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When you take the mysterious stairwell from King’s Palace Cafe to the Absinthe Room, it’s almost like stepping back in time to 19th-century Paris. You’ll see beautiful, ornate absinthe fountains used to dispense water into glasses holding the “green muse” and art nouveau posters. But luckily today, you don’t have to worry about the ill effects that old-school absinthe caused for the artistic elite in France in the 1800s. Instead, you can enjoy your classy tipple over a game of pool or darts against the backdrop of jukebox tunes.

Maison Premiere’s French influence invites you into another era around its marble horseshoe bar. If you come early, you can take your time here. We were lured by the $1 oyster special during happy hour. It all washed down well with a boozy sazerac and a sweet Pimm’s cup (as pictured). If your liver is craving more, MP has the largest collection of premium absinthe in New York City, centered around “the world’s most accurate working replica of an absinthe fountain,” according to their site. It’s a great place for your day drinking needs.

It isn’t wine or cocktails that mark happy hour for locals in Marseille but Pastis, the anise-flavored drink of choice first commercialized by Paul Ricard during the prohibition of absinthe. Ricard’s recipe and formula– star anise, licorice root; five volumes of water for one volume of Pastis - proved an instant hit back in the early 1930’s and is largely responsible for popularizing the aperitif-hour tradition in the south. Today’s experts can be found at La Maison du Pastis, a shop tucked deep in the colonnades of the Vieux Port specialized in 75 different varieties of Pastis and Absinthe. Be sure to ask for a taste before you pick up a bottle, the staff is more than happy to oblige.

Among its many, recent claims to fame, the South Pigalle (SoPi in anglophone parlance) neighborhood has become synonymous with cool cocktail bars and creative after-hours hangouts. The quirky spot that seemed to pioneer it all was Le Carmen, a boudoir style bar housed in George Bizet’s opulent former residence. Beyond their singular cocktails (eg. revisited varieties with absinthe or foie gras) keep this spot in mind on Sundays for their old school film projection series called Ciné Club Sunday Funday.

Upstairs from the Henry House pub, the Drawing Room is the old rich uncle of the neighborhood bar. In a handsome, clubby room with dim lighting and comfy chairs, pore over a drink list divided by different time periods. You might sip a Prohibition-era Cat’s Pyjamas in a tea cup, or try absinthe with a sugar cube. If that’s not enough atmosphere for you, order a dry ice-infused scent to complement your drink. Open only on Friday and Saturday night, it’s a space better suited to romantic dates than raucous groups.

Come for a sip of the Cliff Bell at happy hour (that’s Dewar’s Scotch, sweet vermouth, Absinthe Ordinare, and orange bitters), stay for the live jazz and the lively 1930’s atmosphere. Cliff Bell’s jazz bar in downtown Detroit is a slinky watering hole, and a legendary one at that, named for speakeasy owner and colorful local entrepreneur John Clifford Bell. Although the club was shuttered for 20 years from 1985 to 2005, it now swings on with nightly live music and even serves up bottomless mimosas for Sunday brunch.

The striking Im Viadukt opened in 2010 beneath century-old stone arches with Zurich’s first permanent covered market and 50 vendors. At Berg und Tal, owners Simon Rietschin and Daniel Rufli stock their food shop with items sourced mostly from within Switzerland and purchased directly from the producer, from sausages to the more unexpected, like Lindenblüten teas from the Swiss mountainside and absinthe made from angelica and grande wormwood from Val-de-Tavers. The wine shop Südhang sells small production bottlings including those made with grapes grown around Zurich, and Tritt-Käse specializes in local raw milk cheeses. Photo © Ralph Hut/Im Viadukt.

And there’s the cocktails. Utterly unique (e.g., the South Americano, made of Gran Classico, Antica Formula and aged Cachaça) and based on recipes of a bygone era, they are the centerpiece of this teatro de alcohol and are blended using small-batch craft spirits such as Monkey 47 gin and a plethora of handmade bitters. But the real magic comes from the sage barkeeps (which is sort of like calling Einstein a mere “scientist”), whose encyclopedic knowledge of alcohol will keep your ears as entertained as your mouth and mind. But the Bar Trench experience goes way beyond the cocktails. There’s also the chocolate-covered anise and coriander seed bar snacks, antique pewter absinthe spoons, a fountain used to serve several varieties of distilled wormwood, and the well-coiffed staffers. Bar Trench is a treat for the taste buds as well as the eyes.

