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. Many famous 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 ordinary drinking, 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 found in absinthe, can be found as far back as the Old Testament: O you who turn justice to wormwood, and cast down righteousness to the earth (Amos 5:7 RSV) ...but it wasnt until 1844, when absinthe was issued by the French government as an alleged fever Absinthe Drinker preventitive to soldiers fighting in Morocco, that the drink began its rapid rise in Viktor Oliva 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 the 1750s. 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

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, Ordinaires 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, HenriLuis 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 produced when 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 todays happy hours. Parisians would gather in cafes from 5pm to 7pm 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 the near 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 mythical effects of wormwood in the drink--that often led to the bizarre and psychotic behavior of chronic drinkers. Modern historians think that it was Van Goghs consumption of massive amounts of cheap absinthe, combined with his habit of ingesting paint thinner whenever booze wasnt available--and, just being plain ol nuts--that inspired his hallucinatory paintings and ultimately drove him to cut off his ear.

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 the movements cease, the whole body relaxes, the sphincter releases, the evacuations soil the sick man... Magnans papers led to a new medical condition known as absinthism, distinct, and, in his and the publics mind, much more dangerous than alcoholism. Although Magnans 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. Magnans experiments, the sensationalized debauchery of the Bohemian set who reveled 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 crme 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, the Temperance Movement. Under pressure from the temperance movement, 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 went away 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 hes keeping it real, Manson did the artwork for the label and the website for the spirit says there is NO sans wormwood version. An extension of Broadway, SpiegelWorld, is currently running a show/live immersion experience called Absinthe.