Absinthe was once seen as both an alcoholic drink and cultural symbol in the 1890s, acting as both an artistic elixir and artistic symbol. The absinthe “fairy” became a metaphor for artistic discovery and exploration; poetic inspiration and freer thought; social reform in Parisian cafes at that time, promising new ideas while subverting old conventions; yet she could cause madness, even leading some women down an unpredictable path that led them down tragic paths that ended their lives prematurely.
Absinthe was famously enjoyed as a pale green beverage known as blanc or absinthe verte. These verte absinthes are created using secondary maceration techniques in which herbs steeped with clear distillate are steeped prior to bottling for bottling; this process imparts both unique flavor and its signature hue peridot-green hue. A popular way of enjoying absinthe was adding chilled ice-water with chilled absinthe and stirring briefly until consumed, creating an art form all its own. This process divided people between those who knew how to drink absinthe correctly and those who didn’t.
Absinthe became the drink of choice among artists and writers who frequently depicted its “fairy-like” quality in their works. For instance, Edgar Degas’s painting L’ABSINTHE depicts a woman sitting lifelessly at a table staring intently at an absinthe bottle. Women, particularly lower class ones who were heavily addicted to absinthe, were the primary consumers consuming this substance to become dependent and eventually ruin themselves and their families’ lives with it.