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"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame, thy sugred tongue to
bitter wormwood taste." Sha\espeare's Lucrece. 1593.
Absinthe Drinks
According to some authorities, absinthe as a drink
originated in Algeria, and French soldiers serving in
the Frango-Algerian war (1830-47) introduced the green
spirits to Paris upon their return from the North African
country where the drink foimd strong favor along the
boulevards. . In time the spectacle of bearded men and
demi-mondes dripping their absinthes became one of
the sights of Paris. Naturally, so fashionable a Parisian
drink was not long in finding its way to the Little Paris
of North America—New Orleans.
The drink, which was spelled absynthe in New Or
leans liquor advertisements in 1837, when it was appar
ently first imported from France and Switzerland, was
a liquor distilled from a large number of various
herbs, roots, seeds, leaves, and barks steeped in anise. It
also included Artemisia ashinthium, a herb known as
"Wormwood' abroad, but called Herbe Sainte by the
French-speaking population of Louisiana. In recent years
wormwood has been condemned as harmful and habit-
forming, and laws have been enacted forbidding its use
in liquors in the United States and other countries. In
addition to banning wormwood from manufactured
liquor, the use of the word "absinthe" on bottles of
modern concoctions which do not contain wormwood,
is also banned. As a consequence, manufacturers of ab
sinthe substitutes have been forced to adopt trade names.
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