I really want some absinthe. I like Pernod, and I like ouzo. I should like absinthe, right?
Well sure. Are you asking me to buy you some?
Absinthe maketh the head grow funnier.
Yes, please. 
Some manufacturers are making things they call absinthe. They may have gotten around the thujone legally by reducing the amount some way, or the laws changed, or they’re using thujone-free wormwood, or they’ve proved it was never an issue, or … what I’d heard is, they’ve greatly changed the recipe to avoid it. Because basically no one kept the ancient pre-ban recipes, we can never experience it as it truly was. So there’s nothing stopping them from selling us anything.
All previous comments are unsourced and strictly YMMV.
I’d love to try it myself, but it would have to be absolutely authentic. Bitter, small batch, thujone loaded, poured over a sugar cube through a slotted spoon into a thick-walled glass, served in an old-timer’s bar in a village in rural France, with no women in attendance, while I am dressed like the antagonists in the film Jean de Florette. Because I don’t want to skimp on any of the experience if I can help it.
Although, I would like to use a replica of Picasso’s glass and spoon, at some point. Picasso's Rarely-Seen Sculptures Stir Absinthe Culture Back to Life | Bon Appétit
It’s good if you like the occasional herbal liquor/spirit. Just be careful with the stuff: the bottle I got (I believe it was from Czechoslovakia) had 80% alcohol. I still drank about 1/3 of it straight (no, not in a single evening) as it had an interesting aftertaste.
ETA huh, according to Wikipedia Czech absinthe is quite different to French absinthe…
Yeah, the Czech absinthes I’ve had have been heavy on the mint flavor and low on the anise flavor, which is quite different than French absinthes. I’m not a fan of the Czech absinthes, especially one called “Hill’s.” It’ll get you smashed in a hurry with its high alcohol content, but it’s not the anise-based drink French absinthes are. I mean, if you don’t like anise, I suppose that’s a feature, not a bug.
Yeah, you sound like you know what you’re getting into so I can’t imagine you’d hate it.
Historic absinthe appears to have been low in thujone, similar to modern recipes:
J. Agric. Food Chem. 2008, 56, 9, 3073-3081
DOI 10.1021/jf703568f
If you want thujone, eat sage.
I’ve tried absinthe, and I loathe it.
Of course, I hate licorice and anise, and most absinthes are heavily flavored that way, which could explain my dislike.
I’ve done the whole ritual, with chilled water from a flask poured over sugar cubes on a slotted spoon balanced atop the glass of absinthe. I saw the liquor turn from clear green to milky opalescence. I appreciate the ritual, but it doesn’t make up for the taste.
If you want to get into absinthe, there are plenty of places to get it and its accoutremonts online. Or at places like science fiction conventions, which is where I picked up my spoon and sampled various different absinthes.
There are even people selling what they claim are antique, pre-ban absinthe in unopened bottles, thujone and all. I’m not sure how much of it is real. It’s too pricey for someone who hates the stuff, though.
There is a lot of crap absinthe made for the tourist trade. Jade Makes absinthe based on original recipes (Jade Liqueurs Fine). It is available in the US, but expensive. I have a bottle that has lasted a long time, but I only use it to rinse my glasses when I make sazeracs.
If you’re going to historical accuracy I love the guys over at Golden Moon. They make great spirits in general but use antique stills and recipes from the 1800. Their master distiller Gould has the best library of historical ingreadients and techniques. I don’t like absinthe but their stuff is world class.
For the absinthe itself, it should be easy enough to find at a decent liquor store, I would think. I just came back from Christmas shopping at the local liquor store (so not any of our mega liquor marts), and I found four different absinthes on the shelves, all from France. One was the Pernod (a good place to start as a baseline.)another was Lucid (which I have never tried but have seen heavily marketed here, so I’m a bit suspicious of it.) And then two other brands I don’t remember. Prices from $40-$60 for 750mL. Looking at the local mega mart online (Binny’s), it seems they have a lot more to choose from.
The barware may be a bit more difficult to find without resorting to online retailers.
I had a small amount many years ago that had been smuggled in from another country where the wormwood kind was available. I did not like it at all. it was very very intense both in alcohol and licorice flavor.
I didn’t like it either and I don’t even hate those flavors, but they were too strong in the brand I tasted. I don’t like Ouzo either.
You are supposed to dilute it like you do with pastis about 3:1 to 5:1 with water, usually dripped through a sugar cube on an absinthe spoon. This will cause the drink to louche (become cloudy) and release some extra flavors and aromas or something like that. I don’t bother with the whole spoon ritual (since I don’t have that), but I do drink it diluted. It’s not meant to be drunk straight, though some do drink it that way.
Thank you for the reference. That would help, if someone wanted to really replicate the recipes intelligently. Likely the people linked above.
Thanks, but I don’t really want to. According to wikipedia (sigh, I know) the psychoactive effects are mis-attributed to thujone. Thujone is a GABA antagonist, and is only going to cause spasms and convulsions. Wikipedia ref: Thujone - Wikipedia, with inline references.
And if I want to taste anise, I’ll drink anisette. Or just have some anise.
Yeah, and add to that the cost of submitting a sample to an analytical lab, to be certain the green color isn’t copper salts, and the louche hasn’t been enhanced with antimony salts. Ref: sorry, wiki link ref dead.
I actually just picked up a bottle of Le Clandestine absinthe for a friend I will be seeing at Christmas who can’t find it in his area. I got it at Bevmo of all places. I generally loathe anise, so he will have the bottle to himself.
Oh, yeah: I forgot I like sazeracs. 