# Absinthe **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952 "2002-12-31T22:49:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/21 "2003-01-02T00:23:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes. Two or three shots might make you tipsy, but you’d probably have to go for a bottle or so at a sitting to see anything funky. A bottle of absinthe at a sitting? Sure, you might be hallucinating, but you’d also probably be dead from alcohol poisoning, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/22 "2003-01-02T02:34:55Z")
Touche`I suppose I meant a bottle of the diluted stuff, not pure absinthe. I’ll try to be more specific. ~Ferry ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/23 "2003-01-02T22:06:07Z")
I am from the UK and used to enjoy Absinthe quite legally whilst living there. I find that Absente is a decent (no wormwood) alternative easily available in California and I susspect most non-dry states. Cheers, Keithy ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/24 "2003-01-02T22:42:45Z")
I have a bottle sitting in my liquor cabinet. I’ve had it since the summer. It is absolutely god awful tasting stuff. The only time I bring it out is when I’m pretty pissed already and start doing shots with friends. 2 or 3 good sized shots of it will put you well on your way to nighty-night. Mine is 75% Alcohol by volume (which I think is pretty standard). I’m pretty sure the hit of the alcohol is far more noticable than anything from the wormwood. ---
**Author:** ![Kamonohashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Kamonohashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamonohashi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/25 "2011-08-18T03:49:41Z")
I’m very surprised that this thread was never updated. When it was created, absynthe was illegal in most countries. Now it is legal almost everywhere. Extensive objective scientific analysis of pre-ban absynthe has essentially proven that there never was anything dangerous or hallucinogenic about absynthe Part of the reason for the ban was prohibitionist/reefer madness-type mentality. It was impossible to ban alchohol, but marijuana and absynthe were not so deeply ingrained in the popular culture, so both could be banned, with sufficient propoganda and hype. Currently, it is believed that the primary causes of the absynthe ban were 1) extremely rare cases of low-quality (moonshine-type) absynthe made with dangerous/harmful additives, 2) propoganda and slander from the wine industry which was seriously threatened by the popularity of absynthe in Europe, especially in France, 3) general “prohibitionist” movement. Today, it is believed that the effects of wormwood in absynthe that are reported in the folklore are scientifically unsubstantiated, and scientific analysis of pre-ban absynthe indicates that there was never as much thujone in it as is generally believed, and that the effects of wormwood just aren’t that great at the concentrations that existed in pre-ban absynthe. The evidence strongly suggests that, while thujone may have a minor non-hallucitory effect (reducing the normal lethargic/depressive effects of alchohol, but not altering consciousness in any significant way, there’s nothing (and never was anything) very dangerous or mind-altering in absynthe. It’s a delicious and complex/subtle drink, however, which explains why it became so very popular in Europe before the ban. It can now be purchased freely in most countries including the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/26 "2011-08-18T04:09:37Z")
> [@Kamonohashi](#): > > I’m very surprised that this thread was never updated. That’s because it’s generally considered bad form 'round these parts to resurrect old, dead threads. And yes, absinthe is tasty and finally completely legal in the US. More or less. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/27 "2011-08-18T04:44:11Z")
Can we finally clear up the notion that there’s “real” absinthe and then there’s the kind you’re most likely to find available in the US that’s lacking the hallucinagenic properties? ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/28 "2011-08-18T05:30:10Z")
Wired ran an article in 2005 (after this thread and Cecil’s column) about the effort to [reverse engineer absinthe](http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/absinthe.html), which is worth a read. Seems to confirm what Kamonohashi says. ---
**Author:** ![TonKa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9f8e36/32.png) [@TonKa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonKa)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/29 "2011-08-18T06:21:01Z")
Did you try this [link](http://www.absintheonline.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/30 "2011-08-18T07:21:19Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > The short answer is “there is no legal way”. > > IIRC, the long answer is “there is possibly a legal way, but it would need to be tested in the courts”. > > I know it is legal in Spain and the UK. I buy mine in London, at a shop called Jerry’s in Soho. > > Search on “absinthe” on this Board for much info. There are a few long threads on it. However, let it be known that discussion of it has been frowned upon by the Staff in the past. I know this is a zombie, but the quote is from 2002. I brought a bottle back from Spain in 2001 so I think this statement was factually incorrect in 2002. Unless maybe customs ignored it. I’m pretty sure I declared it. ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/31 "2011-08-19T17:16:56Z")
I notice the original posting date of this thread was late 2002. Here is an email I got from my sister recently (June, 2011). “We went to SF last night to a restaurant/bar that is well-known and in [her son’s]neighborhood. We all tried absinthe–the name of the restaurant and the reason for it’s fame.” Followed up by this when I objected that she must be mistaken: " Absinthe is now legal, because the whole drug thing was bogus. They used to serve it with Ladinum…" (She means “laudanum:” opium dissolved in alcohol and used as a pain killer; origin of about the 1500’s). It would appear the laws on absinthe have changed rather dramatically. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/32 "2011-08-19T17:30:47Z")
