The Properly Improper Absinthe
(Or How To Drink Like A Bohemian)

In the late 1800’s the “Absinthe Hour” properly began at 5 pm. The phrase paints a picture of Parisian culture at the century’s end: artists, poets and bohemians gathered at cafe tables to sip an absinthe served by graceful waiters with long, white aprons or watering their absinthe from lavish outdoor fountains designed solely for that purpose. It is a genteel picture of light and enlightened conversation at the days end, followed by dinner and a stroll along the boulevard.

The absinthe hour began at 5 pm, but in certain darker corners of the city lasted far into the night, or even into the next morning. For while absinthe’s pedigree includes a Swiss birthright and a Parisian inheritance, it rode into prominence on the shoulders of a workingman.

In the 1830’s France set out to colonize Algiers. Soldiers were rationed medicinal absinthe against fever in the hot climate. Despite the bitter taste and odd anise, they developed a fondness for the dreamy after affects and returned with a taste for absinthe over traditional wine, beer or cognac.  They did not have to look too far for their newfound attraction.  Recipes for wormwood elixirs date back to the 1300’s in France. (One ingenious use was to cure flatulence of dogs.) In Switzerland, traditional absinthe distilleries, blending bitter wormwood with sweet anise, fennel and local herbs had been in business since the late 1700’s. By 1805 Pernod fils was distilling anise-based absinthe in Pontarlier, France. In fact, the Pernod family was the main supplier of absinthe to the soldiers in battle overseas.

The city of Montmartre, on the right bank, rose to the challenge of supply and demand. Lying outside city limits, it was free of taxes and graced with nuns who produced a local wine. Montmartre quickly became a drinking town, attracting artists like van Gogh, Picasso, Matisse who painted local culture and sipped absinthe in cafes. Historic cabarets like the Moulin Rouge and Chat Noir sprang up to soothe their desire for absinthe against the colorful backdrop of singers and entertainers.

By the beginning of the 20th Century the party had moved to Montparnasse, on the left bank of the Seine in Paris. Artists flocked to the scene, penniless, to create a bohemian culture that survived without heat or running water, living in rat infested quarters to create art, poetry and music. But pennies were all that was needed to occupy a cafe table for the evening. Fights there rarely attracted police activity and drunken artists were allowed the dignity of slumber in corners or on café tables. Erik Satie composed on the piano while artists like Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau and Max Ernst drank into the evening. Hemmingway, who invented the absinthe cocktail “Death in the Afternoon” frequented Montparnasse with F. Scott Fritzgerald in search of fame and alcohol. Many artists, with empty pockets, would offer their art to pay the bill, in hopes of earning money to buy it back later that week.

The absinthe hour began properly at 5, but in the hills frequently ran into the next day or started early in the afternoon. It was an hour that lasted many decades until absinthe became illegal on the heels of national conflict that would lead to World War I. But it created a culture and artistic heritage to last until the green faery awakes again in modern times.
 

How to prepare an absinthe:
Pour a dose (1.5 oz) absinthe into a tall glass. Place the slotted spoon across the rim. Position the sugar cube(s) and slowly drip ice cold water over the cubes and into the absinthe until dilute 3 to 5 times water to absinthe.  Adjust amount of sugar and water to taste. Enjoy.
The following Absinthes are made from traditional herbs to balance sweet, aromatic and bitter. If you can find them, drink them, as did the poets of the early 1900’s, with only sugar and water to taste.

Versinthe (France)
Louche: Strong. The yellow-green light illuminates the glass like lightning bugs in the fog.
Nose: Faintly herbal and sweet.
Sugar: One cube or none.

Taste: It floods over your taste buds with mouth-filling harmony. The anise is prominent but does not lead. Like a concert cellist, it creates a soft, sweet melody, allowing refreshing and aromatic green herbs to sing in concert with the dry, bitter wormwood and gentian core. The distiller uses 20 herbs to create a veritable chorus of flavor, from uplifting and refreshing herbal notes, to sweet mid-tones over dry earth and bitter herbs.

The distiller recommends dilutions of 6-10 parts liquor to absinthe with only half a sugar cube. They have no notes on how to cut the cube in half, so I will leave that to your imagination. “Purists” may enjoy this absinthe straight or at a much lower dilution, with little or no sugar to preserve the balance of flavor.

The American version contains no wormwood. You will have to go overseas for that.

 
Tabu Classic (Germany)
Louche: Fierce. The green-white arms of the faery circle and stir the waters into opaque green and gold.
Nose: A heady sweet perfume of green herbs and warm spice.
Sugar: One cube recommended. Two cubes for bitter-fearing types.

Flavor: Rich and powerful. Green anise flows over the taste buds with graceful nuances of fresh cut herbs. Lemon balm rises but never pierces the opulent body. Overall, a heady, wonderful balance of classic herbs, sweet enough to forego sugar with just a hint of bitter on the finish.

General mixing notes recommend 4-5 parts water to absinthe and 1 or 2 cubes sugar. The intensity of this absinthe will delight some (like myself) and overwhelm others. So experiment with different delusions….I mean dilutions… and sugar cubes to suit.

St. George Spirits Absinthe Verte, (United States)

Louche: Medium; the olive green liquor clouds lightly, turning green into gold.
Nose: A warming blend of fresh herbs and exotic spice.
Sugar: One or none

St. George Spirits of Alameda, CA makes an excellent absinthe from a traditional blend of French country herbs. Lemon balm and mint create bright, almost sharp citrus notes in contrast to the warm brandy base of sweet star anise and bitter wormwood. Fresh cut herbal and grassy notes liven the body with fennel, meadowsweet, basil, tarragon and stinging nettles.

Notes: The complexity of this absinthe begs for the traditional water and sugar dilution to experience the delightful balance of herbs.

330  (Germany)

Strong, graceful arms reach into my mouth and run along the sides of my tongue with a fragrant fennel caress while a tempting edge of bitter herbs and lemon lingers down the center. A dreamy perfume of green earth and exotic gardens hangs on the exhale with sweet anise at the tip of my tongue.

Regrettably, notes on louche and aroma eluded the notepad as the green fairy invited me onto the porch to note instead, the beauty of the night sky. Perhaps this can be justified by the unusually high levels of wormwood/thujone in the liquor.

The high level of thujone, 330 mg, means this absinthe is pure bootleg on either side of the Atlantic. Such is our loss. Do not confuse this absinthe from Germany with a similarly named Czech absinth!

Article and reviews by Rebecca Dietz