Absinthe has an exciting history. Absinthe was made in the town of Couvet, in Switzerland, throughout the late 18th century by a French doctor who utilised it as an elixir or tonic for his patients. By 1805 the Absinthe recipes had got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who began distilling it into his factory in Pontarlier in France.
First Absinthe Recipes
Pernod’s Absinthe, Original Pernod Fils, was distilled from wine and was comprised of 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.
Various manufacturers of the Green Fairy (Absinthe’s nickname) used various recipes and ingredients. Other herbs utilized in Absinthe production included www.absinthe-recipe.com calamus root, mint, cloves, nutmeg, roman wormwood, anise seed, coriander, sweet flag and licorice. The herb wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium, was always used in the making of pre-ban Absinthe because it was the element that gave Absinthe its typical bitter taste, along with its name.
Wormwood contains the chemical thujone that was considered to be similar to THC in the drug cannabis. Thujone is psychoactive and could cause psychedelic effects when ingested in big amounts. Anise seed and fennel seed both contain anethole which is considered to be psychoactive and Angelica root is grown as being a drug in Lapland. Absinthe is a mysterious blend of sedatives and stimulants, obvious why artists and writers just like Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde professed that it gave them their genius and creativity! “A clear headed drunkenness” is how being drunk on Absinthe has been referred to.
Absinthe was notoriously restricted in France in 1915 when Prohibitionists claimed that it would ruin the land and send everyone insane. However, studies show that drinking Absinthe can be just as safe as drinking many of the other strong alcoholic drinks just like whisky and vodka. Absinthe is primarily alcohol and just contains tiny volumes of wormwood as well as the other herbs so, if consumed sparingly, isn’t real hazard to health.
Self-made Absinthe Recipes
There are lots of Absinthe recipes on the internet using different herbs and various methods – steeping, filtering etc. but making Absinthe from home from plants, dried herbs or essential oils just isn’t to be encouraged. Why?
– Absinthe should be distilled.
– You have no means of understanding the thujone content of your completed Absinthe – somewhat risky.
It is best to buy either a top quality Absinthe, being sure that it has the vital ingredient wormwood, or to buy an Absinthe kit which is made up of Absinthe essences that have already been distilled.
You may even buy Absinthe in the USA now – Breaux’s label “Lucid” is legal in the USA.
AbsintheKit.com does great Absinthe kits which consist of:-
– Absinthe essence – select from classic, white (that makes clear Swiss style Absinthe, Strong 55 (with a 55mg thujone content) and Orange (flavoured with orange oil).
– A measure.
– Artistic Labels to decorate your Absinthe bottles.
One bottle of essence can make 14 bottles of Absinthe!
To produce Absinthe making use of these kits you simply mix 20ml of the Absinthe essence with a neutral alcohol just like Everclear or vodka and that is exactly it – finished, your won bottle of Green Fairy.
Easy and simple to utilize and, because these essences are the very same as the ones sold to distilleries, you are aware that you are receiving a good, top-quality product.
Should you search on the internet there are lots of cocktail Absinthe recipes just like Ernest Hemingway’s famous “Death in the Afternoon” – Absinthe and champagne. Enjoy discovering and mixing your cocktails.