridesNew Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, has never been repealed, and is included in the 1988
VanuatuVanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean...
consolidated legislation, and contains the following all-encompassing restriction: The manufacture, importation, circulation and sale wholesale or by retail of absinthe or similar liquors in Vanuatu shall be prohibited.
External links
- The Wormwood Society — An independent organization supporting changes to the U.S. laws and regulations concerning absinthe. Provides articles, a forum and legal information.
Articles
- Absinthe’s History — June 1989 Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine published since August 28, 1845, which according to the magazine makes it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States...
article about the history of Absinthe.
- Absinthe’s second coming — An April 2001 article in Cigar Aficionado
Cigar Aficionado is an American magazine that is dedicated to the world of cigars. Published since September 1992, the magazine is known for its articles about different brands of cigars worldwide, and for the celebrities that have appeared on its cover. It is also noted for its opposition to the...
about the first absinthe commercially produced in France since the 1915 ban.
- Swiss face sobering future after legalizing absinthe — A March 2005 Reuters article about the legalization of absinthe in Switzerland.
- The Mystery of the Green Menace — A November 2005 WIRED Magazine
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since March 1993, that reports on how technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
article about a New Orleans man who has researched the chemical content of Absinthe and now distills it in France.
- The Return of the Green Faerie — A wine and spirit journal article about the history, ritual, and artistic cult of Absinthe.
- Absinthism: A fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact Padosch, S.A., Lachenmeier, D.W., and Kroener, L.U. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2006, 1:14.
- Chemical Composition of Vintage Preban Absinthe with Special Reference to Thujone, Fenchone, Pinocamphone, Methanol, Copper, and Antimony Concentrations Dirk W. Lachenmeier, David Nathan-Maister, Theodore A. Breaux, Eva-Maria Sohnius, Kerstin Schoeberl, and Thomas Kuballa. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2008).