Absinthe, also known as "the Green Fairy," is an emerald colored spirit flavored with anise and wormwood, distilled from anise, fennel and absinthium wormwood.

Very high in alcohol content, absinthe is usually in the 55% to 72% range (110 to 144 proof). For the sake of comparison, a good whisky is generally around 40% (80 proof).

For this reason absinthe should be served diluted with iced water at a ratio of approximately three to five parts water to one part absinthe. Absinthe is also used in small proportions as a cocktail ingredient, much like bitters.

Yes, it's true! After 95 years, real absinthe is now legally available in the United States.

The TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) recently made the decision to permit spirits produced in the US to bear labels including the term "absinthe," which allows authentic absinthes to finally appear in the US market.

This permits a large variety of quality European absinthes to enter the US market legally, and allows authentic absinthe to be made domestically once again.

Standards are in place to regulate absinthe's botanical content and thujone levels, making it possible to produce truly authentic absinthes within US regulations.

(Thujone is a compound found in wormwood and the ingredient that the legendary mind-altering affects of absinthe have been falsely attributed to.)

No drink has inspired as much awe and allure as absinthe has over the years. With a rich history that spans centuries, defies international borders and helps to define entire cultural movements, absinthe's story is one of intrigue and interest.

According to legend, Pierre Ordinaire, a French doctor living in Switzerland, invented absinthe in 1792 as a "cure-all" remedy for his patients. Commercial production began in 1797 after the doctor sold his recipe to a man by the name of Major Dubied. The spirit, nicknamed "the Green Fairy" for it's emerald green color and 'magical' powers, was manufactured in Val-de-Travers, Switzerland by Dubied and his son-in-law Henri-Louis Pernod and quickly became a success. In 1805, Pernod moved production to a larger facility across the border in Pontarlier, France.

The modest medicine gradually grew into a global phenomenon.

In France, absinthe was the favorite drink of the aristocracy. In the 1850's its popularity exploded as visionaries like Van Gogh, Picasso and Degas embraced its unique effects and regularly reached for absinthe as their source of inspiration. Authors like Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway wrote some of their greatest works under the influence of absinthe and it's believed that Mary Shelley wrote most of "Frankenstein" in the midst of an absinthe binge.

By the 1870's, all levels of the French society were drinking absinthe. 5:00pm was commonly referred to as "l'heure verte" (the "green hour") and it was custom for the drink to be enjoyed before dinner on a daily basis.

By the end of the nineteenth century, France alone was downing over 2 million liters of the liquid every year. In 1878, over 7 million liters of the spirit were imported into the United States. New Orleans, the undisputed absinthe capital of America, even had local brands such as Green Opal, Milky Way and Legendre.

By the early 1900's, absinthe fever had spread into a successful international industry of absinthe distilleries and cafes.

As the end of the century approached, things went sour for absinthe. Degas' famous 1876 painting, L'Absinthe, is a portrayal of overindulgence and isolation. Books began to vilify the Green Fairy and in 1905, a disturbed Swiss man, drunk on absinthe, murdered his entire family.

Saying that absinthe made him do it is as logical as blaming Jack Daniel's for damage done after an already disturbed man had consumed too much whiskey but regardless, the public opinion had shifted. Absinthe was believed to be an extremely addicting evil that caused people to hallucinate and go mad. Negative digs from prohibitionists and the wine industry fueled the movement and European countries began banning absinthe in 1906. Six years later, America followed suit.

Absinthe remained legal in Spain, Czechoslovakia and the U.K., where it had never been popular in the first place and as the mythology surrounding the drink intensified, those places became magnets for tourists who sought out the allure of a forbidden fruit.

In 1988 the European Union legalized absinthe in Europe and for the first time since 1912, absinthe is now legal in the United States as well.

Proper absinthe preparation consists of slowly diluting the liquor with very cold iced water to a ratio of approximately three to five parts water to one part absinthe, sweetened to taste.

•  An absinthe fountain

•  An absinthe spoon

•  A Pontarlier absinthe spoon

•  A sugar cube

•  Water

•  Ice

Put your glass with the spoon and sugar cube under the fountain faucet, so that the water drips over the sugar cube and dissolves it into the glass.

Truth:  Absinthe is not hallucinogenic, psychedelic, or narcotic. The hallucinations suffered by 19th century "absinthistes" were caused by chronic alcoholism and dementia. Unless you are a deeply disturbed painter plagued by destitution, heartbreak and mental illness, it shouldn’t cause you to cut off your ear or any other body parts for that matter.

There were millions of people who enjoyed absinthe on a regular basis with no ill effects at the height of its popularity. The mad ones were mad for various reasons, none of them being absinthe consumption.

Truth:  Absinthe is not a drug and the Absinthe Effect is not a drug-induced trip.

The effect is much like a satisfying alcohol intoxication that is enhanced by a lively mental clarity and uplifted mood, like the feeling attributed to caffeine consumption. It is likely that this energy and clarity permitted artists and writers to remain alert and carry out their ideas rather than falling into a drunken daze.

Truth:  The "Czech Method" of lighting absinthe-soaked sugar on fire—recently popularized in the movies From Hell, Moulin Rouge, and Alfie— was not introduced until the late 1990's. Simply for show, this practice is a pointless exploitation of good absinthe. Anyone who knows anything about absinthe and its history would cringe at this method.

Lighting the sugar on fire has no effect at all, except it may bring a burnt-marshmallow taste to the absinthe, which ruins its flavor.

Given the high-proof nature of the liquor it can also be very dangerous, resulting in broken glass, injury or accidental fire.