Absinthe and the 99%, As absinthe grows in popularity, will it become cheaper? Options

[ellen]

Absinthe was a drink of the masses in the 1890s, right? It's a fair bet it didn't cost (proportionately, after appropriate inflation adjustment) as much as the latest thing from the Pernot distillery costs us. Absinthe is growing in popularity, and while the marketing aim right now is to sell it as a luxury item, there are bound to be cheaper mass market versions before long…

Does anyone on the forum know what prices were like for a bottle of absinthe in the pre-ban era? Those old pictures of French farmers drinking it -- and using a fountain, no less! -- after the day's labor suggests it must have been very "affordable" in the Belle Epoche.

Ellen

[Aggelos]

Absinthe was a drink of the masses in the 1890s, right? It's a fair bet it didn't cost (proportionately, after appropriate inflation adjustment) as much as the latest thing from the Pernot distillery costs us.

Really ? Depends on what you wanted to drink really… A quality product was expensive allright.
An indicator I have is that a bottle of a pernod Fils (1L) was worth a worker's daily wages.
It gets me to approx $90/Liter (using the French minimum salary and converting it to $)

[ellen]

Absinthe was a drink of the masses in the 1890s, right? It's a fair bet it didn't cost (proportionately, after appropriate inflation adjustment) as much as the latest thing from the Pernot distillery costs us.

Really ? Depends on what you wanted to drink really… A quality product was expensive allright.
An indicator I have is that a bottle of a pernod Fils (1L) was worth a worker's daily wages.
It gets me to approx $90/Liter (using the French minimum salary and converting it to $)

Either those French farm workers were very rich then, or they were drinking something more plebeian…