Ever since absinthe was outlawed due to rumours it led to insanity, this simple drink has become the nation's go-to apertif.

It's difficult to imagine France without apéro (aperitif hour), that magic moment when time stops, and suddenly, everyone has a drink in hand.

In a country so proud of its regional products, it's not surprising that the contents of one's aperitif glass varies, from cassis-scented kir in Burgundy to beer on the Belgian border to cloudy aniseed-infused pastis in Marseille. But despite its strong association with southern France, conjuring images of lazy summer afternoons playing pétanque by the sea, one apéro spirit is omnipresent in France: pastis. Not only do sales of pastis represent one-fifth of all spirits sold nationwide, but it's the default aperitif drink as far north as Picardie.

"It's not like some of those other regional aperitifs," said Forest Collins, author of the book Drink Like a Local: Paris. "Pineau de Charentes, you're mainly going to find around Cognac. Pommeau, you're mainly going to find in Normandy. But it's pretty likely that anywhere in France, you might find a bottle of pastis."

Yet, pastis didn't become France's go-to aperitif by design. If not for the nation's 1915 ban of absinthe due to its alleged harmful effects and the marketing chops of Marseillais Paul Ricard, the herbal liqueur may never have become France's most famous.

Absinthe's quiet conquest of France occurred in the wake of the 19th Century phylloxera epidemic that wiped out nearly half of the country's vineyards. Soon, it supplanted not just wine but beer in the north, cider in Normandy and flavoured wines like quinquina, explained Marie-Claude Delahaye, author of the book L'Absinthe: Histoire de la Fée Verteand founder of the Musée de l'Absinthe in Auvers-sur-Oise. According to Delahaye, absinthe introduced aniseed to the aperitif hour, along with a "playful and convivial ritual" of diluting the 75% ABV liquor with sugar and water.

"It was the sprout of what could be an extraordinary success," Delahaye said. Yet, absinthe's rise to fame was stymied in 1915, when it was banned throughout the country following rumours that it led to insanity. Aficionados immediately began clamouring for something to fill the aniseed-scented gap. "If absinthe had continued to be commercialised," explained Delahaye, "pastis never would have appeared."

While pastis and absinthe share an aniseed flavour profile, the similarities stop there. Distilled absinthe boasts more complexity than sweetened, macerated pastis, and at 40 to 45% ABV, pastis' alcoholic power pales in comparison. This put pastis at an advantage, according to Collins: absinthe, she said, was seen as "the drink of degenerate artists" (including Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse Lautrec and Vincent Van Gogh, who even included the spirit in some of his

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