FINDES der NOGET så FASCINERENDE og MYSTISK som ABSINT ?
HISTORIEN om absint:
Myten om absinten startede i det 17. årh. i Couvert, en lille by i Schweiz ved den franske grænse. Her opfandt Madame Henriot en opskrift til en drik, der kunne kurere mange sygdomme.
Monsieur Dubied, svigerfar til Henri Louis Pernod, købte opskriften af Mme Henriot og startede en produktion af den forunderlige drik. På grund af de høje spiritusafgifter i Schweiz, flyttede Pernod produktionen til Frankrig, i Pontarlier, hvor afgifterne var betydeligt lavere. Vi er i år 1804, en tid med stor udbredelse af destillerier, særligt i Alsace.
I første halvdel af 1800-tallet kom absint på mode i visse miljøer, navnlig blandt kunstnere og emanciperede kvinder, som nu turde gå på bistroer. Efterhånden blev absinten udbredt blandt alle samfundsklasser. Den symboliserede frigørelse.
Men! I slutningen af 1800 blev absinten et problem. Den beskyldtes for at være årsagen til ulykker såsom alkoholisme, moralsk dekadence, kriminalitet, sindssygdomme, tuberkulose, epilepsi, m.m.
I begyndelsen af 1900 dannedes der en bevægelse mod alkoholisme og især mod indtagelse af absint, ”den grønne fare”. Vinbønderne var de ivrigste modstandere af absint. Vinsalget var i krise.
Nogle forklarende tal: i 1873 kostede et glas absint 15 centimes, et brød 50 centimes og et godt glas vin 1 franc.
Det franske parlament vedtog i 1915 enstemmigt en lov med totalforbud mod produktion, handel og indtagelse af absint.
Og der skulle gå ca. 100 år før absint igen blev tilladt, i 1998, med en EU-forordning.
Absinten ”Libertine” er en mærkevare registreret i 2002. Det ejes af fam. René de Miscault. Det var René de Miscault selv, som blandt fabrikkens papirer fandt en opskrift fra juni 1894. Ifølge denne opskrift produceres absinten kun med planter og kerner af absint og anis.
Fabrikken er i dag omdannet til et museum.
PRODUKTION:
Der findes to absintplanter. Den store absint, Artemisia absenthium og den lille absint, Artemisia pontica. Det er især den store absint, der bliver anvendt.
Kernerne bliver sået, derefter omplantet i jorden, så høstet i september uden blomster og tørret. De tørrede planter bliver marineret 1-2 dage i et bad af alkohol. Det hele bliver destilleret. Destillatet kommer igen i kontakt med planterne for at give absinten den karakteristiske grønlige farve (den grønne fare). Herefter lagres absinten i nogle måneder før den sælges.
HVORDAN DRIKKES ABSINT?
Absint Libertine produceres med 55 %, 68 % g 72% alkohol.
Først hældes absinten i et glas, derefter anbringes der en særlig absint-ske på glasset (gaffel kan bruges) med en sukkerknald på. Til sidst hældes godt frisk vand på sukkerknalden, så den smelter ned i absinten. Absint er lidt bitter, derfor tilsætter man sukker.
Absint Libertine har fremstillet en flot fontæne, der kan købes. Fontænen er meget dekorativ og det bliver festligt at drikke absint på den måde.
Absint Libertine smager blødt og rundt, kan drikkes også uden vand.
Absint Libertine Gisselbrecht har vundet mange udmærkelser.
ABSINT FACTS
- First distilled in Val-de-Travers in Switzerland at end of 18th Century
- Name comes from its special ingredient Artemisia absinthium, commonly known as grande wormwood, which contains thujone
- Medicinal use of wormwood dates back to ancient Egypt
- At height of popularity, there were more than 1,000 distilleries of absinthe in France
- Was given to French soldiers in Algeria in 1840s as was believed to prevent malaria
- In the 19th Century the city with the biggest consumption, after Paris, was New Orleans in the US
- The French drink pastis started to be made after the absinthe ban came in. It has a similar aniseed flavour
- The US banned absinthe in 1912 - eight years before prohibition came in; it lifted the ban in 2007
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic (45–74%) beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from botanicals, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium (a.k.a. "grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs.
Absinthe traditionally has a natural green colour but may also be colourless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as "la fée verte" (the green fairy). Although it is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a liqueur, absinthe is not traditionally bottled with added sugar, and is therefore classified as a spirit. Absinthe is traditionally bottled at a high level of alcohol by volume, but is normally diluted with water prior to being consumed.
Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland in the late 18th century.
It rose to great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Owing in part to its association with bohemian culture, the consumption of absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists. Ernest Hemingway, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Aleister Crowley, Erik Satie and Alfred Jarry were all known absinthe drinkers.
Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. The chemical compound thujone, although present in the spirit in only trace amounts, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects.
By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Although absinthe was vilified, it has not been demonstrated to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Any psychoactive properties attributed to absinthe, apart from that of the alcohol, have been much exaggerated. A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, following the adoption of modern European Union food and beverage laws that removed longstanding barriers to its production and sale. By the early 21st century, nearly 200 brands of absinthe were being produced in a dozen countries, most notably in France, Switzerland, USA, Spain, and the Czech Republic.
