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Absinthe: History in a Bottle
One hundred forty-four proof, notoriously addictive, and the drug of choice for nineteenth-century poets, absinthe is gaining bootleg popularity after almost a century of being banned.
Due to popular demand, Absinthe: History in a Bottle is back in paperback with a handsome new cover. Like the author's bestselling The Martini and The Cigar, it is a potent brew of wild nights and social history, fact and trivia, gorgeous art and beautiful artifacts. As intoxicating as its subject, Absinthe makes a memorable gift for anyone who knows how to celebrate vice.
Due to popular demand, Absinthe: History in a Bottle is back in paperback with a handsome new cover. Like the author's bestselling The Martini and The Cigar, it is a potent brew of wild nights and social history, fact and trivia, gorgeous art and beautiful artifacts. As intoxicating as its subject, Absinthe makes a memorable gift for anyone who knows how to celebrate vice.
172 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1988
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1153 people want to read
About the author
Barnaby Conrad III
13 books4 followersBarnaby Conrad III is an American author, artist, and editor.
NB: Son of writer/bullfighter/raconteur Barnaby Conrad.
NB: Son of writer/bullfighter/raconteur Barnaby Conrad.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
June 9, 2025
Many years ago, I had read that Absinthe was sipped by Oscar Wilde, Baudelaire, Van Gogh, Manet, Toulouse Lautrec, Picasso and many other writers and artists of the 19th and early 20th. century.
So what was this drink also called the "Green Fairy"?
Absinthe is a distilled spirit traditionally made from a mix of herbs and spices, primarily including wormwood, anise, and fennel, which are often referred to as the "holy trinity". It's also commonly made with other herbs like hyssop.
Absinthe was originally brewed in ancient Greece and was believed to have healing properties.
This book is rich in colored plates on heavy paper. Paintings and drawings by masters illustrating their fondness for the Green Fairy are fascinating.
Absinthe was banned in the United States in 1912. It was banned in most of Europe between 1905 and 1910. Switzerland was among the first to ban it in 1908. France also banned absinthe in 1915.
The primary concern that led to absinthe bans was the presence of thujone, a terpene found in the wormwood plant used to flavor absinthe. While absinthe contains trace amounts of thujone, it was believed to be responsible for the drink's alleged harmful effects, including hallucinations and psychosis.
In many countries, bans on absinthe have been lifted or relaxed, with limits placed on the allowable levels of thujone in some regions.
Absinthe is now legal to purchase in many countries, including the United States.
The product must meet specific thujone requirements. In the U.S. The FDA requires absinthe to be "thujone-free," meaning it must contain less than 10 ppm (parts per million) of thujone.
Green absinthe is traditionally mixed by adding water to a glass of absinthe, usually with sugar, which causes the drink to become cloudy. The traditional method involves using an absinthe spoon with a sugar cube and slowly dripping water over the sugar, which dissolves and then mixes with the absinthe. This process, called the "louche," is essential to the flavor and presentation of absinthe.
So what was this drink also called the "Green Fairy"?
Absinthe is a distilled spirit traditionally made from a mix of herbs and spices, primarily including wormwood, anise, and fennel, which are often referred to as the "holy trinity". It's also commonly made with other herbs like hyssop.
Absinthe was originally brewed in ancient Greece and was believed to have healing properties.
This book is rich in colored plates on heavy paper. Paintings and drawings by masters illustrating their fondness for the Green Fairy are fascinating.
Absinthe was banned in the United States in 1912. It was banned in most of Europe between 1905 and 1910. Switzerland was among the first to ban it in 1908. France also banned absinthe in 1915.
The primary concern that led to absinthe bans was the presence of thujone, a terpene found in the wormwood plant used to flavor absinthe. While absinthe contains trace amounts of thujone, it was believed to be responsible for the drink's alleged harmful effects, including hallucinations and psychosis.
In many countries, bans on absinthe have been lifted or relaxed, with limits placed on the allowable levels of thujone in some regions.
Absinthe is now legal to purchase in many countries, including the United States.
The product must meet specific thujone requirements. In the U.S. The FDA requires absinthe to be "thujone-free," meaning it must contain less than 10 ppm (parts per million) of thujone.
Green absinthe is traditionally mixed by adding water to a glass of absinthe, usually with sugar, which causes the drink to become cloudy. The traditional method involves using an absinthe spoon with a sugar cube and slowly dripping water over the sugar, which dissolves and then mixes with the absinthe. This process, called the "louche," is essential to the flavor and presentation of absinthe.
