The impact of Absinthe are notorious. Ask anyone about Absinthe and they can remember Absinthe as the green liquor that was famously banned around the globe as it drove people to insanity. Many of these individuals have never tried Asbinthe and can’t comment from personal experience.
Absinthe was at first developed being an elixir or tonic by a doctor in the Swiss town of Couvet. Dr Ordinaire managed to make it out of a selection of herbs better known for their medicinal properties. His recipe finally got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who created Absinthe from a wine base and absinthe-recipe put in herbal ingredients such as aniseed, wormwood, hyssop, fennel, star anise, angelica root, lemon balm, nutmeg, juniper and also dittany. Other makers used different types of herbs in combination with Pernod’s recipe, herbs such as calamus root and mint.
The Green Fairy, or Absinthe, was given to French soldiers in the 1840s to take care of malaria and became favored by the troops who brought it back home with them where it grew quite popular in bars in France. Some bars even had Absinthe hours – L’heure vert – the green hour.
The Absinthe Ritual was a significant part of the satisfaction of drinking Absinthe. Absinthe was offered in bars in exclusive Absinthe glasses through an Absinthe spoon, a sugar cube and iced water. The barman or waiter would use a carafe or fountain to drip the water above the sugar on the spoon and the customer would watch the Absinthe louche as the water blended with the liquor.
Absinthe became a popular drink among the artists and writers of the Bohemian part of Paris – Montmartre. Artists and writers, including Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Degas, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Oscar Wilde as well as Gauguin, all professed that Absinthe gave them their genius and motivation. Absinthe and Absinthe drinkers are featured in many works of art like Albert Maignan’s “Green Muse” from 1895 showing an Absinthe drinker with a fairy (the green fairy) and Degas’ “L’Absinthe” from 1876.
Oscar Wilde wrote “After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Others have described the results of drinking Absinthe as being a “clear headed” or “lucid” drunkenness and this could possibly be because Absinthe is made up of both sedatives and also stimulants.
Effects of Absinthe as well as the Ban
Absinthe was famously banned in France in 1915 and many other countries around the globe also banned it. The prohibition campaigners had managed to convince the French government that Absinthe would bring about the country’s downfall and therefore prolonged drinking of Absinthe, Absinthism, caused the subsequent effects:-
– Hallucinations
– Super excitability
– Weakening of the intellect
– Insanity
– Brain injury
– Violence
The chemical thujone, present in one of many vital ingredients of absinthe, wormwood, was considered to be like THC inside the drug cannabis. Thujone was purported to be a neurotoxin, to be psychoactive and also to result in psychedelic effects. The wormwood in Absinthe was blamed for Van Gogh’s suicide and then for a man murdering his family.
Numerous studies have indicated that thujone should be consumed in huge amounts to result in such nasty effects so when Ted Breaux, Absinthe maker and creator of the “Lucid” brand, examined bottles of vintage pre-ban Absinthe he discovered that Absinthe only was comprised of minute quantities of thujone. Absinthe has thus been legalized in several countries now.
Absinthe is principally alcohol and is an extremely strong spirit, about two times as strong as other types of spirits just like whisky and vodka. It might therefore be virtually impossible to take in a substantial amount of thujone as you may not be capable of consume that much alcohol and still be able to drink!
The effects of Absinthe are really just stories, part of the myth and legend that is all around this glorious drink. Try some yourself by getting a bottle of real wormwood Absinthe on the internet or by making your own through the use of Absinthe essences from AbsintheKit.com.