All About Absinthe

Many of us have heard stories about famous artists and writers inspired by hallucinogenic encounters with absinthe — didn’t the Green Fairy make Van Gogh cut off his ear? — or heard personal accounts of wild nights in Eastern Europe followed by painful recovery periods.
But, at some point, science and logic have to step in and ruin the fun.

The truth is that absinthe has never been anything more than a high-alcohol, herb-flavoured spirit. This is far less romantic or sexy than its ethereal, greenish-glowing reputation, but that’s reality.

On the plus side, it can be a delicious drink, either as the Green Fairy, the most celebrated absinthe preparation, or as an addition to inspired creations from mixologists.

Is Absinthe a Dangerous Drug?

Absinthe has been classified as a dangerous drug and, in fact, was declared illegal in some countries in the early 1900s. It was banned in Switzerland in 1910 (1912 in the United States, 1915 in France) after a Swiss man murdered his family while reportedly drunk on absinthe. According to another source, the man also consumed seven glasses of wine, six glasses of cognac, one coffee laced with brandy and two crème de menthes, but absinthe was blamed, partly as a scapegoat for the temperance movement, but also because of the hallucinogenic myths surrounding it. 

So why would people think absinthe is worse than any other booze? The neurotoxin thujone, which comes from wormwood, one of the herbs used in making absinthe, is known to cause hallucinations at high levels. But the thujone level in absinthe, even in “real” absinthe from Eastern Europe, is so low as to be insignificant in terms of hallucinogenic properties. You can’t drink enough to hallucinate; some say you’d need to drink more than 150 cups, and others say “a bathtub.” But that doesn’t hold back the mystique.

The History of Absinthe

Switzerland lays claim to being the birthplace of absinthe, with a history dating back to the second half of the 18th century, in the small village of Couvet in the Val-de-Travers region.

The first new official absinthe from Switzerland is La Clandestine, from the Artemisia distillery, which is available in many Canadian markets. In France, La Fée Absinthe, from a Paris-based distiller, claimed to be the first traditional French absinthe produced when the ban was lifted. (The ban on absinthe sales in France, however, was only lifted in May 2011.) The original commercial absinthe producer, though, is Pernod, which was established in Pontarlier in 1805.

Don’t fall for the myth that current commercial brands are fake absinthe, though. Many are made in the traditional manner. The fact is that absinthe is just not dangerous, at least not any more dangerous than any other high-alcohol spirit. Many absinthes are high in alcohol, often sporting levels of 60 to 70 percent, so it is no wonder some folks get a little drunker than planned when imbibing the stuff.

How Absinthe is Made

Absinthe is made using herbs for aroma and flavour. Flowers and leaves from grand wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) are necessary for the spirit to be absinthe, but other herbs are often used, including green anise, star anise, fennel, petite wormwood, hyssop and others. These ingredients are macerated in an alcoholic base, which could be wine-based or another neutral spirit, and then the absinthe is redistilled. This is not unlike gin production.

Some absinthes are clear and some are coloured green. Bohemian versions are noted for being clear, without the anise, and thus they don’t tend to “louche” (go cloudy) when water is added.

Where to Buy Absinthe in Canada

In Canada — where absinthe was legal as of 2007, but some provincial liquor boards have thujone limits — selection is limited in most provinces. Quebec sells Taboo ($57), an artisanal absinthe from B.C., as well as Hill’s from Czech Republic ($64), Pernod ($78), La Clandestine ($77), Kübler ($50), Mythe Absinthe 69 ($43), and Absente 55 ($48). The LCBO in Ontario and BC Liquor stores both carry four brands. Premier Wines and Spirits, a private store in Nova Scotia, leads the way in the east, with Taboo and La Clandestine. Atlantic liquor boards only sell Absente, which used to be a non-thujone version, but now contains wormwood. Many people are familiar with Pernod, which makes both a wormwood-free, 40-percent alcohol, sweet golden liqueur and, starting in 2007 after the absinthe ban was lifted, a 68-percent-alcohol, green absinthe.