The laws were changed in 2007: > **[Absinthe | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#United_States)** > > In 2007, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) effectively lifted the long-standing absinthe ban, and it has since approved many brands for sale in the US market. This was made possible partly through the TTB's clarification of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) thujone content regulations, which specify that finished food and beverages that contain Artemisia species must be thujone-free. In this context, the TTB considers a product thujone-free if the thujone content is l The ... Note, however, that for absinthe to be legally sold in the US, it must be “thujone free”, which actually translates to very low levels. It’s likely that any “absinthe” you were served in a public establishment has been effectively defanged as far as the thujone content is concerned. Many such products are being made. ETA: Note that whether or note thujone levels in absinthe were ever sufficient to do anything to you is a different question. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/33 "2011-08-19T20:01:12Z")
I wonder…wormwood is artemisia, which is fairly common as a garden plant. Could you somehow process your garden artemisia into an additive to put the wormwood back into wormwoodless absinthe? ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/34 "2011-08-19T21:06:09Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > The laws were changed in 2007: > > [Absinthe - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#United_States) > > Note, however, that for absinthe to be legally sold in the US, it must be “thujone free”, which actually translates to very low levels. It’s likely that any “absinthe” you were served in a public establishment has been effectively defanged as far as the thujone content is concerned. Many such products are being made. > > ETA: > > Note that whether or note thujone levels in absinthe were ever sufficient to do anything to you is a different question. I figured there was a catch 22 in this somewhere. I’m fairly interested in this debate on EXACTLY what they are serving to the public in San Francisco, compared to the controversial product consumed in, say, France, in the 19th century by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec (who drank it in a high-alcohol cocktail called an “earthquake”). Guess I’ll go read your quoted site. My sister is a bit casual on such things (despite a graduate degree). If it says on the menu that it’s “real” absinthe and entirely safe: case closed. Drink up. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/35 "2011-08-19T23:08:20Z")
According to this months (Sept 2011) _Wine Spectator_: Legal limit for American brands is 10 parts per million of thujone and > [@](#): > > … would require bottlesful to get the slightest drug buzz. > > What’s more, present-day analysis of century-old absinthe reveals that Belle Epoque drinkers of well-made stuff were consuming similar thujone levels as today. Current wisdom links a number of nonthujone factors to absinthe’s troubles: alcohol levels approaching 75 percent; low production-standards; and other drugs, notably laudanum and cocaine, used by the absinthe set. So **wei ji** ’s sister seemed to be right on the money. It was always a myth. ---
**Author:** ![wei\_ji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wei\_ji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wei_ji)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/36 "2011-08-20T00:36:35Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > According to this months (Sept 2011) _Wine Spectator_: > > Legal limit for American brands is 10 parts per million of thujone and > > So **wei ji** ’s sister seemed to be right on the money. It was always a myth. Well, I didn’t need to hear THAT. No need to tell her, of course. I printed out the Wiki article and will read it tonight. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/37 "2011-08-20T01:14:12Z")
Random thing I learned from an absinthe distiller recently: the high proof of absinthe actually isn’t about getting you plastered. The various botanicals and whatnot don’t stay in solution under ~120 proof. That’s why it clouds when water is added before serving. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/38 "2011-08-20T01:36:28Z")
Some greater detail on those studies alluded to in that article [here](http://www.feeverte.net/thujone.html): > [@](#): > > … It is often stated that the absinthe produced in the 19th century had much larger amounts of thujone present than are allowed in today’s versions of the drink, which have to comply with EU limits of 10 mg/l. … when GLC analysis is applied to samples of absinthes and the results do show much lower thujone levels than expected. Analyses were performed on a sample of vintage Pernod fils circa 1900, a sample of absinthe produced by a home distiller and two modern commercial absinthes produced by traditional methods in Pontarlier, France by using 19th century protocols. The vintage Pernod absinthe is shown to have the lowest concentration of total thujone of any of the samples tested and the highest is found in the Swiss sample, but even this was lower than the EU limit of 35 mg/l for thujone in bitters. … What is more likely to have caused harm to regular absinthe drinkers is the adulterants used in the cheaper varieties. Absinthe existed in a quality pyramid much as wine does today, for each quality brand there were many more indifferent and positively harmful versions being sold cheaply to those who could not afford to buy a reputable brand. Common adulterants were cupric acetate (to provide the valued green colour) and antimony trichloride (which provided a cloudiness when water was added in imitation of the milky appearance of diluted absinthe). The purity of the base alcohol used for lesser brands would also have been questionable, and toxic levels of methanol from poor rectification would have been a real possibility. An additional aggravating factor is that as the cheaper brands were lower in alcohol than the quality brands, around 45% abv for ‘absinthe demi-fine’ compared to 68 or 72% for ‘absinthe superior’, someone drinking the cheaper version and seeking to obtain the same effect from the alcohol would have needed to consume more of the absinthe and hence more adulterants. On the other hand the base alcohol used in quality absinthe was rectified wine alcohol at 85% which was free from congeners, and although bottled at 68% (to preserve the natural green colour of the chlorophyll) the final strength when diluted was no more than a glass of wine. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/39 "2011-08-20T01:43:15Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > … A Brompton cocktail for the Romantic poets of the time. “Brompton” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952/40 "2011-08-20T01:51:05Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > “Brompton” 😕 [Brompton cocktail](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brompton_cocktail) - named for the Royal Brompton Hospital in London where it was invented. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/absinthe/145952.md?page=3)