Absinthe: the Vilified Spirit

A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world…After the first glass you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are—Oscar Wilde

When Toulouse and I toured Switzerland a few months ago, we spent some time wandering Altstadt Zurich, walking from Neiderdorfstrasse across the Limmat and along trendy Heinrichstrasse. There, we encountered absinthe in all its shapes and forms: from boldly displayed 1-liter bottles of 106-proof in liquor stores to absinthe-filled Swiss Frey Chocolates in a corner grocery store.