Absinthe

Absinthe, that mysterious emerald elixir which calls to mind visions of bohemia complete with Parisian cafes, famous artists and enchanted evenings.  I knew that eventually I would want to write about it, and the “Wormwood” puzzle box provided me the perfect opportunity.

Absinthe has a long, long history, going back to ancient Egypt and Greece and ending up in 19th century Europe where it was thought to produce visions in its imbibers.  It gets its name and the tales of its hallucinogenic effects from its most famous ingredient, wormwood, or artemisia absinthium.  Very high concentrations of the active chemical in wormwood, thujone, were once thought to produce mind altering effects.  Absinthe does not actually contain such high levels, and regardless, thujone has since been shown to have no such properties.  It’s likely that toxins and even poisons such as copper salts found their way into the drink due to cheap production methods in the late 19th century and that these are what made folks like Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec literally mad for the potion.  

Absinthe verte 

Wormwood was thought to have medicinal properties in Ancient Egypt and Greece, where it was used thousands of years ago to flavor wine.  Modern day Absinthe originated in Switzerland, invented by the physician Pierre Ordinaire in 1792, also with a medicinal purpose in mind.  They certainly had good medicine back then.  It’s not as silly as it sounds, since wormwood does have anti-parasitic effects and absinthe was used to effectively treat and prevent malaria in French soldiers of the day.  In the mid 1800’s it became the drink of choice for the bohemians and bourgeois of Paris, where it developed its air of magic and mystery, and was known as “la fée verte”, the green fairy.  Surely this was encouraged by the mesmerizing way that absinthe behaves when prepared in the traditional manner, which is by placing a sugar cube on a special slotted spoon which rests on top of the glass.  Ice water is then dripped slowly through the sugar and into the absinthe in the glass below.  Wisps of smoky, cloudy ribbons begin to curl and swirl around in the glass, creating what is known as a “louche” (French for “opaque”).  For you chemists, this is the result of herbaceous components in the drink which are not water soluble, such as anise, being released.  

The mysterious louche

Like the drink, the history clouds over around the turn of the last century, when another Swiss man murdered his family while under its influence (plus a tragic volume of other alcohol in his system as well).  World-wide bans on absinthe soon resulted.  In recent times, absinthe has been produced again, although with regulations on keeping the thujone levels extremely low.  France lifted its official ban in 2011, almost one hundred years after the backlash.  You can now experience high quality, authentic absinthe, either vert (green) or blanche (white), with its classic wormwood, anise and fennel flavors, at your leisure.  Whether you find artistic or other inspiration in the glass remains for you to discover.  Cheers!

A welcome pair of worm wood wonders