Absinthe from the Belle Epoque was known for being bitter, strong and green; its stimulating qualities attracting fans such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde and Mark Twain. But its hallucinogenic properties sparked extraordinary social and cultural debate.
Valentin Magnan, a psychiatrist who ran a Paris asylum, first raised concerns over absinthe’s toxic properties. He saw French culture slipping into decline and blamed absinthe for it, believing that absinthe caused brain rot through exposure to its chemical constituent thujone found in Artemisia absinthium or “wormwood seeds.”
He was supported by a small but vocal group of doctors who claimed that absinthe caused violent behavior as well as symptoms such as gout, dropsy and fevers. Meanwhile, others lauded it for its appetite suppressant and mood enhancing qualities as well as its sedative properties to aid with insomnia relief.
Absinthe became increasingly popular during the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in Paris and cafe life. Drinkers would dilute it with cold water to lower its alcohol concentration and maximize enjoyment of its botanical and medicinal flavors. A traditional preparation involves placing a sugar cube at the bottom of a glass, adding one ounce or so of absinthe, and slowly pouring cold water over this cube; when mixing is complete, slowly pour cold water onto sugar cube to create milky-looking cloudiness known as the louche effect resulting from poor water solubility (mainly anise and fennel terpenoids which come out of solution as it becomes diluted further diluting in absinthe creating its distinctive cloudy cloudiness resulting from their poor water solubility (mainly anise and fennel terpenoids with poor water solubility coming out of solution resulting in milky-colored cloudiness known as “louche”.
