Today we want to talk a bit about Absinthes natural green color. What are the differences in Absinthe coloration? And what are the coloring herbs of authentic Absinthe?
Coloration of green Absinthe
Real Absinthe is of natural green color. After distillation, coloring herbs are added to the crystal clear distillate. Think of it as a “tea bag” that you add to the elixir to produce the color of the “Green Fairy”. Typical coloring herbs of absinthe are artemisia pontica, melissa and hysop. Some Absinthe distillers use artemisia absinthium (wormwood) as a coloring herb, but this is something we can not recommend. As the wormwood plant is very bitter from its taste, wormwood as a coloring herb creates an unpleasant bitterness. Don’t get us wrong, we like a bitter smack in strong Absinthes, but the problem with wormwood coloration is, that the Absinthe gets more and more bitter the longer the Absinthe stands in your bar. This means, a freshly colored absinthe with wormwood tastes good, but after approx. 1-2 months this nice taste turns into a harsh note. Therefore, all our ALANDIA Absinthes are colored with the traditional herbs and suitable for maturing.
In the photo above, you can see the different greens of Absinthe Suisse Verte and Absinthe Heritage Verte. Suisse Verte’s green is fresh and bright (this also reflects its taste), Absinthe Heritage has a darker vintage green (this reflects that this Absinthe is distilled with wine alcohol, which increases its quality of maturation in your bar / Absinthe cellar).
