La Fée Verte

Absinthe — the green woman who sits on the café table, and the louche

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They intertwine and clash in a maelstrom of herbs led by the sacred trio: anise, grand wormwood, fennel. She scorches my throat, ignites my guts, and louches my thoughts. Oh, my fée verte!

Viktor Oliva — Piják absintu (The Absinthe Drinker), 1901

Viktor Oliva, The Absinthe Drinker: a man at a café table with an absinthe glass, and a green nude woman seated on the tabletop facing him
Viktor Oliva, The Absinthe Drinker: a man at a café table with an absinthe glass, and a green nude woman seated on the tabletop facing him

Public domain · Viktor Oliva (1861–1928) · Wikimedia Commons

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The louche

Three frames, water going in.

Three frames showing a blanche absinthe going from clear to opaque milky white as water is added
Three frames showing a blanche absinthe going from clear to opaque milky white as water is added

CC BY-SA 3.0 · Phoney · Wikimedia Commons · licence