Learn About the Rich History of Absinthe

Absinthe was outlawed in the US for nearly a century, and it's had a lively history in other countries as well. Take a look at its tumultuous past below.

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  1792 — The inventor of absinthe, Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, travels the French countryside on a horse named Rocket to sell the first commercial version of the drink.
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  Grape phylloxera destroys vineyards and aristocrats buy all the remaining wine. Absinthe is soon discovered, saving the proletariat from sobriety. Sales skyrocket.
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  New Orleans pharmacist Antoine Peychaud creates a home-brewed mixture of brandy, absinthe, and his "secret sauce." America's first cocktail is born.
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  1840s — Absinthe's popularity spreads when French troops fighting in Algeria mix it with wine. Referred to as "absinthe soup," clam chowder soon loses favor.
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  Sometime during the early 1800s, drinking neat absinthe (i.e. without water) becomes impolite and socially inappropriate.
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  Throughout the ages, absinthe cocktails have dazzled the palates of partygoers everywhere from the fabulous to the freaky.
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  1860 — Parisian cafés are full of men drinking absinthe, so much so that the time between 5 and 7p.m. becomes known as l'heure verte — "the green hour."
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  From the 1890s onward, almost all bars and cafés serve absinthe with a perforated spoon. Forks have had an inferiority complex ever since.
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  1891 — At the Moulin Rouge, a glass of absinthe costs between 50 and 65 centimes, about half the price of whiskey, and little more than draft beer.
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  Absinthe's artistic devotees include Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allan Poe, Pablo Picasso, and Ernest Hemingway.
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  By 1910, France has consumed 36,000,000 liters of absinthe. That's enough to fill 144 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
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  1912 — Absinthe is banned in America.