Famous artists and writers like Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Gauguin, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Degas and many more enjoyed drinking Absinthe.

Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. The preparation of Absinthe liquor is done from a wine alcohol base and is flavored with herbs and essential oils together with wormwood, aniseed and fennel. One can also use hyssop, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, juniper, nutmeg, dittany, calamus root and mint in the making of Absinthe.

Information about Absinthe History

Absinthe has a very long and interesting history. Its main herbal ingredient, wormwood, has been used in medicine since ancient times as a tonic and to stimulate digestion. Absinthe was produced by a French doctor, Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century in the Swiss town of Couvet in the Val-de-Travers. Ordinaire gave it as a tonic to his patients.

The Absinthe recipe was used by Henri-Louis Pernod to distill Absinthe in Couvet and then the French town of Pontarlier under the name of Pernod Fils. Everyday the production of Absinthe was 30,000 liters by the Pernod company!

Absinthe was a popular drink of various countries along with France, La Belle Epoque. Absinthe became the favorite drink of the French people. At the same time people were attentive about health and the effects of Absinthe. The liquor was linked to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre. People became convinced that thujone, the chemical in wormwood, was psychoactive and caused psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death.

According to the people’s thought Absinthe was the cause behind Van Gogh’s insanity and his suicide, a man killing his family and the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France. The USA and France restricted Absinthe in the year 1912 and 1915 respectively. Absinthe was unauthorized in other countries also.

Absinthe Revival

During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. Several people were influenced with the proves given by studies and research.

Studies showed that effects of Absinthe was same as consuming other strong alcoholic beverages and the thujone content in Absinthe is not harmful for anyone.

Americans can buy certain brands of Absinthe as the USA has authorized Absinthes that contain 10 ppm thujone and the EU has legalized Absinthe up to 10mg/kg of thujone .

France, home of Pernod’s original Absinthestill has a ban on products labeled “Absinthe” and France also strictly regulates drinks containing fenchone, a chemical in fennel which is a key ingredient in Absinthe. To be sold in France, Absinthes have to be called another name like “spirit a base de plantes d’absinthe” and only contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.

Absinthe is now available from various sources.One can get more information about Absinthe essences on AbsintheKit.com. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoonslike a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.