Built in 1806, this building was erected by Pedro Front and Francisco Juncadelia of Barcelona to house their importing firm. For the next forty years, trade continued in the bartering of food, tobacco and Spanish liquor a sort of early "corner grocery." Old Absinthe House in New Orleans French Quarter 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.
To this day, The Old Absinthe House still has the decorative marble fountains that were used to drip cool water over sugar cubes into glasses of Absinthe.
The original Old Absinthe House bar was to be destroyed at the start of Prohibition - as a powerful message to proprietors and others that Absinthe was to be abolished from the United States and would not be tolerated. Fortunately, the bar was removed from the Absinthe House and moved under cover of darkness to a warehouse on Bourbon Street in order to preserve it. (This warehouse became known as "The Absinthe House Bar" until the actual bar was returned to its home in early 2004. It is now known as the Mango Mango daiquiri shop.) Original Bar of Old Absinthe House Bar is again part of the historical building at 240 Bourbon Street, sharing the space with our brand new cocktail lounge, Belle Époque, and 2 private event spaces upstairs.
240 Bourbon St
New Orleans, LA 70112
[Hours]
[Number]
Cocktails
Sazerac
Rye Whiskey, Peychaud’s bitters, Angostura bitters, Herbsaint rinse
Absinthe Frappe (Invented here by Cayetano Ferrer)
Herbsaint, Anisette, Soda water
Irish Coffee
Irish whiskey, coffee, whip cream, green creme de menthe, cherry
Bloody Mary Chile
St. George Green Chile Vodka, Bloody Mary Mix, all the fixings
Ramos Fizz
Gin, orange flower water, sour, milk, simple syrup, egg white
Planters Punch
Dark rum, sour, float 151 rum, orange, grenadine
Mothers Milk
St. George NOLA Coffee Liqueur, splash of St. George Absinthe Verte, milk, Coke
World’s Best Gin and Tonic
St. George Terroir Gin, Tonic and Lime
California Cosmo
St. George California Citrus Vodka, Orange Liqueur, Cranberry Juice, Lime
HISTORY
Urban legend states that the Old Absinthe House was where outlaw Jean Lafitte met with AndrewJackson to negotiateLafitte's assistance in the defense against british forces in their last attempt to gain a foothold on American soil. Lafitte's pirate army indeed helped win the battle of New Orleans, effectively ending the War of 1812.
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