A (green) fairy tale
One of the world’s most infamous spirits – absinthe – is flying high once again in the UK, says Sarah Miller...
Every spirit enjoys five minutes of fame when it’s hailed as ‘the next big thing’. But the spirit making headlines in the UK now happens to be one that, less than 30 years ago, was being debated in Parliament amid concerns it should be classed as a narcotic.
Long associated with bohemian culture, absinthe was particularly popular with artists and writers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but developed a reputation for being a dangerously addictive hallucinogenic. Before long, a visit from the “green fairy” (absinthe’s colour derives from the wormwood and other herbs used in its creation) was blamed for everything from filling asylums, to driving Van Gogh to cut off his own ear, and other men to murder.
Absinthe’s infamous reputation and the rise of the temperance movement led to countries around the world banning it at various times between 1898 and 1932, and it had long been assumed to have been outlawed in the UK too. However, this wasn’t the case, as George Rowley discovered when he decided to import Czech absinthe in 1998.
But the launch of Rowley’s 70% ABV Hill’s Absinth (without the ‘e’), accompanied by a dramatic and dangerous serve that involved igniting a sugar cube soaked in the spirit, had both press and politicians up in arms and very nearly scuppered his entire endeavour. In December 1998, The Sunday Telegraph declared “Labour poised to ban absinthe”.
“Absinthe may be growing from a small base, but its star is certainly rising.”
The UK was late to the panic party, partly because France’s 1915 ban had effectively cut off supply, and also because it was gin, not absinthe, that had been our own “enfant terrible”, back in the 1700s.
It’s ironic then that this current revival is being driven, at least in part, by the downturn of gin, as lapsed gin lovers are lured by absinthe’s botanical similarities and notorious past.
The first modern British absinthes hit the market just as gin was hitting its peak, with releases from Scotland’s Lost Loch Spirits in 2017 and Cornwall’s Pocket Full of Stones in 2018. The opening of the country’s first dedicated absinthe distillery, Devil’s Botany, followed in 2020 as gin was already in steady decline.
While these flagship absinthes came in at around 64% ABV, Devil’s Botany also released a crystal clear London Absinthe made according to the regulations that define a London Dry Gin, bottled at a more approachable 45% ABV and designed to be enjoyed with mixers and in classic gin cocktails such as martinis and Negronis.
Absinthe undoubtedly benefited from the rise of at-home mixology during the pandemic, but the revival was mostly spurred by bartenders keen to showcase its importance in a cocktail cabinet. That began with a renewed interest in classic cocktails – in which tiny quantities of absinthe are used as a modifier – but the spirit is now increasingly taking centre stage as bartenders explore absinthe’s potential.
Venues such as Hotel Café Royal’s Green Bar on Regent Street and East London’s Absinthe Parlour offer the traditional absinthe fountain, spoon and sugar cube serve alongside a dedicated absinthe cocktail menu, but the spirit is also appearing on broader drinks menus in absinthe coladas and slushies.
With bars and distilleries reporting 40%-50% year-on-year sales growth in absinthe, and new serves and innovative products such as Devil’s Botany’s 24% ABV Rose Absinthe Liqueur being embraced by increasingly knowledgeable and enthusiastic consumers, there is finally: “...an interest in the exciting future ahead for absinthe, rather than its past,” says Devil’s Botany co-founder Allison Crawbuck.
With the category no longer tied down by tradition and free to embrace experimentation, absinthe may be growing from a small base, but its star is certainly rising. And with drinks journalist Alice Lascelles tipping absinthe and fig leaf soda as a contender for the drink of the summer, there may yet be a happy ending to the tale of the green fairy.
Sarah Miller is a UK-based spirits writer, judge and consultant.
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