At present there seems to be an Absinthe revival, a renewed interest in information on Absinthe, due to the fact that Absinthe has recently become legal in the United States. In 2007 the Absinthe “Lucid” was legalized in the USA and a few other brands have followed suit. The Green Fairy can once again be enjoyed in bars and homes across America.

Information on Absinthe

Absinthe is a strong spirit which was actually developed as an elixir or health tonic in the 18th century in Switzerland by Dr Pierre Ordinaire. From these humble beginnings in its heyday, in the late 19th century and early 20th century, it was even more popular than other alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer and cider.

Made from a wine alcohol base and flavored with natural herb oils, Absinthe is a very different kind of alcohol. It is approximately twice the strength of whisky or vodka but is traditionally served diluted with iced water. Its main herbal ingredient is wormwood or Artemisia Absinthium. Absinthe gets its name from this plant and its characteristic bitter taste. The anise flavor comes from aniseed, fennel and anise which are classic herbal ingredients.

Wormwood has been used since ancient times in medicine for the treating of:-
– Fevers
– Parasitic intestinal worms
– Digestive problems
– To counteract poisoning from hemlock and toadstools.
It was also used as a tonic or “pick-me-up” and so was a natural choice for Ordinaire’s elixir.

Wormwood was responsible for Absinthe’s ban in the early 1900s. The chemical thujone, found in wormwood, was thought to be psychoactive, to cause psychedelic effects, addiction and insanity. Absinthe was compared to the drug cannabis and prohibitionists and members of the medical profession campaigned for Absinthe to be banned.

Studies have since shown that Absinthe contains only very small amounts of thujone and is perfectly safe to drink in moderation. EU and US legislation control the amount of thujone in Absinthe and other drinks but even vintage pre ban Absinthe would be able to be sold today.

Contrary to myths and urban legend, Absinthe will not make you hallucinate or “trip”. It is a lovely drink and will get you drunk quite easily but it does not contain enough wormwood to cause hallucinations.

There are many recipes online and kits available to make your own Absinthe at home. Making Absinthe from first ingredients such as blends of herbs is tricky and also illegal in the US where distillation of alcohol is only allowed if you have the correct license.

Some kits contain blends of Absinthe herbs which you mix with alcohol, steep and then filter after a few days but essences are far easier to use. AbsintheKit.com sell their already distilled Absinthe essences to the Absinthe industry and to the public. There are four essences available – a classic green essence, a white essence to make clear La Bleue style Absinthe, an orange flavored essence and a strong essence for those who like a stronger wormwood flavor.

Absinthe essences from AbsintheKit.com are easy to use – simply mix with vodka or Everclear and you’re done! They contain real herbs and essential oils such as wormwood, aniseed and fennel and will make a true classic Absinthe.

You will be able to find plenty of information on Absinthe online and why not use your homemade Absinthe to make tasty cocktails? Enjoy being creative with your Absinthe.

Here is some information about the mythical drink Absinthe, the Green Fairy, the favorite drink of the likes of Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Gauguin, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Degas and many other famous artists and writers.

Absinthe is a strong alcoholic beverage distilled at high proof but generally served diluted with iced water or in cocktails. Absinthe liquor is usually made from a wine alcohol base and is flavored with herbs and essential oils including wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), aniseed and fennel. Other herbal ingredients used in the manufacture may include hyssop, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, juniper, nutmeg, dittany, calamus root and mint.

Information about Absinthe History

Absinthe has a very long and interesting history. Its main herbal ingredient, wormwood, has been used in medicine since ancient times as a tonic and to stimulate digestion. Legend says that Absinthe was created by a French doctor Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century, in the Swiss town of Couvet in the Val-de-Travers. Ordinaire used it on his patients, as an elixir, with miraculous results.

By the turn of the 19th century, Henri-Louis Pernod was using the Absinthe recipe to distill Absinthe in Couvet and then the French town of Pontarlier, under the name of Pernod Fils. By the middle of the 19th century, the Pernod company were producing 30,000 liters of Absinthe each day!

