Absinthe

Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called grand wormwood. Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a liqueur, absinthe is not bottled with added sugar and is, therefore, classified as a liquor or spirit.

Ban

Spurred by the temperance movement and wine makers’ associations, absinthe was publicised in connection with several violent crimes supposedly committed under the influence of the drink. This, combined with rising hard-liquor consumption caused by the wine shortage in France during the 1880s and 1890s, effectively labelled absinthe a social menace. Its critics said that “Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganises and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country.”14 Edgar Degas’ 1876 painting L’Absinthe (Absinthe) (now at the Musée d’Orsay) epitomised the popular view of absinthe ‘addicts’ as sodden and benumbed; Émile Zola described their serious intoxication in his novel L’Assommoir.

In 1905, it was reported that a man named Jean Lanfray murdered his family and attempted to kill himself after drinking absinthe. The fact that he was an alcoholic who had drunk considerably after the two glasses of absinthe in the morning was overlooked, and the murders were blamed solely on absinthe.15 The Lanfray murders were the last straw, and a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland was quickly signed by over 82,000 people.

Soon thereafter (in 1906), Belgium and Brazil banned the sale and redistribution of absinthe, although they were not the first. Absinthe was banned as early as 1898 in the Congo Free State (later Belgian Congo).16 In Switzerland, the prohibition of absinthe was even written into the constitution in 1907, following a popular initiative. The Netherlands came next, banning absinthe in 1909, followed by the United States in 1912 and France in 1915. Around the same time, Australia banned the liquor too. The prohibition of absinthe in France led to the growing popularity of pastis and ouzo, anise-flavoured liqueurs that do not use wormwood. Although Pernod moved their absinthe production to Spain, where absinthe was still legal, slow sales eventually caused it to close down. In Switzerland, it drove absinthe underground. Evidence suggests small home clandestine distillers have been producing absinthe since the ban, focusing on La Bleues as it was easier to hide a clear product. Many countries never banned absinthe, notably the United Kingdom, which eventually led to its revival.

Check out http://www.greenfairy.com.au/ for a modern incarnation, its history and some cocktail recipes.