Of all the flim-flam, farradiddle and flummery surrounding
drinks, perhaps none shares the levels of notoriety that bedevil Absinthe. The
favourite tipple of artists, poets and assorted bohemian types, it has a
reputation of being a true devil’s brew, rotting brain and talent alike, a
dangerous destroyer of men and minds. Those who partook of the Green Fairy
could expect visions, dreams and hallucinations; it was a drink like no
other. The list of aficionados is long
and legendary – Van Gogh, Lautrec, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Baudelaire and Wilde, to
name but half a dozen. With such a pedigree, it is hardly surprising that the
drink developed its association with scandal, sin and sinners.
Degas - The Absinthe Drinker |
In 1905, a Swiss
labourer called Jean Lanfray murdered his pregnant wife and his two infant
daughters. He had drunk two glasses of absinthe earlier in the day, and the
outraged Swiss called for the drink to be banned. The fact that he had also had
seven glasses of wine, six glasses of brandy, two coffees and cognac, and two
crème de menthes was conveniently ignored. Absinthe was banned, first in
Switzerland, then France, the US, and most other countries (but not, unusually,
the UK).
The taste for anise-flavoured spirits (like ouzo, raki, sambuca or
arak) was satisfied by pastis, invented by Paul Ricard in 1932. Other brands,
including Pernod and Pastis Henri Bardouin, followed. Like absinthe, pastis
goes cloudy when water is added – known as la louche – but unlike absinthe,
pastis does not contain Grand Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium) or Green Anise.
Wormwood contains thujole, a supposed hallucinogen, although thujole is also
found in tansy, sage and vapour rub! Other drinks, including Benedictine,
Chartreuse, and Vermouth, also contain traces of thujole. Vermouth takes its
name from the German for Wormwood – wermut. Closely related is Mugwort
(Artemesia vulgaris), which takes its name from Mu – a bug or fly, and wort –
herb or root, in Old English. The Old English called what we call herbalism
wort-cunning.
In the Ukraine, Wormwood is called Чорнобиль – Chernobyl, which
has caused some more literal-minded bible-readers to link the 1986 disaster
there to the Book of Revelations and the third star named Wormwood (8:11), and
thus an imminent apocalypse.
To prepare absinthe, and pastis, a measure of the
spirit is poured into a glass and iced water is added, to a ratio of 1:5 or so,
according to taste. Sometimes, lump sugar is placed on a special slotted spoon
and the water is dripped onto the sugar, sweetening the drink.
A more modern (and,
frankly, simply wrong), variant is to soak the sugar lump in absinthe and then
set it alight, allowing the melted caramel to drip into the drink.
Special
water carafes, usually bearing a brand advertisement, are common in French
bars.
Verres de Pastis Henri Bardouin |
Also available, like these two I bought in Dinan, are special pastis
glasses. Recent investigations have shown that Absinthe is no more dangerous
than any other alcoholic drink. Thujole is not an hallucinogen, although large
amounts can cause muscle spasms, nor is it related to THC, the active element
of cannabis. The bad reputation is most certainly due to exaggeration and
hyperbole, and the desire of some absinthe drinkers to seem to be ‘different’,
‘dangerous’ or ‘artistic’.
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