Absinthe – one of the strongest alcoholic beverages in the world, the strength of which can reach 86%. The original recipe for absinthe is banned in a number of countries, primarily due to wormwood (thujone), an herb that can cause emotional experiences associated with hallucinations of varying severity.
In stores, you can find absinthe with a thujone content of approximately 10 mg/liter. This is an acceptable value that will not affect your consciousness, so buying modern absinthe for the sake of a hallucinogenic effect with a small content of thujone is devoid of any meaning.
There are various taste and color variations of alcohol, there is also absinthe without thujone, you can read about all the differences here.
The history of absinthe
Absinthe has been used as a medicine since ancient Egypt. Hippocrates recommended wormwood tincture for rheumatism, jaundice, and occasional pain in women.
There are several versions of the appearance of absinthe. Some historians believe that the drink appeared in Switzerland in 1792 in the town of Couve, located near the border with France.
In this city lived the Enrio sisters, who were engaged in the manufacture of medicinal potions. One of them was prepared by distillation of wormwood-anise tincture in a small distillation apparatus and was called “Bon Extrait d’Absinthe”.
The composition of the final liquor also included chamomile, fennel, veronica, coriander, hyssop, parsley root, lemon balm, spinach. This elixir was sold by the sisters through the doctor Pierre Ordiner, who fled to Switzerland during the French Revolution.
Some historians believe that Pierre Ordiner himself developed the recipe for absinthe. The doctor prescribed absinthe to his patients as a cough medicine and a general tonic and tonic.
Later, entrepreneur Henri Dubier bought the secret recipe for the drink and mass-produced it with the help of his friend Henri-Louis Pernot in 1798.
The sale of absinthe went well, which necessitated the opening of a new plant in Pontarlier in 1805, which later became the main center for the production of the drink, the plant was called “Perno”.
Therefore, very often when they talk about absinthe, they first of all remember this brand, I consider it the “parent of all absinthes”.
how to drink absinthe
Absinthe’s popularity skyrocketed during the French colonial wars in North Africa, which began in 1830 and peaked in 1844–1847.
The French military was given a certain amount of absinthe to prevent malaria, dysentery and other diseases, as well as to disinfect drinking water. Absinthe turned out to be so effective that it firmly entered French army life from Madagascar to Indochina.
At the same time, cases of paranoid schizophrenia, called “le cafard”, became increasingly common among North African troops.
Among the French colonists and emigrants in Algeria, the fashion for absinthe also spread.
In 1888 absinthe was widely used in France. The popularity of absinthe in France was equal to that of wine.
The New York Times noted that in France, girls from 18 to 20 years old suffer from cirrhosis of the liver much more often than in other countries, and the reason is an addiction to absinthe. This hobby was explained by the special taste of women for absinthe. They drank it mostly undiluted because they didn’t want to drink a lot because of the corset.
Connoisseurs argued that even white wine may seem somehow unclean after absinthe. Absinthe stands out with a special aftertaste, like menthol cigarettes.
The soldiers who returned from the war could no longer give up the habit of absinthe, and it soon became fashionable everywhere, especially in Paris.
From that moment on, absinthe became almost a mystical drink – it aroused the creative activity of the Parisian bohemia, and relieved the tension and fatigue of the working class, and pleasantly refreshed the respectable bourgeois on hot summer days, and even kindled love ardor. As a result, the time from 5 to 7 pm in Paris began to be called “l’heure verte”, which means “green time” in French. It was at this time that an almost sacred ritual took place, entirely dedicated to absinthe.
Over time, absinthe “simplified” and already in 1860, absinthe began to descend from bohemian heights to the level of simple hard workers.
10 brands of absinthe you should try
At its best, absinthe was a rather expensive drink, it was produced on the basis of wine alcohol, but with the advent of cheap brands – based on ordinary alcohol – it became much more accessible and harmful.
Most of these absinthes were not subject to distillation and were especially bitter.
Since 1880, absinthe has been strongly associated with schizophrenia, suffering, and death. It was called “madness in a bottle” (fr. la folie en bouteille).
Drink consumption grew every year, if in 1874 it was 700 liters per year, then by 000 it was already 1910 liters. Not surprisingly, absinthe had more and more opponents.
Another reason for the use of absinthe by the working class was the desire to get closer to the sublime and wonderful feeling that, according to rumors, the “bohemians of Paris” experienced.
All famous poets, writers, artists of that time were delighted with the “green fairy” (“la fée ferte”).
Persecution and prohibitions
In July 1905, Jean Landfray, a Swiss farmer, under the influence of a large number of different alcoholic beverages, after drinking a glass of absinthe, shot his entire family – glasses of mint liqueur consumed by the farmer on the same day, glasses of cognac, two cups of coffee with cognac, three liters of wine did not find such an enthusiastic response from the newspapers.
This story made the front pages of European newspapers, resulting in 82 people signing a petition to the authorities asking for absinthe ban in Switzerland (the petition was granted in early 450).
In March 1915, with the support of the so-called “wine lobby”, not only the sale, but also the manufacture of absinthe was banned in France.
Even earlier, in 1912, the US Senate voted to ban “all drinks containing thujone” (in the 1980s, this law was supplemented by another one, according to which US military personnel were forbidden to use absinthe even abroad).
Ultimately, absinthe was actually expelled from many countries of the world: Switzerland, USA, France, Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany. Absinthe began to be called a drug.
From the 1930s to the end of the 1980s, absinthe existed in a semi-legal position (pre-war stocks and contraband supplies from England were mainly destroyed), or in the form of substitutes: aniseed vodka, wormwood leaves soaked in vodka, etc.
8 absinthe recipes at home.
Revival
The birthplace of absinthe is considered to be Great Britain, more precisely Scotland, where it was never banned, but even after persecution in other countries it did not have any popularity at all until 1998, when the Czech brand Hill’s, founded in 1920, launched the potion on the British market.
To a large extent, celebrities contributed to the success of this enterprise, in particular, Johnny Depp, while in the UK on the set of the film Sleepy Hollow, told how he drank absinthe with Hunter S. Thompson on the set of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Later, this fashion was picked up overseas, with absinthe you could see many celebrities from Eminem to Marilyn Manson.
In general, the success of the Czech brand is difficult to explain, because the taste of this absinthe was disgusting. “They drink this absinthe to get drunk quickly; only the masochist adds water to it to prolong its action.” Good absinthe, on the contrary, can be drunk slowly and for a long time.
Hills was scolded by all connoisseurs and a year later, with the assistance of the main French absinthe expert and the creator of the absinthe museum – Marie-Claude Delae, a new brand “La Fee” was released, which could be savored.
The manufacturer’s marketing policy took into account the comical attitude of the British to the “most dangerous of poisons”, a number of actions had a pronounced “frivolous” character, unusual for the promotion of alcohol.
This led to a positive image of absinthe – a little funny and a little sinister – never before has absinthe had such a “rosy” reputation.
In 2004, the Swiss parliament voted to legalize absinthe, which had been banned since 1907.
On July 24, 2004, an Amsterdam court invalidated a 1909 Dutch law banning absinthe.
Now absinthe producers are required to comply with restrictions imposed by the European Union, according to which the amount of thujone in absinthe should not exceed 10 mg / liter.
At the same time, in some European countries, absinthe is produced with a thujone content of 35 mg/liter.
cocktails with absinthe
Relevance: 19.04.2016
Tags: absinthe