what absinthe did Jay Gatsby drink

Topic created by BarGirl
on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 at 07:09

BarGirl said on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 at 07:09...

does anyone know the answer? 'cus I need some advice for a cocktail promotion? absinthe???

Bibi la Puree said on Fri, 3 May 2013 at 06:35...

Hint; try reading the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I am not sure but maybe, just maybe, you will find out if he did, or did not, drink absinthe. Alternatively, put on a silly hat and start dancing the Charleston.

THEABSINTHEPROFESSOR said on Sat, 4 May 2013 at 08:04...

Is there a reference to the "green fairy" in the book? I assume that you know being such a well read, erudite, and abrasive cynic. Please share your erudition with us mere mortals, Bibi. The question asked WHAT - WHICH - absinthe, not whether he drank it - you can assume therefore that the OP already knows it appears in the text.

ty9 said on Sun, 5 May 2013 at 07:03...

The Beautiful and The Damned contains reference to an absinthe cocktail, that is all I can remember. The original movie (The Great Gatsby) from 1926 was criticized on the grounds that one of the characters downs a large glass of absinthe and reacts to it like lemonade (i.e not three sheets to the wind). Maybe we should form a book club? I just finished reading The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope and I confirm there is not one mention of absinthe therein :-)

Old Nick said on Wed, 8 May 2013 at 08:01...

Augustus Melmotte had a fair bit to drink on the night of his demise of course. If anyone was going to drink absinthe it would have been him...or maybe that other hangover sufferer...Sir Felix Carbury. Love Trollope! Did you like it, Sir?

I might buy myself a copy of The Great Gatsby this weekend. The film will be on TV before long I suppose, although I do like Leonardo de C's work, he is a good actor. Didn't he play Mr Ripley?

ty9 said on Fri, 10 May 2013 at 09:57...

Brandy and water was Mr M's tipple, his "wife" also liked to keep a bottle about her. I have never seen the movie, but yes Leonardo plays that role in the hollywood take on Highsmith. The Great Gatsby will no doubt show in some coming Yuletide telly fest :-(

Bibi la Puree said on Mon, 13 May 2013 at 12:45...

When you are celebrating in TV free sanctity no doubt. There is no mention of absinthe in the GG to my recollection. I bet you can find it in Dickens though! There is a wonderful quote in one of his non fiction diatribes...go find.

THEABSINTHEPROFESSOR said on Wed, 15 May 2013 at 08:29...

Wait a moment, The Great Gatsby was published in 1925. By that time absinthe had been banned in the United States for over 10 years. On the other hand it occurs to me that absinthe may well have been part of the Prohibition 1920-33. That's a more interesting question. Did those moonshine producers sell absinthe in illicit bars at that time?

Absinthe_drinker said on Tue, 28 May 2013 at 16:04...

Did Mrs Gamp drink absinthe, Bibi? I was wondering if she kept it in her umbrella. Tolouse Lautrec kept it in his cane after all :-) Absinthe cocktails are a weird idea to me. You see what is the point of drowning natural mountain herbs with syrups and all the rest? I find it hard to get my head around the idea. Does the wormwood survive the assault...tell me gents! as I have never tried an absinthe cocktail (and I probably never will)

Miss22 said on Wed, 29 May 2013 at 05:17...

An interesting point about absinthe cocktails. Did you know that the cocktail craze of the Prohibition era was largely fulled by a need to mask the taste of bathtub gin? Of course there was a whole lot of terrible absinthe back in the day, so perhaps the same principle applies.

Chuff said on Tue, 11 Jun 2013 at 21:25...

Is absinthe in Bleak House? I suppose that is the reference, eh? Wait that is fiction..makes you wonder actually how much Green Fairy was really consumed in 19th century London. It is a good prop for movies but wasn't it just the aesthetes after Walter Pater?