Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Absinthe: The 'green hour' returns
Gordon Kendall
Gordon Kendall's column, "Good Libations," runs monthly in Extra. He welcomes readers' questions and comments about wine, beer or spirits.
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Suppose I told you that I saw gasoline for 99 cents a gallon today. You would probably think that I was hallucinating from tasting absinthe while researching this article. But just like my 99 cent gasoline, absinthe's psychotropic reputation is a myth based on cloudy history.
Authentic absinthe is made by using alcohol to extract essences from a mixture of botanical herbs including angelica, fennel, star anise, peppermint and wormwood (Artemisia absinthium).
The oil of wormwood, a flowering perennial herb, is noxious to insects. Wormwood also contains thujone, which in high doses can produce muscle twitching, confusion, twilight consciousness, hallucinations, convulsions and even death in laboratory rats.
Most absinthes today contain a miniscule amount of thujone, less that 10 parts per million as regulated by the Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Someone would succumb to alcohol poisoning long before they could ingest enough absinthe to feel any effects from thujone.
The history of absinthe dates to 1789, when French doctor Pierre Ordinaire was working in Switzerland seeking to cure pancreatic ailments by extracting essences of wormwood and other herbs. Fresh herb essences yielded a green-tinted liqueur. Ordinaire's potion was credited with miraculous recoveries and soon became known as la fee verte, meaning "the green fairy."
Near the end of the 19th century the root louse phylloxera obliterated the vineyards of Europe, and wine became scarce and expensive. The bourgeoisie were left searching for an affordable libation. They turned to absinthe, at the time an inexpensive and potent (55 percent to 70 percent alcohol) beverage. In 1805 the Pernod Co. became a major producer of absinthe. The drink became popular with creative individuals such as Edgar Allan Poe, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. Cafes in Paris were serving so much of the emerald-colored liqueur that cocktail hour became known as the "green hour."
People began to notice that absinthe tended to heighten the senses and in some extreme cases warp the mind. Van Gogh developed a taste for turpentine and exhibited other deranged behaviors. In 1905, a Swiss farmer with an affinity for absinthe shot every member of his family. The public rushed to judgment to condemn absinthe, overlooking the fact that the farmer had also enjoyed several bottles of wine and other spirits the day he dispatched his family.
By 1914, commercial production of absinthe had ceased in Europe. The Pernod plant became a field hospital during World War I and was eventually acquired by the chocolate magnate Nestle. In the early 1990s, members of the European Union began to reauthorize absinthe production. By February 2008, more than 200 brands of absinthe were being made in more than a dozen countries.
Twisted rocker Marilyn Manson has even contributed a Swiss example called Mansinthe that sports his artwork on the label and a wicked 66.6 percent alcohol content. This product is not currently available in the United States.
Absinthe is too alcoholic to imbibe straight. The standard ritual is to place an ounce and a half of the liqueur into a glass and to place a flat slotted spoon on top of the goblet. A sugar cube is placed on the spoon, and chilled water is slowly poured over the sugar cube until it melts. Because the botanical oils extracted by alcohol are not water soluble, the mixture forms a colloidal solution and appears cloudy. This is known as the louche (pronounced "loosh"), meaning turbulent or cloudy.
Absinthe has intense herbal aromas of anise and fennel and a flavor reminiscent of sweet black licorice with a cool refreshing quality. Try it while relaxing after dinner with some chocolate mints. Now I am going to fill up my car with that 99-cent gas.
Tasting note
Absente Absinthe Refined, France (available locally)
While this is not technically a full-blown absinthe because it uses wormwood's thujone-free cousin, Southern Wormwood, it is the only absinthe-type liqueur offered by Virginia ABC stores. It comes packaged in a colorful box with a stylish slotted spoon that even has a groove to fit on the edge of your glass. Aromas of licorice, fennel and anise drift from the glass. The flavor is lightly sweet with a pronounced licorice note and a bit of zingy bitterness on the finish. My sources at the ABC store say some true examples made with real wormwood are on the way, so stay tuned. $42
Gordon Kendall's wine and spirits column runs monthly in Extra. He welcomes comments and questions at gmoney007@cox.net