December 5, 2007
This is one of the most beautiful and beautifully produced picture
books about an alcoholic beverage that I've ever seen. The plates
represent a pocket history of fine and graphic arts around the turn
of the nineteenth century.
Unfortunately the text doesn't live up to the promise of the pictures.
There are a number of errors: piquette is not exceptionally strong wine-
it is an exceptionally weak one. There is also some silliness: dogs
can't be said to have hallucinations and many experiments are reported
without a trace of interpretation or skepticism.
This lack of critical thinking is especially odd since the consensus
of researchers is that 'absinthism' was a myth. Whatever psycopathologies
may have been attributed to its consumption are no different from
those traditionally associated with drinking alcohol of questionable
purity. Moonshine drinkers in America and cashasa drinkers in Brazil
are the relevant comparisons.
There is also no mention of the recent absinthe revival and nothing on
the prickly and central question of just what ingredients are necessary
before an herbal concoction can be called 'absinthe'.
The best part of the text is the last. The author recounts his own
experience chasing down a bottle in Switzerland and consuming later
in his flat in Paris.
So buy this book for the pictures, but read almost anything else
for the real story.
Lynn Hoffman, author of the totally factual New Short Course in Wine,The and the completely fictitious bang BANG: A Novel
Comment Comment |
books about an alcoholic beverage that I've ever seen. The plates
represent a pocket history of fine and graphic arts around the turn
of the nineteenth century.
Unfortunately the text doesn't live up to the promise of the pictures.
There are a number of errors: piquette is not exceptionally strong wine-
it is an exceptionally weak one. There is also some silliness: dogs
can't be said to have hallucinations and many experiments are reported
without a trace of interpretation or skepticism.
This lack of critical thinking is especially odd since the consensus
of researchers is that 'absinthism' was a myth. Whatever psycopathologies
may have been attributed to its consumption are no different from
those traditionally associated with drinking alcohol of questionable
purity. Moonshine drinkers in America and cashasa drinkers in Brazil
are the relevant comparisons.
There is also no mention of the recent absinthe revival and nothing on
the prickly and central question of just what ingredients are necessary
before an herbal concoction can be called 'absinthe'.
The best part of the text is the last. The author recounts his own
experience chasing down a bottle in Switzerland and consuming later
in his flat in Paris.
So buy this book for the pictures, but read almost anything else
for the real story.
Lynn Hoffman, author of the totally factual New Short Course in Wine,The and the completely fictitious bang BANG: A Novel
Comment Comment |
May 9, 2025
The book is more of a story of famous people (artists especially) who were known to drink absinthe. It goes into some depth about the folklore and hysteria around it, as well as historical developments.
It is fine for what it is, but it’s not a particularly compelling book beyond the sketches of famous absinthe drinkers and the paintings they created around it.
It is fine for what it is, but it’s not a particularly compelling book beyond the sketches of famous absinthe drinkers and the paintings they created around it.
November 24, 2008
Barnaby Conrad III chose a fitting subtitle for this book: ‘History in a Bottle’. Absinthe conjures fin-de-siècle images of brooding poets, manic painters, and workers shorn of hope and ambition, all guzzling the milky green liquid as they headed toward physical ruin and moral decay. When a Swiss labourer murdered his family in August 1905 after indulging in absinthe (among other spirituous liquors), a movement to ban the drink sprang to life. By World War I, absinthe was illegal almost everywhere, and it became the symbol of a decadent period in European history.
There’s no question that the absinthe our forefathers enjoyed in boulevard cafes and poets’ dens was just short of being poison. The average batch was 120-144 proof, and had high levels of thujone, a component of the wormwood herb used in absinthe production. Thujone, in sufficient doses, could cause convulsions. But any herb-based liquor is harmful in excess, and only the hardcore ‘absintheurs’ refrained from diluting their doses with water and sugar. Conrad suggests that absinthe, whose emerald green color spawned the nickname ‘Green Fairy’, was the victim of a hysterical element that needed a scapegoat for the drunken murderers, crazy artists, and moral degenerates that seemed to abound. I wonder what they did when these same social problems persisted after the Green Fairy had its wings clipped?
