Born in the French part of Switzerland in the 1700s, is a spirit typically bottled at high proof, around 70%, the green color is given by nettles, and the flavor profile is dominated by anise.

​

what draws most interest when talking about absinthe? What makes it so fascinating? 

​

Well, one of the things could be that people that left their mark in history were avid drinkers of absinthe, like Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso...

Another is the ritual of its perfect serve, caramelizing the sugar cube by soaking it in some of the absinthe and then setting it on fire, watch it melt then add more absinthe and water to the glass (this is a modern technique, was not popular during the Belle Epoque)...

Or all the talk around its hallucinating properties (attributed to one of its ingredients, wormwood or thujone) All this talk is later discovered to be unfunded