History and Mystery: the Allure of Absinthe

You aren’t hallucinating; and neither are we. Absinthe is making a comeback, partly due to its mysterious, scandalous history, and partly due to the detailed attention of craft distilleries.

History and Scandal

Absinthe was originally developed by a French doctor as a health tonic prior to the 1800s. The first distillery opened in 1805 in Switzerland and absinthe slowly grew in popularity. It was given to French troops as a malaria treatment in the 1840s and when they returned home, the demand for absinthe spiked and distilleries began mass production. At the same time, a grape blight caused a wine shortage in the mid-1800s, and many people turned to absinthe due to the scarcity of wine.

Absinthe became associated with artists, poets, and intellectuals after 1850. Edgar Degas, a soon-to-be famous painter in Paris, stunned the art community with L’Absinthe, an 1876 painting which shows a subject in a stupor and exhibiting lethargy while under the influence of absinthe. Unease began to grow as more of the public saw these qualities as indicative of absinthe addicts; and when the grape blight was over and wine production was up, wine forces joined up with those behind the temperance movement to paint absinthe in a negative light.

In 1905, French laborer Jean Lanfray murdered his pregnant wife and two children. Investigators found that he had spent his day drinking, and two of those drinks were absinthe. This was the tinder the temperance movement needed to fan the flames of the anti-absinthe movement. In 10 years, France outlawed absinthe, followed by Belgium the next year. A wave of absinthe bans swept across Europe and the United States.

Mystery and revival

As years passed, the bans did not dissuade people from enjoying absinthe. Although the sale of absinthe was banned, crafting and distilling absinthe was not. Mystery swirled around the spirit and it became legendary, thanks to the rumors of absinthe’s hallucinogenic qualities. And, as modern historians dug into the case against absinthe, the truth set the spirit free and countries began lifting the bans.

In 2007, the United States lifted the ban on the sale of absinthe. The first bottles sold were from St. George Spirits in California, where master distiller Lance Winters had been working on his absinthe recipe for12 years.

“Part of the interest was the fact that it was banned and there was so much mystery around it, so much commotion around it,” Winters explained. “I thought, I’m a distiller, I have access to all the equipment, and I can’t get to Europe and buy any. To be able to learn about it, I decided to make it.”

Winters found a recipe in Scientific American Magazine, printed before the ban, and began experimenting. “The first batch was pretty horrible, actually. It didn’t take long to figure out why,” Winters said. “Once I got the next batch and it was closer to absinthe, that’s when I started playing around with it, finding what would make it more interesting to me.” Winters starts his absinthe with a chardonnay brandy. “You need a high proof spirit. A lot of people use different ingredients for that stage,” he explained. “We choose brandy because it gives it a great mouth feel and there is a citrus quality from the chardonnay that brightens the absinthe.”

The brandy is then infused with star anise, fennel, and wormwood. A secondary infusion is where things get interesting. Winters adds lemon balm, hyssop, meadow sweet and stinging nettles along with an infusion of tarragon, mint, basil, and another type of wormwood. Then additional herbs are used to finish the absinthe.

“We had the luxury of spending 12 years making our absinthe,” Winters said.

“There are a lot of herbs that didn’t make the cut…one year I put my Christmas tree in a batch; it was fun but distracting.”

The final recipe was bottled as St. George Absinthe Verte and, when the ban was lifted in 2007, was the first absinthe sold in the United States post-ban.

Preparation and enjoyment

An absinthe display greets customers who walk through the glass doors of VOM FASS in Naples. An elegant glass globe with four tiny silver spigots rises above a table on a grooved glass base, surrounded by Pontarlier glasses — named for the French town. The glasses have a well at the bottom to indicate the perfect pour of absinthe. Displayed around the table are bottles of varying sizes of absinthe.

VOM FASS sells two different varieties. “The main difference is alcohol content,” explained Patrick Doyle, shop manager for VOM FASS Naples. “Traditionally absinthe is a very high proof spirit, frequently being over 70 percent alcohol by volume.” The two varieties the store carries are Absinthe Libertine 72 (144 proof) and Absinthe Libertine 55 (110 proof). There is a slight flavor difference between the two, which are flavored with anise, star anise, coriander, fennel, licorice root and wormwood.

“A lot of people come in and say can you sell that? Is it legal?” Doyle said. Most customers are familiar with the myth that wormwood has significant hallucinogenic qualities.

“There is some basis in fact there, because wormwood has a compound called thujone, which at high enough doses can cause hallucinations.” Doyle feels, though, that today’s absinthe is safe, and it is highly likely that the original absinthe was safe as well.

“You could eat some basil and there is more thujone in it than in a glass of absinthe,” Doyle explained. “That being said, I’ve had three or four glasses and it’s a different sort of mellow…maybe it’s because I know the mythology.”

Doyle happily educates those that come in on the step-by-step process in preparing absinthe.

“First, find some friends who are into exploring the depths of their psyche and the flavors of the world,” he jokes, then gets down to the serious business of preparation.

An ounce and a half of absinthe is placed in a glass (if using an absinthe or Pontarlier glass, fill to the first natural line). An absinthe spoon is laid over the top of the glass, and a sugar cube is placed on top of the spoon. Chilled water is then dripped slowly onto the sugar cube; this is done with the glass absinthe fountain available for purchase at VOM FASS, but can also be done at home but simply adding 3 parts chilled water to 1 part absinthe. The result is that the botanical green color of the absinthe lightens and becomes opaque, which is called la louche. The slow dripping of the water also releases essential oils and the aroma of the absinthe.

Winters, though, is anti-sugar cube.

“I feel like sugar was something done to mask the flavor of inferior products,” Winters said. “I’m a huge fan of ceremony, and the ceremony of the absinthe drip is totally like that. Just do it with cold water and don’t do the sugar cube. The beauty of absinthe is that there is so much of a sense of sweetness that comes from the ingredients. It’s cleaner without the sugar.”

Winters favorite way to enjoy absinthe is to fill a tall glass with crushed ice, add in the ounce and a half of absinthe, then fill the rest of the glass with cold water. Or, he recommends putting an ounce and a half of absinthe into a rocks glass and adding a large ice cube. “Sip it as it cools down but before the ice melts,” Winters explained. “As the ice slowly melts, it unfolds the imagery of the herbs that are present. It’s a really beautiful experience, like letting the glass tell the story.” And after spending 12 years developing his absinthe, and the last eight years selling it, is Winters still an absinthe fan?

“Oh yeah, I love a good absinthe on a hot day,” he said. “Nothing can replace the complexity and the wonderfulness of good absinthe.”

Where to buy absinthe

VOM FASS Naples 9100 Strada Place, Suite 2112, Naples 513-0103 www.vomfassnaples.com

Total Wine and More For St. George Absinthe Verte

Total Wine & More, 13705 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers 432-0510

Total Wine & More, Carillon Place, 5048 Airport Pulling Rd. North, Naples 649-4979