What are the origins of absinthe?
Published in Daily Trivia
The precise origin of absinthe is unclear. According to popular legend, absinthe began as an all-purpose patent remedy created by Dr. Pierre Ordinaire. Ordinaire's recipe was passed on to the Henriod sisters of Couvet, who sold absinthe as a medicinal elixir. One Major Dubied in turn acquired the formula from the sisters and, in 1797, with his son Marcellin and son-in-law Henry-Louis Pernod, opened the first absinthe distillery, Absinthe's popularity grew steadily until the 1840s, when absinthe was given to French troops as a fever preventative. When the troops returned home, they brought their taste for absinthe with them, and it became popular at bars and bistros. By the 1860s, absinthe had become so popular that in most cafes and cabarets that 5 p.m. signaled l'heure verte ("the green hour").
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