Dare to drink absinthe? How the Green Fairy is making a comeback as sales of spirit skyrocket by 50%

It inspired many of the greats in art and literature and has been branded one of the world’s most dangerous drinks. Now, absinthe is making a resurgence.

Dubbed ‘the green fairy’, the anise-flavored spirit is derived from several plants including the flowers of Artemisia absinthium as well as other culinary herbs. 

It was once so popular in France that the hour of 5pm became known as l’heure verte, or ‘the green hour’. 

But it was banned in the early 20th Century in many countries around the world, including the United States and The Netherlands, due to concerns about its effects.

Now no longer stigmatised, the spirit is making a huge comeback in the UK. Bars and distilleries are reporting a 40 to 50 per cent year-on-year growth in sales. 

The Absinthe Parlour in east London boasts the UK’s largest collection of the green spirit and is home to The Devil’s Botany, the country’s first dedicated absinthe distillery which launched in 2020.

Owners Allison Crawbuck and Rhys Everett have noted an increase in demand for the spirit and reported 90 per cent of their customers come to the bar having already tried it in some form, but are looking for places to go out and drink it. 

Ms Crawbuck told The Times: ‘The wonderful legends that surround absinthe definitely draw people in.

‘I think the general public are now a bit more absinthe savvy’.

Pictured: A traditional absinthe fountain pouring water onto a sugar cube to fill the glass of absinthe – this is in Scotland’s only absinthe bar in Aberdeen 

Absinthe’s high alcohol content and exotic appeal made it popular with the middle and upper classes in the early 20th century – pictured is a bottle and glass of Absinth 

‘People are celebrating it as a botanical spirit with this notorious past rather than thinking it’s something that you should be fearful of.’

Absinthe’s history is shrouded in mystery. It has origins as a medicinal remedy — known as wormwood — which the Greeks prescribed for menstrual pain, jaundice, anemia and rheumatism. 

For centuries, wormwood remained a folk medicine and in the second century CE, the physician Galen suggested it for stomach relaxation and as a remedy for swooning.

It became popular in France in the 1840s after French troops were given it to prevent malaria. 

The drink’s high alcohol content and exotic appeal made it popular with the middle and upper classes. 

It inspired many creative libertines, for better or for worse, including Vincent Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Playwright Alfred Jarry saw his demise at the bottom of a bottle of absinthe, while Pablo Picasso dabbled in the drink for a time. 

Dubbed ‘the green fairy’, the anise-flavored spirit is derived from several plants including the flowers of Artemisia absinthium as well as other culinary herbs

Pictured: The Absinthe Drinker by Viktor Oliva painted in 1901. It is based on ‘the green fairy’ phenomenon – a euphemism for the hallucinogenic effects of absinthe 

In 1905, Jean Lanfray, a French labourer in Switzerland, was convicted of murdering his wife and children while under the drink’s influence sparking an anti-absinthe movement. 

A Swiss newspaper called it ‘the premiere cause of bloodthirsty crime in this century’.  

It wasn’t until the 1990s some countries began to revise their bands on absinthe and it is now legal in the European Union. 

The National Institute on Drug Abuse  recently found that claims about absinthe in the early 20th century were exaggerated, but this was mainly due to the social and political factors at the time. 

Now the drink is inspiring the next generation of drinkers and is gaining popularity across London, The Times reported.

Alternative music venues such as Blondies in Clapton and the Black Heart in Camden serve absinthe slushies, while a jazz bar in Shoreditch serves absinthe in its traditional form with a fountain.