Pernod Absinthe: "The Original Recipe"

Almost three years after the April Fool's Day blogs (mine and the original French spoof) about Pernod bringing back the original Pernod Fils, it looks like this - or something like it - may eventually be happening. On March 5th, 2013, the TTB issued their approval of the following labels:

Absinthe lovers will note the inclusion of the words "The Original Recipe," the fact that Pernod clearly states that their 1805 distillery is France's first absinthe distillery (and not the first absinthe distillery in the world which was in Switzerland a few years earlier), the mention of plants being distilled in wine alcohol, and the disappearance - at last - of the artificial colours that have been in Pernod Absinthe up to now.

I, for one, am delighted that Pernod have at last removed the artificial colours. Several other high volume absinthes still use artificial colours, and maybe this will force them to ditch them too. Artificial colours are a short-cut that provides a cheaper cost and a sub-standard product. Companies using them have had an unfair cost advantage over those companies that have chosen to make traditional absinthe in the original way.

In fact, I tasted what I was told was the new Pernod product a few weeks ago, and it was clearly a significant improvement on the current product.

Pernod's new, old recipe may well herald improved standards globally in the category and the consumer is the ultimate winner!

UPDATE: July 5, 2013.

I wrote above: "I, for one, am delighted that Pernod have at last removed the artificial colours. Several other high volume absinthes still use artificial colours, and maybe this will force them to ditch them too. Artificial colours are a short-cut that provides a cheaper cost and a sub-standard product."

And now (surprise, surprise), the first French post-ban absinthe becomes the first to copy Pernod in ditching its artificial colours.

One wonders what took them so long ...

Absinthe co-operation

I think that Blues Cat, whose label has just been approved for US launch, is the 78th absinthe to get that permission. Not that it is possible to find more than about 40 of those anywhere currently.

What I like about Blues Cat is that it represents a co-operation between 4 absinthe artists, who all appear on the back label.

I think co-operation like this is great: pooling strengths and working on a shared goal can often produce something that is more than the sum of its parts. Wine has seen great collaborations like this (notably Opus One), and absinthe has seen some transatlantic partnerships too. Notably the first Marteau was a collaboration between America's Gwydion Stone and Switzerland's Oliver Matter, and more recently Butterfly is a collaboration between America's Brian Fernald and Switzerland's Claude-Alain Bugnon. Even more recently, Stefano Rossoni and Martin Zufanek worked together on La Grenouille and L'Ancienne.

Cheers to the creators of Blues Cat: Cheryl, Eric, Kirk and Kenneth. I look forward to trying this soon!

From field to fountain ... in 209 seconds

It's the end of July and so it is harvest time in the Val-de-Travers where wormwood and other plants have been used to make absinthe since the late 18th century. The methods used to harvest and dry the plants and then to distill the absinthe have changed very little since then (maybe some of the alambics are a bit bigger).

This new video features Yves Currit (grower) and Claude-Alain Bugnon (distiller of La Clandestine, Angélique and Butterfly absinthes). In 209 seconds, it goes from "field to fountain:" a centuries-old tradition in the Val-de-Travers and nearby Pontarlier in France (of course in real life, the process takes a lot longer).



Not all "absinthes" are produced in such a natural way. As far as I know, there are no videos showing the "field to fountain" approach of the artificially-coloured absinthes sold in some countries. I guess the process of adding test tubes or even buckets of FD&C food colourings doesn't look so interesting!

What makes the "Green Fairy" green?

I love discussing absinthe with fellow absinthe fans, with so-called "absinthe virgins," and with customers, and I have the opportunity to do so nearly every day. I have done so in North America, Europe (including Russia), Asia and Australia.

And one question that is commonly asked wherever I go is "What makes the Green Fairy Green?"

That's an interesting question to ask, having just gone past mid-summer's day (in the Northern hemisphere), and as I look out at our garden which remains a beautiful natural green. Which is more than can be said for many of today's vertes.

In the USA, the addition of artificial colours in absinthe has to be declared on the label. This is what is declared on three absinthes that are available in the USA:-

Absinthe 1:

Contains caramel color & certified colors FD&C Blue #1 & FD&C Yellow #5

Absinthe 2:

Contains FD&C Yellow #5 and Blue #1

Absinthe 3:

Alcohol with natural flavors, certified colors and FD&C Yellow #5 added

And this is what one of those looks like (removed from the bottle to spare their blushes).
Now it is true that in the 19th century some absinthes were artificially coloured, but these were the lowest quality absinthes that were available. So there is a precedent for artificial colours in absinthe. What's the difference, then, between these artificially coloured absinthes and those vertes made without artificial colours?

Naturally Green Absinthe

I'll use the Wikipedia description:

"The distillation of absinthe first produces a colourless distillate that leaves the alembic at around 72 percent ABV. The distillate can be bottled clear, to produce a Blanche or la Bleue absinthe, or it can be coloured using artificial or natural colouring. Traditional absinthes take their green colour from chlorophyll, which is present in some of the herbal ingredients during the secondary maceration. The natural colouring process is considered critical for absinthe ageing, since the chlorophyll remains chemically active. The chlorophyll plays the same role in absinthe that tannins do in wine or brown liquors. This is done by steeping petite wormwood, hyssop, and melissa (among other herbs) in the liquid. Chlorophyll from these herbs is extracted giving the drink its famous green colour. This process also provides the herbal complexity that is typical of high quality absinthe."

This process can take 24 hours and produces an absinthe with complexity, one that change subtly in the bottle over time. Just like fine wine.

Artificially Green Absinthe

The process to add artificial green colouring to a clear absinthe is very different. It is simply added in the way that cassis is added to champagne to make a Kir Royale. Instant visual effect, but no added complexity. In fact adding colouring in this way has been likened to adding red colouring to white wine, and then declaring it as ... "red wine."

