The iconic white building on the corner of Bienville and Bourbon Streets was initially erected by Pedro Front and Francisco Juncadelia of Barcelona to house their importing firm. For the next forty years, the store was home to the bartering of food, tobacco and Spanish liquor and functioned as a prototypical "corner grocery."
In 1815, the ground floor was converted into a saloon known as "Aleix's Coffee House" and was run by the nephews of Senora Juncadelia. This coffee house was later rechristened "The Absinthe Room" when mixologist Cayetano Ferrer created the famous Absinthe House Frappe here in 1874.
The original Old Absinthe House bar was to cease serving liquor at the start of Prohibition—a powerful message delivered to one of New Orleans’ most significant watering holes.
After a few years of below-the-table liquor sales, the bar and all of its fixtures were removed from the Old Absinthe House and moved under cover of darkness to a 400 Bourbon Street in order to preserve it.
This speakeasy operation was known as "The Absinthe House Bar” and served bootleg booze to those who were in-the-know on where to party or at least knew who to ask.
The speakeasy operation at 400 Bourbon Street is now a Mango Mango Daiquiri shop, serving overproof, frozen concoctions to New Orleans visitors eager to embrace the local open-container laws.
Many decades after Repeal Day, the original bar from the Old Absinthe House was returned to its 240 Bourbon Street home in early 2004 and currently resides in the adjacent, speakeasy-style cocktail bar, Belle Époque. The Old Absinthe House is an exercise in endurance and the convergence of past and present.
The decorative marble fountains that were used to drip cool water into glasses of Absinthe in the 1800s have also found a new life in Belle Époque. History endures against the backdrop of a bustling, neon Bourbon Street.
LOCATION
240 Bourbon StNew Orleans, LA 70112
COCKTAILS
SazeracRye Whiskey, Peychaud’s bitters, Angostura bitters, Herbsaint rinse
Absinthe Frappe (Invented here by Cayetano Ferrer)Your choice of absinthe, simple syrup, soda water, chipped ice. Please refer to the Absinthe Drips Menu for available absinthes.
Irish CoffeeIrish whiskey, coffee, whip cream, green creme de menthe, cherry
Bloody Mary Chile St. George Green Chile Vodka, Bloody Mary Mix, all the fixings
Planters PunchDark rum, sour, float 151 rum, orange, grenadine
All Saint’s Margarita*Tequila, absinthe, sour, splash of Sprite, lime*black licorice flavor profile
Lulu White*Your choice of absinthe, mezcal, limoncello, sour, pineapple, Sprite, lemon, lime, and orange*hint of smokey black licorice
Mothers Milk*St. George NOLA Coffee Liqueur, splash of St. George Absinthe Verte, milk, Coke*black licorice flavor profile
World’s Best Gin and TonicSt. George Terroir Gin, Tonic and Lime
California CosmoSt. George California Citrus Vodka, Orange Liqueur, Cranberry Juice, Lime
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