OPPapers.com

Absinthe

My introduction to the emerald green liquor began while visiting Spain some years ago and is an experience I will not soon forget. While at a friend’s home watching “Salome’s Last Dance”, a film based on an Oscar Wilde play, my generous host told me of a bottle of Absinthe she received as a wedding gift and offered me a glass. I remember hearing of the emerald aperitif romanticized by 19th century poets and eagerly accepted her offer. Within minutes, I was enjoying the licorice flavored beverage. Quickly my glass emptied of the liquor and I began to feel “tipsy” yet with a heightened clarity not often associated with the common effects of other alcohols. As the days passed, my curiosity grew stronger. What made absinthe so different from other alcohols? Upon arriving home I was excited to share my experience with all my friends. Yet, to my dismay a bottle of the absinthe I had so recently enjoyed in Spain was nowhere to be found in my home town. Tired of searching liquor stores, I focused my efforts toward the global commerce available via the internet where yet again disappointment reared its ugly head. I would not find a bottle of absinthe in my state as it was banned and is currently illegal for sale in the state of California.
Absinthe, nicknamed the green fairy, “was one of the most popular alcoholic beverages of the late 19th century Europe” (Padosch, 2006). An icon of the bohemian style of life, absinthe gained popularity in the artistic social circle and was enjoyed by all classes of society from the poor to the bohemian upper class. The mystical concoction inspired many prominent artists and writers – Vincent Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso and Earnest Hemmingway just to list a few (Patocka, Plucar, 2003). Absinthe was said to induce a psychedelic, drug–like state caused by the presence of thujone in the liquor. This toxic chemical brought about the 1915 ban of absinthe, as it was believed to cause brain damage.
Thujone (I), “the most important...