Absinthe RVSD

8/3/2019 Absinthe RVSD

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Mixology meets hipsterdom in the resurgence of the absinthe culture, embraced by chic

cats in the know and closely tied to the retro and burlusque movements

PART ONE - A BRIEF HISTORY

Absinthe, the legendary lubricant of both the intellegentsia and

the underbelly of the Bell Epoque, was at the height of its popularity from 1860 to 1910, when

Europeans drank more than five

million gallons annually. Manyfamous artistes and literati relished

its biting, unique licorice flavor,

including Oscar Wilde, Rimbaud, Edgar Allen Poe, Manet,

and Ernest Hemingway.

VO/typography/stills - “The first stage is like ordinarydrinking, the second when you begin to see monstrous

and cruel things, but if you can persevere you will enter in upon the third stage where you see things that you want to see, wonderful curious things.”

—Oscar Wilde

VO/typography/stills - “One cup of it took the place of

the evening papers, of all the old evenings in cafes, of all chestnut trees

that would be in bloom now this month” - Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls

References to wormwood, the pungent

herb and most infamous ingredient foundin absinthe, can be found as far back asthe Old Testament:

“O you who turn justice to wormwood,

and cast down righteousness to the

earth” (Amos 5:7 RSV)

...but it wasn’t until 1844, when absinthe was issued by the French government as an alleged fever

preventitive to soldiers fighting in Morocco, that the drink began its rapid rise in

popularity.

The origins of modern absinthe, the type given to the French Army during its conquest of

Algeria, are unclear, but legend has it that two sisters were producing it as early as the1750s.

The Henriod sisters lived in the Neuchatal region of Switzerland, and it was here that

they distilled modern absinthe--consisting of two primary ingredients, grand wormwood

L'Absinthe

Edgar Degas, 1876

Absinthe Drinker Viktor Oliva



and green anise, and three secondary herbs: petite

wormwood, and hyssop--as an herbal folk remedy.

In 1792, Dr. Pierre Oridinaire, a French physician traveling

in the region, began marketing the drink as a cure-all tonic,

a remedy for headaches, worms, kidney stones, epilepsy,and gout. By 1797, Ordinaire’s tonic caught the interest of a

Major Dubied, who purchased the recipe from the Henriod sisters and began

manufacturing in earnest at a Couvet, Switzerland distillery with his son-in-law, Henri-Luis Pernod. From the origins of this small distillery, Pernod Fils, the most reputable

distiller of absinthe and still in operation today, would

blossom.

A pungent potable (pop up: 120 to 160 proof; absinthe,

from the Greek apsinthion, meaning bitter), absinthe gets

its unique green color, which has earned it the nickname

“The Green Fairy,” from the milky, green color producedwhen quality absinthe is mixed with water.

Tragedy struck the European wine industry in 1863 when

an outbreak of Phylloxera destroyed nearly all the vineyards on the continent, igniting an

already hot absinthe market. During this time, the L'heure verte--the green hour--became

a daily ritual, similar to today’s happy hours. Parisians would gather in cafes from 5pm to7pm to unwind from work, socialize, and revel in the elaborate ritual of preparing the

absinthe, which was also marketed as an apertif. The unique presentation of the drink

became a selling point and helped unite the absinthe community.

In an era without government regulation of consumer products, there was a wide range of

the quality in absinthe, from the gold standard distilled by the house of Pernod, to thenear toxic “bathtub absinthe” produced by swindlers and fakers. It was the later, cheaper

produced absinthe that helped lead to its outlaw after the turn of the century.

In order to get their alcholic fix, lower class and destitute

citizens would buy the cheapest absinthe they could find, which

often contained toxic ingredients. It was this noxious mix, along

with questionable distilling practices--and not the mythicaleffects of wormwood in the drink--that often led to the bizarre

and psychotic behavior of chronic drinkers.

Modern historians think that it was Van Gogh’s consumption of

massive amounts of cheap absinthe, combined with his habit of

ingesting paint thinner whenever booze wasn’t available--and, just being plain ol’ nuts--that inspired his hallucinatory

paintings and ultimately drove him to cut off his ear.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2069057363613917929&q=absinthe&total=3048&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0






Dr. Valentin Magnan, the chief physician at the asylum of Sainte-Anne, conducted the

first absinthe experiments in the 1864 when he exposed small animals to extreme doses

of wormwood essence under tightly sealed jars.

Extrapolating this pseduo-science and combining it with his own observations of human

subjects, Magnan wrote:

In just a few seconds the face becomes contorted, the limbs twitch, the eyes are strongly convulsed, the jaws gnash and the tongue projected between the teeth is

badly gnawed; a bloody saliva covers the lip, the face grows red, becomes

purplish, swollen, the eyes are bulging, tearful, the respiration is loud, then themovements cease, the whole body relaxes, the sphincter releases, the evacuations

soil the sick man...

Magnan’s papers led to a new medical condition known as

“absinthism,” distinct, and, in his and the public’s mind, much moredangerous than alcoholism.

Although Magnan’s findings were questioned by English doctors,Magnan continued his experiments and, along with the growing

temperance movement of the time, was able to sway public opinion as

to the potential dangers of absinthe.

At the same time, the temperance movement was gaining

popularity on both sides of the pond. Magnan’s experiments,

the sensationalized debauchery of the Bohemian set whoreveled in absinthe, and strong pressure from the wine

industry to ban the drink, led to its demonization in the press.

The final nail in the coffin came in 1905. A Swiss farmer,

Jean Lanfray, drank two glasses of absinthe, along with five litres of wine, six glasses of

cognac, one coffee laced with brandy, and two crème de menthes, the afternoon of August 28.Upon returning home, he shot and killed his pregnant wife and two children in

a drunken rage, then turned the gun on himself.



The press inhaled the story, embellishing on the role absinthe played in the tragedy. After

the sordid details were smeared across the yellow tabloids, even the staunchest absinthe

drinker had a hard time defending his choice of beverage.

At the same time, another trend was

gaining support in the U.S. and Europe, theTemperance Movement.

Under pressure from the temperancemovement, absinthe was investigated and

then banned by the Dept. of Agriculture in 1912 under Food Inspection Decision 147.

But like many other substances banned during prohibition, absinthe never really wentaway and “absinthe easys” continued to thrive among the bohemian crowd and in and

around New Orleans, the little Paris of this country. Absinthe received its second life

when the EU lifted its prohbition on wormwood in 1998, Switzerland in 2004, and soon

thereafter European distillers were manufacturing excellent absinthe spirits which were bound to make their way across the pond, especially given the ease of procurring product

using the internet.

The present day revival in America is mainly the product of a small, but dedicated, group

of absitnthers led by Ted Breaux.

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson began producing his own brand of absinthe (Mansithe) in

August in Switzerland. Proving that he’s keeping it real, Manson did the artwork for the

label and the website for the spirit says there “is NO ‘sans wormwood’” version. Anextension of Broadway, “SpiegelWorld,” is currently running a show/live immersion

experience called “Absinthe.”

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Absinthe RVSD