Le louche refers to the transformation that happens when water is added to absinthe, turning the liquor from a deep green to a milky, iridescent shade. At left, a classic pour. At right, an absinthe ...

Ernest Hemingway and Oscar Wilde wrote about it. Pablo Picasso sculpted it. Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear after drinking it. Absinthe, an anise-flavored liquor that had been banned for 95 years, is ...

Absinthe’s history mirrors the way it’s meant to be prepared: a mix of the misunderstood and the legitimately unusual. For most of its existence, the spirit has been slandered, ostracized and, in ...

An ornate vessel fitted with four small spouts dispenses ice-cold water, drop by drop, onto a cube of brown sugar resting on a slotted spoon. Underneath that spoon, a specially designed glass holds a ...

Perhaps you already have your own absinthe story. You drank it in New Orleans one foggy night, too full of fumes to remember much aside from the cloudy green swirl of the drink as water drip-dropped ...

When it comes to alcohol shrouded in mystery, it’s pretty tough to top absinthe. This wormwood and anise-flavored herbal spirit was illegal in the US from 1912 until 2007, when it was legalized with ...

Absinthe, often called “the green fairy,” is an emerald-hued spirit steeped in myth, history and allure. It has captured the imaginations of artists, writers and connoisseurs for centuries, becoming ...

Stay on top of what’s happening in the Bay Area with essential Bay Area news stories, sent to your inbox every weekday. The Bay Bay Area-raised host Ericka Cruz Guevarra brings you context and ...

There's something romantic about absinthe — that naturally green liquor derived from wormwood and herbs like anise or fennel. Vincent Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde drank it. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and ...