Absinthe

Absinthe is the generic term for very strong, clear or pale green spirits. Usual alcohol strength is 55%-74%, or 110-148 proof.

Absinthe is produced in accordance with a great number of recipes. But usually it's based on wormwood, fennel, hyssop, and green anise. Some regionally authentic recipes also call for additional herbs.

Absinthe has a fine liquorice flavour and an underlying pleasant bitterness.

It's usually served as an aperitif in special absinthe glasses, and mixed with sugar and ice-cold water.

High quality absinthes are always distilled, naturally coloured, and made from a base of grape spirit. Sometimes also aged in oak barrels.

Authentic French absinthes - without oils, additives or artificial colourings - are the ranges of Un Emile, Jade and Fougerolles, to mention just a few.

Cheap brands are made from herbal essences. They are usually artificially coloured and made from grain or beet spirits.

The ritual for serving absinthe
The traditional ritual for serving absinthe is to drip ice-cold water over a sugar cube into a glass containing a shot of absinthe.

The sugar cube is placed on a so-called absinthe spoon - slotted or perforated spoon.

As the cold water mixes with the absinthe, the drink clouds to an attractive opaque white with a tint of green or yellow - also known as the louche.

Some modern absinthes are already sweet - so adding sugar may ruin the flavours.

La Fee Verte
Absinthe is also known as La Fee Verte or The Green Fairy.

It originated in France at the end of the 18th century, and was first produced near Couvet in Val de Travers in Switzerland, and nearby Pontarlier in the Doubs region of France - at the foot of the Jura mountains.

Initially, absinthe was produced and used as a medicinal cure all remedy.

Later it became the favourite drink among the upper class, artists and writers of the Belle Epoque, the beautiful era, in Paris in the last decade of the 19th century.

Famous artists and writers like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allen Poe, Jack London and Ernest Hemingway were avid absinthe drinkers.

Also, motifs with absinthe and absinthe drinking appear in works by famous painters like Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Edgar Degas.

The main ingredient in absinthe is the bitter herb wormwood - Artemisia absinthium.

Wormwood contains the compound thujone which is toxic if consumed in larger doses. That's why absinthe is not legally available in some countries.












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