Absinthe was a popular drink in France, in La Belle Epoque, and also many other countries. Absinthe’s popularity affected wine producers as it overtook wine as the favorite drink of the French people. At the same time, there were concerns about health and the effects of Absinthe. The liquor was linked to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre with its loose morals and artists and writers. People became convinced that thujone, the chemical in wormwood, was psychoactive and caused psychedelic effects, convulsions, insanity, brain damage and death.

Absinthe was blamed for Van Gogh’s insanity and his suicide, for a man killing his family and for the rising rate of alcohol abuse in France. Absinthe was banned in the USA in 1912 and France in 1915. Other countries also made it illegal to buy and sell Absinthe.

Absinthe Revival

During the ban, people either drank Absinthe substitutes, such as Pernod Pastis, or bought bootleg Absinthe. Many people were convinced that the claims made about Absinthe were untrue and studies and research took place.

Studies showed that Absinthe was no more dangerous than consuming other strong alcoholic beverages, such as whisky and vodka, and that Absinthe contained only very small amounts of thujone – not enough to cause any harmful side effects.

Absinthe with up to 10mg/kg of thujone was legalized in the EU in the late 20th century and in 2007, in the USA, certain brands of Absinthe, those containing up to 10 ppm, were legalized and Americans can now enjoy buying brands such as “Lucid” .

France, home of Pernod’s original Absinthe still has a ban on products labeled “Absinthe” and France also strictly regulates drinks containing fenchone, a chemical in fennel which is a key ingredient in Absinthe. To be sold in France, Absinthes have to be called another name like “spirit a base de plantes d’absinthe” and only contain up to 5mg per liter of fenchone.

In these times of revival, it is possible to order Absinthe online, buy it in a liquor shop or buy real wormwood Absinthe essences to make your very own Green Fairy – see AbsintheKit.com for further information about Absinthe essences. They also sell replica Absinthe glasses and spoons like a Pontarlier glass and Eiffel Tower spoon.

After being banned since the early 1900s, Absinthe is now legal in many countries and a few brands of Absinthe were legalized in the United States in 2007. People are excited about Absinthe and want to know more info on Absinthe. They are searching online for info and reading articles and books for answers to their questions – What is it? How do you prepare it? What is it made from? Why was it banned? Is it safe? What is wormwood? Etc. Let’s answer a few of those questions.

Info on Absinthe and its history

Absinthe is a strong distilled alcoholic beverage which is usually made from a wine base and is flavored with natural herbs and essential oils. The three main herbs used in Absinthe production are common wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium), green aniseed and fennel. The fennel and aniseed give Absinthe its anise flavor and the wormwood gives Absinthe its characteristic bitter taste and its name.

Wormwood has been used since ancient times as a natural remedy for many medical conditions and so was a natural choice for Dr Pierre Ordinaire’s elixir or health tonic. Ordinaire invented Absinthe in the late 18th century in the Swiss town of Couvet as a pick-me-up for his patients, unaware of the potential of his recipe. By the early 19th century Henri-Louis Pernod was producing Absinthe and selling it commercially and by the middle of the 19th century it was a popular drink in France, Switzerland and later the United States. Bars even had Absinthe hours (L’heure de verte) and Absinthe soon overtook other beverages such as wine and beer as the most popular drink.

Wine producers, doctors and the prohibition movement began their anti-Absinthe campaign in earnest in the late 1800s. Absinthe was associated with the loose morals of the courtesans of the Moulin Rouge, Montmartre and the Bohemian artists and writers and prohibitionists blamed it for damaging society as an intoxicant.

Absinthe was also blamed for causing many health problems due to its thujone content. Thujone is a chemical found in wormwood which doctors claimed was psychoactive and caused psychedelic effects. Absinthe was thought to contain huge amounts of thujone and to be similar to the drug cannabis. It was blamed for:-

– Hallucinations
– Convulsions
– Brain damage
– Insanity
– Death

Absinthe was even held responsible for a man murdering his family even though he had only consumed two glasses of Absinthe and copious amounts of other alcohol!

Absinthe was believed to be dangerous and so was banned in 1912 in the USA and 1915 in France.

Is Absinthe Safe?

