Thread: Absinthe Anyone?

Originally Posted by honedright

Mike, was it Absente? The one with Van Gough on the label? If so, that one is actually not true absinthe. At least not to a purist absinthe connoissieur. While it does taste similar to real absinthe, it does not containe the herb Artemesium Absinthum (Worm Wood) which is what makes it absinthe and supplys the thujone that has all the bad rap (undeservedly so).

Still, Absente isn't a bad liqure if you like the taste of anise. And the effects are, I think, different. I've certainly enjoyed it.

On the other hand, if you did find a true Absinthe at Bev-mo, what was it called?


Scott

I don't remember a picture of Van Gough on the bottle, it was a small bottle about 100ml, dark green glass and I do believe it was real absinthe wormwood and all.
it was quite expensive considering the size of the bottle, $10 for 100ml which would put it right in line with Crown Royal for a full sized bottle...

I'll have to look more closely at the bottles next time I go to Bev Mo.

There was a larger bottle that was brightly colored, and looked like it might have had the Van Gough, but if memory serves me correctly it wasn't listed as absinthe, but as an anise liquer. The one I purchased actually said Absinthe on the bottle.

I was in Spain back in 1978 or 79 while in the Navy. A buddy and I grew tired of the bar scene and couldn't resist when we found a bottle of absinthe for sale (we argued over Ouzo or absinthe and the absinthe won). I remember waking up un a beach with the water lapping at our feet. We were so F'd up we couldn't function for a while. It was great at the time.

The regulation for Absinthe is that it's legal if it's less than 10 ppm Thujone, which is a random number because even the high thujone absinthes will still cause alcohol poisoning before they cause hallucinations.

That law has been on the books for years, but an overzealous customs department effectively banned all Absinthes. The Swiss brand Kubler spent some money trying to fight that and, as a result, you can now legally buy it in the states. It's pretty tasty. There's also Lucid which you can find in the stores, but it's not as tasty.

Actually, proper absinthe IS legal in the states as of last year. Right now the only brand importing and selling (officially) real absinthe with proper wormwood and thujone in it is Lucid absinthe, and it's great. Not as tasty as some of the European absinthes I've had shipped to me here in the states (all cleverly labelled as something else) but way way cheaper since I don't have to have it shipped. I can get a fifth of it at the local liquor store for about 70 bucks, which is what Absente used to cost. (Absetne tastes like absinthe, but has southern wormwood so no lovely thujone)

I've tried lots of Absinthe over the past 10 or so years, mainly bought it over in Europe and then consumed locally. There is good Absinthe and there is really really bad Absinthe. Generally speaking the Czech stuff is neon green antifreeze at 180 something proof. Unfortunately this is what most people I talked to have had, and have had bad experiences with. If they started seeing things and crap like that, its because they were wasted out of their minds on low grade alcohol, not from any thujon content, because there is hardly anything in that stuff. A good Absinthe tastes like anise with a floral back round. If I want to get messed up I go for something else, (vodka or whisky) if I want to enjoy a glass of something after a long day I'll have some Rum, Scotch or Absinthe. But I really have to be in the mood for Absinthe. If you like Ouzo then you will most likely like Absinthe. The best Absinthes that had hands down have been from Jade, it is expensive but really good, the best value that I have had is Absinthe Amer. If it looks like "fluid" from a radioactive monster on a bad movie on the Sifi channel I'd stick with the bottle of moonshine next to it, at least that doesn't need a gimmick to mess you up.

Jade liqeures, I think that is Ted Breaux (sp?) the chemist from New Orleans (?) who has done much research on pre-ban Absinthe and has worked with European distillers to come up with some top notch authentic Absinthes. A little pricey with the shipping.

Didn't know that Absinthe was now legal in the U.S. Had heard it might be, but not that it already was. I'll have to stop in a Bev-mo and check it out.

Maybe some of the better Absinthes will now start appearing (with reduced thujone content of course - but according to Ted B it's not just thujone, pre-ban Absinthe had a very low ppm, it's the synergistic effect of all the constituents in Absinthe that causes the "effect.")

Scott

Absinthe is very wrong for me. Last time I had 3 of them in a club on top of my normal drinking and was running down the high street doing hurdles over 'building bollards'

Alrighty, a chance to use my biochemistry degree after pulling a (so far) 25 hour day!

From what I remember, most if not all thujone is eliminated during distillation--it doesn't carry over. It stays behind in the macerate. It's also supposed to be incredibly bitter--I think the figure was around the order of denatonium (that nasty stuff added to EtOH as a denaturant in US-made aftershaves to prevent drinking). Those ["absinthes", not aftershaves!] BTW are supposed to taste truly awful--if it tastes good, you're not getting much, if any thujone.

Stupidyank: the guy in the hostel helping himself to way too much of the green fairy may have also/instead experienced a placebo effect from that stuff--he thought he was going to get beyond --up and he did! Some people will act and feel drunk in a party setting if everyone else is, even when they've had little to no alcohol because they expect to get drunk. There was a study done a while ago (I have no idea where or who published it) detailing this. The experimental group were given alcohol-free drinks (without their knowledge), but many ended up acting just as, if not drunker than the control group. Fun reading.


Then again, doesn't the stuff really pack a punch in the alcohol department in general? If so, that couldn've been it too.

After one really bad new years eve party back in college, I'm off anise flavored drinks forever, no matter what their ancillary effects.

I got some shipped into me two years ago, the site had a deal and if you bought three bottles it turned out cheaper than individual bottles, so I got some of my friends to go in on it with me. I'm not big on anise or licorice flavor but the buz from this stuff was quite unique. You don't get that sleepy drowsy drunk feeling, its like being drunk but also fully aware of everything. This stuff was from Chech and had decent amount of thujon in it, 35-36 (ppm? i think thats the unit of measure for thujon). When mixed with the water and sugar its just like sambuca.