Legendary absinthe is making its way to Lincoln
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BY KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star
Absinthe is back.
A century-long ban on the mystical green drink was lifted earlier this year. Liquor labeled “absinthe” and made by traditional methods can be imported into the United States as of May.
Absinthe should be available in Lincoln stores and bars within the next two weeks, said Gene Pace, president of Sterling Distributing Co., which distributes liquor to many Nebraska sites.
Absinthes are meant to be diluted and drunk the traditional way: Pour absinthe into a glass, then place a sugar cube on a slotted or special absinthe spoon over the absinthe. Slowly pour cold water over the cube until it's melted. The water will turn the absinthe a cloudy white, an effect known as louching, that also occurs in other anise-flavored liquors such as Ouzo or Sambuca.
Sterling plans to bring in the French-made Lucid Absinthe Superieure, the first brand of absinthe to gain federal approval after it and another brand, the Swiss-made Kubler Absinthe Superieure, spent years negotiating with federal agencies.
Called the green fairy, green devil, emerald witch, and others, the spirit was banned in the early 1900s because of claims about its supposed hallucinogenic qualities. Traditional absinthes are made with Grande Wormwood, or Artemisia absinthium, a European-growing herb that contains thujone, which in very high quantities can affect the mind.
But the actual use of the name “absinthe” — and any reference to its illicit-sounding nicknames — was a bigger problem than the thujone content, according to some reports. The feds could accept a small amount of the wormwood extract in the liquor but deemed the product and its nicknames too associated with illegal activity.
The feds relented last year but passed stringent rules regarding absinthe’s marketing and bottling, not even allowing one brand to put a monkey on its label.
Absinthe does have an exotic, dangerous reputation, thanks to movies like “Moulin Rouge.” Some say absinthe’s herbs create a more lucid buzz, rather than the fuzziness of most drunks. Historically it was thought to spark one’s creativity.
But don’t expect to suddenly find your muse in a bottle, even though the spirit was favored by Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, Gaugin and Hemingway, and supposedly induced Van Gogh to cut off his ear.
The newly legal absinthes can be made with Grande Wormwood but can contain only the tiniest amount of thujone, 10 parts per million, as per the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau policy, in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration.
Most experts wonder how the federal ban got passed in the first place.
They cite propaganda by the wine industry and the prohibition movement for absinthe’s negative connotations. Also, the cheapest absinthes made in the early 20th century, before safety regulations, may have contained impurities or additives like antifreeze, which could have contributed to its scary reputation.
“I don’t think the wormwood connection was ever proven,” said Harold Rupe, director of the Nebraska Liquor Commission.
It is a high-octane drink, however, with the Lucid brand containing 62 percent alcohol.
“That higher alcohol content will probably do as much to give you hallucinogenic effects as anything,” said John Barker, owner of The Still, who plans to stock the Lucid brand.
Many people might be surprised that absinthe is only recently legal. Copycat absinthes, with names like Absente that contain herbs or an American wormwood without thujone, are now available.
Ken Meier of Meier’s Cork & Bottle said he’s stocked a $42.99 brand of liquor similar in taste for about five years. It comes with a slotted spoon and contains yellow and blue food coloring to produce the herby green color. But “It’s not the real thing,” he said.
Meier said he has a customer who enjoys true absinthe, and he was intrigued when he visited the Old Absinthe House bar in New Orleans, which has old news articles condemning absinthe as a horrid and dangerous substance on its walls.
“They’re pretty funny,” he said.
He understands the allure of absinthe, even though he hasn’t tried it himself. It’s a European thing, he said.
Barker agreed.
“I understand, if you’ve seen the movies like ‘Moulin Rouge,’ and the whole idea of the green fairy and all the artists who drank it, that people will be curious,” Barker said.
“We plan on stocking it as soon as we get it in.”
Lucid likely will sell for $60 to $70 a bottle.
Rupe of the liquor commission thought it might sell well at first, then fade.
“Part of its appeal is the whole taboo thing,” he said. “I think people will try it, but the legalization of it will diminish somewhat the allure. And I think price will be a detriment.”
Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.
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