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Chart a Course to Your Best Absinthe

You’re not hallucinating: Absinthe is enjoying some overdue growth among American drinkers. In the first of a two-part series, we consider its background and trajectory—and in the next, we’ll zoom in on the craft of making it.

Courtney Iseman Nov 28, 2023 - 8 min read

Chart a Course to Your Best Absinthe Primary Image

Photo: Matt Graves/www.mgravesphoto.com

For more than a century, absinthe has faced significant hurdles in the United States.

It was initially an elixir and anti-malarial. The French began to fully embrace this wormwood- and anise-forward spirit in the 1860s and 1870s. The phylloxera aphid had plagued vineyards and decimated the wine supply, yet drinkers didn’t fully adjust their consumption levels for a drink that could reach 70 percent ABV. Concerns about widespread intoxication exploded. Cheaply made, adulterated absinthes also showed up, and those—theoretically—may have led to the hallucinatory effect that came to be associated with all absinthes.

Governments and French winemakers looking to woo drinkers back helped to fuel the anti-absinthe propaganda, and the beginning of the 20th century saw it banned in multiple countries. The United States outlawed absinthe in 1912 and didn’t allow it again until 2007. Misconceptions that absinthe is illegal and dangerous have lingered stubbornly, as has a common American distaste for anise-centric flavors.

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Courtney Iseman is a freelancer writer focused on the craft-beverage space, based in Brooklyn, New York.

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