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Understanding Absinthe
Absinthe had been the favorite drink of several popular artists and writers.
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beveragedistilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. A wine alcohol base used in the making of Absinthe and is flavored with herbs and essential oils including wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), aniseed and fennel. Hyssop, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, juniper, nutmeg, dittany, calamus root and mint are also involved in the production of Absinthe.
Information about Absinthe History
Absinthe has a very long and interesting history. Wormwood has been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times. A French doctor, Dr Pierre Ordinaire created Absinthe in the Swiss town of Couvet in the Val-de-Travers. It was used on the patients as an elixir which gave astonishing results.
During the 19th century, Henri-Louis Pernod was using the Absinthe recipe to distill Absinthe in Couvet and under the name of Pernod Fils in the French town of Pontarlier. Everyday the production of Absinthe was 30,000 liters by the Pernod company!
Along with France, La Belle Epoque Absinthe was also famous in several other countries. The popularity of Absinthe was more in comparison to wine in France. At the same time, there were concerns about health and the effects of Absinthe. One can also find the liquor to be connected with the Bohemian culture of Montmartre. According to the people’s thought thujone was a psychoactive resulting in psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death.
According to the people’s thought Absinthe was the cause behind Van Gogh’s insanity and his suicide, a man killing his family and the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France. Absinthe was unauthorized in the USA and in France in the year 1912 and 1915 respectively. Other countries also restricted Absinthe.
Absinthe Revival
During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. Most of the people were convinced with the reports given by studies and research about Absinthe.
Studies showed that Absinthe was no more dangerous than consuming other strong alcoholic beverages, such as whisky and vodka, and that Absinthe contained only very small amounts of thujone – not enough to cause any harmful side effects.
The EU legalized Absinthe with up to 10mg/kg of thujone in the late 20th century and in 2007 the USA legalized certain brands of Absinthe which contained up to 10 ppm of thujone .
France, home of Pernod’s original Absinthestill has a ban on products labeled “Absinthe” and France also strictly regulates drinks containing fenchone, a chemical in fennel which is a key ingredient in Absinthe. Absinthes is known as “spirit a base de plantes d’absinthe” in France and only contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.
One can now get Absinthe from online or from a liquor shop.One can get more information about Absinthe essences on AbsintheKit.com. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoonslike a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.
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