Absinthe's alchemy...

"Robert  Jordan  pushed  the  cup  toward  him.  It was a milky 
yellow now with the water and he hoped the gyspy would not
take more than a swallow.   There was very little  left of  it and
one cup of  it took the place of  the evening papers,  of  all the
old evenings in cafés,  of  all chestnut trees  that would be in
bloom  now  this  month,   of  the  great slow horses  of  the
outer  boulevards,  of  book shops,  of  kiosques,   and  of
galleries, of the Parc Montsouris, of the Stade Buffalo,
and of the Butte Chaumont,  of  the Guaranty Trust
Company and the Ile de la Cité,  of  Foyot's  old
hotel,and of being able to read and relax in
the evening;  of all the things he had
enjoyed and forgotten and that
came back to him when
he  tasted  the
 opaque,
 bitter,
 tongue-
 numbing,
 brain-
 warming,
  stomach-
warming,  idea-changing liquid alchemy."
from For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway.