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Swiss origins -

Absinthe has its origins in 18th-century Switzerland. It was apparently concocted by a French doctor, Pierre Ordinaire, as an all-purpose remedy. The physician later sold the formula to one Major Dubied in 1797.

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The "holy trinity" -

Absinthe is made from three herbs: grande wormwood (pictured), green anise, and sweet fennel—often referred to as the "holy trinity." Incidentally, the word absinthe is derived from the Latin absinthium, which in turn comes from the Greek apsínthion, meaning "wormwood." Back in antiquity, the Greeks and Egyptians prescribed wormwood for ailments like menstrual cramps and fevers.

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Made in Couvet -

Later in 1797, Dubied opened the first absinthe distillery in Couvet with his son Marcellin and son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod.

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Maison Pernod Fils -

The bitter-sweet apéritif was such a big hit that in 1809 they opened a second distillery in Pontarlier, in France, under the company name Maison Pernod Fils. With an average alcohol content of anywhere between 45–74% by volume, it became the most popular brand of absinthe throughout the first quarter of the 19th century. Pictured is one of the first Pernod Fils storerooms, with bottles of the liquor crated up and ready for export. The global destinations can be read on the crates.

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Influential advertising -

Based on a painting by Charles Maire (1845-1919), this ubiquitous print advertising Pernod Fils once hung in almost every bar and café in France. Both Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque were inspired by this image, using it as the basis of some of the very earliest Cubist paintings.

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"The Green Hour" -

By the 1850s, absinthe was proving so popular that is was being sold everywhere, in local bars, bistros, and cafés. A happy hour became prevalent, the so-called l'heure verte ("the green hour"), when glasses were chinked in earnest at around five o'clock daily.

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Absinthe fountain -

Postcards or photos showing "real-life" scenes of absinthe drinking are extremely rare. This 19th-century example, showing a group of fishermen relaxing over their absinthes at the end of a hard day at sea, shows the absinthe fountain, an accessory used to deliver the required amount of ice-cold water into a glass of the high-proof drink.

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Millions of liters -

By the late 1800s, a glass of absinthe cost next to nothing. By 1910, the French alone were knocking back 36 million liters of the stuff. Pictured is one of the most iconic art nouveau images of all, the 1896 image for Absinthe Robette by the Belgian posterist Henri Privat-Livemont.

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Popular across Europe -

Bars across Europe in countries that included Great Britain (pictured), Spain, and Portugal, as well as in the United States, were stocking and selling absinthe in large quantities. But the drink was beginning to garner a bad reputation.

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'The Absinthe Drinker' -

Over-consumption of absinthe was being blamed for violent crime and social disorder. The drink that had once been marketed as medicine was now being described as a narcotic. Critics believed the alcohol made drinkers crazy and criminal. Artists like Édouard Manet played right into the hands of detractors with paintings like 'The Absinthe Drinker' (1859), one of the first artistic depictions of the drink.

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'L'Absinthe' -

Edgar Degas went one better. His 1876 painting 'L'Absinthe' features a young woman clearly inebriated and drearily slumped over her glass. Some physicians insisted absinthe induced fits of epilepsy and provoked tuberculosis. Degas' lethargic and lonely woman only served to reinforce their conviction.

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'Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto' -

And it was perhaps inevitable that Pablo Picasso would seize the opportunity to pour scorn on those demonizing the drink by producing his own depiction of the now infamous tipple. This is his 1903 painting entitled 'Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto,' which depicts his Spanish friend and fellow artist sitting at a bar, a tall glass of absinthe in front of him.

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Absinthe in the United States -

In the United States meanwhile, American drinkers had taken kindly to the uniquely French tipple. In the 1870s, a bar called the Old Absinthe House had opened on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Remarkably, the bar, later rechristened the Absinthe Room, still survives and throughout its history has welcomed the likes of Oscar Wilde, P.T. Barnum, Mark Twain, Franklin Roosevelt, Liza Minnelli, and Frank Sinatra through its doors. In fact, absinthe and celebrities have long been mutual bedfellows.

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Influence on artists -

Like many artists with a taste for absinthe, diminutive French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec often ended up seeing double after a la fée verte drinking session. Pictured is a clever double exposure photograph of the great little man.

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Nourishing creative minds -

Other notable absinthe drinkers included novelists Ernest Hemingway, pictured in 1926, James Joyce, and Marcel Proust. Playwright Oscar Wilde was partial to a glass or two of the potent spirit, as was poet Lord Byron. In fact, the drink's association with bohemian, non-conformist culture so alarmed moral traditionalist that moves were made to ban absinthe altogether.

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Hallucinogenic -

The vilification of absinthe by the temperance movement had long been based on the drink's supposedly addictive psychoactive and hallucinogenic properties. Proponents for the drink argued otherwise. But then something happened in Switzerland that drove the final nail into the absinthe coffin.

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Absinthe backlash -

In 1905, Swiss farmer Jean Lanfray was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and two children in a drunken rage. The laborer had imbibed wine and hard liquor, plus a small quantity of absinthe. The groundswell of public opinion against absinthe in Europe at the time meant that his dreadful deeds were blamed solely on the influence of absinthe. Lanfray ultimately avoided capital punishment, but later took his own life in his cell. In the wake of the murders, a petition was drawn up to ban absinthe, which received 82,000 signatures. The drink was withdrawn locally shortly afterwards. In 1908, a nationwide referendum led to absinthe being banned in all of Switzerland, the land of the drink's origin.

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Banned! -

Switzerland's unanimous vote led to absinthe being banned in most European countries, though not in Spain and Portugal. In time, the United States also forbid the production and sale of the once popular tipple.

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Prohibition -

Notices advertising a ban on the retail sale of absinthe, with penalties for its continued sale, were posted throughout France in August 1914. The following year, absinthe was declared a toxic product, and its manufacture and sale were completely prohibited. Pictured is a prohibition notice, issued in March 1915. 

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Drinking underground -

News of the ban traveled fast. But prohibition served only to drive the production of absinthe underground in some countries, including Switzerland. Clandestine home distillers surreptitiously produced a substitute, a colorless absinthe (la Bleue), which was easier to conceal from the authorities. But the banning of the liquor, written into law in so many countries, effectively spelled the end of absinthe for the next 80 years or so.

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Pastis -

With absinthe absent in France, the country turned towards a strong aniseed-flavored spirit called pastis, which emerged nearly 20 years after the absinthe ban. Pastis was created and first commercialized in 1932 by French industrialist Paul Ricard (pictured).

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La Fée Absinthe -

The tentative resurgence of absinthe took place in the 1990s. In 2000, La Fée Absinthe became the first commercial absinthe distilled and bottled in France since the 1914 ban.

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Restrictions lifted -

In time, restrictions on the production and sale of absinthe were lifted in the Netherlands and Belgium. And in Switzerland, the long-standing ban on the liquor was repealed in 2005.

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Back in the USA -

Banned in the country since 1912, absinthe was made legal in the United States in 2007, with one proviso—thujone levels were to be regulated. But what is thujone?

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Thujone -

Thujone is a toxic, aromatic substance found in wormwood and some other plants, which is purported to have hallucinogenic or psychotropic effects. Absinthe was originally thought to cause hallucinations due to the presence of this naturally-occurring chemical compound found in the drink, and was blamed accordingly. However, later research concluded that the negligible levels of thujone left in absinthe after the distilling process are not enough to produce any hallucinogenic effects.

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So, what was all the fuss about? -

It's very likely that any hallucinations experienced as a result of imbibing absinthe may have occurred as a result of crude and irregular distillation techniques involving harmful chemicals. Propaganda, social conditioning, and acute alcohol intoxication all helped to perpetuate the myth. Pictured is a 1900 postcard showing an absinthe drinker, looking distinctly the worse for wear.

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Is absinthe really safe to drink? -

Absinthe today is still a very potent drink, but will not make you go mad. However, the health risks of drinking absinthe are the same as those of consuming any alcoholic beverage. Excess consumption of alcohol can have unpleasant and often dangerous consequences.

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The real deal -

Absinthe is traditionally served straight. Ice-cold water is then dripped into the drink, usually through a sugar cube balanced on a slotted spoon to sweeten the beverage. It's ready to drink when the alcohol takes on a cloudy, milky texture.

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Potent candy -

A variation of this age-old custom is the the fennel and absinthe bonbon (pictured), where the sugar cube becomes a rather potent candy.

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Absinthe in the modern era -

A trendy shot of absinthe, often ignited or served with a flaming sugar cube, is what you normally get today. It's a fashionable and sophisticated take on a notorious drink that has a complicated, though fascinating history. And it's completely legal and safe to drink.

Sources: (CR Fashion Book) (Distillery Trail) (Difford's Guide) (Absinthe Fever) (The New York Times) (Old Absinthe House) (HowStuffWorks)

See also: The origins of France's alcoholic beverages

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