Conrad has written an intelligent overview of this controversial drink. He traces the ‘cult of absinthe’ to the 1840s, when the government of France issued it to soldiers stationed in Algeria as a means of preventing fevers. Absinthe quickly became popular among French workers, who embraced it as tightly as their English counterparts did gin. When it acquired a following among self-destructive writers and artists like Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Verlaine, Vincent Van Gogh, and Dadaism pioneer Alfred Jarry, absinthe was branded guilty by association.
‘Absinthe- History in a Bottle’ is a beautiful volume, with glossy pages and colourful images. Because the text is interspersed with attractive illustrations and packed with titillating anecdotes about such infamous absintheurs as Oscar Wilde and Vincent Van Gogh, it will appeal to the general interest reader as well as those with some familiarity with the unruly history of absinthe.
There’s no question that the absinthe our forefathers enjoyed in boulevard cafes and poets’ dens was just short of being poison. The average batch was 120-144 proof, and had high levels of thujone, a component of the wormwood herb used in absinthe production. Thujone, in sufficient doses, could cause convulsions. But any herb-based liquor is harmful in excess, and only the hardcore ‘absintheurs’ refrained from diluting their doses with water and sugar. Conrad suggests that absinthe, whose emerald green color spawned the nickname ‘Green Fairy’, was the victim of a hysterical element that needed a scapegoat for the drunken murderers, crazy artists, and moral degenerates that seemed to abound. I wonder what they did when these same social problems persisted after the Green Fairy had its wings clipped?
Conrad has written an intelligent overview of this controversial drink. He traces the ‘cult of absinthe’ to the 1840s, when the government of France issued it to soldiers stationed in Algeria as a means of preventing fevers. Absinthe quickly became popular among French workers, who embraced it as tightly as their English counterparts did gin. When it acquired a following among self-destructive writers and artists like Edgar Allan Poe, Paul Verlaine, Vincent Van Gogh, and Dadaism pioneer Alfred Jarry, absinthe was branded guilty by association.
‘Absinthe- History in a Bottle’ is a beautiful volume, with glossy pages and colourful images. Because the text is interspersed with attractive illustrations and packed with titillating anecdotes about such infamous absintheurs as Oscar Wilde and Vincent Van Gogh, it will appeal to the general interest reader as well as those with some familiarity with the unruly history of absinthe.
April 19, 2017
A history of an herbal alcoholic beverage from a time I know little about - the fin de siecle. Absinthe was a favorite drink of bohemians including Erik Satie, van Gogh, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde and many more. It was eventually banned due to supposed hallucinogenic properties. In the early 21st century the ban was lifted in the USA and a customer can now buy an absinthe fountain and accessories online at Amazon. The illustrations in this book are as fascinating as the story.
November 20, 2015
I wanted to like this book. It had so much potential to be interesting. I'm a fan of many of the artists and writer's mentioned, and it was informative, but sadly, I was bored out of my mind. Perhaps if I had been drinking absinthe while reading I would have felt more inspired.
March 15, 2008
you musn't mind that a poet is a drunk, rather that drunks are not always poets
March 4, 2024
Well...
I can't remember how exactly I stumbled across this book, but what I know is that the copy I bought has seen some better days, just like Absinth.
Over all I found the book to be interesting, I like the way it focuses so heavily on the bohemian time and in that way on it's many influences in art and society.
The story is parted in chapters talking about Absinthe's different influences, so the book isn't necessarily chronological, which made it a bit hard to read.
The picture all over the book where Divine tho.
~
As I read the last bit about the research journey where Conrad III went to get some Absinthe himself I realised how much I would have loved it if he had told the whole story a bit more like his "authentic personal self" , just more freely.
One more critic point is, that I personally would have preferd the chemical explanation before his personal paragraph, that way his amazing end wouldn't have been so lost, as it seemed.
~
I'd give this book 2,5 Stars if I could.
I can't remember how exactly I stumbled across this book, but what I know is that the copy I bought has seen some better days, just like Absinth.
Over all I found the book to be interesting, I like the way it focuses so heavily on the bohemian time and in that way on it's many influences in art and society.
The story is parted in chapters talking about Absinthe's different influences, so the book isn't necessarily chronological, which made it a bit hard to read.
The picture all over the book where Divine tho.
~
As I read the last bit about the research journey where Conrad III went to get some Absinthe himself I realised how much I would have loved it if he had told the whole story a bit more like his "authentic personal self" , just more freely.
