Interviewer:
This is Cocktails Distilled, a podcast that takes your favourite spirits and liqueurs from the still to the cocktail glass. In each episode, we talked to distillers and creators about particular expressions that their brand had released; what they are, why they were created and in what cocktails they can be used. Are you ready to understand what's in your glass, or perhaps should be? Welcome to Cocktails Distilled.
Banned across Europe and the United States in the early 1900s, absinthe is often a spirit that is associated with illicit behaviour. With a reputation for providing psychedelic inspiration to such creative names as Oscar Wilde, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Vincent Van Gogh, absinthe has always built a reputation as an incredibly naughty, but slightly dangerous green fairy of the spirit world.
Yet the reality of absinthe is very different.
To understand a little bit more about absinthe and its place in the modern bar cart, we talked to Alison Crawbuck and Rhys Everett from the new UK absinthe brand Devil's Botany about botanicals history and why absinthe is making a slow but steady comeback.
Thank you both for joining me.

Rhys:
Hello. Thank you for having us.

Interviewer:
The two of you own a bar of curiosities called the Last Tuesday Society in Hackney. How did you go from the bar to distilling absinthe?

Alison:
We opened our cocktail bar in 2016 and added absinthe to our menu shortly thereafter. Our interest in absinthe was initially led by a curiosity for the spirit's alluring pass, but also our venue is the perfect setting for sipping on a glass of absinthe as our guests are seated amongst the weird and wonderful collection of the Victor Wind Museum of Curiosities. But it wasn't easy to find many traditionally made absinthe on the market at the time.
At first, we tried some pretty horrible examples of Bohemian-style absinthe, and we could tell immediately that this wouldn't have been what people would be sipping on during the Belle Époque, and from there we began our research. We spent the last five years scouring through old recipes and manuscripts to better understand absinthe's past. We visited the distillers of the historic regions of Pontarlier in France and the Val de Travers in Switzerland.
And we tasted some really amazing absinthe, both modern and pre-ban. The distilleries of this region are so passionate about their history, and we wanted to bring their stories back to London to share with our customers. So we began importing some of the best examples of traditionally-made absinthe for our menu at the Last Tuesday Society.
And then in our research, we discovered British newspaper headlines from the year 1900 were announcing rumours of an absinthe distillery that was going to open in London, but those plans never followed through. So we knew that it was planned for London to have an absinthe of its own, and we wanted to make sure that we were the ones to do it. So we were so proud to be able to launch London's first absinthe distillery with Devil's Botany.

Interviewer:
Now, you referred to the mystery and history around absinthe. Had you tasted it before, or ...

Rhys:
Our first taste of it really was together at the bar. We reached out to a lot of distributors to find out if they had absinthe and if they could get us some absinthe. We managed to get hold of a few bottles, as Ally said. They were certainly far from our expectations of what we thought absinthe should be. We started off by drinking the bad stuff. And then from that moment, we kept on digging into its curious past and discovered that the kind of the craftsmanship and quality ingredients that actually went into traditionally made absinthe changed our perception completely.
So from there, we began experimenting with absinthe's depth of flavour and versatility in cocktails and were sharing it a lot on our menu to our customers. The more we found out about absinthe's history, the more we continued to share it with the general public and with London, so much so that we started to host our own events under the alias of Absinthe Drinker.
And here we discuss the origins, rituals of absinthe. We go through tasting three different premium quality absinthes to showcase what real absinthe tastes like and how it's made. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we're unable to host these at the moment, but we are hosting a virtual one on Absinthe Day on the 5th of March, which we're very excited about. So people can tune in from anywhere in the world to find out more about absinthe's illustrious past.
And as you mentioned, there's characters like Ernest Hemingway, Toulouse Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Vincent van Gogh, Allister Crowley, they were all very much into their glass of absinthe. So once you hear their stories, it's difficult not to want us to pick up a glass yourself and channel the energy of such inspiring people.

Interviewer:
Now, you mentioned that in your research, you'd come across the plans, at least, for a London absinthe distillery. Is that the only references that you've been able to find about absinthe in London or does it have any history, was it imported at all, or ...

