Herbsaint is an
anise-flavored liqueur from
New Orleans. It originated in the
1850s as a cheaper domenstic alternative to the
French-made
absinthe then rapidly gaining in popularity, especially among intellectual and artistic circles. When absinthe was banned in the United States in 1912, it was forced to cease production, but was later reintroduced in a formulation without the banned
wormwood, as an American version of
pastis. While still produced today, it is now rarely drunk, and is instead used primarily for cooking, most notably as a standard ingredient in the sauce of New Orleans's famous
oysters Rockefeller[?].