Description Of Absinthe
Here is some information about the mythical drink Absinthe, the Green Fairy, the favorite drink of the likes of Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Gauguin, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Degas and many other famous artists and writers.
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. A wine alcohol base used in the making of Absinthe and is flavored with herbs and essential oils including wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), 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. Wormwood has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. Legend says that Absinthe was created by a French doctor Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century, in the Swiss town of Couvet in the Val-de-Travers. Ordinaire used it on his patients, as an elixir, with miraculous results.
During the 19th century, Henri-Louis Pernod was using the Absinthe recipe to distill Absinthe in Couvet and under the name of Pernod Fils in the French town of Pontarlier. Everyday the production of Absinthe was 30,000 liters by the Pernod company!
Absinthe was found to be famous in France, in La Belle Epoque and many other nations also. Absinthe’s popularity affected wine producers as it overtook wine as the favorite drink of the French people. Contemporary there were concerns about health and the effects of Absinthe. The loose morals and artists and writers of the Bohemian culture were linked with the liquor. The psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death was believed to be the causes from thujone.
Van Gogh’s madness and his suicide, a man killing his family and the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France all had been caused due to Absinthe. Buying and selling of Absinthe was illegal in the USA and in France. Buying and selling of Absinthe was also illegalized in other countries.
Absinthe Revival
During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. A large number of people were satisfied with the results that came out from the studies and research related to Absinthe.
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. Absinthes is known as “spirit a base de plantes d’absinthe” in France and only contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.
In these times of revival, it is possible to order Absinthe online, buy it in a liquor shop or buy real wormwood Absinthe essences to make your very own Green Fairy – see AbsintheKit.For further information about Absinthe essences one can go through the site AbsintheKit.com. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoonslike a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.