In early 1900s many countries in europe suspended the strong liquor Absinthe, United States banned Absinthe in 1912.
Absinthe was not ever as popular in the United States as it had been in European countries such as France and Switzerland, but there initially were areas of the US absintheliquor, such as the French section of New Orleans, where Absinthe was served in Absinthe bars.
Absinthe is a liquor produced from herbs like wormwood, aniseed and fennel. It is usually green, hence its nickname the Green Fairy, and features an anise taste.
Absinthe is an exciting concoction or recipe of herbs that work as a stimulant and alcohol and other herbs that act as a sedative. It is the essential oils from the herbs that cause Absinthe to louche, go cloudy, when water is added in.
Wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium, contains a chemical called thujone which is reported to be much like THC in the drug cannabis, to be psychoactive also to cause psychedelic effects.
Absinthe United States as well as the prohibition
At the beginning of the 1900s there was a powerful prohibition movement in France and this movement used the reality that Absinthe was connected to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre – with its writers, artists and the courtesans and loose morals of establishments such as Moulin Rouge, and also the allegation that an Absinthe drinker murdered his family, to claim for a ban on Absinthe. They said that Absinthe would be France’s ruin, that Absinthe was a drug and intoxicant that could drive everyone to insanity!
The United States adopted France’s example and restricted Absinthe and drinks that contains thujone in 1912. It became outlawed, a crime, to purchase or sell Absinthe in the USA. Americans either were forced to concoct their own homemade recipes or go to countries just like the Czech Republic, where Absinthe was still legal, to savor the Green Fairy.
Many US legal experts reason that Absinthe was not ever banned in the US and that should you look carefully to the law and ordinance you will find that only drinks containing over 10mg of thujone were restricted. However, US Customs and police won’t allow any Absinthe shipped from abroad to go into the US, only thujone free Absinthe substitutes were permitted.
Absinthe United States 2007
Ted Breaux, a native of New Orleans, runs a distillery in Saumur France. He has utilized vintage bottles of pre-ban Absinthe to analyze Absinthe recipes and also to create his own classic pre-ban style Absinthe – the Jade collection.
Breaux was amazed to find that the vintage Absinthe, in contrast to belief, actually only contained very tiny quantities of thujone – insufficient to harm anyone. He became motivated to offer an Absinthe drink which he could ship to his birthplace, the US. His dream would be to once again see Absinthe being taken in bars in New Orleans.
Breaux and lawyer Gared Gurfein, had several meetings with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau with regards to the thujone content of Breaux’s Absinthe recipe. They discovered that actually no law must be changed!
Breaux’s dream grew to be reality in 2007 when his brand Lucid was able to be shipped from his distillery in France towards the US. Lucid is founded on vintage recipes and contains real wormwood, unlike artificial Absinthes. Now, in 2008, a product called Green Moon and two Absinthes from Kubler are all capable of being traded in within the US.
Absinthe United States – Many Americans now are enjoying their first taste of real legal Absinthe, perhaps there’ll be an Absinthe revival.