Today, a few vermouths are still made with wormwood, such as Piedmont's Alessio Vermouth di Torino Rosso, based on a classic di Torino recipe from the late 19th century. "The German word for wormwood is 'wermut,' and this word is what led to the modern word 'vermouth.'" Since wormwood was seen as an ingredient to help soothe digestive issues, it was a shoo-in for an after-dinner drink.
"A cool fact is that by law, all European vermouth contains wormwood," says Leopold. Eventually, this beverage evolved into modern vermouth. More than 2,000 years ago, wormwood wine was a drink of choice. "When the wine industry recovered, many of its consumers had switched to drinking absinthe, which led them to launch the propaganda campaign." "Wormwood garnered most of its bad reputation when the French wine industry staged a smear campaign in the 1800s against the liquor absinthe, which had stolen many of the wine industry's consumer base after the phylloxera plague hit," says Robinson, referring to a vine blight that caused a major dip in French wine production. Though wormwood has been utilized for eons, somewhere along the line it went from a medicinal and flavoring agent to an enemy of the drink and culinary world. Wormwood got its reputation from a smear campaign. Vermouth can also have wormwood in it, as can beer and even some wine (more on those beverages later). You can also find recipes that call for wormwood in Amaro, the French apéritif quina, and even some schnapps like the Swedish-made Jeppson's Malört. This yellow-green spirit showcases the true flavor of wormwood: bitter and herbaceous. In the Alps, various native species of wormwood collectively called génépi are used to brew liqueurs also called génépi (or genepy). "It's safe to say that there is at least one species of wormwood growing in every climate in the world," says Robinson.ĭrinks besides absinthe utilize wormwood. Wormwood can grow almost anywhere in the world, though the most popular regions include Pontarlier, near the Swiss-French border, and southern Virginia in the U.S. At the distillery, Leopold sticks with tradition and uses grande wormwood, sourced in-state. "Most wormwoods are segregated by the regions in which they are grown, and they all have different flavors and aromas," says Todd Leopold of Leopold Bros. distillery in Colorado. The best-known species of wormwood is Artemisia absinthium, or grande wormwood, the only type that you can use in the distillation process for something to be considered authentic absinthe. "There are more than 200 plants in the genus Artemisia, including southern wormwood, petite wormwood (which is used in coloring absinthe), and grande wormwood," says Brian Robinson of the Wormwood Society. During absinthe's heyday in mid-19th century France, most bottles of the stuff contained around 70% ABV - about twice the average amount of alcohol in gin, vodka, and whiskey. The only reason people ever went nutty from drinking with the "green fairy" was due to the exorbitant amount of alcohol found in the beverage. Yes, it contains thujone, a compound that can cause seizures and death at very high doses, but the concentration found in absinthe won't make you hallucinate. Wormwood, as you probably know, was traditionally used to flavor absinthe.
0 kommentar(er)
