In short, the law regarding Artemisia absinthium states that it must be thujone-free. Spain and Czech Republic continued to produce and legally consume it, but much of the world forgot about absinthe.įast-forward to the early 21st century, the laws regarding absinthe in the US were reinterpreted in 2007. In fact, several other countries joined suit over the years. Shortly after the First World War began, it was outlawed in France (in the US it was banned in 1912). However, the temperance movement-assisted by winemakers-targeted absinthe as the reason for society’s problems and wanted it banned. It was served everywhere in France and parts of Europe and even New Orleaneans were drinking absinthe as it made its way across the pond. It was served in French cafes, cabarets, bistros and music halls. When phylloxera, a vine disease, decimated the wine industry in the 1870s, its popularity grew as it was inexpensive and easy to produce using neutral spirit as a base.ĭuring the Belle Époque, it was known to be the beverage of choice for many artists and poets of the time such as Van Gogh, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Manet, Wilde and Toulouse-Lautrec, among many others. There it was used as an antimalarial and was mixed with wine to make it palatable.

Its popularity grew in France in the 1830s after French soldiers came back from fighting in Algeria. Modern-day absinthe dates to Switzerland where it was being produced commercially at the end of the 1700s. A Brief History of Drinking AbsintheĪlthough drinking absinthe was at its height in the late 1800s during the Belle Époque in France, its use goes back to ancient Egypt when it was used for medicinal purposes. For the rest of us, we can be glad that we can once again enjoy the L’heure Verte-The Green Hour-to our hearts content. But for those seeking out hallucinations, they will be sadly disappointed when they don’t see the Green Fairy materialize after a few glasses. As a once illicit spirit, it seems that drinking absinthe will never escape appearing dangerous or forbidden.

No other drink has had such a mythology attached to it like absinthe.

Absinthe definition