Absinthe Primer

A taste of the green fairy in Antigua

Absinthe is an anise-flavored spirit made from several plants, including flowers and leaves of the Artemisia absinthium.

Along with green anise, sweet fennel and other medicinal herbs are part of the mix. The taste is compared to black licorice and is often described as a little bitter.

Absinthe was once used as an antimalarial during the French colonial military conflicts in Algeria. Here it gained popularity amongst the troops and soon they were drinking the green wonder in France.

One internet site describes as ‘refreshing, irresistibly intoxicating blend of circus, burlesque and vaudeville. Okay, the above admittedly is loosely borrowed from a promo for a Las Vegas act. But the description fits perfectly.

La Fe’e verte, or the green fairy, this was how the green drink was referred to back in the days of the belle époque and in the rambunctious twenties. Artists, writers, socialist leaning politicians grew fond of absinthe and were key in popularizing it. Artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet and Van Gogh, were said to be huge fans.

Absinthe was found in Paris, New Orleans, New York and many other artist gathering spots such as the bistros, music and dance halls, countless French cafes. Imagine for a moment the great authors and artists of the day back in the twenties. A smoke-filled Paris bar, drinking their absinthe and debating Van Gogh’s latest piece of art.

Oscar Wilde was said to be a huge fan and credited for saying. ‘After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were…’

Hemingway was an appreciator of the green spirit, even after the ban had been placed on absinthe. The great writer even included absinthe in several of his works, including For Whom the Bells Toll and in Death in the Afternoon.

Charles Baudelaire was said to love the drink. The famous poet included the green elixir in a poem titled: ‘Get Drunk!’. Rather straight forward and he mentions absinthe.

So, let’s get some popular myths out of the way:

The green drink is hallucinogenic. Utterly false. Just as with whisky or tequila, vodka drink enough of it and you will start seeing things.

It was banned because of its hallucinogenic effects. False. They banned it in the US and much of Europe in the early 20th century. The rumor had it that the ban resulted from the mind-blowing properties, purportedly hallucinogenic. In fact, it was banned because unscrupulous producers made poorly concocted absinthe and it proved very dangerous, thus the ban. In fact, a little-known fact was that it was the French wine producers who organized resistance against absinthe. Simply, they were worried that absinthe was going to topple wine as the number one drink!

In the early days, absinthe in the US wasn’t the genuine stuff. False. In fact, today, after many legal difficulties you can enjoy the legitimate drink made from Artemisia absinthium, the bona fide material to make absinthe. In fact, they can find fake and flavored concoctions sold as absinthe in Europe.

Originally, absinthe came from the Check Republic. False! Absinthe, in fact, was invented in of all places Switzerland. Though some say it originated in ancient Egypt.

Proper Absinthe service involves flaming up a sugar cube! False! This silly promo gambit appeared in the 90s. Lighting up the cube as an added flair only burns off the desired alcohol. The original ritual- like preparation still used today hardly needs fireworks to promote it.

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They banned absinthe in the early 1900s, only to be lifted around 2007.

The traditional form of serving Absinthe is to slowly drip ice water over a sugar cube through a tipping dripper called the balancier to slow down water flow onto the absinthe below, causing a reaction where the absinthe gets cloudy, called ‘the Louche’. The ice is to lessen absinthes bitter taste.

Fast forward. We live in Antigua, Guatemala, a beautiful, old Spanish colonial town founded around 1542 by the Spanish Conquistadores. Antigua is known in part for its many warm bars, some more lively than others. So around 2017 I thought it’d be a bright idea to go to an eatery with drinks place called Cinq as in the French, meaning five. Or, five o’clock the witching hour, or ‘the green hour’ (L’heure verte), as it was referred to in Paris.

After reading on the matter, I thought it would be fun to take my wife along with our adult age sons with a fun-loving bunch of friends and family visiting us from Honduras.

Cinq (five) is a direct reference to the five pm ‘green hour’ as they referred it to in Paris back in the fun days. The place stocks a varied inventory of absinthe.

We were going to have an encounter with the La Fe’e verte, or the green fairy!

So, I took my group of ten. The place was already getting busy. We weren’t the first to want to savor absinthe. The place was a little fancier than I’d expected or than I’d hoped.

Very quickly, two servers placed absinthe glasses in front of us. Upon these were set the balancier through which the ice water dripped over the sugar cube held above the glass with a special, straining absinthe spoon. It seemed in no time they poured the special elixir over the balancier and running through the sugar, finally filling the lower glass. As it mixed with the pretty, bright green spirit, it changed into a whitish opalescence.

Anise predominated, the black licorice flavor. There was some bitterness hardly an issue though.

It was a good time. I’d secretly hoped I’d find my muse and begin the next great American novel, but it was not to be. Neither did I have dreams of green hued beauties willing to share their erotic secrets with me.

Everyone appeared to be pleased. My wife and I were about to leave as long nights were not part of our schedule anymore. I couldn’t help notice the group ordered much less expensive local beers for the follow up as I had invited them all to one absinthe.

The gang ordered snacks, munchies and the servers recommended baked Camembert with toast and Escargot which were quickly turned down.

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