Absinthe - The Green Fairy by Kimber Flory

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

Absinthe, also known in France as “The Green Fairy”, is a highly potent distilled spirit. Made of distilled alcohol, mixed with grande wormwood, green anise, and sweet fennel, it is a potent drink. It has had a varied past, being accused of being a hallucinogenic drink, causing madness and death. It has been outlawed in many countries for over 100 years. However, in recent times, the bans in many of those countries have been lifted, including the United States. It is now legal to drink absinthe in the United States again. Many famous people throughout history have been known to be absinthe drinkers. Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Aleister Crowley, and Alfred Jarry were all known drinkers of absinthe. As studies have been conducted on absinthe, it has been found that there is no evidence to support the evil claims that caused absinthe to be banned. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia talking about the argument about absinthe.
Absinthe has been frequently and incorrectly described in modern times as being hallucinogenic. In the 1970s, a scientific paper mistakenly reported thujone was related to THC, the active chemical in cannabis.[60] Ten years after his 19th century experiments with wormwood oil, Valentin Magnan studied 250 cases of alcoholism and claimed that those who drank absinthe were worse off than those drinking ordinary alcohol, and that they experienced rapid-onset hallucinations.[61] Such accounts by absinthe opponents were embraced by its most famous users, many of whom were bohemian artists or writers.[62]
Two famous painters who helped popularize the notion that absinthe had powerful psychoactive properties were Toulouse Lautrec and Vincent van Gogh. In one of the best known accounts of absinthe drinking, Oscar Wilde described the feeling of having tulips on his legs after leaving a bar.[63] Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations.[64] Thujone, the active chemical in absinthe, is a GABA antagonist; and while it can produce muscle spasms in large doses, there is not enough evidence that it causes hallucinations.[64] It has been speculated that reports of hallucinogenic effects of absinthe may have been due to poisonous chemicals being added to cheaper versions of the drink in the 19th century, to give it a more vivid colour.[65]
However, the debate over whether absinthe produces effects on the human mind additional to those of alcohol has not been conclusively resolved. The effects of absinthe have been described by some as mind opening.[64] The most commonly reported experience is a "clear-headed" feeling of inebriation—a form of "lucid drunkenness". Chemist, historian and absinthe distiller Ted Breaux has claimed that the alleged secondary effects of absinthe may be caused by the fact that some of the herbal compounds in the drink act as stimulants, while others act as sedatives, creating an overall lucid effect of awakening.[66] Long term effects of low absinthe consumption in humans remain unknown, although the herbs in absinthe have both painkilling[67] and antiparasitic[68] properties.
Preparation of Absinthe to Drink
Traditionally, absinthe is prepared by placing a sugar cube on top of a specially designed slotted spoon and then placing the spoon on the glass which has been filled with a shot of absinthe. Ice-cold water is then poured or dripped over the sugar cube so that the water is slowly and evenly displaced into the absinthe, typically 1 part absinthe and 3 to 5 parts water. During this process, components not soluble in water (mainly those from anise, fennel, and star anise) come out of solution and cloud the drink. The resulting milky opalescence is called the louche (Fr. "opaque" or "shady", IPA [luʃ]). Releasing these components allows herbal aromas and flavours to "blossom" or "bloom" and brings out subtleties originally over-powered by the anise. This is often referred to as "The French Method."

"The Bohemian Method" is an alternative that is popular primarily due to the use of fire. Like the French method, a sugar cube is placed on a slotted spoon over a glass containing one shot of absinthe. The difference is that the sugar is pre-soaked in alcohol, usually more absinthe, and then set ablaze. The flaming sugar cube is then dropped into the glass igniting the absinthe. Finally, a shot glass full of water is added to douse the flames. This method tends to produce a stronger drink than the French method. A variant of "The Bohemian Method" is to allow the fire to burn itself out. This variant, called "Cooking the Absinthe" or "Flaming Green Fairy," removes much but not all of the alcohol. The origins of this burning ritual may come from a coffee and brandy drink that was served at Café Brûlot, in which a sugar cube soaked in brandy was set aflame.[49]