Absinthe - Introduction to the Green Fairy

Absinthe is a wonderful alcoholic beverage, made from herbs, most notably wormwood.  Often called the Green Fairy, absinthe has played a large part in history.  Many of the worlds famous and learned men and women were avid fans of the drink.  Famous absinthe drinkers included Pablo Picasso, Julius Verne, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Edouard Manet, Vincent Van Gogh, Hilaire-Germain Edgar Degas, Paul Marie Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and Ernest Hemingway.  Van Gogh was reportedly drunk on absinthe when he cut off his ear.

The myth is that absinthe will make you crazy, hallucinate, or any number of other fallacies, but the truth is much less nefarious.  The chemical that has long been the source of the demonization of absinthe is thujone, the chemical derived from the Artemisia absinthium or wormwood plant.  This ended up being the downfall of absinthe as it was the reported effects of thujone that led several countries, the US and most of Europe, to ban the drink.  Recent scientific studies on pre-ban bottles of absinthe found at estate sales in Europe, have determined that the level of thujone found in absinthe was actually fairly minimal.  Thujone consumed in large enough quantities can induce nausea, seizures, and eventually death, but by the time a person would have ingested enough thujone to accomplish this, they would have died several times over from alcohol poisoning.

Recently, the ban on absinthe has been lifted and it is now making a resurgence in the US.  Several companies have started making absinthe again and are even adhereing to pre-ban distilling methods, which use grande wormwood, not southern wormwood.  One such company is Lucid, who state that their absinthe is practically identical to the absinthe of old.

How to drink absinthe:

Traditionally, absinthe was decanted into a smallish glass, filling it roughly one third of the way up.  A slotted spoon was placed over the top of the glass, and a cube of sugar laid on top of the spoon.  Cold water was allowed to drip onto the sugar cube, diluting it into the absinthe until the liqour turned from it's signature green color, to a milky white.  This process was known as louching and was done to both dilute the potent alcohol and to bring out the natural oils and tastes of the herbs used to make it.

My experience.

I have actually drunk absinthe.  It was purchased in New Jersey and was an import from Switzerland, the home of absinthe.  The effect of absinthe, from my experience, was quite interesting.  There were of course, no hallucinations or any such foolishness, but the effect was unmistakable.  I could definately tell that I had drank very high proof alcohol, but the fuzzy, lurching feeling that often accompanies it was entirely absent.  Instead I felt clear headed and almost contemplative.  It was easy to see why absinthe was said to "fuel the fires of creativity."