Absinthe MATA HARI ® - The Spirit of Art

The cult drink of the turn of the century returns

History:

The first mention of an absinthe-like drink was in ancient Greece – Pythagoras and Hippocrates describe its healing properties, its aphrodisiac effect and the increase in creativity they experienced on drinking it.

The original recipe for absinthe as we know it today came from the Swiss sisters Henriot from Neuchâtel and does not contain aniseed. Monsieur Pernod was the first to add aniseed after he had purchased the recipe and had set up production in France. After absinthe was forbidden at the beginning of the 20th century, Pernod altered the recipe and from then on sold an aniseed-flavoured spirit under the name of Pastis.

No other alcoholic drink stimulated pain ting and poetry as much as absinthe did. It was an elixir that inspired such artists as Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh and Gaugin, intoxicated fantasy and made perfect verses by such as Baudelaire and Verlaine. Even Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway allowed themselves to be inspired by the drink.

Painters admired “the green fairy” like a lover. The French impressionists seemed to have more absinthe than oxygen in their blood. Even Picasso painted women drinking absinthe and an absinthe glass on one of his canvasses. The most legendary and mysterious absinthe drinker of this time was most certainly MATA HARI. The recent movies “Moulin Rouge” (Nicole Kidman) and “From Hell” (Johnny Depp) show the popularity of this drink.

Whether it was the thujone in the absinthe, the high alcohol content of up to 70%, or the unclean alcohol which is still today often added in former Eastern bloc countries, more and more people suffered hallucinations after excessive absinthe drinking (Van Gogh cut off his own ear when intoxicated on absinthe). As a consequence, the drink was black-listed in Europe and the USA.

Since 1998 absinthe production is once again permitted in EU countries, but it is only recently that the drink has become more widely appreciated. New analyses have established the fact that thujone is an isomer of camphor and menthol, and is similar to the main active substance in marihuana and cannabis.

The original recipe was actually intended to have a medicinal stimulating effect and included several “herbs”: wormwood oil, extract of wormwood, oil of sage, liquorice, oil of violet root, cinnamon, a few secret ingredients, and of course natural green food colouring. From this comes the name “the green fairy”.

Absinthe MATA HARI ®– The Spirit of Art

The cult drink of the turn of the century returns.

Product information

What is so special about Absinthe MATA HARI ®:

  • Original recipe from 1881
  • No aniseed added
  • Full & rich new taste
  • Highest possible legal thujone content (as bitter spirit max. 35 mg/ltr)
  • Especially nice green opalescent cloudiness on adding water and ice (without using aniseed)
  • High portion of wormwood oil (Artemisia Absinthium)
  • 60 p.c. vol. alcohol

Price:

Absinthe MATA HARI ® e 0,5l

Recommended retail price (without obligation) € 28 incl. VAT

The original MATA HARI ® Absinthe is available in the Old Vienna Schnaps Museum and from selected dealers.

How to drink absinthe

There was a special ritual to drinking absinthe in the 19th century: A sugar lump was placed on an absinthe spoon of chased silver, first absinthe and then water was poured onto it, giving the typical green opalescent colouring. Alternatively, the alcohol-soaked sugar lump was set on fire and caramelised.

Nowadays it is usually served with crushed ice or as a cocktail with whisky, cointreau or champagne.

Old Vienna Schnaps Museum

Already in the 19th century, Friedrich Fischer’s Viennese distillery produced an excellent absinthe from the original recipe (without aniseed). Today, in the Old Vienna Schnaps Museum, his successors have succeeded in producing absinthe from wormwood (Artemesia absinthium with thujone) achieving, without unclean alcohol (using a secret process) the desired opalescent cloudiness when water is added.

The Old Vienna Schnaps Museum, with its steam-powered distillery, is situated near Schloss Schönbrunn, and the Fischer family has been producing spirits and liqueurs here since 1875. Their best-known product is the “Schönbrunner Goldlikör”, containing 23-carat gold leaf. Old family recipes are still in use today, a guarantee for high-quality products.

Although the Old Vienna Schnaps Museum is Meidling’s most prominent tourist attraction, this gem from Imperial times is still an insider tip. Visitors to Vienna treasure this small private museum in particular because of its informal atmosphere and of course on account of its good spirits and liqueurs. At the close of every guided tour there is an opportunity to taste the products at leisure. The tours are headed by family members and recently, during the “Long Night of the Museums”, there were 800 visitors.

Tours by private arrangement for groups of 10 or more.

Contact:

Alt Wiener Schnapsmuseum (Old Vienna Schnaps Museum) - Fischer family

Gerry Fischer

Telephone: +43/1/815 73 00, mobile: +43/664/22 88 888,

Fax: +43/1/815 73 00-10

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