Alison:
It was imported into the UK before the ban. It certainly wasn't as popular in the UK as it was in France, but there were specifically a few different absinthe drinking haunts in Soho that appealed to the British poets and literary societies of the time. And absinthe, its origins are really traced back to an 18th century recipe, an extract of absinthe that was first made in Switzerland in this region known as the Val de Travers, specifically the small town called Couvet.
It started as an herbal elixir that was soon commercialised as an aperitif when the world's first absinthe distillery opened there in Couvet in 1797. But absinthe's origins as a cure-all elixir led us down a rabbit hole of research into other 18th century herbal remedies and botanical spirits that were being produced, specifically in London at the same time. We also discovered that there was an 18th century elixir for wormwood and anise that was very popular amongst the apothecaries of the time and through the alchemical process of distillation, these hidden virtues of nature's herbs and spices were extracted in spiritist form.
The apothecaries' herbal elixirs were mainly for their supposed medicinal properties, but it was said that Londoners in particular enjoyed this distilled spirit of wormwood and anise for its agreeable flavour, and they were actually known to drink it recreationally. So that was our point of interest. Also, the apothecaries were very peculiar characters and their shops were filled with curiosities and housed a vast array of different herbs and spices. So the look and feel of an apothecary shop is not too dissimilar to our cocktail bar.

Interviewer:
So out of curiosity, what were the apothecaries using it for? Obviously they weren't selling it as a recreational drink. What did they believe it healed?

Alison:
It was a restorative tonic as well as a way to excite the appetite. So instead of taking your medicine when you were sick, at the time it was believed that you should have certain tonics and herbal elixirs to help prevent an illness. And anise and wormwood specifically were used to excite the appetite, which works quite well because absinthe now is an apertif.

Interviewer:
So of course, looking at your absinthe, it has been described as quintessentially British. What does that mean exactly?

Rhys:
Well, it was firstly very important to us that we honoured the traditions and methods of historic pre-ban distillers, but our recipe also connects to a unique heritage that we feel is deeply rooted here in London. We wanted to create an absinthe that was both floral and herbaceous yet still contained the strong holy trinity flavour upfront.
We use a British wheat spirit as our base and incorporate botanicals such as elderflower and meadowsweet that can be found very close to our distillery in the nearby Walthamstow wetlands and Hackney marshes. And then the result from that is a spirit that celebrates tradition, but that will also appeal to a new generation of absinthe drinkers, perhaps even converting a few gin-heads out there.

Interviewer:
I was about to say, is there a bit of a bridge to gin with the flavours?

Rhys:
The flavour is very much still an absinthe, but I think that it's kind of been refined and that it definitely feels much cleaner and it's quite a delicate absinthe, although it still holds a lot of complexities.

Interviewer:
Spoken a little bit about the trinity of botanicals. Can you go into a little bit more detail about the anise, fennel and grand wormwood?

Alison:
Yeah. At its core, any traditional absinthe should always contain what is known as absinthe trinity or holy trinity of botanicals. And that is green anise, sweet fennel, and grand wormwood, artemisia absinthium. Anise and fennel contain a natural compound known as anethol, which gives absinthe its ability to louche or cloud when water is added to it. All traditional absinthe should louche or go cloudy when you add water. This is a sign that absinthe is made with actual botanicals rather than artificially flavoured. And then grand wormwood is herbaceous and very bitter on its own, but it's naturally sweetened by anise and fennel. Absinthe's trinity of botanicals have been used in herbal elixirs since ancient times. Anise was used by ancient Greeks and Romans as an aphrodisiac and a thirst quencher. Fennel was used as a digestive tonic and to ward evil.
And then wormwood was cultivated quite extensively around London for its use as an aromatic tonic and together like we were saying, they make for the perfect aperitif.

Interviewer:
You also mentioned some of the other botanicals that you've used.

Alison:
We incorporated a total of 14 different herbs and spices in our recipe. And some of the other ones that we have mentioned include lemon balm, which is a very traditional addition to absinthe that was actually included in the original 18th century Swiss recipe for the extract of absinthe. As Rhys said, we wanted to include a different flavours and aromas that were local to us and to our distillery. So elderflower and meadowsweet bring a unique floral and kind of forest quality to the absinthe.
We also have peppermint, which was widely used in other 18th century recipes here in the UK. And it gives it a really lovely, bright freshness. And then we added devil's claw root, which is something that is quite unique to this recipe in particular. It grows in Southern Africa, but it was first introduced to Europe in the early 1900s. The dried root specifically was found to be useful in restoring one's appetite. So again, it works quite nicely in an aperitif like absinthe.

