The Wine Fact Center

Absinthe has an interesting history. A French doctor made Absinthe as a tonic in Switzerland, in the late 18th century. By 1805 the Absinthe recipes had 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 grand 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. Other herbs used in Absinthe production included 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 ingredient that gave Absinthe its characteristic bitter taste, as well as its name.

People believed that the thujone chemical and THC in the drug cannabis have the same effects. One can have psychedelic effects due to large quantity of thujone intake. Anise seed and fennel seed both contain anethole which is said to be psychoactive and Angelica root is grown as a drug in Lapland. Some artists and writers like Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde believed that they got their genius and inspiration from Absinthe! “A clear headed drunkenness” is description on being drunk on Absinthe.

Absinthe was claimed to be dangerous for the society so it was illegalized in France in 1915. Just like other strong alcoholic drinks drinking Absinthe is also safe. A person cannot be harmed by Absinthe because it is alcoholic drink that contains minute quantities of wormwood and the other herbs.

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?
- It is important to use distilled Absinthe.
- You have no way of knowing the thujone content of your finished Absinthe – a bit risky.

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.

Buying Absinthe is now legal in the USA.

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).
- This is a measure.
- Artistic Labels are important to decorate Absinthe bottles.

A single bottle of essence is enough to make 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.

As these essences are the very same as the ones sold to distilleries so one will definitely get a safe, top-quality product.

Ernest Hemingway’s famous “Death in the Afternoon” - Absinthe and champagne are among the various cocktail Absinthe recipes found online. A person can enjoy searching and mixing of cocktails.