Not our idea of a good time. The mundane truth is that neither wormwood nor the thujone within cause hallucinations, and the fact that people still fervently believe they do today shows how powerful the absinthe myth is.
The absinthe that was available in its golden age was much more potent and psychotropic, right? Not likely. Despite the widespread belief that pre-ban absinthe had a much higher level of thujone in it, according to absinthe expert and Lucid creator Ted Breaux, absinthe never really had any hallucinogenic qualities.
So what was up with the ban in the first place? Remember that absinthe was banned in most countries in the early 20th century, when temperance movements were strong and had powerful political backing. It took a lot of lobbying by folks like Breaux and changing attitudes toward drinking to finally overturn the ban just 10 years ago. Still, Brenton Engel of Chicago's Letherbee Distillers admits there's "something seemingly different about an absinthe drunk vs. Not anymore at least. It was banned from to in the United States—with similar restrictions in Europe—thanks to a combination of hype and hysteria.
As absinthe became increasingly popular, the French wine industry pushed for a ban to protect its sales. Add in absinthe-related stories of murder , madness and crime, and the liquor quickly became the scapegoat. You could still find absinthe, with haunts like the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans turning into speakeasies. And Parisians knew to find it under aliases, like Anis Delloso. Now that it's legal, bars and restaurants are opening with a hyperfocus on the spirit.
Maison Premiere evokes the New Orleans atmosphere, and its absinthe fountain is actually a replica of the one from Old Absinthe House. Seattle welcomed the opening of Absinthe Brasserie last summer, and Absinthe in San Francisco is proud of its namesake spirit as well.
Though the color depends on multiple factors, the traditional green comes from chlorophyll in the herbs used to make the alcohol. The original trifecta is anise, fennel and wormwood , but Brooklyn-made Doc Herson's has a bottle that's tinted red from the addition of hibiscus.
And Letherbee's absinthe takes on a caramel tone after spending six months in new American oak casks. You definitely don't have to play with matches here. In fact, you shouldn't. The Maison Premiere team says that lighting absinthe up is just a gimmick and that introducing fire will burn off the herbal subtleties. But there's really no wrong way to drink it.
When in doubt, listen to Engel, who advises not to "let any absinthe snobs tell you you're doing it wrong. During In Good Spirits month, we're going behind the bar to find out what separates aperitifs from digestifs, which It cocktails the world's top bartenders crave and how to turn your home into the hottest speakeasy in town. To-Dos allows Tasting Table members to store and remember all of the food and drink recommendations we send out each week. It occurs naturally in many foods, but never in doses high enough to hurt you.
And there's not enough thujone in absinthe to hurt you, either. By the end of the distillation process, there is very little thujone left in the product.
In the U. Modern science has estimated that a person drinking absinthe would die from alcohol poisoning long before he or she were affected by the thujone. And there is no evidence at all that thujone can cause hallucinations, even in high doses. In view of modern analysis of the drink and its ingredients, any absinthe-related deaths can most likely be attributed to alcoholism , alcohol poisoning or drinking the cheap stuff, which, like moonshine , can have poisonous additives in it.
Do not buy absinthe from some guy in an alley — you're looking at the same dangers you'd face drinking moonshine sold off the back of a truck. And unless you have a distiller in your garage, those make-it-yourself kits sold on the internet are going to help you create a really terrible tasting liquor-soaked-herb beverage, not absinthe.
For the record, that man who killed his family in Switzerland in , spurring a whole slew of absinthe bans and even a constitutional amendment, was under the influence of absinthe — which he'd been drinking since he woke up that morning and throughout the rest of the day and the day before that and the day before that. And Oscar Wilde? Well, no doubt the poet did see tulips on his legs as he walked out into the morning light after a night of drinking absinthe at a local bar — chalk it up to creative license.
Absinthe is now perfectly legal in every country in which alcohol is legal. In , the United States lifted its year-long ban. So once again European distillers are importing the Green Fairy stateside, and once again mixologists and absinthe enthusiasts are debating whether the newest version is truly authentic [source: Time ].
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