A Private Glimpse Into Hemingway’s Passion for Absinthe

Posted on by Absinthe HQ in Famous Absinthe Drinkers, Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway’s passion for absinthe is well-chronicled and captured in some of his many literary masterpieces. Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in Oak Park suburb of Chicago.  A literary genius, he published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works during his lifetime; a further three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Although absinthe was banned in many countries, it did not stop Ernest Hemingway from indulging in the green fairy. Biographers conclude that Hemingway most likely got his bottles of absinthe during his many trips to Spain or Cuba.

For Hemingway, absinthe was a critical aspect of his daily routine – historians write of his sessions of quiet “pondering” taking place over gently loushed glasses of absinthe. Hemingway’s life seemed to revolve around three primary passions – traveling, weapons, and absinthe. His love of the latter two was on particular display in one of his novels – For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). This novel describes one of the characters drinking absinthe and doing ‘knife tricks’ afterwards. Furthermore, Hemingway describes one of the main characters, Robert Jordan, drinking absinthe with guerillas in order to build rapport.

In The Sun Also Rises, a 1926 novel about a group of American ex-patriates’ trip to Spain, the Pernod brand of absinthe is the drink of choice for the travelers. Also, in the short story, Hills Like White Elephants, absinthe is portrayed as the preferred drink for contemplating the important and controversial issues of the world.  In this story, Hemingway describes the issue of abortion being discussed over drinks of absinthe at a train depot.

Another of Hemingway’s lasting effects on the world of absinthe is the cocktail “Death in the Afternoon.” Hemingway revealed this recipe to the world in a 1935 collection of celebrity absinthe recipes. His directions for making the cocktail are as follows: “Pour one jigger absinthe into a Champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.”