What Is Absinthe

Absinthe is a distilled, highly alcoholic, anise-flavored spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called grand wormwood or Absinth wormwood. Absinthe has a licorcie flavor to it and is typically green either naturally or with added color or clear and is often referred to as la Fée Verte (The Green Fairy). The ingredient that caused all the fuss was wormwood (actually deleterious only when taken in immense doses). Pernod, Abisante, Abson, Anisette, Ojen, and Oxygene are its modern, safe, respectable substitutes.

Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a liqueur, absinthe is not bottled with added sugar and is therefore classified as a liquor or spirit. Absinthe is uncommon among spirits in that it is bottled at a high proof but consumed diluted with water to the strength of wine. Because it`s considered habit forming and hazardous to health, absinthe is prohibited in many countries and was banned in the United States in the early 1900s.

Historically, there were five grades of absinthe: ordinaire, demi-fine, fine, supérieure and Suisse, in order of increasing alcoholic strength and production quality. While a supérieure and Suisse would always be naturally colored and distilled; ordinaire and demi-fine could be artificially colored and made from oil extracts. These terms are no longer used as an industry standard. However some brands in production today still use the Suisse designation on their labels. Many contemporary absinthe critics use two classifications to denote quality; Distilled and Mix Absinthe. Within these two process based classifications exist substantial variations in production quality due to variations in the raw materials used. They should not be viewed as complete measures of quality.