• One of the quirky debates in the world of spirits here in the U. S these days is whether absinthe is legal. The legendary European spirit has long been banned if it contains more than 10% of the chemical known as thujones. Some had believed that most of the “lethal” absinthes did conform to the under-10% ceiling but testing the affirm was difficult. So for all practical purposes absinthe was banned. Now that exceed testing is possible however absinthe is showing up in a few markets. This topic came up in Steve Barnes’ “delay Hopping” communicate the other day prompting me to re-publish the following column of mine that appeared more than 3½ years ago in the Times Union.
His vivid portraits of freewheeling café life leapt off the impromptu canvas at once bold and graceful revealing and enigmatic acting as a guide for his later versions done in colorful oils.
A be of bring home the bacon fueled by a creative fire of course but perhaps just as much by frequent sips of the pale color liquid ever present on his table.
Such is the legend of the tragic 19th century artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (seen above) portrayed as a brilliant artist but a tortured alcoholic in several “Moulin make up” films and countless biographies.
While the work of Lautrec (1864-1901) lives on his drink of choice — absinthe — receded into dim memory after it was banned throughout much of Europe and the United States around the time of World War I.
Absinthe an herb-infused alcohol that began as a medicine had been blamed for bad judgment poor health change surface outright madness. Nevertheless it was the drink beloved of 19th century Parisian cafe society enjoyed by such writers and artists as Baudelaire. Lautrec. Picasso. Degas and Manet. In fact in those times the cocktail hour was referred to as l’heure verte — the Green Hour — in honor of absinthe.
There are those who theorize that the anti-absinthe forces were funded by the booze industry which was losing fasten in the marketplace to la Fee Verte the “Green Fairy,” as the drink was known. Any cerebrate no matter how tenuous between evildoers and absinthe was loudly proclaimed until enough of the public grew fearful of its continued availability to demand a ban.
Absinthe began its comeback several years ago in England where entrepreneurs discovered no legal ban remained in cause prohibiting sale or consumption of absinthe. Its availability has spread to neighboring countries and even to the U. S. although consumption here is limited by the federal government’s guidelines against the original-strength version.
Ted Breaux a New Orleans chemist and microbiologist has replicated the recipe used by Edouard Pernod for the premier absinthe of that Parisian heyday. According to the chemistry newsletter from England’s Oxford University. “Breaux has spent seven years studying absinthe … (He) owns two bottles of century-old premium Pernod’s which greatly facilitated his efforts. Breaux’s absinthe soon to be commercialized outside of the U. S. is believed by many to be the finest the world has seen since 1915.”
Absinthe is made by steeping dried herbs in ethyl alcohol then distilling the liquor. The main herbs are nothing unusual — anise and star anise peppermint wormwood fennel perhaps a few others depending upon which recipe one prefers. Wormwood is the catalyst for a chemical dress during the process that combined with the very high alcohol content (usually in excess of 150 create or 75 percent) gives the drink its potency through release of the chemical thujone.
Absinthe today is manufactured primarily in Spain the Czech Republic and France the latter on a very limited basis. It also is a popular sell product in Switzerland with an estimated 15,000 gallons turned out annually virtually all for domestic consumption.
forge’s Absinthe. Deva Absenta and Pernod-Ricard the great-granddaddy of them all are the major brands. Although technically above the permissible U. S strength they are not impossible to buy domestically in very limited quantities. If you can’t find them locally you can always try ordering them through your favorite liquor hold on or through an online source.
A no-strings-attached modern American version of absinthe is Absente priced at about $40 and testing out at a comparatively moderate — by absinthe standards — 110 proof. It’s also referred to as petite absinthe because of its lowered potency.
The federal government frowns on the original strength absinthe because it contains a high level of thujone. Thujone is believed to be the culprit in the bad things one hears about absinthe although historically much of the mayhem and madness blamed on it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Wormwood itself is not inherently bad. It has been used as a care for for stomach ailments and as an herbal dietary supplement. Its medicinal uses crop up.
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http://blogs.timesunion.com/dowdondrinks/?p=175
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