Absinthe takes its name from Artemisia absinthium, the botanical name for the bitter herb wormwood and the ingredient which contains the thujone which supposedly accounts for its alleged mind altering properties. Wormwood was first used to flavour alcoholic drinks as far back as 1792 when a potion was created by Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Switzerland. Ordinaire's elixir also contained anise, hyssop, Melissa, coriander and various other local herbs, and at 68% alcohol presumably packed quite a punch. According to popular legend, Ordinaire left his recipe to two sisters and they in turn passed it on to a Major Dubied whose son-in-law was one Henri-Louis Pernod. Whatever the truth behind its origins, absinthe stopped being a local curiosity and started on its route to becoming a national phenomenon in 1797 with the foundation of a distillery in Couvet, Switzerland, by Major Dubied, his son and his son-in-law. By 1905 there were 25 producers operating across the border n the Pontarlier region, 22 of which were located within Pontarlier itself, producing 70,000 hectolitres a year from 151 stills. The success of Pernod as a brand brought many imitators and the company went to court to prevent these trading on their hard earned reputation. It was the introduction of these cheaper adulterated imitations that may have been responsible for the reputation that absinthe gained for causing delirium and madness in those who drank it.
From the mid 19th century onwards absinthe became associated with bohemian Paris and featured frequently in the paintings of such artists as Manet, Van Gough and Picasso. When they were not painting it they were drinking it in large quantities, joined by contemporary poets such as Baudelaire and Verlaine - who practically made a career out of it. In fact absinthe was not just popular amongst artists and poets, the Parisian cafés were full of gentlemen drinking absinthe, so much so that the time between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm became known as L'heure verte,and absinthe was the most popular aperitif in France. Between 1876 and 1900 the annual consumption had rocketed from 10,000 hectolitres to 210,000 hectolitres. It is no exaggeration to compare the impact of banning absinthe to the effect that the banning of Scotch whisky would have on Scotland.
So if absinthe was so popular, why was it banned? There were a number of reasons. It got caught up in the temperance movement that was sweeping Europe at the beginning of the 20th century and became the scapegoat for all alcohol, then findings were published showing that thujone was a neurotoxin in large quantities which caused convulsions and death in laboratory animals and there was also pressure from the wine producers who saw its popularity as a threat to their sales which had been badly hit by the spread of phylloxera through the European vineyards. Another nail was driven in the coffin with the lurid 'Absinthe Murder' which took place in Switzerland in 1905 when one Monsieur Lanfray shot his entire family after drinking absinthe. The fact that he had also consumed several litres of wine and a considerable amount of brandy was overlooked by the prohibitionists and in 1910 absinthe was banned in Switzerland. Five years later it was banned in France and the ban lasted almost 100 years.
