Absinthe’s history mirrors the way it’s meant to be prepared: a mix of the misunderstood and the legitimately unusual. For most of its existence, the spirit has been slandered, ostracized and, in ...

Even if you’ve never tried absinthe, you’ve heard plenty about it. “The green fairy” is iconic, as are legends of its power. Long illegal in the States, absinthe is said to provoke hallucinations, ...

Let’s start with a few things that absinthe is not. Absinthe is not hallucinogenic. Absinthe won’t make you go crazy. Absinthe isn’t illegal. If you’re like most people, those three statements have ...

While old wives tales of absinthe's hallucinogenic effects have likely been greatly exaggerated over the years (the compound responsible for these supposed effects, thujone has been found to be ...

If the Martini is a tailored suit, then the Tuxedo No. 2 is, well, a tuxedo. It’s a dressed-up Martini—or perhaps dressed down, more on that in a moment—but in either case it’s a Martini with a bit of ...

Absinthe. It was the preferred drink of your favorite artists and writers—think Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh—as they sat sipping in French cafés in the late 19th and early 20th ...

Cocktail Queries is a Paste series that examines and answers basic, common questions that drinkers may have about mixed drinks, cocktails and spirits. Check out every entry in the series to date.