One more critic point is, that I personally would have preferd the chemical explanation before his personal paragraph, that way his amazing end wouldn't have been so lost, as it seemed.
~
I'd give this book 2,5 Stars if I could.
September 6, 2017
An interesting history of the inspirational drink of a nation and a generation...
April 22, 2018
Wonderfully illustrated book. The stories were fascinating, although at times for me I felt some were meandering and hard to follow. Still, well worth the read for anyone interested in La Fée Verte.
July 5, 2020
I really enjoyed this. It is exactly what a book of this type ought to be.
July 24, 2024
An interesting history of a misunderstood drink.
March 7, 2008
This is an amazing little primer on the history of absinthe, coupled with wonderful artwork inspired by and used for the Green Fairy. Now that absinthe has just recently been somewhat legalised in the United States (Per Wikipedia: In 2007 the laws prohibiting absinthe were relaxed and several brands of absinthe were legally approved for sale. These brands must pass TTB testing, which is performed by the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry method and TTB considers a product to be thujone-free if the FDA's test measures less than 10ppm (equal to 10mg/kg) thujone. A US distillery also began producing and selling absinthe, the first US company to do so since 1912.), it's good to know the background behind the drink so one can truly appreciate the sip.
The book doesn't provide too much in-depth information about various distilleries that produced absinthe, but again, this is mostly for someone who has heard of absinthe, but isn't too sure what the drink is nor the lore surrounding it. Absinthe provides just enough information for the average person.
The book doesn't provide too much in-depth information about various distilleries that produced absinthe, but again, this is mostly for someone who has heard of absinthe, but isn't too sure what the drink is nor the lore surrounding it. Absinthe provides just enough information for the average person.
September 13, 2007
This Folio sized, lavishly illustrated book is one of the first and one of the best books out there about Absinthe. Spans the history and cultural significance of the Banned “Green Fairy” in engaging detail. From its rises as the drink of artist and nobles to its eventual fall from grace as the drink that drove the working class to Homicidal insanity. A must have for anyone interested in subject.
April 22, 2009
Conrad looks at absinthe from every angel: medicinal, historical, artistic. He documents the artists inspired by the liqueur: Manet, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Picasso, to drop the big names. This beautiful book reproduces many of the paintings of absinthe. He also quotes seemingly everyone who had anything to say about absinthe.
The book is an artifact of prohibition now, but still a fascinating study of the Green Fairy and her magic.
The book is an artifact of prohibition now, but still a fascinating study of the Green Fairy and her magic.
January 19, 2011
I'm giving this 5 stars as much for the art work as anything else. I also liked the 2nd to last chapter a great deal because I could relate to the idea of what was happening.
The history was interesting and it was a good, basic history lesson. I learned about some people I would not have otherwise known about and plan to add some of those people to my future reading list.
The history was interesting and it was a good, basic history lesson. I learned about some people I would not have otherwise known about and plan to add some of those people to my future reading list.
July 20, 2012
A decent, but not entirely accurate look at a favorite green liqueur. For the pub date, this was as good as it gets for an even portrayal of the much-maligned spirit. There are now far better explorations in absinthe out there. For what this is, and importantly, when it was written, this is quite good.
October 12, 2015
After 20+ years intoxicant-free Absinthe is the only temptation left. This book provides a fascinating sequence of chapters on the history, production, social place, and the almost ritualistic aspects of consumption of the "Green Goddess". It is also beautifully and generously illustrated. The book has inspired me to start searching for a suitably authentic Absinthe to break my drought.
November 18, 2017
This is an easy read. Great illustrations of art and absinthe related paraphernalia. It covers the aperitif's importance in art, literature, French culture and its ultimate demonization during World War I. The book was publisned before the current Absinthe revival as this is barely mentioned. If you want a guide to current Absinthes better look elsewhere.
January 22, 2008
It's fascinating how absinthe has evolved since the time of Van Gogh! You could see how many of the paintings during that time with the high use of absinthe gives off the feelings of solitude, depression, and just plain out of it. Good to read if you wanna learn about that drug with art.
October 26, 2007
Good enough history, lots of good photo documentation.
December 8, 2007
the pictures are neat!
October 16, 2008
Glad to see this back in print. Many years ago I lent my first edition to a fellow imbiber (never a good idea) and haven't seen it since.
January 27, 2016
An excellent history book on an odd and obscure subject. I found it to be a very interesting and enjoyable read. Very recommended
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews