In reading the latest issue of Maxim, I came across an interesting article about an alcoholic beverage of which I have not ever heard of before. The beverage in question, absinthe, which, according to the article, gives you more than just a buzz. Apparently, it has some hallucinagenic properties and opens up the mind, the proof of this being that many of the greatest artists and writers of the past several centuries have been loyal absinthe drinkers, from Van Gogh to Picasso, to even Hemingway.
So now to my question - Are there any dopers out there who have experienced the “green fairy”? Are the effects merely a higher state of intoxication (after all, the stuff is nearly pure alcohol), or are they something more? Also, is it as dangerous as some people would like you to believe, after all, its illegal here in the states. I am very interested and am even considering ordering a bottle from Europe, where it is legal, but I would like to know more first, better safe than sorry I guess.
i went on a visit to andorra where its very cheap (i picked up 3 litre bottles for 3euros each!!! althought im sure its not the best quality in the world but it does the trick!)
ive not experienced any hallucinagenic stuff, but it does give you a very nice feeling. its a much lighter drunk than youd experience with beer or most other spirits (if that makes any sence) i find that when ive been drinking it i tend to smile alot and generally be very happy.
apparently soldiers serving under napolean used to drink it to give themselves courage and alertness.
i think the hallucinagenic effects were cause by the wormwood extract (not 100pc sure though) and in order to make it legal they can not have as much as this as is needed to make you hallucinate anymore.
its a very nice drink and id definately reccomend you trying it.
i dont think you can get it in the states, in the uk it runs to about £30 a bottle for pretty average stuff.
mainland europe (if you can get there) would be your best bet to pick some up.
[link deleted] has an online shop where they ship to the world but the prices are quite high
Yes, I had some in Ireland that had been imported from the Czech Republic. It was at a cabaret club called “The Absinthe Club”. Unfortunately the combination of a load of poncey student types singing Brecht/Weil songs with a load of people wiped out on absinthe didn’t work. The students’ friends kept on telling all the drunk people to shut up, while the drunk people carried on talking shit to each other. It was a pain in the arse, in fact.
Anyway, here’s my findings (bear in mind that I drink regularly and can usually handle a relatively large quantity of beer):
Glass #1: “I feel a bit drunk. Really blasted in fact.”
Glass #2: “I am seeing double. One of my companions is asleep on the table. I’m talking bollocks. I think I need to go home.”
might sound strange but you can in fact get it shipped to america from most of the companies offering it on the internet (not sure of the legalities of it though)
If it is illegal to buy in America, ordering from abroad will also be illegal.
One of two things will be happening:
-They’ll sell you one of the ‘fake’ absinthe products (without the psychoactive compounds).
-They’ll sell you the real thing and you’ll be breaking the law.
OTOH, the USPS has had the unofficial policy of not going after importations of single bottles of Absinthe. It may be illegal, but like soft drugs in Holland the authorities look the other way while keeping the law on the books.
It’s much nicer than you’d expect it to be, and there’s an amusingly seedy spoon+sugar+match+water preparation that goes in to drinking it (don’t drink it neat!). Me and a couple of mates got through the better part of a bottle, and whilst there were no full-on hallucinations, we did get ‘trails’ (ie, when you move your arm, say, you get slight after-images). Quite a ‘high’ kind of drunkenness really.
I thought the taste was pretty nasty, even after you’ve done the whole teaspoon sugar burning thing.
It does get you very drunk though. It gets you a nice warm happy kind of drunk - really nice actually. No hallucinogenic effects though - i believe nowadays it is illegal to make absinthe which contains enough wormwood to actually have an effect.
I’ve gotten well drunk off Czech absinthe before. I have never ever experienced any hallucinations from it, nor have I gone crazy yet. I’ve drunken several brands, and most (except for Hill’s) have a very strong aniseed flavor to them. Hill’s, for some reason, is more minty or herbally. At any rate, the thujione content (the illegal substance which occurs naturally in wormwood) is much lower than back in Hemmingway’s time where absinthe was not regulated as it is today. Most Czech brands I know standardize these days to something like 10ppm. It’s apparently the EU standard maximum. You can get absinthe in many European countries these days. Hungary a couple years ago approved it for sale; I’ve had it in Germany.
I would say its effects are simply the effects of any alcohol with a strength of usu. 70%. It’ll get you hammered real quick if you don’t pace yourself, and I think the mystique surrounding the thujone is mostly nostalgic b.s. Maybe it did cause hallucinations at one time, but I doubt it can today – at least not any more so than any other strong alcohol.
Also, I remember reading once that most, if not all, the claims of people going insane after long-term absinthe use are attributable to alcoholism (duh) and possibly copper. Some absinthes were colored with copper, and apparently that’s not too good for your body in excess doses.
I read the same Maxim article and would like to get some myself but wasn’t sure of the legalities and forgot about looking into it until now. I contacted the ATF, but they don’t deal too much in imports and they referred me to the Customs Website. The only thing they mention is that
That tells me that Absinthe below a certain strength is in fact legal.
I have sent them an email asking them to clarify that statement and if Absinthe is not prohibited entirely, then what exactly is meant by “excess”, and what the legal percentage is. I am told I will have an answer within 48 hours and I will let you know what it is as soon as I hear back.
By the way, as far as Cuban cigars go, they are legal only if you are returning directly, or indirectly, from a state dept licensed visit to Cuba, and you can bring in no more than $100 value of cigars for personal use only. Any selling, trading, bartering, sharing, giving away, etc can land you in major hot water.
So the French invented the practice of lighting the sugar under a flame? For some reason I thought this was a Czech tradition.
In any case, this flame technique seems different from the nineteenth-century style of absinthe drinking, which involved setting a sugar cube on a perforated spoon, and dripping water over the spoon while it’s laid across the mouth of the absinthe glass. With that method, I don’t believe they used fire at any stage–I can’t figure out when the flame technique became the standard practice (it doesn’t seem like anyone uses the perforated spoon/sugar cube technique nowadays).
I have tried Czech absinthe in London. For an extract of wormwood, it was surprisingly pleasant to drink, and the cloudy green mix of the water and the absinthe was strangely beautiful to look at. As others have already pointed out, the modern versions of absinthe are much weaker than the nineteenth-century stuff, and lack the doses necessary for hallucinations–accordingly, I experienced no hallucinations, though i had one hell of a hangover the next morning/afternoon.
There is an American product called “Absente” that’s supposed to resemble absinthe (but unlike absinthe is legal). I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve seen it at several liquor stores. It might be worth a shot.
One summer, a co-worker who had recently been discharged from the army invited us to his place for lunch. He had brought back absinthe in his footlocker and we knocked down a few shots. I was still buzzed when I got home that night. It was nice though.
Actually, not to be picky about this but, you’re wrong… well, wrongish. It is illegal to sell *thujone containing products into the United States (*thujone being the active constituent of wormwood), but this is not by DEA standards, this is by FDA standards. Thujone is considered a poisonous substance not fit for human consumption. However, there are no clear boundaries on the laws pertaining to the purchaser of absinthe. In fact, it appears to be completely unregulated, just so long as you’re 21 years old or older. I really do not think that it is illegal at all to possess absinthe, just to sell it or give it to someone. Perhaps, however, since it’s considered a poisonous substance, you could be arrested on the foundation of it being a suicide attempt if you were caught consuming it. Anyone know?
And when did Maxim become the experts on absinthe… or anything other than softcore porn substitutes and trashy pop culture icons?