Absinthe Minded

So, Why the Long Wait?
In the early part of the 20th Century, absinthe was an unfortunate victim of the temperance movement both in Europe and the US. It's high alcohol content and the use of wormwood (a potential neurotoxin) are part of what spawned the cries for a banning, as were tales of its psychogenic effects.

But there was more to it than the puritanical fear of the demon alcohol. In the late 1800s, the French wine industry was devastated by the phylloxera bug, swarms of which were destroying vineyards all over the country. With that, the public turned to the consumption of hard liquor. Absinthe became the people's choice, therefore the bane of winemakers who began looking for ways to ban it.

Around that time, a disturbing news item from Switzerland helped stir up a banning frenzy. It read that Monsieur Lanfray killed his entire family after drinking absinthe. Blaming the effects of the wormwood and alcohol levels, the fact that he had also consumed six glasses of cognac, one brandy-laced coffee and two crème de menthes before picking up his gun, was ignored by officials.

Still, the Swiss government took this as a chance to ban the green stuff in 1907. Growing tales of the supposed evil effects of absinthe began to spread. The Netherlands followed with their own ban in 1909, the United States in 1912 and lastly France in 1915. It is reported that over 220,000,000 liters (yes indeed) of absinthe was consumed in France alone during that final year.

Exaggeration of Myths
Since the initial banning, most reported cases of so-called absinthism–as it became known–were found to be highly exaggerated and, in some cases, downright false. Historians believe the trumped up claims were nothing more than a tool used for continuing the ban. Much in the same way it is used today for certain recreational drugs like marijuana.

Many of the early incidents of absinthism came at a time when people regularly smoked opium or drank a lot of homemade, unregulated swill which used truly toxic items (i.e. copper sulfate for for coloring).

Truth is, the toxic effects of wormwood are virtually nonexistent at it's levels when the traditional absinthe recipe is followed. This means that, by the time anyone was to drink enough to succumb to the supposed negative effects, they'd very likely die of alcohol poisoning.

What About that Green Fairy?
The most famous urban legend regarding absinthe is the idea that drinking just the right amount will conjure a visit from a green fairy. I for one am guilty of smuggling bottles into the country after a vacation abroad with high hopes of drinking to the point of a green visit that never happened. So why the persistence?

The closest thing I've come up with is, in it's early incarnations during the late 1780s in France, absinthe was initially dubbed 'La Fée Verte' or The Green Fairy. This was thanks to it's green tint and claims of it's miraculous healing powers. After it's ban, a mythology grew around absinthe, as is often the case in human society.

So anyone who thinks some cute little friend is waiting at the bottom of a bottle, forget it. There's no green fairy, other than that nickname, still in use today.