Interviewer:
Now talk us through your distillation.

Rhys:
We have a Bespoke, 150 litre copper pot still, which was manufactured for us by Mueller in Germany, a fifth generation coppersmith. So we were very lucky to work with them to get our still. And in terms of distilling there are a lot of similarities between absinthe and gin. Both fundamentally are botanical spirits, and they're both made by macerating herbs and spices for a period of time in a neutral grain spirit. This is then redistilled to create our final spirit.
We make our cuts to separate the heads and tails only keeping the finest quality hearts, as you do with the gin. We then rest the absinthe, reduce it with filtered water before it is bottled. Absinthe is bottled at noticeably a higher strength ABV than gin. So whereas gin is bottled at around 40% ABV, most absinthe fall between 50 to 75% ABV and this allows the best quality absinthe to louche or go cloudy, like right before your eyes. By keeping the spirit caps at a higher ABV in the bottle, the essential oils of the botanicals, which are extracted during the maceration and distillation process, are able to be released in the glass as water is added to the spirit.
So as Allie mentioned, this is due to botanicals such as anise and fennel, which contain the organic compound anethol, a process which creates a wonderful dance of sort of water and spirit and the oils in the glass as you pour it.

Interviewer:
Do you think a gin drinker would feel at home drinking absinthe?

Rhys:
Yes. Yeah, I think so. Gin, it's becoming more and more herbaceous or citrusy. There's much more flavour coming out now in general, people are being a lot more bold. So it's just a sort of a further boldness of a gin. We use almost 50 times the amount of botanicals that you would in a glass of gin. So the flavour is much more impactful on your palette, but if you are used to gin or you're used to drinking vermouth, things that have a, a much wider array of flavour, then absinthe is something that you will certainly enjoy.

Interviewer:
It sounds as if absinthe is actually quite complex in its flavour.

Alison:
Yes, definitely. And the more you try different absinthe, the more you'll notice that complexity. It's sort of like when we're all younger and we've tried our first sip of a peated whiskey. It's hard to get past that initial smokiness, but then once you do, you get into this whole other world of other flavours. With absinthe, once you get past that initial hit of anise, there's much more going on below the surface.

Interviewer:
Now, a lot of people would associate absinthe with the green color, which comes via chlorophyll. Is that something that you're doing with your absinthe or are you keeping it as a white absinthe?

Rhys:
It's not something that we have done with our first absinthe. We really wanted to honour the historic old clear style of absinthe that was created by the clandestine distillers in its birthplace. Although both green and clear absinthe were created pre-ban, clandestine distillers specifically created a clear expression of the spirit during its prohibition to try and deter officials from taking it from them and pouring out in the streets.
But we will be releasing our own vertal or green absinthe towards the summer. And we will certainly be using the method of a second maceration to extract the colorant directly from the plants. We'll be using a mixture of traditional herbs, used to colour absinthe I the 18th century, as well as plants that can be found locally to our distillery today. Good quality absinthes that have been naturally coloured will usually have an olive green to Amber hue whilst absinthe that has been artificially coloured will usually look very off-putting and sort of have this nuclear green or sometimes bright red or blue colour to it.

Interviewer:
Yeah, I was about to say they're generally quite electric, aren't they?

Rhys:
Yeah. So I would refrain from buying these cheaper alternatives to absinthe and then look for something that looks a little more natural. Some absinthes that have been coloured by chlorophyll will also be kept in protective green or Brown bottles that help keep its colour from changing by sunlight. So that's another good way to tell apart a good absinthe versus something that's tastes more like a badly flavoured vodka.

Interviewer:
Now, when people are tasting it, what will they notice as the difference with yours?

