London Is Obsessed With Absinthe Right Now

Absinthe is having a bit of a renaissance in London at the moment.

Despite it being a good hundred years since the spirit’s last major boom, absinthe is popping up on cocktail menus all over the city.

But it’s not the first time.

A century before the first commercial absinthe distilleries opened elsewhere in the world, Londoners were already enjoying an early example of absinthe made by the city’s apothecaries.

As the years went on and absinthe found infamy for its rumored hallucinations (which actually have more to do with the alcohol content than anything in the actual liquid), creatives like Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Wilde and Pablo Picasso all swore by the spirit.

And they drank it in bars you can still visit today.

Take the Green Bar at Hotel Cafe Royal, a former favorite of Oscar Wilde’s: a small and luxurious cocktail den so green it feels like you’re stepping straight into the spirit.

All of the bar’s cocktails are inspired by the original Café Royal Cocktail Book, compiled in 1937, including the Velvet Essence (Absinthe, Strega Galliano, Mandarin Napoleon, apple, elderflower, matcha and egg white), which I would personally consider the best absinthe cocktail in London.

But the trend goes far beyond the bar front.

In 2021, the co-owners of The Last Tuesday Society (a macabre-inspired bar in Hackney) built such a cult following of absinthe lovers they decided to open London’s first absinthe distillery.

It’s doing well, too. In addition to a traditional absinthe, Devil’s Botany has created a 63% ABV absinthe ‘regalis’ featuring absinthe’s holy trinity of grand wormwood, green anise and sweet fennel, as well as spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom (all once highly sought after symbols of luxury). A real gin-like experience, with warm botanics.

While it’s unlikely we’ll see absinthe go through the the Big Gin Renaissance its juniper-based cousin has experienced over the last decade, the shift is noticeable.

If London’s more adventurous drinkers continue to take note, absinthe might just be en route to becoming gin 2.0.