alcohol

Absinthe Accessories

AbsintheIn order to make your first acquaintance with the ‘Green Fairy’ an unforgettable experience you should get well-prepared. No doubt that the primary thing you need is the liquor itself. Nevertheless, a bottle of good absinthe does not make the ritual. Thus, this article is aimed at casting light on the variety of the absinthe accessories available nowadays.

absinthe Glass: Pontarlier ReservoirOriginally the emerald green spirit was served in regular glasses and water was dripped from an ordinary carafe. However, the drink was winning more and more admirers, and businesslike individuals figured it out that the production of specialized absinthe accessories would earn them a fortune. After the laws regulating the absinthe production, import and consumption banned the spirit in many countries, prices on the absinthe ritual equipment sky-rocketed dramatically. Today some antique slotted spoons can bring thousands of dollars to the owner.

Absinthe glass usually has a short thick stem and faceting, often representing ornate patterns. Another distinctive feature that helps to tell an absinthe glass from others is a dose line which indicates how much drink should be pored. The ‘reservoir glass’ has a small bulge at the bottom which marks the dose. Actually, the Pontarlier reservoir glass was the first type of glassware specially made for the ‘Green Muse’. Nowadays they come in many different styles: Egg and Swirl, Chope Yvonne, East, Cordon, Reservoir and Pontarlier glasses.

Thujone in Absinthe

thujoneThujone is widely known for being a chemical contained in absinthe and responsible for the so-called ‘secondary effects’ which include, but are not limited to, irregular eyesight sensitivity to colors and light, a feeling of sober inebriation, euphoria, hallucinations, and even epileptic attacks. Since the mysterious impact produced by the ‘Green Fairy’ has played its part of a magnet attracting curious minds, absinthe manufacturers claimed their liquor contain unbelievable amounts of Thujone – 260-350 mg/L.

However, modern research shows that pure Thujone oil derived from the herb called Artemisia Absinthium, which is an indispensable absinthe ingredient, constitutes approximately 40-60% of wormwood oil contained in the spirit. Scientific tests demonstrate that Thujone content in absinthe is around 1.8-4 mg/L, while the chemical can pose a real threat to a person’s life only if taken in great amounts.

Famous Absinthe Drinkers: Arts and Not Only

Absinthe is an alcoholic drink well-known for its famous users of the past. Only cognac can compete with it in the number of the celebrities who fancied it. The mysterious as well as infamous image of the spirit has always seemed to be tempting, especially to creative people. Thus, absinthe has had an evident indisputable cultural impact on arts.

Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas.
In 1876 he painted a picture portraying two gloomy absinthe drinkers in a bar. They say that Edgar Degas never called the painting “L’absinthe” and it was named like this either by his dealer or its later owner.

Edouard Manet
Edouard Manet.
Demonstrated his vulnerability to the alcoholic beverage and its effects by opening his career with the picture “The absinth drinker” (1885).

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
He was widely known as a regular absinthe drinker and absinthe can be observed in many of his paintings. However “Monsieur Boileau au cafe” is considered to be the most remarkable one, featuring the spirit.

Famous Absinthe Drinkers: Literature

Throughout the history absinthe has been the favorite drink of many outstanding and often eccentric people: writers, artists, musicians, actors, revolutionaries etc. However, it seems that those, who devoted their lives to literature, were most inspired by the ‘Green Muse’. Among the latter one could name:

Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley.
Crowley is famous for writing “The book of law”. He was known to be a loyal lover of the ‘Green Fairy’, as well as a heroin and opium addict.

Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud.
Being considered one of the greatest French poets, Rimbaud was also famous for drinking a great amount of absinthe and maintaining a homosexual relationship with Paul Marie Verlaine.

Charles Baudelaire
Charles Baudelaire.
He referred to the ‘Green Fairy’ in his well-known poem “Get drunk” and was believed to be an avaricious absinthe drinker.


Aphrodisiac Beliefs about Absinthe & Advertising

One of the commonly spread beliefs about absinthe is that it produces an aphrodisiac effect and numerous absintheurs are absolutely positive about it. Is it just a myth or a fact based on scientific research?

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