An Art Historical Tour of Absinthe

On a trip to the Netherlands, I bought a tiny bottle of absinthe. My roommates and friends would have none of it. And honestly, I found it pretty foul. But I could no longer stand the taste of licorice after buying Dutch Drop Mentos--a compilation of mint and licorice that seems to be a regional delicacy:

Nonetheless, absinthe has always been advertised as an intoxicating and creativity-inspiring spirit due to its art historical past, especially with Van Gogh. It doesn't hurt that Poppy Z. Brite sprinkled references to it throughout her goth fiction anthology Wormwood and Nine Inch Nails featured it in their video for Perfect Drug.

Absinthe is distilled from wormwood, anise, fennel, and god knows what else. It's often green, which is why it (and/or its effects) are referred to as "the green fairy."

But much of the mythology started with painters. Which now leads to crap like this, obviously based on his most famous self portrait and reports of his imbibing:

But Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh, among others, depicted the beverage:

Toulouse-Lautrec

Van Gogh

Privat-Livemont

Oliva

Maignon