Most of the well known artists and writers liked drinking Absinthe, the Green Fairy.
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. Herbs and essential oils including wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), aniseed and fennel is used for flavoring Absinthe liquor and it is usually made from a wine alcohol base. Other herbal ingredients used in the manufacture may include hyssop, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, juniper, nutmeg, dittany, calamus root and mint.
Information about Absinthe History
Absinthe has a very long and interesting history. Since ancient times wormwood has been used as a tonic and to stimulate digestion. 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 a medicine.
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 in most of the countries. In France Absinthe overtook wine as the favorite drink. Contemporary there were concerns about health and the effects of Absinthe. The Bohemian culture of Montmartre was combined with the liquor. The thujone content of wormwood was believed to be psychoactive that cause psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death.
Absinthe was blamed for Van Gogh's insanity and his suicide, for a man killing his family and for the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France. Absinthe was banned both in the USA and in France. Other countries also made it illegal to buy and sell Absinthe.
Absinthe Revival
During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. Most of the people were convinced with the reports given by studies and research about Absinthe.
Studies showed that Absinthe was no more dangerous than consuming other strong alcoholic beverages, such as whisky and vodka, and that Absinthe contained only very small amounts of thujone – not enough to cause any harmful side effects.
Absinthe with up to 10mg/kg of thujone was legalized in the EU and with 10 ppm in the USA .
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. In France, Absinthes are famous as “spirit a base de plantes d'absinthe” and should contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.
Now it is possible to get Absinthe or Absinthe essences from anywhere.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.