This Little Burgundy mainstay is the headquarters of chefs David McMillan and Frédéric Morin, the acclaimed and enterprising minds behind an evolving blackboard menu that has been known to feature smoked meat croquettes, house-cured ham with truffles, lobster spaghetti and horse meat steaks. The duo is known to do absolutely everything in-house, even brew their own beer and distil their own absinthe. Stroll down Rue Notre-Dame, past their other restaurant, Liverpool House, to the nearby Lachine Canal after an evening at this inviting space with vintage wooden chairs, leather banquettes and a permanent air of celebration.

A San Franciscan watering hole since 1907, Comstock Saloon serves up classic cocktails (think Negronis and Manhattans) in the buzzing North Beach neighborhood. The bar is run by the bartending duo of Jeff Hollinger and Jonny Raglin, previously of Absinthe Brasserie & Bar in Hayes Valley. Former Magnolia Brewery head chef Ronnie New is in charge of the menu, which serves updated turn-of-the-century saloon fare for lunch and dinner. Feeling adventurous? Come on a Friday, order two alcoholic drinks, and get the lunch special for free. You might decide to stay through happy hour, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m. every weekday. Comstock Saloon is open Mondays through Fridays from noon to 2 a.m., Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Sundays from 4 p.m. to midnight.

Steps from Pike Place Market, this fine-dining eatery occupies a grand space with a view over Elliott Bay. It also has a west-facing outdoor patio: a rarity in Seattle, despite the city being drier than Tucson, Arizona, in the summer. Chic touches include an indoor fire table, locally made black-walnut tables and custom votive candles made by Seattle’s Glass Eye Studios. Private dining spaces can accommodate groups. Start with a cocktail—choices range from a barrel-aged old-fashioned to an English milk punch with a splash of Lucid grande-wormwood absinthe. Sustainably sourced and seasonally inspired dishes include duck confit, crispy cauliflower with red-curry yogurt, marinated beets with lemon thyme chevre, and king salmon gravlax served with tarragon crème fraiche.

Open since 1905, A Brasileira was once the choice of Fernando Pessoa, the great Portuguese poet. You can sit beside him just outside, next to his bronze statue. Back in the day, this place was a hangout for writers, artists, and journalists. The location, in Garret Street, is great—just a step from the popular meet-up spot Largo de Camões. You can get there by subway (Baixa/Chiado Station), tram (Nº28), or on foot (go down Misericórdia Street, up Alecrim Street, or up Garret Street)—or come from one of the many streets of Bairro Alto).

High above Vail Valley, atop Beaver Creek Mountain, is the oasis that is the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. You can’t beat the hotel’s ski-in, ski-out access, but a major makeover at the end of 2013 means the hotel offers even more perks. The new look (think rustic lodgepole pine beams and huge stone fireplaces) was inspired by the great lodges found throughout America’s national parks. The work of Colorado artists can be found throughout the hotel. In addition to a new restaurant called Buffalos, there’s the new Bachelors Lounge that caters to wine and spirits lovers and cigar connoisseurs. Stylish guests with an expense account can outfit themselves in fancy new gear sold at the outpost of the alpine shop Gorsuch. My favorite perk is returning to the hotel at day’s end and being greeted with a hot cup of cocoa.

The specialty at Artemisia is absinthe, and the bar even has its own French-made custom blend. The bar space located within the Porifiran-era mansion is small and intimate—better to enjoy your drink, staff says (and to control noise and crowds, one presumes). And while absinthe is the main reason patrons show up here, Artemisia (which is also a restaurant) does offer a full range of other spirits and will happily make a cocktail for you with whatever tipple strikes your fancy.

Hiroyasu Kayama is both scientist and bartender at this bar on the ninth floor of an office building. Kayama has a collection of dried herbs, spices, and even bugs on the shelves behind the bar. The best seats are at the counter, where you can watch as Kayama creates from scratch a Campari using cochineal insects. To witness the red color come to life gets your mouth wet for the drink that awaits. The absinthe made with wormwood should also be on your radar. Best to tell Kayama what cocktails you like and let him recommend something for you.

The bartenders at Ben Fiddich don’t complicate your experience with a menu. Tell them your mood and sit back while they craft something according to their whim. Say, a whiskey drinks filled with burnt herbs whose smoke steams your glass or a homemade Campari Negroni.