The history of absinthe is as obscure as the legendary havoc it wrought! Indeed, it’s hard to tell whether its father (or mother) was a Swiss quack, Madame Henriod, or Frenchman Pierre Ordinaire, some time around the end of the sixteenth century.

Curioser and curioser, the ancient Egyptians were already drinking it some six hundred years before Christ!

From 1850 onwards, it was enjoyed by the Parisian bourgeoisie, its praises sung by the likes of Zola,

Degas or Manet, and gradually extended its reach so that by 1900 it was the most widely drunk aperitif in France, with some 90% of market share.

Accused of causing extreme alcohol intoxication, and targeted by various temperance leagues, absinthe disappeared following prohibition – in 1910 in Switzerland, and in 1915 in France. It could no longer be produced
or drunk.

Prohibition was lifted in Switzerland in 2005, and absinthe can now be legally distilled and enjoyed again.

False! At the beginning of the 20th century, the average consumption was 12 glasses of absinthe a day. So alcoholism is responsible for the ills attributed to absinthe! No ingredient causing madness has ever been discovered in absinthe.