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The Devil in a Little Green Bottle: A History of Absinthe
Science History Institute ^ | October 5, 2010 | Jesse Hicks

Posted on 07/04/2025 4:24:51 PM PDT by kawhill

"Lanfray had drunk his way through the previous day, beginning near dawn with a shot of absinthe diluted in water. A second absinthe shot soon followed."

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencehistory.org ...


TOPICS: Food; Gardening; Health/Medicine; History
KEYWORDS: absinthe; essentialoil; green; liquid
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To: kawhill

In Brussels Belgium, directly across the street from the famous Delerium Tremens Cafe (the Pink Elephant Bar where they stock about 2,500 different beers) is Floris Bar.

The Floris Bar has its own specialty: you travel back in time in an old Parisian bistro to get acquainted with a forgotten drink (that was banned until recently) and reanimated: the famous Absinthe (more than 600 different brsnds of it)

You can taste Absinthe in different ways: in a shot, traditional way with a piece of sugar and water dripping on it from a fountain, flambéed in a pipe!

Joe owns both Delerium and Floris.

I was in Brussels for the great Belgian Beer Festival in the Grande Place Square where they have over 300 Belgian beers on tap for three days.

I met a group of guys at Floris from around the world who called themselves the “World Drinking Team.” They pretty much emptied every bottle of Absinthe on the shelf. Don’t know how they walked upright. I took it easy as a rank amateur, having one for about every ten they drank. They even had Absinthe enhanced with THC at Floris.

We drank all night until the sun came up and returned to the beer festival for another day.

Haven’t touched the stuff since!


21 posted on 07/04/2025 6:02:55 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: Veto!
The person mostly responsible for getting the absinthe ban lifted is from New Orleans, his name is T.A. (Ted) Breaux. The company he founded, Jade Liqueurs, has a number of variations of absinthe that are based on actual analysis of pre-ban spirits.

A surprising amount of pre-ban absinthe rode out the first half of the 20th century in Spanish or Swiss wine cellars (untouched by two world wars); the stuff still pops up for sale in the collector forums.

Jade 1901 is hailed as one of the most authentic modern expressions (by people who have pre-ban stuff to serve as a comparison). Old Absinthe House should have a bottle of that behind the bar.

22 posted on 07/04/2025 6:06:17 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: ABStrauss

😆


23 posted on 07/04/2025 6:07:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (The moron troll Ted Holden believes that humans originated on Ganymede.)
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To: Veto!

“ About a million years ago, I tasted absynthe at The Old Absynthe House in New Orleans.”

Mrs L, her friend, and I sampled several different varieties of Absynthe there a few years back. Thank God we were only steps from our hotel.

While things are bit hazy I do recall it being one of the better nights of my life.

L


24 posted on 07/04/2025 6:09:46 PM PDT by Lurker ( Peaceful coexistence with the Left is not possible. Stop pretending that it is.)
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To: Fresh Wind

Beelzebubba!


25 posted on 07/04/2025 6:25:29 PM PDT by beethovenfan (The REAL Great Reset will be when Jesus returns. )
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To: kawhill

“With a face most hair, and the dreary stare of a dog whose day is done,
As he watered the green stuff in his glass, and the drops fell one by one.”

A reference to drinking absinthe from ‘The Shooting of Dan McGrew’ by Robert Service.

I remember reading an article in Scientific American that explained that due to the bitterness it was common to set a slotted spoon over the glass containing a sugar cube. Water was then pored over the sugar thus sweetening the absinthe before consumption


26 posted on 07/04/2025 6:28:51 PM PDT by paint_your_wagon
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To: kawhill

Absinthe was Vincent VanGogh’s favorite drink. Especially when he cut off his ear.


27 posted on 07/04/2025 6:37:41 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: tired&retired

Explains why the stars looked the way they did to him.


28 posted on 07/04/2025 6:38:38 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: kawhill

Bkmk


29 posted on 07/04/2025 6:42:56 PM PDT by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
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To: ABStrauss

Nithe one.


30 posted on 07/04/2025 7:22:58 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: Veto!

I wonder if there’s some appeal in the “ceremonial” aspect of it, the preparation with fancy spoon, sugar and fire. Many drug users romanticize the preparation routine surrounding their drug of choice.


31 posted on 07/04/2025 7:25:08 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: Mr. Blond

Mr Blond? As in Reservoir Dogs Mr Blonde?


32 posted on 07/04/2025 7:41:24 PM PDT by Pilsner
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To: Pilsner

An homage of sorts, but I didn’t give the nickname to myself.


33 posted on 07/04/2025 7:42:40 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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To: Snowybear

Not exactly true, there is are several modern distilleries that that try to match specs from most popular brand from that era. Jade Terminus Oxygénée Absinthe Supérieure is a good example; I have several bottles of it, good stuff.


34 posted on 07/04/2025 7:45:36 PM PDT by LambSlave
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To: kawhill
While it was believed to cause hallucinations and other dangerous effects, these claims were largely unfounded and fueled by misinformation and the Temperance movement.

I can attest from personal experience that the Metropolol my cardiologist makes me take causes vivid audio and visual hallucinations and bizarre dreams.

https://jmedicalcasereports.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1752-1947-6-65

35 posted on 07/04/2025 7:58:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of anger, hate and violence.)
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To: Snowybear

“The absinthe sold today is not the same as what was available in the 1800s.”

indeed ... no one knows exactly what those absinthe’s contained, so they have to fake the best they can today ...


36 posted on 07/04/2025 8:02:12 PM PDT by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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To: rbg81
I love Absinthe. IMHO, it produces a different kind of buzz than most alcohol. Much mellower and overall better.

I agree with this caution. There are five hangovers in each bottle. Absinthe is to be savored in moderation and it is good. In excess it is like driving a nail into your brain.

37 posted on 07/04/2025 9:10:32 PM PDT by cpdiii (cane cutter, deckhand, oilfield roughneck, drilling fluid tech, geologist, pilot, pharmacist ,MAGA)
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To: kawhill

It’s good stuff. The bad reputation is from it going down smooth even though it is basically like drinking ever clear.


38 posted on 07/04/2025 9:19:00 PM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I take that, and never had a hallucination.


39 posted on 07/04/2025 9:38:33 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." The Weapons Shops of Isher)
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To: catnipman
That is incorrect.

In the book by Barnaby Conrad III. ABSINTHE History In A Bottle, on page 95-96, there is a list of the six herbs that Pernod Fils Absinthe ( which the other manufacturers also used ) since 1860.

THE BOOK OF ABSINTHE A Cultural History, by Phil Baker, also contains a lot of information.

40 posted on 07/04/2025 9:40:00 PM PDT by nopardons
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