Pernod absinthe is the very drink of the XNUMXth century, about which there are many legends. Of course, in the eight decades during which the production of wormwood tincture was banned, the technology for purifying alcohol has come a long way. Therefore, no green fairy will fly from a couple of glasses of the current Pernod. But connoisseurs of absinthe have the opportunity to enjoy the exquisite bitterness that drove European bohemians crazy a century and a half ago.
Pernod is a 68% ABV green absinthe with a rich wormwood-anise aroma. The taste of the drink is sharp, bitter, with a tart aftertaste.
The history of absinthe is inextricably linked with the history of the Perno company. Its founder, Henri-Louis Pernot, was the son-in-law of the same Henri Dubier, who in 1797 bought a recipe for wormwood tincture from the Enrio sisters and opened the world’s first absinthe factory in the Swiss city of Couvet. The enterprise turned out to be so profitable that in 1805 Monsieur Pernot built another distillery in France, in Pontarlier.
The entire XNUMXth century can be safely called the golden age of Pernod. Every year the popularity of absinthe increased, because of which the owners of the company constantly had to expand production.
Unfortunately, numerous competitors of the Pernod house dreamed of profits, but did not care at all about the quality of the products. At the beginning of the 1907th century, cases of poisoning became more frequent, as well as schizophrenia caused by the excessive consumption of low-grade absinthe. In 1915, the production and sale of the drink was completely banned in Switzerland, in XNUMX – in France.
For a company that made a name and a fortune in the manufacture of absinthe, this was a real blow. At first, the owners tried to organize the production of the drink in Spain, where it was not legally prohibited. But due to the huge number of competitors and too small market, the undertaking did not bring success.
Then it was decided to produce pastis instead of absinthe – aniseed vodka with a strength of 30-40%. In addition to anise, licorice root and various herbs were added to the tincture. In some varieties of pastis, wormwood was replaced with star anise.
In 1935, the Pernod house was taken over by the Marseille family company Ricard. Subsequently, the concern “Perno-Ricard” became one of the world’s largest producers of alcohol.
In 1998, the EU lifted the ban on the production of absinthe. It’s time to get out of the safes signature, two centuries kept secret recipe for Perno absinthe. Of course, in accordance with European legislation, it was “neutralized”: the revived drink contains no more than 10 mg of thujone per liter.
However, in other respects, modern absinthe is almost no different from its century-old counterpart. Its manufacturing technology is a complex combination of maceration (infusion followed by filtration) and distillation. In huge containers filled with high-quality alcohol, a mixture of wormwood, anise, fennel, dill, spinach, parsley and veronica is kept. No artificial colors or stabilizers are added to the drink.