| Absinthe History and FAQ VI |
FAQ V
Why was absinthe banned?
What was absinthism? Who was Dr Valentin Magnan?
FAQ VI
What were the Lanfray murders?
When was absinthe banned?
What happened after the ban?
The modern absinthe revival
Why was absinthe banned?
What was absinthism? Who was Dr Valentin Magnan?
FAQ VI
What were the Lanfray murders?
When was absinthe banned?
What happened after the ban?
The modern absinthe revival
What were the Lanfray murders?
Like a vice slowly tightening, the pressure to ban absinthe inexorably increased. The last straw was a series of particularly brutal family
murders which were – largely unfairly – blamed on absinthe consumption. The most notorious of these was the celebrated Lanfray case,
which riveted the European press in 1905.
Jean Lanfray, a Swiss peasant of French stock, having drunk two glasses of absinthe, shot his pregnant wife and two daughters, before
attempting to kill himself. He failed, and was found the next morning collapsed across their dead bodies. Public reaction to the case was
extraordinary, and it focused on just one detail – the two glasses of absinthe he had drunk beforehand. Forgotten was the fact that Lanfray
was a thoroughgoing alcoholic who habitually drank up to 5 litres of wine a day. Forgotten also, was that on the day of the attack he had
consumed not only the two absinthes before going to work – hours before the tragedy – but also a crème de menthe, a cognac, six
glasses of wine to help his lunch down, another glass of wine before leaving work, a cup of coffee with brandy in it, an entire litre of wine
on getting home, and then another coffee with marc in it. People were in no doubt. It must have been the absinthe that did it. Within
weeks, a petition demanding that absinthe be banned in Switzerland was signed by over 82 000 local people.
The major absinthe producers, realising too late that their businesses and livelihoods were in jeopardy, fought a desperate rearguard
action, organising counter petitions, and promoting the health benefits of their absinthes. There was an increasing vogue for oxygen
enriched "absinthe oxygénée", and many brands were sold under the designation "absinthe hygenique".
Some producers - Bailly and Cousin Jeune amongst them - produced absinthes claimed to be thujone free - "absinthe sans-thuj" - but
these seem never to have caught on. Of course the science behind the claims of the manufacturers was as dubious and corrupt as that
of the temperance movement, and was often mocked in the satirical journals of the day.
Crucially, although in some cases financially powerful, the major absinthe producers lacked political influence in the Chamber of
Deputies (where large hereditary landowners - often grape-growers - were disproportionately well represented). The fact that the
management of the biggest producer, Pernod Fils, were of Jewish origin (Arthur and Edmond Vielle-Picard, who purchased a controlling
interest in the company in 1894, were half-Jewish) in a France still reeling from the anti-semitism exposed by the Dreyfus affair, further
aggravated the situation.
The popular press, led by the left-wing Parisian daily Le Matin was virulently pro-prohibition. The momentum to ban the drink was now
unstoppable.
Like a vice slowly tightening, the pressure to ban absinthe inexorably increased. The last straw was a series of particularly brutal family
murders which were – largely unfairly – blamed on absinthe consumption. The most notorious of these was the celebrated Lanfray case,
which riveted the European press in 1905.
Jean Lanfray, a Swiss peasant of French stock, having drunk two glasses of absinthe, shot his pregnant wife and two daughters, before
attempting to kill himself. He failed, and was found the next morning collapsed across their dead bodies. Public reaction to the case was
extraordinary, and it focused on just one detail – the two glasses of absinthe he had drunk beforehand. Forgotten was the fact that Lanfray
was a thoroughgoing alcoholic who habitually drank up to 5 litres of wine a day. Forgotten also, was that on the day of the attack he had
consumed not only the two absinthes before going to work – hours before the tragedy – but also a crème de menthe, a cognac, six
glasses of wine to help his lunch down, another glass of wine before leaving work, a cup of coffee with brandy in it, an entire litre of wine
on getting home, and then another coffee with marc in it. People were in no doubt. It must have been the absinthe that did it. Within
weeks, a petition demanding that absinthe be banned in Switzerland was signed by over 82 000 local people.
