Absinthe "the holy trinity." Many other herbs may be used as well, such as petite wormwood ("Artemisia pontica" or Roman wormwood), hyssop, melissa, star anise, angelica, peppermint, coriander, and veronica. Adding to absinthe's negative reputation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unscrupulous makers of the drink omitted the traditional colouring phase of production in favour of adding toxic copper salts to artificially induce a green tint. This practice may be responsible for some of the alleged toxicity historically associated with this beverage. Many modern day producers resort to similar (but non-deadly) shortcuts, including the use of artificial food colouring
Irish whiskey 12th century (see Distilled beverage). It is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfumes back to Ireland from their travels to the Mediterranean countries around 1000 A.D. The Irish then modified this technique to obtain a drinkable spirit. Although termed "whiskey", the spirit produced during this period would have differed from what we currently recognise as whiskey. The "uisce beatha" or whiskey produced in historical times would not have been aged, and was often flavoured with aromatic herbs such as mint, thyme or anise. Irish Mist, a whiskey liqueur launched in 1963, is purportedly based on such