Absinthe had been the favorite drink of several popular artists and writers.

Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. The preparation of Absinthe liquor is done from a wine alcohol base and is flavored with herbs and essential oils together with wormwood, aniseed and fennel. 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. There had been medicinal use of wormwood since ancient times. Absinthe was produced 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.

In Couvet Henri-Louis Pernod was using the Absinthe recipe to distill Absinthe and under the name of Pernod Fils in the French town of Pontarlier. The Pernod company used to manufacture upto 30,000 liters of Absinthe each day!

Absinthe was a popular drink in France, in La Belle Epoque, and also many other countries. The popularity of Absinthe was more in comparison to wine in France. There were concerns about health and the effects of Absinthe simultaneously. The liquor was linked to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre. People started believing that thujone caused psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death.

Van Gogh’s insanity and his suicide, murder of a family and the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France were the events for which Absinthe was blamed. Absinthe was unauthorized in the USA and in France in the year 1912 and 1915 respectively. 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. Studies and research proved that the claims made about Absinthe were not true.

Research proved that effects of Absinthe was similar to the consumption of other strong alcoholic beverages like whisky and vodka and one cannot be harmed due to the thujone content in Absinthe.

In the late 20th century Absinthe with up to 10mg/kg of thujone was authorized in the EU and with up to 10 ppm it was legalized 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. Absinthe containing only up to 5mg per liter of fenchone is allowed in France.

A person can now order Absinthe online, buy it in a liquor shop or buy real wormwood Absinthe essences to make his own Green Fairy.Visit AbsintheKit.com for more information about Absinthe essences. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoonslike a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.