Very Retro Wednesday......

Absinthe....
The Green Fairy!!
In 1915 The United States and all but 7 or 8 countries around the world, banned the manufacturing and importing of this strange and exotic beveridge.
Most of the great literary minds, and artists of the late 19th century, loved sipping this very potent potable!
It is distilled from different herbs, but primarily Artemisia Absinthium or Wormwood!
It has a very strong Anise flavor, and there is a sort of 'Ritual' to drinking it.
You pour about 1/3 of glass full of Absinthe, and across the top of the glass you lay a slotted spoon. Next you put a sugar cube on the spoon, and very slowly pour ice water over the sugar cube until it dissolves. The Absinthe turns a milky cloudy white, and then you sip it!
You have to be careful with this stuff because some of it is as high as 75% alcohol!
And the Wormwood has a drug in it called Thujone. This is why it was banned, it packed such a wallop that many of the great artistic minds of the day turned into raving lunatics. Lautrec, Van Gogh, Monet, and Oscar Wilde to name a few.
It wasn't banned as a drug, oddly enough Wormwood was banned as a food additive.
A less-powerful version of Absinthe has been used for years...Pernod!
The bottle that you see in the last 2 pics, I have had since about 1989. I imported it from Great Britain, but it was made in The Czech Republic. I imported 3 bottles in all, and over the years I have pulled them out and did the 'Ritual' when I wanted my guests to feel 'Bohemian'..hahahahahaha.
As of 2007, Absinthe is no longer vilified. In fact you can now legally import it and even manufacture it in The States. But the Thujone level is quite low in the Wormwood used.
This stuff that I have is ASS-KICKIN!!

Ahh...La Fe'e Verte...Sacre Coeur!!!

Peace...!!!