Dispelling the mystique of the ‘Green Fairy’: Part one

The history, and more so the mystery of absinthe is like no other liquor, not liqueur, in the world. Known as the “Green Fairy,” and surrounded by much propaganda, many assume the drink to be taboo. It is The Daily Dose's intent to dispel the century old myths about absinthe.

Let’s start, where most history lessons begin, at the beginning. Absinthe takes its name from Artemisia absinthium, the botanical name for the herb, wormwood, which is the ingredient in absinthe that contains the molecule, thujone, which supposedly accounts for its alleged mind-altering properties. Wormwood infusions, used as medicines, have been traced back as far as ancient Greece. Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Switzerland is often credited for creating absinthe in 1792, but Ordinaire actually obtained his recipe from two sisters, Suzanne and Margerite Henriod, who had been making an “elixir d'absynthe” to treat illnesses for years.

Made from distilled wormwood plant, anise, hyssop, lemon balm, and other local herbs, the tonic was incredibly powerful at 72 percent alcohol, and gained local popularity as a medical cure-all. Dr. Ordinaire’s elixir, at 136-proof, became the traditional proof of real absinthe. In 1797 the formula was sold to Major Dubied who, with his son-in-law, Henri-LouisPernod, started the first absinthe factory in Couvet, Switzerland. In 1805, the famous Pernod Fils distillery expanded and opened in Pontarlier, France to avoid customs taxes between Switzerland and France. By 1905, there were hundreds of distilleries in all corners of France producing absinthe.

The popularity of absinthe can be attributed to French soldiers who’d acquired a taste for the elixir when it was dispensed to them during the French campaigns of the 1840s in North Africa, to fight off water born diseases. The French soldiers brought their taste for the beverage back to the cafes of Paris. It was then that absinthe gained mass popularity.

From the mid 19th century onwards absinthe became associated with bohemian Paris and featured frequently in the paintings of such artists as Manet, Van Gogh and Picasso. When they were not painting it, they were drinking it in large quantities, joined by contemporary poets such as Baudelaire, Rimbaud and Verlaine.

Initially a drink for bohemian artists who often hung at the Parisian cafes, absinthe soon became fashionable amongst the upper class, the bourgeoisie. Absinthe’s popularity was so powerful that the bourgeoisie literally created a time between 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., known as the “Green Hour,” in which this upper echelon of Parisian society would partake in the drink.

Between 1876 and 1900 the annual consumption in France had rocketed from 265,000 gallons to a staggering 554,000,000 gallons. And with the increase in consumption, so to did the production of absinthe. Absinthe production grew so much that it became cheaper than wine. So, if absinthe was so popular, why was it banned? Check out part two for the answer to this question and the history of the resurgence of absinthe back into today’s market.