An Evening with Pernod

A friend of mine once said that the reason humans began drinking alcoholic beverages early on is because life always sucked. This is undeniably true. But every now and then, a particular beverage (or brand) stood out for reasons beyond mere ossification. Mead for it honeyed sweetness. Champagne for its effervescent luxury and prestigious birthplace. Cognac for its smooth, velvety darkness.

Then there's absinthe. Absinthe has a fascinating history, not so much for its flavor, cost, or even its origins. Instead, absinthe unwittingly claimed its stake in spirit history because of its purported effects on the brain. It was believed to cause hallucinations, epileptic seizures, and "madness." It served as muse to many artists and writers from the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Wilde, Poe, Hemingway, Degas, and Picasso. Eventually, it became the focal point for prohibitionists worldwide.

The brand name most closely associated with absinthe was and is Pernod-Fils.