Absinthe
Absinthe or absynthe is an alcoholic beverage made of various herbs (wormwood, anise, fennel etc.). It has 45-74% of alcohol per volume.
Glass of Absinthe
Absinthe was first made in the Swiss canton of Lugano. It was first made by doctor Pierre Ordinaire in about 1792. It is interesting to mention that first it was used as a herbal remedy.
It was very popular among world famous artists and writers. Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway were just some of the fans of this beverage
Absinthe was for a long time place on black list as something dangerous. The substance called thujone was the main argument of those claiming that this beverage is bad. But the truth is that absinthe contains only minimal quantities of thujone. Absinthe can not be the cause of hallucinations. Still it was only in the 1990's when the beverage started its comeback to the mainstream market.
There are two ways absinthe is prepared for drinking The first method is known as the French one. Some absinthe is poured into the glass. To continue one needs a slotted spoon. It is a spoon with holes on its main part. Then a sugar cube is placed on the mentioned spoon.
Glass of Absinthe
After that spoon should be put on the glass. Finally some cold water is slowly poured over the sugar cube into the glass. The ratio of the beverage ready for drinking is 1 part of the absinthe and 3-5 parts of water.
Apart from the French method there is also the Bohemian one. It is more contemporary method. Here one also needs a slotted spoon and a sugar cube. The difference is that here sugar must be soaked in some absinthe. The sugar is then put ablaze. Burning sugar put ablaze the absinthe in the glass. Now some water is poured over absinthe to stop the flame. Absinthe prepared this way is not so diluted as the one prepared according to the French method.
Absinthe can be used for making cocktails. Nowadays absinthe is mainly produced in France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Spain and Australia.
References Absinthe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe Slotted spoon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slotted_spoon Images Absinthe spoons (photo by SDC, Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Absinthe_spoons.jpg Glass of absinthe (photo by Bart Everson, Flickr) https://www.flickr.com/photos/editor/6803608390/