Louisiana Cookin’ | July/August 2019 32Absinthe is a versatile ingredient, but the traditional
way to drink it is a ritual called La Louche, which dilutes
the high-proof drink. Th e process involves balancing a
sugar cube on a perforated spoon resting atop a glass of
absinthe. Th en, an absinthe fountain slowly drizzles ice-
cold water over the sugar until it dissolves. As this occurs,
the liquid takes on a swirled appearance, and the end of
the spoon is used to break up any remaining bits of sugar.
“People have been using absinthe in cocktails for a
really long time, and it has such a beautiful, interesting
history,” says Laura Bellucci, bar director at Belle Époque,
an absinthe lounge set to open in the French Quarter. “Th e
ritual of absinthe makes it more interesting and exciting
to drink. Even if you’re not necessarily a huge fan of anise,
just watching the slow drip over a sugar cube and the
opalescence of the louche makes people more receptive to
a strange fl avor.”
New Orleans’ connection with Paris meant that
absinthe eventually took hold in the city’s drinking culture
and led to the Crescent City being called the absinthe
capital of the United States. Th e Old Absinthe House in
the French Quarter has long been a favorite spot
for absinthe drinkers. Built in 1806, the building at
240 Bourbon Street housed a business that sold groceries,
tobacco, and liquor, and in 1846, it was converted to a
saloon named Aleix’s Coff ee House. It was later renamed
Th e Absinthe Room when mixologist Cayetano Ferrer
created the Absinthe House Frappe.
Th e United States banned absinthe in 1912, but New
Orleanians’ affi nity for the anise-fl avored spirit remained
strong. Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, a
New Orleans distiller named J. Marion Legendre created
Legendre Herbsaint, and it became the city’s preferred
absinthe substitute and an essential ingredient for the
beloved Sazerac cocktail.
Th e US absinthe ban was not lift ed until 2007. A
New Orleans biochemist named Ted Breaux was integral
in convincing the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade
Bureau to lift the ban. Ted used mass spectrometry to
determine that absinthe contains very little thujone,
the chemical in wormwood that was thought to cause
hallucinations. Today, US federal law allows wormwood
to be present in foods and beverages as long as they are
thujone-free. In 2007, Ted introduced Lucid, the fi rst
genuine absinthe made with grand wormwood to be
legally sold in the United States since 1912.
Today, absinthe can be enjoyed at bars around the
city. New Orleans’ love for absinthe endures. OPPOSITE PAGE:
Absinthe fountains
at Pirate’s Alley
Café in the French
Quarter. THIS
PAGE (clockwise
from top left):
Absinthe spoons
and sugar cubes;
poster showing a man
and woman sipping
absinthe; photo of
the Old Absinthe
House taken between
1900 and 1906.