Absinthe has an interesting history. Absinthe was created by a French doctor as medicine for his patients in the late 18th century in the town of Couvet of Switzerland. By 1805 the Absinthe recipeshad got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who started distilling it in his factory in Pontarlier in France.
Original Absinthe Recipes
Pernod’s Absinthe, Original Pernod Fils, was distilled from wine and contained many natural herbs and essential oils from plants including grande wormwood, aniseed, melissa, fennel, lemon balm, dittany, angelica root, hyssop, star anise, nutmeg and juniper.
There were no similarities in the recipes and ingredients of different manufacturers of the Green Fairy. Absinthe production also includes herbs like calamus root, mint, cloves, nutmeg, roman wormwood, anise seed, coriander, sweet flag and licorice. The herb wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium was the basic ingredient of pre-ban Absinthe which gave Absinthe it’s characteristic bitter flavor and name.
The thujone content in wormwood was believed to be similar to THC in the drug cannabis. Thujone is psychoactive and can cause psychedelic effects when consumed in large quantities. The seeds of anise and fennel contain anethole which is a psychoactive and Lapland grows Angelica root as a drug. Absinthe is a mysterious mix of sedatives and stimulants, no wonder that artists and writers like Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde claimed that it gave them their genius and inspiration! The way of being drunk on Absinthe has been described in “A clear headed drunkenness”.
In the year 1915 prohibitionists in France claimed that Absinthe was a risk on the country due to which it was banned there. Just like other strong alcoholic drinks drinking Absinthe is also safe. Absinthe is mainly alcohol and only contains minute quantities of wormwood and the other herbs so there is no danger to health from it.
Homemade Absinthe Recipes
There are many Absinthe recipes on the Internet using different herbs and different methods – steeping, filtering etc. Using plants, dried herbs or essential oils for Absinthe preparation at home is not suggested. Why?
– One should distill the Absinthe.
– It is a bit risky that one cannot know the thujone content of his finished Absinthe.
It is far better to buy either a quality Absinthe, making sure that it’s got the vital ingredient wormwood, or to buy an Absinthe kit which consists of Absinthe essences that have already been distilled.
One can also purchase Absinthe in the USA now.
AbsintheKit.com does great Absinthe kits which consist of:-
– Absinthe essence – choose from classic, white (which makes clear Swiss style Absinthe, Strong 55 (with a 55mg thujone content) and Orange (flavored with orange oil).
– Accurate measure.
– Take Artistic Labels for decorating Absinthe bottles.
One bottle of essence is efficient for preparing 14 bottles of Absinthe!
To make Absinthe using these kits one has to make solution of 20ml of the Absinthe essence and a neutral alcohol like Everclear or vodka to get own bottle of Green Fairy.
A person is sure about getting a safe, top-quality product as these essences are similar to the ones sold to distilleries.
If you search online you will find lots of cocktail Absinthe recipes such as Ernest Hemingway’s famous “Death in the Afternoon” – Absinthe and champagne. One can enjoy finding and mixing the cocktails.