Absinthe – Its popularity And Its Downfall….

How and why absinthe was banned in Europe and the USA

Between the 1880's and the 1890's absinthe started getting a bad name and was used as a scapegoat for a variety of social maladies. The roots of this phenomenon can only be speculated. The follow are theories why absinthe fell out of favor in Europe:

1. As absinthe became more and more popular and the competition for market share expanded, certain absinthe producers started cutting corners and taking shortcuts during the absinthe distillation process. These shortsighted companies started adding chemicals and dyes to their absinthe to either make it appear green or enhance the louche effect that higher quality absinthes exhibited. Major absinthe distillers recognized the danger in such practices and lobbied in France for regulatory measures to prevent this dangerous deviation in the absinthe production process. Had these measures been enacted it would have proved to too little, too late. Absinthe was smeared in the press and Europe began to view as unhealthy - which was a sweeping change from absinthes was originally intended.

2. Absinthe started to drastically cut into French wine and brandy sales. The French wine makers wielded considerable power and influence in the French government. It is theorized that the moved to have absinthe banned.

3. As the Temperance movement gained steam in Europe some countries offered up absinthe as a sacrificial lamb in hopes it would quell public opinion and stop the teetotalers from banning other alcoholic beverages.

4. In Switzerland, highly sensationalized crimes were linked to absinthe in the press. This included a murderer that spent a night drinking wine and brandy only to top it off with two glasses of absinthe before killing his family. The press blamed the killing on absinthe and public opinion turned against the drink. 

5. French authority, upon sensing the outbreak of World War I, decided to ban absinthe because they felt t he drink would negatively affect their populations war readiness.

It only took 15 years for absinthe to be banned in most of Europe and in the USA. Some countries like Spain and Britain never took steps to ban Absinthe but its popularity disappeared in 1915.