The Spirit World

These days, Absinthe seems to becoming a far more popular topic then it has for nearly a hundred years.

One of the aspects of Absinthe which most likely has the most appeal is the fact that it has long been banned virtually worldwide. It was banned in Switzerland (its place of origin) in 1910, it was banned in America (where it was rarely even used) in 1912, and it was finally banned in France in 1915. It has only been relatively recently that pockets of Absinthe awareness and availability have started to appear. The problem is, that much of the knowledge regarding Absinthe is unfortunately colored either by the same propaganda which led to its original ban or by modern marketers of faux Absinthe taking advantage of the situation.

First let me address the ancient propaganda. True Absinthe is no more dangerous than any other high-proof spirit. Traditionally, Absinthe is bottled at a much higher alcohol level than other spirits. While Gin, Brandy, Whiskey, etc usually are around 40% alcohol (80 Proof), Absinthe is often bottled at almost double that. But then Absinthe is never intended to be taken straight, and instead should be diluted about 75% with water.

A lot of material exists from the late 1800’s regarding the hallucinogenic, if not poisonous effects of Absinthe. This is essentially all bunk. Usually correlations are made between Absinthe usage and Thujone poisoning.  The issue is that for various reasons Absinthe was chosen as a scapegoat, and it was necessary to identify something unique about Absinthe which made it worse than beer, wine, or other spirits. Wormwood, one of the specific ingredients for Absinthe was identified as a potential “smoking gun” to outlaw Absinthe. One of the constituent components that could be extracted from Wormwood was Thujone. Testing could show that Thujone was poisonous, and while its total effects were unclear, it would (in significant amounts) cause seizures if not death.

The logic of the day tied high thujone content to Absinthe, since wormwood contained thujone, and it was used in the process of making Absinthe. To this day, this connection is highly utilized to market various brands of Absinthe, using“high thujone content” as an indicator of the quality of the product. Unfortunately, what was not realized by the propagandists of the day, nor the marketers of today, is that during the distillation process (which all real Absinthe goes through), virtually all of the thujone is removed. Which means a glass of Absinthe has less thujone in it than a serving of turkey dressing (sage, thyme, and rosemary also contain thujone).

Another common misconception regarding Absinthe is how to properly serve it. You’ll often see folks using a burning sugar cube as part of the “ritual”, this ritual unfortunately is a creation of the modern marketers of some of the various faux Absinthe on the market. The real ritual has to do with dripping ice cold water over a (non-burning) sugar cube. The result of this is a beautifully opalescent clouding that will gather in the glass (aka “louche”). Many of the faux Absinthes don’t louche, and so the “burning sugar cube” trick was devised in order to do something ritualistic regarding the preparation of the drink. All that flame also takes your mind off the fact that what you are about to drink will taste pretty vile.

And then of course there are those “Absinthe Kits” you often see for sale on eBay and such which include a bunch of herbs and say if you soak them in everclear for a while you end up with Absinthe. Not Even Close.

So enough about the misconceptions, what about the reality?

Absinthe is an aperitif with a distinctly anise (licorice) flavor to it. It is traditionally made by macerating (soaking) Anise, Florence fennel, and wormwood in a neutral spirit, and then distilling it again to both clarify the product and set the flavors properly. After the Absinthe ban, several products came out in an attempt to be non-wormwood Absinthe substitutes, the most popular of them are Pernod, Ricard, and Herbsaint. While none of these (today) reflect the rich and often subtle complexities of pre-ban Absinthe, they do provide a similar flavor profile, so if you simply want to know in general what Absinthe tastes like, then they do a passable job.

One of the traditional ways of serving Absinthe is what is known as an Absinthe drip. You add a measure of Absinthe to a glass, and then place a slotted spoon over the top of the glass, and on top of this spoon you place one (or sometimes two) sugar cubes. You then slowly drip ice-cold water over the sugar cube, which both dissolves the sugar, as well as slowly adding the cold water to the Absinthe (sugar doesn’t dissolve well in alcohol, so the water pre-treatment is necessary). The cold water will cause the absinthe to slowly cloud up due to the botanical oils of the anise and fennel which are dissolved in the alcohol, but which readily fall out of suspension in cold water. This louche will also trigger a release of both fragrances and flavors which are latent in the essential oils and allow them to be more easily enjoyed. (Note: Since Pernod, Ricard, and other Absinthe substitutes have sugar added to them, you usually don’t want to use a sugar cube)

If you look through many old cocktail manuals, you will often find a fair number of cocktails which include Absinthe in very small amounts as a flavoring component. For example a properly made Sazerac cocktail simply rinses the glass with Absinthe. For such drinks any good quality Absinthe substitute would work fine. But if you are wanting to really appreciate the “real stuff”, and then you’re going to have to do some hunting, as well as some research. Most of the “broadly available” Absinthe that you will run into for sale on the Internet is faux Absinthe, and tastes nothing like the real thing; in most cases they will be almost undrinkable.

One of the better resources for further details regarding Absinthe, including recommended brands and vendors, is the Wormwood Society.