Narrator: ABSINTHE
IS A STRONG ALCOHOLIC DRINK
WITH A COLORFUL HISTORY.
DURING THE LATE 1800s
AND EARLY 1900s,
DRINKING
THIS ANISE-FLAVORED SPIRIT
WAS THE RAGE
AMONG EUROPEAN BOHEMIANS.
CONSERVATIVES OF THE DAY
SAW IT AS DANGEROUS AND IMMORAL
AND SUCCEEDED
IN GETTING ABSINTHE BANNED
IN SEVERAL COUNTRIES.
THE TRADITIONAL WAY
TO DRINK ABSINTHE
IS TO POUR ONE PART
INTO A GLASS,
STRADDLE A SPECIALLY DESIGNED
SLOTTED SPOON
HOLDING A SUGAR CUBE
OVER THE GLASS,
THEN, VERY SLOWLY, DRIP
THREE TO FIVE PARTS ICE WATER
DIRECTLY ONTO THE CUBE,
DISSOLVING THE SUGAR
INTO THE DILUTING SPIRIT.
THIS TRANSFORMS THE DRINK
FROM CLEAR TO CLOUDY
AND DRAWS OUT
THE SUBTLE FLAVORS AND AROMAS
OF THE HERBAL INGREDIENTS.
YOU CAN DO THIS
WITH A SINGLE GLASS
OR SEVERAL USING A TRADITIONAL
ABSINTHE FOUNTAIN --
A LARGE MOUNTED GLASS VESSEL
WHICH DISPENSES THE ICE WATER
THROUGH MULTIPLE SPIGOTS.
THIS 180-YEAR-OLD
FRENCH DISTILLERY
MAKES BOTH WHITE AND GREEN
VERSIONS OF ABSINTHE.
EACH IS MADE FROM A DIFFERENT
COMBINATION AROMATIC PLANTS.
HOWEVER, FOR BOTH,
THE PRIMARY INGREDIENTS ARE
GREEN ANISE AND GRAND WORMWOOD.
BOTH ALSO CONTAIN FENNEL.
THE WHITE ABSINTHE
HAS MORE OF IT.
AND ONLY GREEN ABSINTHE
CONTAINS ADDITIONAL PLANTS,
SUCH AS PETTY WORMWOOD,
HYSSOP, MINT, AND CHAMOMILE.
THE DISTILLERY WORKERS
POUR THE RECIPE INGREDIENTS
INTO A COPPER STILL.
THEY PUMP IN HIGHLY CONCENTRATED
ALCOHOL MADE FROM WHITE GRAPES.
THE PLANTS SOAK
IN THIS ALCOHOL BASE OVERNIGHT,
GRADUALLY IMBUING THE ALCOHOL
WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE FLAVORS
AND AROMAS.
THIS PROCESS
IS CALLED MACERATION.
THE NEXT DAY,
DISTILLATION BEGINS.
THEY HEAT THE STILL
WITH PRESSURIZED STEAM.
AFTER ABOUT 45 MINUTES,
THE SPIRIT REACHES
THE BOILING POINT,
AND A FLOATING GAUGE
MONITORING ITS ALCOHOL LEVEL
SLOWLY RISES
AND FLOWS OUT THE NECK
OF THE STILL.
HOWEVER, WHAT COMES OUT DURING
THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OR SO
HAS TO BE DISCARDED.
IT'S WHITE, OILY,
AND HAS A 90% ALCOHOL LEVEL.
WHAT FOLLOWS
IS THE GOOD STUFF --
CRYSTAL CLEAR,
WITH AN AVERAGE ALCOHOL LEVEL
OF 78% TO 80%.
THIS STREAMS STEADILY
OUT OF THE STILL
FOR ABOUT THREE TO FIVE HOURS,
FOLLOWED BY A WEAK TAIL-END FLOW
THAT THEY DISCARD
LIKE THE FIRST FLOW.
THEN THEY DILUTE
THIS DISTILLED SPIRIT WITH WATER
TO REDUCE THE FINAL ALCOHOL
LEVEL OF THIS WHITE ABSINTHE
TO 60%.
TO MAKE GREEN ABSINTHE,
BEFORE THAT FINAL DILUTION,
THEY PUMP THE WHITE ABSINTHE
THROUGH A BURLAP BAG
CONTAINING A SPECIFIC PLANT --
THE IDENTITY OF WHICH
THE DISTILLERY WON'T DIVULGE.
THEY LET THE PLANT SOAK
IN THE ABSINTHE
FOR A SPECIFIC LENGTH OF TIME.
THIS DRAWS OUT
THE PLANT'S CHLOROPHYLL,
WHICH COLORS THE SPIRIT
BRIGHT GREEN.
THEN THEY DILUTE WITH WATER
TO OBTAIN THE TARGET
ALCOHOL LEVEL OF 62%,
SLIGHTLY HIGHER
THAN WHITE ABSINTHE.
THAT EXTRA BIT OF ALCOHOL
HELPS PRESERVE THE CHLOROPHYLL.
IN THE DISTILLERY'S
IN-HOUSE LABORATORY,
QUALITY-CONTROL TECHNICIANS TEST
A SAMPLE FROM EACH BATCH
TO VERIFY THE ALCOHOL CONTENT.
ABSINTHE CONTAINS ABOUT 20%
MORE ALCOHOL THAN MOST SPIRITS.
THE LAB MONITORS
THE LEVEL OF THUJONE,
A CHEMICAL COMPOUND IN WORMWOOD,
THE DRINK'S
SECOND KEY INGREDIENT.
THUJONE CONTENT IS REGULATED
TO VARYING DEGREES
IN MANY COUNTRIES.
THE EUROPEAN UNION PERMITS
UP TO 35 PARTS PER MILLION,
FOR EXAMPLE,
WHILE CANADA, NO MORE
THAN 7 PARTS PER MILLION.
THE DISTILLERY, THEREFORE,
BOTTLES SEVERAL VERSIONS
OF ABSINTHE,
TAILORING THE WORMWOOD PORTION
OF THE RECIPE
TO THE EXPORT DESTINATION.
WHITE ABSINTHE
HAS A STRONG ANISE TASTE,
WELL BALANCED WITH WORMWOOD,
WHEREAS GREEN ABSINTHE,
CONTAINING MORE PLANTS,
HAS A MORE COMPLEX FLAVOR.
WHILE WHITE IS TYPICALLY BOTTLED
IN CLEAR GLASS,
GREEN IS ALWAYS BOTTLED
IN DARK-COLORED GLASS.
THAT'S BECAUSE CHLOROPHYLL,
THE PLANT PIGMENT
THAT PRODUCES THE GREEN COLOR,
IS HIGHLY SENSITIVE TO LIGHT.
WITHOUT DARK GLASS
SHIELDING IT FROM EXPOSURE,
THE GREEN ABSINTHE INSIDE
WOULD TURN YELLOW
AND EVENTUALLY BROWN.
THIS WOULD HAVE NO EFFECT
WHATSOEVER ON THE TASTE,
HOWEVER, THE POTENT DRINK
KNOWN IN 19th-CENTURY FRANCE
AS LA FéE VERTE,
THE GREEN FAIRY,
WOULD LOSE SOME OF ITS MAGIC.
