Absinthe

Absinthetake neutral grape spirits combined with dried flowers and wormwood leaves, suffuse with vaunted aphrodisiac powers, mix in a history dark with tales of death and madness, and you have one of the world's most maligned--and misunderstood--aperitifsOn August 28, 1905, Jean Lanfray, a vineyard worker and day laborer in the little village of Commugny, Switzerland, awoke at 4:30 in the morning. He began his day with his usual eye opener: a shot of absinthe, to which he added three parts of wa...