genevieve- 'La Fee Verte'

I am intrigued by the intense emerald green of Absinthe and would love to design a label for this beverage. Its French name ‘La Fee Verte’ meaning ‘the green fairy’ serves as a symbol and lends it an enticing design element. Many artists living in Paris in the early 1900s would drink Absinthe and were inspired by it, many paying tribute to it in their artworks eg. Picasso’s ‘The Absinth Drinker’.
Due to this fact I am going to hand paint the Green Fairy to bring an artistic look to the bottle.
The hallucinogenic content of the medicinal Absinthe plant (Artemisia Absinthium) also known as the medicinal herb ‘wormwood’ which contains the psychoactive chemical thujone brought this beverage much controversy over the years as it was considered dangerous. The legal amounts are now written into countries constitutions and therefore is only rarely found in Australian bottle shops as you need a permit to sell it also due to its high alcohol content > 60 – 70 %. The wormwood is distilled with alcohol and without this process results in an extremely bitter beverage as it is one of “the most bitter substances known to man.” The intense green colour of Absinthe is actually chlorophyll extracted from other herbs such as Fennel and Anise. Absinthe should be diluted 3 or 5 water to 1 Absinthe as this makes the flavours blossom that would have previously been overpowered by the Anise (Licorice flavour). People often also add a sugar cube according to personal taste by using an Absinthe spoon, pouring absinthe over the sugar that sits on a Absinthe spoon lighting it on fire then dropping it into the mixture, although the major Swiss, French and Spanish distillers recommend drinking it without the addition of sugar as it only thickens the mouth feel of the drink and covers the delicate flavours. Often other herbs are also added such as Hyssop, Petite Wormwood, Angelica root, Sweet Flag, Coriander, Veronica, Juniper and Nutmeg.
Absinthe is quite an expensive drink ~$80 so I would like the packaging to live up to this. My approach to the packaging will make it legitimate as a gift. For this it would be sold in a box with sentimental elements such as a silk or velvet base for the bottle to sit firm inside, and an information booklet (serving suggestions) tied on with an ornately decorated green ribbon.