By Manos Angelakis
Photograph courtesy of Philadelphia Distilling

Resurrection of the Green Fairy

In 1998, some London literati made an interesting discovery: absinthe had never been legally banned in England as it was in much of the rest of Europe. So, a number of London bars started again serving absinthe to the curious that would present themselves pre-dinner, at "l'heure verte", the green hour as it was called more than a century ago, when the art world of Paris would be found at cafés during the early evening smoking, flirting and sipping absinthe.

Absinthe was the favorite drink of such luminaries as Rimbaud, van Gogh, Verlaine, Oscar Wilde, and Toulouse-Lautrec, to name but a few. It was supposed to be a hallucinogenic aphrodisiac that unleashed artistic creativity, but was also officially blamed for causing insanity. The reason it was finally banned in most of Europe, and in 1912 the United States, was that many times doctors gave the cause of death as "absinthe abuse" when people died from syphilis, to save the family the embarrassment.

Now this distilled, highly alcoholic spirit flavored with anise and wormwood, is back in fashion. Wormwood, the one ingredient that gained the most notoriety, is Artemisia Absinthum, an herb that grows wild in Europe and is been cultivated in the United States. Much of the liquor's legendary effect is due to its extremely high alcohol content, usually ranging around 60% alcohol, i.e. 120 proof, plus the contribution of essential oils from the various herbs used in the flavoring and thujone (the hallucinojenic element in Artemisia Absinthum). The effect on an individual is subjective, and can be supposedly described as a kind of heightened clarity of mind and vision. This seems to wear off after 20 or so minutes. 2-3 glasses should do the trick. More than that, depending on the proof of the alcohol, will just make you very, very drunk.

The classic recipe for absinthe preparation is as follows: “In a tumbler, pour a finger of the green spirit, dip a spoon with a sugar cube into it until the cube is fully soaked. Light the spoon and let it burn over the glass (being as high as 140 proof, it creates a great blue flame). When the flame is extinguished, swirl the bubbling sugar into the absinthe and top it with a little water”. Another classic recipe is much simpler and calls for slowly drizzling ice-cold water over a sugar cube that rests on a slotted spoon, until the cube fully dissolves. In both cases, the drink becomes a pale green, milky liquid that makes your tongue numb. The reason for the sugar cube is that the extract of Artemisia Absinthum is extremely bitter, which makes the original preparation practically undrinkable.

The drink was once the darling of the café society in France, as well as being popular in various cities in the United States, and because of the large French population in Louisiana in the 1800’s, New Orleans was once dubbed the Absinthe Capital of the World. There are now more than 50 brands, most made in Europe in varying strengths from 120 to 160 proof, from Spain, France and Germany and a few from the United States. Unfortunately, the Absinth (please notice the absence of the final e) made in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, is a vile tasting product that has no relationship to a properly made Absinthe from the rest of the world. Czech and Bulgarian Absinths are low priced concoctions, not for those who seek historically accurate French- and Swiss- style Absinthes. In the United States, the resurgence of Absinthe has again made the drink very popular in New Orleans bars, and to a lesser extent, it is also popular in Manhattan. Marteau, Pacifique, Jade Nouvelle-Orléans, or Lucid are some of the genuine Absinthe brands now available. Some are sweeter than others; but all contain amounts of thujone, the drug in wormwood. Thujone is present in any absinthe, but in such trace amounts (the legal limit in both the EEC and the United States is less than 10 milligrams per kilogram) that by the time you would consume a toxic dose of thujone that could cause hallucinations, you would be already dead of alcohol poisoning.

The Philadelphia Distilling Company (12285 McNulty Road #105 Philadelphia, PA 19154, Tel: 215-671-0346, www.vieuxcarreabsinthe.com) produces the “Vieux Carré Absinthe Supérieure”, the first legally produced Absinthe in the East Coast of the US in almost 100 years. It is crafted as a batch distilled, double maceration product. We, at LuxuryWeb Magazine, have tasted this Absinthe, sold in a square bottle emblazoned with New Orleans’ styled graphics, and we consider it a very well crafted artisan spirit that combines historic ingredients with modern production methods. It contains 6.5-6.7 milligrams per kilogram of thujone, well within the legal limits.

Actually, if you have already tasted a French pastis or a Cretan raki, you already have a good idea of what the look and taste of the Vieux Carré is, except perhaps that the raki is drier and its louche is a less green opalescent color (whiter) than the pastis and Absinthe.

© October 2010 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.