La Fee Verte

A single drink fueled the bohemian atmosphere in Europe. Nicknamed the “la Fee Verte,” or “the Green Fairy,” this drink fueled creativity and may have been responsible for inspiring one of history’s greatest artists. This infamous alcoholic beverage is absinth, the green elixir that was banned from many countries—and remains banned to this day. The making of Absinth starts with mixing aniseed (which gives the mixture its trademark licorice taste), fennel, hyssop, and lemon balm. Minor amounts of angelica, star anise, dittany, juniper, nutmeg, and veronica are then added and the mixture is ground together. Next, absinth’s most infamous ingredient is added—wormwood. Wormwood is an herb that was historically used as medicine. The ancient Greeks used wormwood to relieve the pain of childbirth and absinth was popular during the Middle Ages as a cure for tapeworms. After a while, people discovered wormwood has hallucinogenic properties and began chewing on the herb to release its potent juice. The extract of the wormwood plant contains a lethal amount of the chemical thujone. This chemical is responsible for inducing hallucinations if consumed, however, if enough thujone is consumed, it can be fatal. A consumer of absinth would suffer from alcohol poisoning before he or she would die of thujone poisoning. After wormwood is added, the mixture is left to sit. After a while, water is added to the mixture and then distilled. After distillation, more wormwood is added and the distillate is diluted with an alcoholic substance. The end product ends up ranging from 50 to 75 percent alcohol (100 to 150 proof).

Keep in mind, different distilleries use different ingredients and mixtures for their absinth. Some companies use calamus, a root plant that induces hallucinations upon consumption, whereas others do not use wormwood or any other hallucinogenic ingredient. Absinth that does not contain wormwood is often called Pernod after the man who created the largest distillery company of absinth. Other companies that offer a cheaper version of absinth must rely upon other means to create color or taste. Often, ingredients such as tumeric, copper sulfate, indigo, and aniline green are used to induce absinth’s signature green color. Usually, the green color of absinth is due to the presence of chlorophyll of the wormwood. These ingredients can also cause hallucinations, but more often than not, result in little more than making the consumer quite ill.

Since absinth contains thujon, the liquor is not legal for purchase or sale in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration has a strict ban on any product containing thujon. Therefore, absinth is banned and the only way to purchase the “green fairy” is through online alcohol retailers. However, since the material is banned, it quite possible your order will not make it into the United States. All online sellers of absinth are based outside of the United States, so the order must goes through customs. If the order is retained when going through customs, it is quite possible legal ramifications can affect the buyer of the absinth.

In addition to purchasing absinth online, an interested party can also purchase kits to make absinth in the comfort of one’s own home. These kits may or may not contain wormwood, so if you are interested in giving life to the “green fairy” in your own abode, it would be best advised you research all included items in the kit. Makers of these kits can be found online. Most sites containing absinth information have links to these absinth kit websites for interested visitors. Besides kits, there are many available recipes for creating absinth using commonly found items. The essential absinth ingredient—wormwood—is easily available online. The rest of the ingredients can be found at a local natural foods store or health store.