The major absinthe producers, realising too late that their businesses and livelihoods were in jeopardy, fought a desperate rearguard
action, organising counter petitions, and promoting the health benefits of their absinthes. There was an increasing vogue for oxygen
enriched "absinthe oxygénée", and many brands were sold under the designation "absinthe hygenique".
Some producers - Bailly and Cousin Jeune amongst them - produced absinthes claimed to be thujone free - "absinthe sans-thuj" - but
these seem never to have caught on. Of course the science behind the claims of the manufacturers was as dubious and corrupt as that
of the temperance movement, and was often mocked in the satirical journals of the day.
Crucially, although in some cases financially powerful, the major absinthe producers lacked political influence in the Chamber of
Deputies (where large hereditary landowners - often grape-growers - were disproportionately well represented). The fact that the
management of the biggest producer, Pernod Fils, were of Jewish origin (Arthur and Edmond Vielle-Picard, who purchased a controlling
interest in the company in 1894, were half-Jewish) in a France still reeling from the anti-semitism exposed by the Dreyfus affair, further
aggravated the situation.
The popular press, led by the left-wing Parisian daily Le Matin was virulently pro-prohibition. The momentum to ban the drink was now
unstoppable.
When was absinthe banned?
Absinthe was first banned in the Congo Free State in 1898, then in Brazil and in Belgium in 1906, in Holland in 1908, in Switzerland in
1910, in the USA in 1912 and finally in France – distracted and shell-shocked by the first defeats of World War I - in 1915. In the end this
magical and historic elixir that had once captivated, delighted and inspired a nation, went out not with a bang, but with the merest
whimper.
What happened after the ban?
Most of the great absinthe-producing firms went bankrupt, or amalgamated, or switched to producing pastis. Some firms transferred their
production to Spain, where absinthe was never banned, and where it continued to be made on a small scale for the next century. A
remnant of the Pernod company made absinthe in Tarragona from 1918 until the mid '60's, although by 1950 the product had already
deviated quite considerably from the pre-ban French original.
In the Val de Travers region of Switzerland, production of the local uncoloured "Le Bleue" went underground, and fairly large scale
bootlegging operatiosn continued up to 2005, when absinthe was once again made legal. In many countries though absinthe was never
formally prohibited – it just faded from sight.
Absinthe has never been banned in the UK, nor in much of Southern and Eastern Europe,
The modern absinthe revival
Although absinthe continued to be made on a small scale in Spain, its modern revival really has its origins in the collapse of the Iron
Curtain, and Czechoslovakia’s 1987 “Velvet Revolution”.
Radomill Hill, an entrepreneurial Czech distiller, having inherited from his father a small distillery dating from the 1920’s, decided, with
the return of a free market economy, to start producing absinthe. Hill claimed that he based his new product on an old family recipe, and
that the distillery produced absinthe prior to the Communist occupation. Hill's "absinth" was aggressively marketed in the UK in
conjunction with the so-called Bohemian absinthe ritual, which involves soaking the sugar cube with absinthe, and then setting it alight,
before plunging the caramelised sugar into the glass - a necessity with Hills and many other Czech absinthes, which, since they contain
little if any anise, don't louche. Initially this was claimed - absurdly - as an historically authentic alternative to the traditional French ritual (in
reality it arose in Prague during the early 1990's). It's unfortunate that this travesty of the true absinthe ritual has been given widespread
currency through it's depiction in popular films such as Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge".
It was common practice in the early 20th century for jobbing distilleries to make a wide range of house-brand liqueurs for their local
market and for use in cocktails. These were often only crude approximations of the real thing, usually made from purchased essences.
So a distillery might have made a curacao, a creme de menthe, a kirschwasser, a "Chartreuse", an anisette, a "Grand Marnier" etc. It's
possible that Hills did this, and that some kind of absinthe or absinthe substitute was included in their list. A price list from an Austrian
distillery in the 1930's that includes "absynth" is known, and absinthe substitutes were produced in the US, the UK and in Denmark in the
1950's.
