trysail
Catch Me Who Can
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2005
- Posts
- 25,593
I don't like booze (there's no denying that I'm "different-" in a LOT of ways
). Nonetheless, this article caught my eye. Absinthe has a romantic image and I suspect the snake oil salesmen will make a ton of dough by exploiting the conscious/subconscious tendency of the hordes of the "young and stupid" who attempt to define their identities by what they drive/buy/drink._____________________________
Absinthe Makes Splash After U.S. Ban
By Cindy Skrzycki
Oct. 16, 2007 (Bloomberg) -- Absinthe, an intense alcoholic spirit favored by artists such as Degas, Van Gogh and Hemingway, is making a comeback in the U.S. after being banned by the government for almost 100 years.
Its rebirth in trendy restaurants and bars is a triumph of marketing -- and of maneuvering through a maze of federal rules on formulas and labels. It took a Swiss distiller, an importer and a Washington attorney four years to navigate the bureaucracy, even after the drink was legalized again in Europe.
``This is a complex issue, and we are addressing it as best we can,'' said Art Resnick, a spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, referring to the process that led earlier this year to the agency approving four absinthe brands for sale in the U.S.
For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the typically green liquor, also known as the Green Fairy, was wildly popular among artists in Europe. It was the subject of the Edgar Degas painting ``L'Absinthe.'' Emile Zola mentioned it in a novel and Ernest Hemingway said: ``Got tight last night on absinthe. Did knife tricks.''
Absinthe was believed to contain large concentrations of wormwood, a plant containing the chemical thujone, which could induce hallucinations and a drug-like state. It was thought to be the source of Van Gogh's impulse to cut off his ear.
Imports of absinthe were banned by the U.S. Agriculture Department in 1912 because other countries had outlawed it. Later, a Food and Drug Administration rule demanding ``thujone- free'' products kept it off the market.
The whiff of illegality made absinthe all the more desirable. Groups such as the Wormwood Society kept the mystique alive. It was bootlegged, sold widely over the Internet, and smuggled in by travelers.
Ritualistic Ceremony
Once bans on the liquor were lifted in Europe in the 1990s, the campaign began in the U.S. to restore absinthe to the cocktail menu. The stakes were high for brand owners and importers. The winner would have a head start on marketing the drink, which costs $50 to $60 a bottle, and is often imbibed after a ritualistic ceremony.
In one method, the liquid is poured into a special glass, over which is placed an ornate slotted spoon holding a sugar cube. Cold water is then dripped over the sugar to dilute the high alcohol level. This transforms the color to milky white. In another, sugar on the spoon is set aflame and drips into the absinthe.
Robert Lehrman, a Washington attorney who specializes in seeking formula and label approvals at the Tax and Trade Bureau, said the government ``worked hard to keep the genie in the bottle.''
Still Illegal
Lehrman, representing an importer and Distillerie Kubler & Wyss of Motiers, Switzerland, cited endless quibbles by regulators. The biggest blow, he said, was last year when the bureau flatly rejected the label on the grounds that absinthe was still illegal.
It took a meeting this February between regulators and the trade counselor from the Swiss Embassy -- to explain that his country had dropped objections to absinthe in 2004 -- to restart the process.
Hurdles remained. When Kubler proposed putting 33.8 fluid ounces on its bottle label, regulators rejected it, saying the proper designation was 33.82 ounces. In May, Kubler was told to ``remove the `boldness' of the text on back label puffery and use the same size print for all text shown,'' according to one directive.
Approval for Swiss Absinthe Superieure Kubler, 106 proof, was granted on May 17. Kubler's success was diluted when a competitor, Lucid, Absinthe Superieure, 124 proof, was in the stores the same month, after being approved in March.
`Thujone Free'
Both brands met the government's ``thujone free'' standard, meaning each contains less than 10 parts of the chemical per million. Exactly how much thujone each formula includes, if any, is a trade secret.
Jared Gurfein attracted publicity for his Lucid brand when he abandoned a law career to start Viridian Spirits LLC in Manhasset, New York, to make and distill absinthe.
Gurfein also knew ``Kubler had hit a brick wall'' with regulators, he said.
``We pushed the door down and they walked through it,'' Lehrman said, expressing frustration with the red tape he faced.
``In this instance, there was more than one reason to take a look at these labels,'' said Resnick, whose Tax and Trade Bureau approved 125,000 labels for beer, wine and spirits last year. He wouldn't elaborate on what those reasons were.
`Chemicals of Concern'
A Web site for the Drug Enforcement Administration's ``office of diversion control'' still lists absinthe under ``drugs and chemicals of concern.'' And the U.S. Customs Web site continues to list it as banned. A Customs spokeswoman said while individual shipments are being approved for import, the agency is waiting for direction from the Tax and Trade Bureau.
In the meantime, the marketers have taken over.
``This is so easy,'' said Lyons Brown, chief executive of Altamar Brands LLC, in Corona del Mar, California, distributor for Kubler, as the product made its debut last week at Corio in Soho. ``The key is to just get it into the market with all the theatrics that go with it.''
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