So is that why absinthe was outlawed in the US and most European countries in the early part of the 1900s?
The ritual associated with drinking it, including the custom of adding water until the absinthe turns a milky white, was more appealing to her.
Her husband, Dan Wilson, had read about absinthe and wondered what all the fuss was about.
Proponents of the ban said that absinthe induced convulsions, blindness, hallucinations, hearing loss, mania and even death.
In recent years, absinthe has seen a resurgence, and the laws are slowly changing around the world to allow absinthe to reappear - but the original ban actually made it possible for pastis to develop and flourish.
Not since the early 1900s have Americans been able to experience the caliber of absinthe that Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and Toulouse-Lautrec enjoyed during their time," said the legendary Michele Roux, chairman of Crillon Importers, and the man personally responsible for the current absinthe craze in America.
Legal in Europe since 1988, absinthe has re-emerged with a cult-like following that has allured consumers with its mystique and infamous past.
Spirits buyers Jason Carson and Daniel Stenson selected four absinthes, which they discounted.
Absinthe, the opalescent green, anise-flavored, high-proof spirit, banned worldwide for almost 100 years, is back.
Absinthe, the often emerald colored, highly potent spirit, banned for most of the 20th century in Europe and until 2007 in the United States for supposed madness-inducing properties, was called The Green Fairy by its devoted touts, whose number included so many artists and writers that absinthe's nom de plume became the Green Muse.
The Swiss Kubler brand absinthe sold at the Sole is 106 proof.
Not only are the classic cocktails promoted on the understated
Absinthe bar list authentic; to establish their provenance, some are listed along with the cocktail book from which barman and all-around cocktail historian Marcovaldo Dionysus gathered the drinks.