But no serious evidence of extensive pre-1990 Czech absinthe production has ever been produced - no pricelists, catalogues, labels,
bottles, posters, invoices, nothing whatsoever. It seems reasonable to assume that if anything like this existed, it would have turned up by
now.
So one can say with near certainty that there was no widespread Czech "absinthe tradition" prior to the launch of the Hills product. As to
whether an absinthe or absinthe-like product once briefly existed there in a minor and inconsequential way, it's hard to prove a negative.
Notwithstanding all this, sales of the blue-green Hills "absinth" took off in the early 1990's , especially in the UK, where an innovative
publicity campaign soon made absinthe a must-have drink in trendy nightclubs and bars. Other manufacturers in Czechoslovakia and
elsewhere soon followed suite, and today this style of "absinth" is made by many eastern European and German products. While some
of these manufacturers present their products honestly, a regrettably high percentage sell their wares on the basis of dubious claims of
drug like allure, or supposed aphrodisiac effects. For more information on Czech-style absinth, read The Wormwood Society's What's
Wrong With Czech Absinthe?, or visit Oxygenee's blog.
The commercial success of Hills and its followers had though an unexpected positive side-effect: the tentative rebirth of the French and
Swiss absinthe industry. In 1988 the EU adopted a permitted thujone standard of 10mg/l for absinthe, and 35mg/l for bitters. This was
followed a general relaxation of other restrictive legislation in both France and Switzerland, and there are now a considerable number of
French and Swiss absinthe producers. Unfortunately many of them produce absinthes of dubious quality - some are a travesty of what
true absinthe should be, with almost no traditional herbal and floral character.
Recognizably authentic absinthe is however made by a few small French and Swiss firms, and increasingly, by innovative distillers further
afield. The first legally distilled absinthe of the modern era in North America was produced by Frank Deiter in British Columbia - his
Absinthe Taboo is available from this site.
In 2007 an apparent relaxation of the US absinthe ban came into effect, with the determination that spirits with less than 10ppm of
thujone would be regarded as "thujone free". 10ppm is, in effect, a similar level to the EU standard of 10mg/l.
Absinthe was first banned in the Congo Free State in 1898, then in Brazil and in Belgium in 1906, in Holland in 1908, in Switzerland in
1910, in the USA in 1912 and finally in France – distracted and shell-shocked by the first defeats of World War I - in 1915. In the end this
magical and historic elixir that had once captivated, delighted and inspired a nation, went out not with a bang, but with the merest
whimper.
What happened after the ban?
Most of the great absinthe-producing firms went bankrupt, or amalgamated, or switched to producing pastis. Some firms transferred their
production to Spain, where absinthe was never banned, and where it continued to be made on a small scale for the next century. A
remnant of the Pernod company made absinthe in Tarragona from 1918 until the mid '60's, although by 1950 the product had already
deviated quite considerably from the pre-ban French original.
In the Val de Travers region of Switzerland, production of the local uncoloured "Le Bleue" went underground, and fairly large scale
bootlegging operatiosn continued up to 2005, when absinthe was once again made legal. In many countries though absinthe was never
formally prohibited – it just faded from sight.
Absinthe has never been banned in the UK, nor in much of Southern and Eastern Europe,
The modern absinthe revival
Although absinthe continued to be made on a small scale in Spain, its modern revival really has its origins in the collapse of the Iron
Curtain, and Czechoslovakia’s 1987 “Velvet Revolution”.
Radomill Hill, an entrepreneurial Czech distiller, having inherited from his father a small distillery dating from the 1920’s, decided, with
the return of a free market economy, to start producing absinthe. Hill claimed that he based his new product on an old family recipe, and
that the distillery produced absinthe prior to the Communist occupation. Hill's "absinth" was aggressively marketed in the UK in
conjunction with the so-called Bohemian absinthe ritual, which involves soaking the sugar cube with absinthe, and then setting it alight,
before plunging the caramelised sugar into the glass - a necessity with Hills and many other Czech absinthes, which, since they contain
little if any anise, don't louche. Initially this was claimed - absurdly - as an historically authentic alternative to the traditional French ritual (in
reality it arose in Prague during the early 1990's). It's unfortunate that this travesty of the true absinthe ritual has been given widespread
currency through it's depiction in popular films such as Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge".
It was common practice in the early 20th century for jobbing distilleries to make a wide range of house-brand liqueurs for their local
market and for use in cocktails. These were often only crude approximations of the real thing, usually made from purchased essences.
So a distillery might have made a curacao, a creme de menthe, a kirschwasser, a "Chartreuse", an anisette, a "Grand Marnier" etc. It's
possible that Hills did this, and that some kind of absinthe or absinthe substitute was included in their list. A price list from an Austrian
distillery in the 1930's that includes "absynth" is known, and absinthe substitutes were produced in the US, the UK and in Denmark in the
1950's.
But no serious evidence of extensive pre-1990 Czech absinthe production has ever been produced - no pricelists, catalogues, labels,
bottles, posters, invoices, nothing whatsoever. It seems reasonable to assume that if anything like this existed, it would have turned up by
now.
So one can say with near certainty that there was no widespread Czech "absinthe tradition" prior to the launch of the Hills product. As to
whether an absinthe or absinthe-like product once briefly existed there in a minor and inconsequential way, it's hard to prove a negative.
Notwithstanding all this, sales of the blue-green Hills "absinth" took off in the early 1990's , especially in the UK, where an innovative
publicity campaign soon made absinthe a must-have drink in trendy nightclubs and bars. Other manufacturers in Czechoslovakia and
elsewhere soon followed suite, and today this style of "absinth" is made by many eastern European and German products. While some
of these manufacturers present their products honestly, a regrettably high percentage sell their wares on the basis of dubious claims of
drug like allure, or supposed aphrodisiac effects. For more information on Czech-style absinth, read The Wormwood Society's What's
Wrong With Czech Absinthe?, or visit Oxygenee's blog.
The commercial success of Hills and its followers had though an unexpected positive side-effect: the tentative rebirth of the French and
Swiss absinthe industry. In 1988 the EU adopted a permitted thujone standard of 10mg/l for absinthe, and 35mg/l for bitters. This was
followed a general relaxation of other restrictive legislation in both France and Switzerland, and there are now a considerable number of
French and Swiss absinthe producers. Unfortunately many of them produce absinthes of dubious quality - some are a travesty of what
true absinthe should be, with almost no traditional herbal and floral character.
Recognizably authentic absinthe is however made by a few small French and Swiss firms, and increasingly, by innovative distillers further
afield. The first legally distilled absinthe of the modern era in North America was produced by Frank Deiter in British Columbia - his
Absinthe Taboo is available from this site.
In 2007 an apparent relaxation of the US absinthe ban came into effect, with the determination that spirits with less than 10ppm of
thujone would be regarded as "thujone free". 10ppm is, in effect, a similar level to the EU standard of 10mg/l.
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| Welcome to the most detailed, accurate and comprehensive Absinthe FAQ on the web. |
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FAQ I
What is absinthe?
How is absinthe drunk?
FAQ II
What gives absinthe its “secondary effects”?
What is wormwood? What is thujone?
Which modern drinks are related to absinthe?
What does absinthe taste like? Is it very bitter?
Where does the word "absinthe" come from?
What is absinthe?
How is absinthe drunk?
FAQ II
What gives absinthe its “secondary effects”?
What is wormwood? What is thujone?
Which modern drinks are related to absinthe?
What does absinthe taste like? Is it very bitter?
Where does the word "absinthe" come from?
See also our very popular
Fee Verte Absinthe FAQ.
Fee Verte Absinthe FAQ.
FAQ III
What is the history of absinthe?
Who invented it?
Which were the best quality absinthes?
What did they cost?
FAQ IV
How did absinthe influence artists like Degas, Manet, van Gogh and Picasso, and writers like
Verlaine, Rimbaud, Wilde and Hemingway?
What is the history of absinthe?
Who invented it?
Which were the best quality absinthes?
What did they cost?
FAQ IV
How did absinthe influence artists like Degas, Manet, van Gogh and Picasso, and writers like
Verlaine, Rimbaud, Wilde and Hemingway?
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