5th March: Absinthe Day

Today is Absinthe Day. Here are ten facts about this much maligned tipple:

1. The word Absinthe is derived from the Latin absinthium, meaning "wormwood".
2. Wormwood is one of the main ingredients of the spirit, which is traditionally prepared from a distillation of neutral alcohol (which could be white Grape spirit or alcohol from grain, beets, or Potatoes), various herbs (as well as wormwood, hyssop, melissa, star anise, angelica, peppermint, coriander, and veronica may be added), spices and Water.
3. Traditional absinthe is Green. The green colour comes from the chlorophyll in the plants used to make it. Because of its colour it has been referred to in literature as "the green fairy" and French bars selling it would refer to 5pm as "the green hour". It can also be colourless - "bleu" varieties are colourless rather than blue, or red, coloured by hibiscus. If you come across absinthe which is Brown in colour, that means it has been stored for some time and the sunlight has got in and turned the chlorophyll brown. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. It doesn't alter the taste, and shows natural colouring was used (it wasn't unknown for manufacturers to add Copper salts to give absinthe its colour).
4. Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. Modern studies have demonstrated that it is no more dangerous than any other spirit. Possibly some of the myth arose from the effects of some of the toxic stuff historically used to colour it.
5. According to popular legend, absinthe began as an all-purpose patent remedy created by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Couvet, Switzerland, around 1792.
6. In the 1840s, absinthe was given to French troops as a malaria preventive.
7. It's very alcoholic. Absinthe was historically bottled at 45-74% percent ABV. Some modern absinthes are bottled at up to 82.3% ABV, and some modern cold-mixed, bohemian-style absinthes are bottled at up to 89.9% ABV.
8. The traditional way to serve absinthe is in a glass with a bulge at the bottom (for measuring purposes). On the rim of the glass the server would place an absinthe spoon, a specially designed slotted spoon on which would be placed a sugar cube. Iced water would be dripped onto the cube and percolate through the cube into the drink. An alternative method is the Bohemian method in which the sugar cube is soaked in alcohol (usually more absinthe), then set on Fire. The burning cube is dropped into the drink, setting the whole lot alight. Finally it is doused with a shot glass of water.
9. Most countries do not have a legal definition of absinthe. Only Switzerland does.
10. Famous absinthe drinkers include Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Aleister Crowley.