Alison:
So we spent nearly half a decade researching absinthe's history and import it so many different absinthes for our menu at the bar and met with the historic distillers of Pontarlier in France, so that definitely gave us a good foundation when it came to launching our first product. We wanted to make sure that it was a product that would serve as a good example, a great example even, of a traditionally made absinthe.
So if you're looking to find something that exemplifies what would have been consumed in the 1800s, then you will find that in our absinthe. But also working behind our bar at the Last Tuesday Society, where we pride ourselves on classic cocktails that are well balanced with an array of different, unusual spirits. We knew that we wanted to launch an absinthe that was not only for the absinthe drinkers, but also something that would excite, like Rhys was saying, the gin and tonic drinkers and the bartenders and mixologists giving them something that they can use as a base spirit to create their own unique cocktails with.
So this absinthe has another layer of versatility to it that works really well in mixed drinks and in cocktails. We wanted to refine our absinthe to make it taste very clean and crisp, yet at the same time, have that explosion of flavour that coats your mouth and gives you that sort of tongue numbing effect that you expect when picking up the glass of absinthe, yet finishing quite smooth.

Interviewer:
Speaking of bartenders, what has their reaction been to the absinthe?

Rhys:
The UK entered lockdown on 5th of November last year, so we released our first batch of London absinthe in January. So it's been tough for us. Bartenders haven't yet been able to jump behind the bar with a bottle, but the response from the industry so far has been very exciting. We certainly can't wait to get out and about and start chatting absinthe with our city's bartenders. We're fortunate enough to be in London and we have some of the world's best bars and top mixologists right on our doorstep. So it's going to be very exciting.

Interviewer:
One of the interesting things about absinthe is that it comes with accessories. Do people need these accoutrements to truly experience spirit?

Rhys:
No, not necessarily, although the accessories are designed specifically for absinthe and you can go without them, fountains are a wonderful show piece. And as soon as we get one out for our customer at our bar, all of a sudden, the whole room will be filled with these fountains. And a lot of the times we struggle to get these fountains back off of the tables if the customers don't like to see it leave their possession, but spoons also are very helpful when holding a lump of sugar and you're dropping it from a fountain. But if you do want that extra sweetness, that can be added by using simple syrup or just standard sugar that you would put in your cup of tea. The theatrics of using absinthe accessories is certainly very Belle Époque, and it's a superb talking point. It's great for collecting, but absinthe tastes just as good when it's poured over ice in a rocks glass, as it does being dripped from a fountain.

Interviewer:
Do you think it adds to the interest in the spirit?

Alison:
It definitely did add to the intrigue in the 1800s and 1900s. Before the fountains became popular, absinthe drinkers would use a carafe very similar to how you see if you're sitting in France on a sunny day outside and you order a pastis and they'll give you your pastis over ice, and then a carafe of water on the side. That's how absinthe would have been served before the invention of these fountains.
And even then the theatricals were exaggerated. So you have all of these wonderful cartoons from the time of the absinthe drinkers going to great lengths to show off their skill at louching their absinthe by standing on top of the table and pouring the water from the carafe, two meters high and all of that. So the theatrics were always very closely linked to the public appeal. But if you don't have these tools at home, the basic principles of diluting and chilling and sweetening, if you want to, they could be done in so many different ways.

Interviewer:
Speaking of which, if someone were to buy a bottle of your absinthe, how would you want them to first experience it?

Alison:
We always recommend starting with one part absinthe to two to three parts ice cold water, and you can use either still or sparkling water for this. And we also recommend trying it over ice. So, like I said, if you could think of sitting in France at the bistros, as you would drink a pastis, you could do the same with a glass of absinthe. And when drinking a traditionally made clear absinthe, one of the differences between the clear and the green styles of absinthe, the maceration process for the colouring of the green absinthe gives it another layer of herbaceous bitterness. So sugar is definitely recommended usually for a green absinthe, but the clear styles are a bit more delicate and the anise and fennel come through quite pronounced so that natural sweetness is already there. So the addition of sugar is optional.

Interviewer:
Do you find that when people come in and try absinthe for the first time that they still associate it with hallucinogenics and that sort of mythology?