I am grateful to Ted Breaux for helping me with these notes on artificial colouring:

"The colours that are almost always used to create an artificial green are what are formally known in the U.S. as FD&C Blue #1 and FD&C Yellow #5 (FD&C = Food, Drug, and Cosmetic). U.S. labeling requirements mandate that artificial colors be disclosed in the USA market, although this is not generally so elsewhere.

FD&C Blue #1 in the USA is E133 in the E.U., “FCF Brilliant Blue” in commerce, or to the scientific community: N-Ethyl-N-[4-[[4-[ethyl[(3-sulfophenyl)methyl]amino]phenyl]2-sulfophenyl)methylene]-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-ylidiene]-3-sulfobenzenemethanaminium hydroxide inner salt, disodium salt. First discovered in 1896, it is commonly used as a textile dye and wood stain. The Wikipedia article is quite informative. It is a synthetic dye that is produced from petroleum, was previously banned in most of Europe, and remains a subject of debate where health is concerned.

FD&C Yellow #5 in the USA is E102 in the E.U., “Tartrazine” in commerce, or to the scientific community: 4,5-Dihydro-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfophenyl)-4-[(sulfophenyl)azol]-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid trisodium salt. It was first patented in 1949, and has also been used in textiles. Of the synthetic azo dyes, this one carries the greatest possibility for allergic reactions. Again the Wikipedia article is well worth reading, revealing a very questionable track record for this synthetic dye, which has raised some serious concerns in the UK."

Caveat Emptor

Of course consumers can make up their own minds whether to choose blanche absinthes (like La Clandestine), naturally coloured verte absinthes, or artificially coloured absinthes. The use of artificial colours does not make an absinthe "not real," although some of the artificially coloured brands do also add sugar to their recipes. Using artificially colours in a pre-sweetened product delivers a product that is much cheaper to make, but, in most cases, not much cheaper to buy.

Maybe some of the poorer 19th century poets and artists drank lower quality artificially coloured absinthes sometimes. But they were clearly in a minority. For 21st century consumers looking to enjoy the drinks enjoyed by most people in France, Switzerland, the USA and the UK back then, you might want to check the ingredient list if you live in the USA. Or just hold your absinthe up to the light if you live elsewhere ...

Are they making absinthe at an Oxford College?

I have fond memories of Oxford. Tutorials in Lawrence of Arabia's old bedroom, climbing late night into college over the same gate Harold Wilson had climbed over, etc. So imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when I was showing a friend the sights of Oxford, and found wormwood growing freely at the bottom of the staircase where I lived in my first year a decade or so ago ...

And not just any wormwood: this is Artemisia absinthium (Aa), or Grande Wormwood, the nec plus ultra of wormwoods, as used in Absinthe. Aa is one of the key ingredients in absinthe. Along with anise and fennel.

Of course, as a lover of Swiss absinthe, whose plants benefit from the terroir and micro-climate of the Alpine foothills, I am not wholly convinced that an absinthe made with British ingredients would work, but maybe the micro-climate and conditions of an Oxford quadrangle have something to offer.

In fact, Jesus College is famous as the Welsh college, so I might have expected to see leeks and daffodils. But Artemisia absinthium? Do the College staff know about this? Has the financial crisis forced them to seek alternative revenue streams? Will the College Absinthe flow freely at the Rugby Club dinners or, better still, at the re-union dinners I am sometimes invited to?

And in case my readers feel I may have been imbibing and that this was just an absinthe hallucination, please note that absinthe and wormwood do NOT cause hallucinations. Of course the photograph does seem to show that my friend that day was Peter Fuss who runs the biggest absinthe shop in the world, Grüner Engel, in Heidelberg. Now what was he doing in Oxford?

Absinthe Distillery Webcam!

In what is believed to be a world first, an absinthe distillery has gone fully public by installing a webcam at the entrance to the distillery.



The picture, which is refreshed automatically every 15 seconds, allows the fast-growing numbers of absinthe consumers to see for themselves how absinthe is made.



The pictures come from the Artemisia Distillerie Artisanale in Couvet, Switzerland: the birthplace of absinthe and the home of La Clandestine. In fact, prior to March 2005, the production of La Clandestine was as hidden as its name suggests. So it is ironic and a sign of the times that a clandestine absinthe distillery is now the first to go so public. How things have changed in just two years!

Learn how to make absinthe?

Don't make absinthe at home. Don't even try. It's probably illegal (depends where you are) and it won't be anything like real absinthe. It may even be highly dangerous.

La Clandestine now does two week courses in Switzerland for would-be distillers.


For just $50,000 plus accommodation and food, you can learn all about the plants (including wormwood, fennel etc), the process and the pleasures of real absinthe. You won't learn everything that we have: that has taken us many years of trial and error.

But at least you can learn what not to do and you'll taste some great absinthes while you are learning. Contact me at alan"AT"absinthe-suisse.com for more details.

I wrote that you will learn what not to do. In case there is any confusion about this, we don't want you to make absinthe at home after you have been on the course. But we think you will have a great time with us in Switzerland!

UPDATE: For those few of you who might have thought or still think that this is real, it's not. This article serves to remind those people who want to make their own absinthe, that it is a VERY complicated process which cannot be mastered in a few days. Making absinthe is not just mixing up the plants in alcohol! Making champagne is not just adding soda to white wine! For those who ask what ingredients are necessary to make real absinthe, my answer is:-

1) Get the licences to permit you to distill.
2) Get the right equipment (you can see some of it here) .
3) Set aside a few years of your life to get it right.
4) And if you are doing this in the USA, have patience. You won't be able to sell it.

Taking short-cuts will probably be illegal and expensive (fines and a police record too); it may even be fatal. Do I need to say more?