Still banned by the FDA in the US. Can get it online, but the shipping is reediculous.
I have tried Un Emile 68 from France. Would some day like to try others (French, Spanish, Swiss).
Any fans of the Green Fairy? Favorite labels?
Scott
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Still banned by the FDA in the US. Can get it online, but the shipping is reediculous.
I have tried Un Emile 68 from France. Would some day like to try others (French, Spanish, Swiss).
Any fans of the Green Fairy? Favorite labels?
Scott
I would love to try it but just have never had the opportunity. I saw a bottle once in St. Maartin but knew I couldn't bring it back so I didn't even bother.
I'm lead to understand that it tasts like licorice, correct?
And for the life of me I don't understand why it still remains illegal. :shrug:
Good luck to you.
Yes. Traditionally has Anise flavor. From what I've read, some are very licoricey, and some not so much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eighties
I understand that originally Pernod was an Absinthe, then the ban in France after which the Worm Wood (thujone) was taken out, and now back in it's original form where allowed.
Scott
I've had absinthe in various countries throughout Europe, and while it's definitely cool because of the history (and preparation ritual) factor, there's nothing REALLY all that special about it. The supposed hallucinogenic effect is pretty much bunk as you'd get more thujone (the active chemical) in your Thanksgiving dinner than from absinthe. Yep, it tastes like licorice (anise) vodka. A lot of the readily available absinthe isn't very good, but there are some distilleries trying to get more close to the original. Read up on its history, especially why it got such a bad name...very cool information.
btw, I think it's de-regulated here in the states now right? Anyways, before it was treated pretty much like Cuban cigars, not illegal to order or have, but customs might "re-route" it.
I bought some duty free, and it gives you a mother of a hangover! Though me and a friend split a bottle in three hours...
I've tried some that my buddy brought over from Greece. I couldn't detect a strong anise flavour in it though. It was just HARSH. Got us ready for clubbing quickly though :nj
I bought some from Bev-Mo here in California about a month ago, it hav a very nice Anise flavor, along with the cool greenish white hue when the water was added...
good heady buss, not overwhelming... and it made my mouth tingle.
would definitely try it again.
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).Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff
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
Never tried it, never will.
It is regulated in Belgium btw.
I usually react strongly to foreign chemicals like painkillers etc. Some meds which are pretty benign like paracetamol make me go through withdrawal symptoms if I dare take them even once. It's not so bad that I never take them, but I only do so as last resort.
So I stay far away from things like absinthe
I've seen some people do some kooky things on Absynthe. In 2002 I was on a trip in the Czech Republic. One of the guys at our hostel went on a binge and drank Absynthe for several days instead of drinking his normal vodka. According to one of the folks staying at the hostel (an Australian mental health professional) he was exhibiting signs of mulitple psychological disorders. He was acting seriously wierd, delusions of graneur, sleeping days instead of nights, extremely dissassociated. I ended up calling the Embassy for him to try to get them to do something because I was afraid he would end up in a Czech jail or mental hospital. He was normal before starting drinking and then when he stopped he was back to normal again. I suppose it could have been a temporary psychotic episode but personally I blame the wormwood, the psychoactive substance in proper Absynthe.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
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.:shrug:
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!:D
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:nono:). 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 :cen--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.
i love the stuff.. me and a buddy brought back a few bottles from germany on our way home from iraq, drank most of it already and have one bottle left, the stuff tastes like anise and fire, really strong in the alcohol department at 160 proof (80%). they were all just small individually numbered bottles.
I watched a special on the history channel about Absinthe, and this is what they said....absinthe now adays is not nearly as potent as it was at the turn of the 1900's. During that time, it was rationed out to french soliders, and the content of wormwood was very high. By todays standards, they said you would die of alcohol poisoning long before they "started seeing faries" Ive been all over europe, and real absinthe is clear, I see alot of bottles that are all kinds of pretty colors.
Finally tried the Lucid Absinthe Superieure, excellent stuff! Tried it neat first just to get a baseline on it's flavor - very black licorisey, then diluted with water until it louched. The water brought out more aroma, in addition to the anise, and the licorise flavor was toned down a bit. I detected some citrusy notes and a peppery aftertaste. Definately naturally colored. No neon green, but a more yellowish geen from the natural herbs added after distilation. The louche comes on fairly rapidly and is a whitish, milky opacity with just a hint of the green remaining. It was a very satisfying and refreshing drink. Highly recommended. There are probably some higher end absinthes, but Lucid can certainly stand on it's own.
