The morbidness of the modern French mind is well-known and universally admitted ... the open atheism, heartlessness, flippancy, and flagrant immorality of the whole modern French school of thought is unquestioned." Absinthe, also known as The Green Goddess, The Green Fairy, or The Green Lady, has long been a popular drink for artists and creative types. Absinthe influenced bohemian artists and writers such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Édouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Oscar Wilde. This divisive beverage was once a favorite of painters and writers due to its purported capacity to aid their creative flow. Even though we are past this revival, there is still a lot of interest in this drink due to the legends surrounding it. This alcoholic beverage is among the most debated over; this is why we are attempting to educate anyone who wishes to enter the wonderful world of mysterious Absinthe.

Simon and Schulter's "Guide to Herbs and Spices" tells us that Henri-Louis Pernod used aniseed, fennel, hyssop, and lemonbalm along with lesser amounts of angelica, star anise, dittany, juniper, nutmeg, and veronica. These ingredients were macerated together with wormwood plants. After leaving the mixture to sit, water was added and the mixture was distilled. Dried herbs, including more wormwood, were added to the distillate, which was then diluted with alcohol to give a concentration of about 75% alcohol by volume. Different absinthe manufacturers used slightly different ingredients, sometimes using calamus, which has been purported to have psychoactive effects. Absinthe's popularity soared from 1880 on. Advertisements touted it as being healthful. It was exported to New Orleans and reached the same acclaim in the United States. It was one of the few drinks considered lady-like and women freely enjoyed it in the coffee houses where it was most commonly served. Victorian era men however, found women freely enjoying absinthe distasteful. Herb Sainte and Pernod are names of modern wormwood-free absinthes. Typically, additional star anise is added to balance the flavor. Herb Sainte is manufactured in New Orleans. Pernod is named after Henri-Louis Pernod, who founded the most important absinthe distillery in France in the early 1800s. ml Absinthe, Seedless Green Grapes, 1 dash Angostura Bitters, 37 1/2 ml Gin, 20 ml Ginger Syrup,Juice of 1/2 Lime, Soda Water, Candied Ginger 2) Death in the Afternoon Pastis is a similar liqueur to absinthe and was also originally made with wormwood. However, the dominant flavor in pastis is licorice (rather than the star anise of modern Pernod or HerbSainte). Pastis brands include Ricard, Duval, Jeannot, Casanis, and Henri Bardouin. Vermouth, chartreuse, and benedictine absinthe contain small amounts of thujone. In fact, vermouth, which is made using the flower heads from wormwood, takes its name from the German wermuth ("wormwood"). There are, of course, many other essential oil containing drinks, such as Ouzo and Jagermeister. Wormwood is popular as a flavoring for brannvin (an alcoholic drink made from potatoes) in Sweden.

Share Your Experiences

Here, all we have to say is that Absinthe is as unique as they come. This drink doesn’t necessarily bring you the same effects of all those illegal drugs but Absinthe hallucination includes awakening your senses in a way that other alcoholic beverages cannot. As you sip on through your drink, we recommend that you listen to your favorite melodies or even sift through your photo-books of beautiful memories. With the increased levels of sensory awareness, true pleasure and feelings are the most common and true effect we have found in our experience. This effect is what made Absinthe very popular among some of the legendary names out there such as Rimbaud, Hemingway, and Van Gogh – among so many more. Still, we don’t want you to believe that Van Gogh chose to cut his ear off because of his Absinthe binge! Speak the Green Language You have been brought here because you have an interest in seeking the decadent and intoxicating journey that is Absinthe. You’ve arrived at the right place because we are hoping to guide you while you explore this exciting world. What a slut," declared George Moore, a British art critic, when, in 1893, he first set his eyes on Edgar Degas's painting L'Absinthe. The "slut" in the picture was not the Green Fairy, but a French actress portrayed drinking absinthe in a Parisian cafe. She was one Ellen Andree, the painter's friend, shown in a reflective moment in a cafe called La Nouvelle-Athenes. The color of the distillate is clear and is often bottled this way in a style known as Blanche or la Bleue or as a bright green. The coloring is added, either through the chlorophyll from steeping herbs like hyssop, melissa and petite wormwood in the liquor or adding artificial coloring. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as “ la fée verte” (the green fairy). In the age of the original absinthe fever, the drink was always diluted with water and sweetened with sugar before consumption. First, a cube of sugar was placed on a perforated spoon resting on the top of a glass of neat absinthe. Then, chilled water was slowly poured over the sugar until it dissolved and the required level of dilution was achieved. Special absinthe fountains — decorated containers that dispensed iced water — had their firm place in most drinking establishments of that time.

Originally, the absinthe drink was intended as an aperitif. The bars and cafes of fin de siecle Paris celebrated the “ Green Hour“, a late-afternoon period when Parisians downed their pre-dinner glass (or three) of the green liquor.It must also be remembered that in the many French cafes and restaurants which have recently sprung up in London, Absinthe is always to be obtained at its customary low price -- French habits, French fashions, French books, French pictures, are particularly favoured by the English, and who can predict that French drug-taking shall not also become a la mode in Britain?" The rage that Degas's L'Absinthe caused in England was an expression of a pre-existing nervous fear that the decadent ways of the Continent might reach the shores of the British Isles, too. Two years previously, Marie Corelli, the English author of "Wormwood: A Drama of Paris", wrote: Absinthe was supplied to French troops as a malaria preventative in the 1840s, which made them develop a taste for it when they returned home. As a result, it became widely popular among young urbanites. In addition, because of mass production procedures, absinthe's price fell, and it became one of the most popular alcoholic beverages in France. In addition to these ingredients, manufacturers sometimes added other ingredients to produce the drink's emerald green color. Normally, this color was due to the presence of chlorophyll from the plants. However, in the event that the product was not properly colored, absinthe makers were known to add things like copper sulfate, indigo, turmeric, and aniline green. Antimony chloride was also used to help the drink become cloudy when added to water. Presumably modern makers of Pernod and absinthe use safer ingredients for their concoctions!