France (historically proven tradition)

In France the glass will be filled with 2 to 4 cl of absinthe, with 1 or 2 cubes of sugar being placed on the absinthe spoon. Following that, cold water will be poured very slowly over the sugar until a ratio of 1:3 … 1:5 has been reached. It would be even better, if the water merely drizzled over the sugar to get a drink with the right turbidity. Nowadays, absinthe fountains or Brouille sets, widely used in former times to dissolve the sugar, are getting more and more popular again.

Absinthe fountain: The sugar is melted in a little jet of water
Brouille: a glass bowl with a hole sitting on top of the absinthe glass – it is used without the absinthe spoon

Switzerland

This is surely the easiest ritual of drinking absinthe: 2 - 4 cl of absinthe in an absinthe glass will be mixed with cold water and drunk. It is said that the absinthe in Switzerland is not as bitter as the French brand.

Bohemia (also called fire ritual)

This rather young ritual was developed in 1990 by Czech absinthe producers to make drinking absinthe more enjoyable. Like with the French ritual, the absinthe will also be consumed with sugar, with the sugar being soaked in the absinthe and lighted up. Once the sugar has caramelized, the flame is put out and the sugar is poured into the absinthe. The absinthe can then be diluted to taste at a ratio of 1:3 … 1:5.

Pipe ritual

A totally different ritual which also has its roots in Bohemia involves a pipe. You need a glass pipe (similar to a water-pipe) which will be filled with absinthe and crushed ice. The drinker can now suck and suck on the integrated glass drinking-straw until enough pressure has built up and the absinthe speeds into his mouth… Just try it yourself.

Famous connoisseurs

In 2008 the “Sixtina” started launching its own house brand of absinthe, and the label, of which a new one is published every year, has become a highly coveted souvenir and collector’s item.

Even as early as 1600 years ago, the old Egyptians did by no means scoff at a glass of vermouth as a stomach therapy.

The origin of the current recipe and the creator of absinthe are shrouded in mystery, since the sources are interpreted differently.

Apparently, one of the creators of absinthe was Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a French physician and refugee from the revolution, who eventually mixed the absinthe with vermouth (Artemisia Absintheium) and prescribed it to his patients. Other sources claim that it was a member of the Henriod family who distilled absinthe as early as in the mid-18th century and praised it as a remedy. But one thing is for sure: In 1797, a certain Major Dubied acquired the recipe and established, together with his son Marcellin and his son-in-law Henry Louis Pernod, an absinthe distillery which was moved to the French city of Pontarlier in 1805.

As a result of the French invasion into Algeria in 1830, Pernod raised its daily output from 400 to 20 000 litres. More distilleries sprang up like mushrooms. France was at war, its soldiers in a state of ecstasy – and the absinthe was to be the drug against epidemics and other diseases.

In the arts scene absinthe mutated into the standard drink for various reasons, which was partly reflected in the works of the artists and was not necessarily perceived positively. Some of these famous drinkers of absinthe were Charles Beaudelaire, Édouard Manet, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Degas and Henri Toulous-Lantrec, to name but a few.

At the same time a so-called anti-absinthe scene surfaced and tried to put an end to these hallucinogenic orgies. These efforts were quite successful and the consumption of absinthe was banned in Switzerland in 1908/1910, in the USA in 1922, in France in 1914 and in Germany in 1923. After that more and more countries had banned absinthe, with Portugal and Spain being the only countries in Europe that got away without such ban. The situation in England remained dubious, but the sale of the green drink remained legal in the absence of any clear statutory regulations.

Absinthe was legalized in the European Union not before 1998, but with certain conditions imposed, especially with regard to the Thujon content which must not exceed 35 mg per litre, depending on the alcohol content. Absinthe remained illegal in the USA until 2007.

In 2008 the “Sixtina” started launching its own house brand of absinthe, and the label, of which a new one is published every year, has become a highly coveted souvenir and collector’s item.