Marteau Belle Époque begins on Northwest  grape vines and in the leaves and flowers of the finest hand-harvested wormwood and other herbs.

Grape wine is distilled to the highest proof to produce the smooth spirit that serves as the basis of the absinthe.

While grape spirits of such high purity is nearly without flavor, we feel that its smooth mouthfeel and subtle fruity aroma serves as the perfect palette upon which to blend the dramatic flavors and aromas which make up Marteau Absinthe.

The spirits are first infused overnight  with wormwood,  aniseed, fennel, and other botanicals. This  allows the fragrant and flavorful essences in the botanicals to dissolve into the spirit.

While passing through a water-cooled coil, the hot vapors re-condense into liquid in the form of pure, white, absinthe.

For a "blanche" absinthe, this is the end of the process and it is allowed to rest for a period of time and then bottled, but the legendary "verte" absinthe undergoes a second infusion of herbs.

The clear distillate is infused with Petite Wormwood and Melissa.  The absinthe is again gently heated for a short time to infuse the spirit with the exotic flavors and aromas of the wormwood, along with the famous brilliant green for which absinthe is famous, provided by the chlorophyll in the plant leaves.  The color of Marteau is derived entirely from herbs.

Over time, the brilliant emerald green will mellow and fade with age, like autumn leaves, from emerald to olive and finally, to a warm amber hue.  This is natural and not undesirable, but to keep your Marteau green, store it upright in a cool, dark place.

Upon adding iced water at serving, the golden green magically changes to a milky translucence with glints of blue and amber, reminiscent of a moonstone or opal.

This famous opalescence is one of the hallmarks of a truly historic absinthe.