Absinthe – The Green Fairy’s Mythical Creatures
Absinthe is an intensely powerful high-proof spirit. Made with botanical ingredients like wormwood (Artemisia abrotanum), anise, green anise, sweet fennel, coriander peppermint angelica and veronica; its distinctive green hue comes from chlorophyll in these herbs absorbing light then reflecting it back out resulting in its signature luminescent sheen of green or yellow-green louche effect which was once seen as desirable feature of authentic absinthe.
Absinthe was once considered an indulgence among self-declared decadents such as Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway – among them writers Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway; poets Charles Baudelaire Paul Verlaine Arthur Rimbaud Alfred Jarry as well as painters Toulouse-Lautrec Edouard Manet Vincent Van Gogh among many more – so much so that absinthe earned the reputation as being an inspiration to achieve creative genius at its highest potential. Absinthe became known for being its stimulating effect upon creativity – helping these authors and artists produce work of unrivalled quality.
Magnan’s claims regarding absinthe toxicity were widely discredited. Reactions to his article in The Lancet pointed out that there were no reliable scientific studies of absinthism and that conclusions drawn from studies involving rats exposed to high doses of thujone aren’t applicable to human consumption.
Absinthe is experiencing a comeback as a cocktail ingredient despite remaining illegal in the U.S. until 2007 (though bootleggers produce it and it remains widely available across Europe). Yet its mysterious associations remain undiminished, with artists and writers continuing to depict absinthe as an alluring, transcendent force.
