Absinthe has a fascinating history; in fact, entire books have been written about this legendary emerald-green liquor. It is made from the plant wormwood (so named because it is used to kill intestinal parasites) and flavored with a multitude of herbs. The original recipe was created by Dr. Ordinaire, a Frenchman living in Switzerland at the time, and is said to have contained anise, hyssop, dittany, sweet flag, coriander, veronica, chamomile, and parsley. It is very potent (136 proof) and has been called everything from a powerful aphrodisiac to addictive and deadly. Dr. Ordinaire sold his recipe to a Swiss man named Henri-Louis Pernod (see Pernod), who was the first to produce absinthe commercially. Although made in Switzerland, absinthe has always been associated with France and the decadent artists of Paris in the late 1800s. Famous advocates and partakers of absinthe include Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pablo Picasso. During its heyday in France, it was known as the Green Fairy and the Green One. Because the flavor alone is very bitter, absinthe was usually served with sugar and water. As the water was added, the mixture would turn an opalescent green, a fact mentioned often in poems applauding its virtues. In addition to poetry describing absinthe’s supposed wondrous ability to eliminate all cares, the drink inspired hundreds of French paintings depicting every conceivable related image, from the drinkers themselves to the bottles absinthe was distilled in, the decanters and glasses used for service, the cafés where it was served, and so on. At the same time, cartoons and posters warned the public of its ill effects. In France during the 1880s, a slang name for absinthe was une correspondance, a shortened version of the phrase une correspondance pour Charenton, which translates to “a ticket to Charenton,” Charenton being an insane asylum just outside of Paris. Doctors claimed it caused damage to the central nervous system and digestive system, caused amnesia, and produced convulsions, hallucinations, violence, epileptic seizures, tuberculosis, criminal behavior, and insanity! Scientific studies conducted in the 1970s concluded that absinthe produced similar psychological effects to those induced by the use of marijuana.