As for the "secondary effect": if you are expecting the walls to bend, and objects to melt all around you...forget it. That stuff is all hogwash anyways. What I did notice, though, was a very relaxed and aware sensation very different from the typical alcohol buzz. This is probably more of what the early absinteurs of the Belle Epoque (the artists and poets known to drink the stuff) were experiencing. They just wrote about it in more, or less, creative and poetic form.
Did some people of that era experience more severe effects? Probably the unfortunate ones who imbibed some rot-gut faux-synthe made from methyl alcohol and who knows what else.
But, if you do like true absinthe, I believe you will enjoy Lucid.
Scott
Someone already mentioned that the wormwood content of absynthe in the 1800's was probably a lot higher than wht you can legally get now.
Remember that 100 years ago, it was perfectly acceptable for scientists and scholars to use cocaine to increase their focus and mental activity. There was no stigma attached to drug in that age.
I tried a homebrew absinthe kit several years ago... all it did was make me vomit (and I hold my liquor uite well.)
then in 2005 I was at a bar that has been around a while when the bartender found a very old bottle of it in the store rooms he was cleaning out in the back.
He and I each took a few shots (him 2 me 5) didn't get anything more than I'd normally get from any other liquor of that proof (100)
but it did have a very strong taste of anise. we both remarked that it didn't seem any different than ouzo.
exactly. as I said the first time I had it, "It's like being intoxicated without being drunk"Quote:
Originally Posted by honedright
I've recently bought 2 bottles of Jade absinthe as well as Un Emile 68. All were pretty good but I definitely liked Jade more.
At this point, absinthe is definitely legal in US as I've seen various brands (not absinte or Lucid) around the stores in NYC.
I've bought a bottle of Absinte Verte by St. George Spirits - small distillery in CA. It's excellent although I don't think it has wormwood. It doesn't even need sugar. I, personally, think it's on par with Jade although experts might disagree.
As far as I know, there is no real absinthe in Chech republic. I've had some bottle brought in and they were basically just alcohol with coloring. As far as color goes, btw, as far as I know green is a typical color nowdays. White is a typical color of 19th century and can still be bought. There is red as well.
In order for it to be a true absinthe, the product must contain Artemesia Absinthium (Grand Wormwood). Without the wormwood, it is not a true absinthe. The Czech absinthes are generally known to be poor examples of the product. They are "real" absinthes containing grand wormwood, just not very well made, or so I've read. They tend to be infusions, rather than distilations (as are the better absinthes), of the herbs and alcohol. The color of the Czech, and a lot of the middle of the road absinthes from Europe, are artificially colored. You can usually tell by the extreme bright green that is usually not possible with natural coloring from herbs. Not all absinthes are green though. Some of the Swiss absinthes are clear "La Blanche" (Kubler is a popular Swiss brand that was along side the Lucid. I may have to try that one next.) and some other European styles are red.Quote:
Originally Posted by addicted
My next goal is to start collecting some of the ephemera that goes along with absinthe such as absinthe fountains, the spoons, and glasses. Also some period absinthe related art-work/ posters.
Ut-oh, another aquisition disorder....$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :eek:
Scott
I've got two bottles of "Un Emile" some french Absinthe thats pretty good. Rarely in the mood for it though. Only had a few different kinds and all at the burning man festival in the black rock desert.
I have tried Absynthe before. My girlfriend, now wife, bought me a bottle out of curiosity for my 33rd birthday, some 4 years ago now.
All I can say is that after drinking through the bottle, a couple of small shots a night over a period of about a week or so until the bottle was finished, I can say with my hand on my heart that it was an experience that reminded me of what some people describe as a mixture of being "creatively aware" and extremely relaxed.
Forget taking a few shots a night, even the weaker variants. it is that strong (in both terms of alcohol and worm wood), so do be careful!
Personally, I had a relatively weak bottle at "only" 60% ABV, and that was quite enough. Some bottles have sky-high alcohol content as well as worm wood content, so take your time and choose carefully and consume with great moderation to start with - perhaps a single small shot in early evening and then read, listen to music or smoke a cigar. :)
Love it. Drank a lot when I was abroad and brought some back I think it was pernod?