We at Absinthe.com.au are on a particular journey to uncover the hidden history of our Green Muse in early Australian history, and show that it was not just a Continental phenomenon, but that the importation and consumption of absinthe was an established part of society down under.

One part of the detective tale is establishing the trade routes, and given the predominant French presence in the South Pacific, it is not unreasonable to have assumed that the Franco-governed islands would be be a reasonable jumping off point.

These suspicions have recently been vindicated by the below cutting of ’shipping intelligence’ reported in the Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, as reported on the 23 February 1848.

25 Cases of absinthe from Tahiti aboard the Sarah Ann imported into New South Wales on the 17th February 1848.

Needless to say, this opens a new chapter of absinthe history to be explored.  What were the main brands consumed in Australia?  Who were the purveyours? What establishments stocked absinthe? How was absinthe framed in context to the temperance movement in Australia?

Stay with us dear reader as we turn back the musty pages of history over the coming months, yea verily, maybe even years as we piece together what should be a veritable jigsaw puzzle of revelatory proportions.

This has been a bit of a nostalgic journey for me.

About 9 months ago I left Sydney and moved to Adelaide, yet now here I am, tracing paths in the back streets of Newtown on a Sunday afternoon, much like I used to do on a regular basis. Strong emotion stirs from the familiarity of footsteps on these same roads, the same stray cats, the same eccentric individuals perched in coffee shops or begging in a doorway, passing by the old 19th century houses that I have often thought ‘I’d like to live in that’, thinking about a parallel life that maybe is happening in another time and space.

The popular inner Sydney suburbs of Newtown, Camperdown, Erskineville and surrounds are an appropriate place to reflect on history, particularly the era when absinthe was in its heyday.  In these gracefully decaying streets are the lingering ghosts of previous centuries… the ’Murdering Makins of MacDonaldtown’ who mercilessly did away with at least 13 babies while running a faux-child care operation out of labyrinthine lane ways; the blackened dusty workmen who laboured at the Eveleigh railyards or St Peters Brickworks; the juvenile delinquents of the  ’Glebe Push’ and ‘Forty Thieves’ street gangs, notorious for their trail of theft and assault…

I spy with my little eye….

It is fitting, then, that we invoke these phantoms, that we grasp at the sounds and sights of another time, for on this afternoon both Robert and I journey to the house of our good friend Daniel to partake in something almost 100 years old, our own little time-travel experience….

- a sample of pre-ban Pernod Fils Absinthe, circa 1910.

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Pork Chop - an American slang term. Origins here.

Amongst the more knowledgeable within the international absinthe community, thujone -a principle chemical constituent in wormwood- is affectionately referred to as The Pork Chop.

Thujone has erroneously been blamed throughout history for a condition known as ‘absinthism’.It has also been disingenuously used in the modern era to promote absinthe, primarily ‘absinth’ coming from the Czech Republic (though not exclusively), as a veiled allusion to the potential for hallucinations and other mind altering experiences. Part of this arises from the claim that ‘pre-ban’ absinthe contained high levels of thujone, in the hundreds of mg/L, and was responsible for the tightrope between toxicity and ‘tripping the green’.

In turn, modern Neanderthals have taken it upon themselves to abuse absinthe consumption, engage in less than socially responsible activities, and then blame the drink and thujone for their “completely out of character” behaviour.

There is still a debate as to whether there is any ’secondary effect’ arising from absinthe - some support this, some deny this, some say it is more the effect of +65% alcohol content, some may suggest there is a subtle chemistry arising from the distillation of the herbs typically mixed in absinthe production. Many herbal liquors started life as medicinal tonics, to stimulate hunger, to be good for what ails you and so forth. So while there may be a foundation for some pharmacological effects arising from herbal ingredients with potential medicinal qualities, this is not the same as the formulation of herbal ingredients for extreme psychogenic effects.

And more to the point, the promotion of absinth(e) in the context of its thujone content being in some simple dose-response relationship with the potential for a mind altering experience, either suggested or actively stated, is blatantly false and totally misleading… and there are no shortage of proprietors in Australia who are actively engaging in such behaviour as part of their marketing strategy. They are, in effect, ‘carrying on like a pork chop’ everytime they mention thujone, and charging you, dear consumer, for the privilege of an over-promoted snake oil.

There is even one Australian importer who continues to suggest on their website that thujone is structurally similar to tetrahydrocannibol found in cannabis, and thereby suggesting a similar effect. This has been thoroughly disproven, and yet such proprietors continue to peddle these myths in order to make a buck.

