The hallucinogenic effects of absinthe have been gravely overstated — it will not cause you to make out with your sister, kill a hooker or have psychic visions about Jack the Ripper.
But that didn’t stop a lot of countries from banning the anise-flavored spirit in 1914, with regulations only lifting in the last 20-30 years — albeit with some tweaks to the recipe (and production method).
If you’re hankering to try some pre-ban absinthe, you’re in luck — a recreation of a recipe from the first commercial absinthe distillery, Dubied Père et Fils, has been launched.
Inspired by an intact Dubied bottle that was discovered earlier this year and dated between 1798-1843, Czech distiller Martin Žufánek hunted down a handwritten recipe of the spirit and the original distilling method. His homage, Dubied 1798 – Žufánek 2018 (made with real wormwood) almost immediately sold out at various absinthe sites when it launched this month, although both Absinthes.com and Alandia.de have sign-ups for if/when it comes back in stock.
Photo: Absinthe.com
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