What is the history of absinthe?
Absinthe in some form or another has been used for centuries. Ancient texts mention an early sort of Absinthe, wine soaked wormwood as a vermipurge. In the middle ages, it took on many uses, including superstitious claims that Absinthe warded off the plague. Modern absinthe’s commercial origins date back to 1797, when Major Henri Dubied began marketing a bottled Absinthe in France which eventually came to be known as today’s familiar Pernod recipe. Originally a medicine, Pernod’s Absinthe began growing in popularity with the artists, writers and intellectuals of the day, attributing some of their finest works to Absinthe’s creativity-enhancing effect. However, by 1905 a strong anti-absinthe movement emerged, convinced of the danger Absinthe provided through a few well-publicized incidents of violence and atrocities committed by Absinthe imbibers. By 1908, Switzerland was the first to ban it, by 1923, nearly every country worldwide had an Absinthe ban in place. These days, the Pernod br
