Absinthe has more mystery, lore, and support from history’s most serious drunks that any other liquor, save perhaps gin. Popularized by Parisian writers and artists, absinthe was French by origin, born in Switzerland around 1792, infamous by nature, and was banned in the United States in 1912. Hemingway would drink gallons of it, Wilde would write poetry for it, and artists’s brushes would forever immortalize the feeling of ‘following the green fairy.”

Why such a colorful past? Well, absinthe contains a small amount of the chemical thujone, which has been blamed for psychedelic properties. It was also considered addictive, thus Absinthe became a target among prohibitionists and conservatives, being more “evil” than alcohol alone. While these hallucinatory properties were largely exaggerated (and were blamed for a few notable deaths), by 1915 France, Belguim, Brazil, (of all places) Switzerland, and the U.S. had made absinthe illegal. Our guess it that this made it especially attractive to the dreamy intellectuals, with an automatic aura of cool if you could get your hands on a bottle.

From there, absinthe production was relegated to Spain, Portugal and other sensible countries up until about 1990, when a few smart importers realized that selling absinthe wasn’t illegal in the UK and other parts of Europe, and set about to revive it. The first to come out in the 90′s were from the Czech Republic, Spain and Portugal, and started trickling in through the cracks.

Distiller LaFee was the first to make absinthe again in France in 2000, 86 years after it was banned. This was significant mostly because the French style of absinthe is considered to be vastly superior and the “truer” form of the liquor. Distilleries started popping up like wildfire, and countries dropped the previous bans, largely because of the strict regulation that now governs absinthe. It was only a matter of time before the U.S. followed suit, and today in 2007 Lucid Absinthe became the first absinthe available in the U.S. since 1912. In December of the same year, the first U.S. absinthe distillery cropped up too, and now it’s made in stills all across America too.

Absinthe is unusually high in alcohol content, and it usually cut with sugar and water to make it consumable. A piece of advice to newcomers: sure you can drink it straight, but it’s much, much tastier the traditional way. Or, if you are lacking in patience, there’s always a few cocktails to try it out in too. Another warning? Those that don’t like licorice flavor won’t like this one bit. Save yourself the cash and try a different adventure!

Ready to buy a bottle or two today? Our two current favorites hail from the good ol’ Pacific Northwest. The first is Marteau, coming from the SODO district of Seattle. Pacifique Absinthe, coming from Pacific Distillery in Woodinville, is also regularly stocked in our bar. Both distillers take their craft seriously and produce fine spirits.

Tradition #1
The tradition that has endured the ages

Place cube of sugar on an absinthe (perforated) spoon, which should be resting on a glass of absinthe. Drip chilled water over the sugar until it dissolved, and the absinthe is diluted enough to drink.

Tradition #2
A more recent style, not our favorite but fire is always, er, fun?

With the same glass and spoon setup pour absinthe itself over the sugar cube, then set fire to the absinthe-soaked cube. Afterward, you can add water if you wish.
___
And of course, some cocktails to try!

Sazerac
Because they are so damn good! And a New Orleans classic, the Frenchiest place in the U.S., no?

3 oz of rye whiskey
½ oz simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
½ oz absinthe

Coat the glass with absinthe, pour out the excess. Shake first four ingredients in a shaker and strain into old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon or orange peel.

Death in the Afternoon(pictured above)
Concocted by Hemingway himself while stranded on his boat, combining what he had on hand. Who knew?

1 ½ oz absinthe
4 oz very, very cold champagne

Pour absinthe into champagne flute, top with champagne slowly until the absinthe clouds up.

Corpse Reviver #2
1 oz gin
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 to 3 drops absinthe

Shake all ingredients over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Cheers!

absinthe cocktails drinking holidays