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Amid the neon glare of Bourbon Street, sitting at the copper-topped wooden bar, patrons enjoy their favorite beverages as sounds of the French Quarter seep into the cozy bar area. The Old Absinthe House has a legacy following its every heartbeat. The place to go since 1806, the Old Absinthe House has served anyone and everyone - with pictures to prove it. Jean Lafitte and Andrew Jackson were rumored to have met here to plan the battle of New Orleans.
Originally erected by Pedro Front and Francisco Juncadelia of Barcelona to house their importing firm, the building continued to be, "a corner grocery" of food, tobacco, and fine Spanish liquor for the next 40 years.
In 1815, Juncadelia's nephews took over the ground floor and converted it to Aleix's Coffee House. The coffee house was later changed to The Absinthe Room when the now famous mixologist, Cayetano Ferrer, created a drink consisting of absinthe - the Old Absinthe House Frappe, in 1874. This is still the house specialty, comprised of absinthe with Herbsaint, which is produced by the Legendre Company here in New Orleans and features a picture of this building on their label. Naturally it is the Absinthe substitute that is used most often. (Absinthe is no longer legal in the United States as it is a hallucinogen).
In the tavern, the bar seats some 50 patrons at the rail and will house up to 150 in the facility during evening hours. The bar top is not the original; it was quietly moved down the street during Prohibition but never made it back and has since been destroyed.
House recipe: Old Absinthe Frappe--1 1/4 ounce Herbsaint, one ounce of Anisette, pour over crushed ice, add one ounce soda water, shake well till frothy, strain into a 3 oz glass, quite tasty.
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