Alison:
Definitely if they haven't had an absinthe recently. So I think a lot of us have these past experiences that perhaps we don't want to relive of wild nights in Prague or terrible hangovers after drinking one of those electric green examples of the so-called absinthe. And the connotations of it being this illicit spirit that will call cause hallucinations, it definitely still lingers, but we've worked very hard to try to break down those stigmas.
So anybody that has come into our cocktail bar when their glass of absinthe is served, all of our staff are always there ready to give them an absinthe chat and show them how to prepare their absinthe properly. And then you find that once people are introduced to a traditionally made absinthe and the proper ways of preparing and serving it, they'll come back time and time again with different friends and you'll see them giving the same absinthe chat that our staff shared with them the first time. They'll be sharing it with their friends that they brought back the second time.

Interviewer:
Someone came in and was asking for a cocktail that uses absinthe. What are some easy ideas that you would suggest to people?

Alison:
So when starting to make cocktails with absinthe, always remember that it is a botanical spirit and our absinthe recipe was specifically made to work well in cocktails. So you can always start by using it as a replacement for gin in your favourite classic cocktail recipes, such as a clover club, or if you're looking for a bigger pick me up, you can switch the gin for absinthe in a corpse reviver number two.
It also works really well in refreshing cocktails, such as a caipirinha, mojito, julep, even in a pina colada. So there is quite a range of a variation that you can play around with. It adds a really lovely natural sweetness and herbaceous twist to those after dinner cocktails like an espresso martini, or even instead of a brandy Alexander, you can make yourself an absinthe Alexander. And then now definitely one of our favourites is swapping aperol or Campari, if you're familiar with making an aperol or Campari spritz at home, switching those liqueurs for a measure of absinthe instead for an extra herbaceous and very refreshing alternative. So it works really well as spritz, and if you're looking for afternoon pick me up.

Interviewer:
There's been quite a bit of renewed interest in absinthe in recent times. Why do you think that is? Aside from the work that you're doing, of course, why do you think there has been a general uptake in people's curiosity?

Alison:
Yeah, absinthe has definitely caught the attention of other discerning drinkers who are looking for a quality spirit with an intriguing provenance to enjoy and share with friends. And an absinthe definitely has that. It's a drink that you sip on. It's not a shot. And so it takes time in its preparation, it takes time to consume, to enjoy, and over that time you are enjoying the history that comes with it as well.

Rhys:
I also think that bartenders across the globe have really started to highlight absinthe again. We keep seeing it being used in lots of dashes and in many cocktails that ... We follow lots of things on all the socials and absinthe is popping up more and more, so I'm sure that the more that the bartenders are using it and are experimenting with it, I'm sure that will pass on to the consumer.

Alison:
Absolutely. It's on every back bar already. So it's just a matter of time until people start to make use of that bottle of absinthe in different ways and really showcase its versatility.

Interviewer:
Out of curiosity, with the research that you have done into the spirit and also into 18th century apothecaries, you mentioned having come across other spirits that were made in London and were popular at the time. Are there other releases or other concoctions that have come from that research that you are going to be releasing in the future?

Alison:
There's definitely a lot of inspiration that could be drawn from the curious apothecaries of old London, for sure. But our focus for now is solely on absinthe being a spirit that's still so widely misunderstood. We have a lot of work to do to break down these century old misconceptions and stigmas. That being said, we do have some very exciting products in the pipeline that will be released later this year with experimental absinthe and other historical references. But yes, our focus is on absinthe for the time.

Interviewer:
Now I would assume that your absinthe is available across the UK.

Rhys:
Yes it is. Yes. Yes. We have just started working with a national UK distributor as well. So it's available to buy from us directly and other online retailers.

Interviewer:
I suppose everything we'll have to wait until everything's calmed down a bit, but are you planning to export it to other global cocktail centres?

Rhys:
Definitely. Yes. Yes. A big dream of ours is ... Alison's from New York, so we want to make sure we can get it out to New York, and Australia is certainly the second route to market we want to take, followed by Europe and Asia. So yes, we have huge plans to export it globally. We still certainly have a lot of ground to cover in the UK, especially as the entre businesses still aren't quite reopened and probably won't be open until mid-April at the earliest, but we are very focused to share it with the UK and then share it across the globe.

Interviewer:
Now, if people want more information on the Devil's Botany, they can of course go to your website, which is DevilsBotany.com and also find you on your socials.

Alison:
On Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, you can find us @DevilsBotany.

Interviewer:
Excellent. All right, well look, thank you both for joining us today.

Alison:
Thank you so much for having us.

Rhys:
Thank you very much.