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Absinthe, Absalom!
Appears in
By Denise Gee
Published 2007
After the first glass [of absinthe], you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.
— Oscar Wilde
Oh, the glory days of absinthe. In this country, that was pre-1912, before the green, anise-heavy liqueur was banned for allegedly driving people mad.
In its earliest form, absinthe—essentially wormwood leaves soaked in wine—derived from the Greek word apsinthium, meaning “undrinkable,” because of its bitterness. It was appreciated for its medicinal properties.