Bohemian-style absinth
Encyclopedia
Bohemian-style absinth is more accurately described as a wormwood bitters
Bitters
A bitters is an alcoholic beverage that is flavored with herbal essences and has a bitter or bittersweet flavor. There are numerous brands of bitters that were formerly marketed as patent medicines but are now considered to be digestifs, rather than medicines...

. It is produced mainly in the Czech Republic, from which it gets its designations as “Bohemian” or “Czech,” although not all absinthe from the Czech Republic is Bohemian-style.

Bohemian-style absinth contains little or none of the anise, fennel, and other herbs that are essential to traditional absinthe. This usually results in a product that is more bitter and altogether different from absinthe. It is usually not produced by the traditional means of maceration and distillation. Instead, high-proof alcohol is cold-mixed with herbal essences (oils) and artificial colorants — a cheaper production method that involves no distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....

.

Typical Bohemian-style absinth has only two similarities with its traditional counterpart, in that it contains wormwood and has a high alcohol content.

Since few countries possess a legal definition for absinthe, producers of Czech style absinth have taken advantage of this situation by borrowing the romantic Belle Époque
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...

associations and psychoactive reputation of traditional absinthe to create a market for their dissimilar products. Many of these producers aim to increase the appeal of their wares by making claims as to the thujone
Thujone
Thujone is a ketone and a monoterpene that occurs naturally in two diastereomeric forms: -α-thujone and -β-thujone. It has a menthol odor. Even though it is best known as a chemical compound in the spirit absinthe, recent tests show absinthe contains only small quantities of thujone, and may or may...

 content of their absinth, levels which are uncharacteristic of "pre-ban" absinthe
Absinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...

. A few Czech products even claim to have levels of thujone that would render them unfit to be sold in many parts of the world.

The “fire ritual”

Bohemian-style absinth lacks much of the herbal profile and density of authentic absinthe, including the constituents that create the louche.
Since this renders Czech style absinth unusable for the traditional method of preparation, a modern ritual involving fire was created. In the “fire ritual,” absinth is poured into a glass, and a sugar cube on a slotted spoon is placed over the glass. The sugar cube is then soaked with absinth and is set on fire. The cube is then dropped into the absinth, setting it ablaze. Then water is poured over the flame until it goes out. Usually, a 1:1 ratio of water to absinth is used. This procedure produces a minor simulation of the louche that is seen in traditional absinthe, and the low water-to-alcohol ratio increases the strength of the resulting drink. (A traditional absinthe drink is diluted with water to a ratio between 3:1 and 5:1.)

The fire ritual first appeared in advertisements after having been seen in a Prague bar in the late 1990s. It has been mistaken at times as historical fact due to its having been misrepresented as such in several contemporary costume drama
Costume drama
A costume drama or period drama is a period piece in which elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambiance of a particular era.The term is usually used in the context of film and television...

films.

Drinkers of authentic absinthe scorn the Czech fire ritual, believing that it spoils the flavor of absinthe and ruins the drink.
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