Thankfully, a scientific paper has now been published that will hopefully put much of this debate to bed. Authors Dirk Lachenmeier, David Nathan-Maister, Ted Breaux, Eva-Maria Sihnius, Karl Schoberl and Thomas Kuballa have just published ‘Chemical Composition of Vintage Preban Absinthe with Special Reference to Thujone, Fenchone, Pinocamphone, Methanol, Copper and Antimony‘ in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

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The media have been reporting that composer of lavishly over-the-top musicals, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, intends to finance a series of significant charitable contributions to the theatrical establishment through an auction of Pablo Picasso’s ‘The Absinthe Drinker’ (also known as Portrait de Angel Fernandez de Soto).

The painting, from Picasso’s Blue Period, is expected to fetch somewhere in the order of 35 million Pounds Sterling at auction. The intended sale, however, may not be so straight forward.

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One thing we like at Absinthe.com.au is a bit of style.

As the modernist successor to the Art Nouveau period, in which the light of absinthe shone brightly, a new generation of functional artists and designers continued the idea of a movement that infused itself into every part of life during the inter-war year in the early 20th century - furniture, buildings, clothes, jewellery, cars were also art, a canvas to be painted upon.

Arising into the public consciousness from the Parisian Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925, it was born during an era of economic depression. It reflected a luxurious Utopian vision, but where an eye to the past was present, taking stylistic notes from the geometrical designs and motifs of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia amongst other ancient cultures - but infused into the new mediums of polished steel and plastic.

Asclepian art deco motifs above a pharmacy in Prague

While many may associate Prague and ‘absinth’ , it should also be recognised as a very important city for its preservation of many Art Deco motifs. Almost every modern Australian city also has fine examples of Art Deco architecture, many under threat of demolition and overt redevelopment. As the increasing level of property developer contributions to State Labor governments becomes more apparent, those who support heritage protection should become increasingly concerned that we are losing generations of history under our noses - rather than finding ways of integrating the two, using the same principles the Art Deco movements proponents themselves used.

But for those with a penchant for this period should be overjoyed that Melbourne will play host to the 9th World Congress on Art Deco , 16-20th April 2008.

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“Until very recently the history of absinthe in Australia has largely gone unrecorded. The work of contemporary absinthe researchers such as Gaye Valtilla, Jonathan Carfax and Robert Maxwell have uncovered key details relating to absinthe in 19th century Australia… it has recently been proven that absinthe was indeed being imported into Australia during the 19th century, particularly as several bottles of pre-ban absinthe have recently surfaced in the country with very strong provenance.”

Our history page has now been updated to include some of the latest information on pre-ban absinthe in 19th century Australia. This section of our site is continually growing and expanding as new leads come to light, so be sure to check back often.

Go to: Absinthe - A History in Green

Agnes Goodsir, ‘Girl with a Cigarette’, 1925

Artists have long flocked to Paris in order to ‘find’ their art and refine their techniques, and Australian artists are no exception. One of the most noteworthy Australian artists to make the pilgrimage was Agnes Goodsir, a native of Bendigo who would go on to become a well-known portrait painter in France at the turn of the 20th century. Goodsir was arguably one of Australia’s most pre-eminent bohemians, living with her lover and artist’s model ‘Cherry’ (fellow Australian Rachel Dunn), frequenting the cafes and bistrots of Paris and mixing in circles which included Picasso, Joyce and Hemmingway. A new exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery in Victoria uncovers the life and art of Goodsir, along with the other Australian artists who would go before and after her, in search of their art in the streets of Paris.

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“The disembarkation of the troops and convicts took place from the following day until the whole were landed. The confusion that ensued will not be wondered at, when it is considered that every man stepped from the boat literally into a wood. Parties of people were every where heard and seen variously employed; some in clearing ground for the different encampments; others in pitching tents, or bringing up such stores as were more immediately wanted; and the spot which had so lately been the abode of silence and tranquillity was now changed to that of noise, clamour, and confusion: but after a time order gradually prevailed every where. As the woods were opened and the ground cleared, the various encampments were extended, and all wore the appearance of regularity…”

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For those in Sydney with an interest in both the macabre and the historic, this is one of your last chances to see a slice of early colonial Sydney before it is lost to time. Archaeologists (including yours truly) are currently excavating over 50 graves belonging to a portion of the Old Sydney Burial Ground, one of the first cemeteries in the colony and the last resting place of convicts, officers and free settlers, with it’s first official iterment in 1792, and it’s last in 1820. And you can get a look at it, for one day only.

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