You can see photos showing the coloration process for a traditionally made absinthe here:
http://www.oxygenee.com/absinthe-distill/coloration.html.

Thanks for that additional note about color.

Yes, all distilled products are clear when they come off the still. Whiskey, Brandy, etc. get their brown color from the wood they are aged in. Which also imparts/develops a lot of the flavor characteristics as well.

-Robert

Absinthe, like all unaged distilled spirits is completely clear when it comes out of the still. Some Absinthes, called Blanches, are bottled this way.

As Robert mentions, there are other colors. The green Absinthes, or Vertes, are infused with various herbs after distillation, which gives them their color. Some of the most common herbs are Petit Wormwood and Lemon Balm. Lemon Balm, in particular, gives a very nice pale green color to alcohol in which it is macerated.

Not sure what they use to color the Red Absinthes. Cochineal maybe? I know that is what they use to color Campari.

Green… Absinthe is traditionally green in color, but it can also be clear, and sometimes even red.

The green isn’t a STRONG green, but kind of a soft shade and often a little on the brown or yellow side (depending).

The color also isn’t in the “finished” drink, but in the raw Absinthe itself. The drink as pictured is “post louche”, with the louche turning the drink a milky white, with sometimes a very slight greenish tinge to it (as you can sort of see in the picture).

The color in the drink above is the “typical” color that a proper Absinthe should be after you add the ice water to it.

As for the Anise flavor… it isn’t as “single note” of an anise as ouzo, Pernod, Ricard, or other “pastis” style liquors are, it is instead slightly more complex then that. Some people who don’t care for “anise” like good Absinthe, when prepared properly. But it isn’t a flavor that has universal appeal.

Thanks! Brenda