Absinthe

In Search of the Green Fairy

By Dave Fox

Rumor has it when Vincent van Gogh sliced off his earlobe and gave it to a prostitute as a gift, he was drunk on absinthe.

Vincent van Gogh sits pensively before a barely-visible glass of absinthe in this 1887 portrait by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

For more than a century, stories of madness and hallucinations have swirled around this potent green liquor, nicknamed "la fée verte" ("the green fairy"). Once the rage among Parisian artists, it has been banned since the early 1900s in most of Western Europe and the United States. Now, however, absinthe is making a comeback.

In 19th century Paris, absinthe was a popular intoxicant. The early evening was known as the "green hour," when people would down a glass or two as an aperitif. With a potent alcohol content, Absinthe was diluted in an elaborate ritual that involved setting a sugar cube on a slotted spoon, and pouring cold water through the spoon into the liquor. A flashier variation involved soaking the sugar in absinthe, lighting the sugar on fire to carmelize it, and stiring it into the drink.

While the ritual itself was a draw for some, it was absinthe's hallucinogenic nature that got many hooked. Absinthe is an herbal beverage. Among the ingredients is wormwood, an herb that contains a chemical called thujone. Thujone, taken in large doses, causes hallucinations.

Absinthe is still legal in Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, and the Czech Republic, though the absinthe sold today contains far less wormwood than that sold in 19th century Paris. Afficionados say the anise flavor is refreshing when properly diluted. Many people, however, find the drink unpleasantly bitter.

The recent release of the film, "Moulin Rouge," about the legendary Paris nightclub of the same name, has stirred up curiosity about Absinthe, and helped spur sales of a new "refined" and legal variation called Absente. Absente is made with Southern Wormwood, a type of wormwood with a much lower thujone content. With a slightly bitter anise flavor and a still potent 55 percent alcohol level, Absente still has the characteristic green color.

Absente is not considered to pose the same health risks as absinthe because of its very low thujone content. Doctors, however, are concerned that the new Absente is being abused. Curiosity seekers have tried spiking it with extract from more potent wormwood. One man ended up in the hospital with seizures and heart and kidney failure after drinking wormwood extract he purchased on the Internet. Wormwood extract is sold for aromatherapy; however, consuming it can be life-threatening.

If you visit a country in Europe where the real absinthe is legal and you are curious to try it, do so with caution, and don't expect to see any green fairies. The old Parisian liquor had a thujone ratio of roughly 260 parts per million. Most absinthe today ranges from roughly 1.5 to 30 parts per million — generally not enough to act as a hallucinogen. It still packs a wallop with an alcohol content of 60 percent or more. If you try to drink enough to experience the hallucinogenic affects, you are likely to end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning before you notice the effects of the wormwood.