RETURN OF THE GREEN FAIRY!

Once inextricably linked with art, rebellion and madness, and infamously banned in the early 20th century, absinthe is making a stunning comeback as the drink of choice for Gen Z... and a handy cocktail ingredient for everyone else

- Dominic Bliss

VINCENT Van Gogh was rather fond of absinthe. Like many of the artists of his period, a little too fond, perhaps. It was after drinking the concentrated spirit, in the south of France around Christmas 1888, that he famously cut off his ear.

While the jury is out over whether absinthe affected his decision to self-mutilate, one thing is for sure: this distillation of grand wormwood, anise, fennel and other herbs, is one of the most alcoholic spirits you'll find in any drinks cabinet - sometimes as much as 74% proof.

And if a new report is to be believed, its popularity as a modern-day party drink is growing. According to the Business Research Company, global consumption of the green fairy- as it is known thanks to its distinctive colour is currently worth £29billion and expected to rise to a massive £32billion by 2028.

The anise-flavoured spirit is also experiencing a UK renaissance, where bars and distilleries are reporting 40 to 50% year-on-year sales growth and a growing number of high-end cocktail bars where mixologists include absinthe as a key ingredient.

Back in the Belle Epoque era, around the late 1800s, consumption of absinthe in France and Switzerland was widespread. In certain sectors of society it was more prevalent than wine, just as cheap gin had enjoyed mass appeal in Britain in the early 1700s.

Part of absinthe's appeal was thanks to the French army which supplied the drink to its troops based in Algeria and Indo-China to ward off malaria and dysentery.

Returning home, soldiers found they'd developed a taste for the stuff and started ordering it in bars. Civilians followed suit and absinthe quickly became so fashionable that, by the 1860s, happy hour was called "l'heure verte" ("the green hour").