The Green Monster

I’ve been seeing more and more advertisements for, and articles about, absinthe. I speculated that it was making a comeback, and now I know why: The United States lifted its ban in 2007 (though I assume some states still ban it within their borders). The New York Times had a good absinthe piece earlier this week:

"Since absinthe was legalized in the United States in 2007, it has gone from forbidden fruit to virulent weed. Once smuggled from Eastern Europe or procured from back-alley producers, absinthe is now just another bottle on the bar. Yet mystique continues as marketing. . . .

Without water, though, almost any absinthe would be difficult to endure. Absinthe in general is simply too strong to drink undiluted. Of our 20 bottles, 13 were 60 percent alcohol or more. Not only do they require water, they require just the right amount, anywhere from three to five parts water to one part absinthe, the amount rising — usually but not always — in tandem with the original strength of each bottle."

Ernest Hemingway used to call it "Death in the Afternoon." G.K. Chesterton hated absinthe too, and referred to as a “bad drinking.” I think he would have considered it closer to cocaine than a fine bottle of rum.

I’m not sure what Dorothy Parker thought of it. The NYT article ends with one of her drinking poems:

I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I’m under the table,
after four I’m under my host.

If you’re not acquainted with Parker, look her up. She was a fiery and entertaining journalist with a quick wit. While on her honeymoon, her editor called about a deadline. She yelled, “I’m too fucking busy! And vice-versa!”