Research and studies over the past few decades have shown that pre ban Absinthe only contained very small amounts of thujone, not enough to be harmful or to cause hallucinations. We now know that the claims were just mass hysteria and just excuses for the wine producers and the prohibitionists to get Absinthe banned.

Thujone quantities are now controlled by legislation and Absinthe is just as safe as any of the other types of strong spirits. It is easy to get drunk on Absinthe though because of its high alcohol by volume (up to 75%), so care should be taken especially when mixing it in cocktails with other spirits.

The blend of herbs and the alcohol in Absinthe act as both a sedative and as a stimulant so being drunk on Absinthe is unlike any other state of drunkenness. Some describe it as a strange “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness.

Info on Absinthe Preparation

Preparing the Green Fairy (Absinthe) is part of the fun of drinking Absinthe. You will need:-
– Quality Absinthe
– An Absinthe glass
– An Absinthe slotted spoon
– Iced water
– A cube of sugar
Pour a shot of Absinthe into the glass and rest the spoon over the rim. Place the sugar on the spoon and slowly drip the water over the sugar and into the Absinthe. As the sugar and water solution mixes into the Absinthe, the drink will louche – turn from a transparent green to a milky or cloudy paler mixture. This “louche” is the desired effect and is caused by the essential oils of the Absinthe not being water soluble. Stir and enjoy your drink.

You need a quality Absinthe containing natural essential oils for the drink to louche. Absinthe essences from AbsintheKit.com make wonderful Absinthes with a high content of natural essential oils. The company also sells glasses and spoons which are replicas of antiques. You will also find lots of info on Absinthe on their website.

Absinthe is famous for being the green drink that sent Van Gogh insane, that made him hallucinate, cut off his ear and eventually commit suicide. It’s the drink of the Green Fairy that gives artists and writers inspiration, that makes you trip like cannabis – isn’t it? Does Absinthe really cause psychedelic effects? Now that Absinthe is legal again in many countries, people want answers to these questions and want to know how to tell real Absinthe make you hallucinate. Here is some information on Absinthe.

Absinthe is a very strong liquor which is made by distilling herbs such as wormwood, fennel and aniseed with alcohol. It was invented by the legendary Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century as an elixir or tonic for his patients in Couvet, Switzerland. By the turn of the 19th century, Absinthe had gone from being a tonic to being an alcoholic beverage produced by Pernod Fils in their distillery in Pontarlier, France.

From its humble beginnings as a medicine, Absinthe became a highly popular alcoholic beverage during the period known as La Belle Epoque, a golden age. It soon surpassed wine and beer as the most popular alcoholic drink in France and this made wine producers, the Prohibition movement and the medical profession worry.

Absinthe became associated with the Bohemian culture of Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge with its loose morals, and also with drugs such as heroin and cocaine which were being used in children’s medicines and drinks at the time. The medical profession claimed that the chemical thujone, from wormwood, was just like THC in the drug cannabis and was psychoactive and could cause psychedelic effects. Prohibitionists claimed that Absinthe was destroying France, it was leading to addiction and alcoholism and one politician famously argued that it Absinthe was not banned then half of the population would be employed in fitting the other half of the population into strait jackets! Absinthe was banned in France in 1915.

Were these claims true?

Although artists and writers claimed that the Green Fairy was their muse and that they got their weird and wonderful ideas from hallucinations from Absinthe, we now know that Absinthe does not make you hallucinate. Who knows what else the artists and writers were taking? It is said that Van Gogh mixed his Absinthe with turpentine and we know that he had been mentally ill since childhood anyway.

Thujone is not like THC. If it is ingested in large amounts, then thujone can act on the GABA receptors in the brain, causing convulsions and spasms, but only in large amounts. Tests and studies on modern Absinthe and pre ban vintage Absinthe show that Absinthe only contains very small amounts of thujone, nowhere near enough to make you hallucinate even a little. Ted Breaux, Absinthe distiller and tester says “I would have to consume about three liters of Absinthe at the European limit to have any clinically discernible effects from thujone, and I’d be long dead from the alcohol by that point.”

Absinthe has now been redeemed and we know that it is no more harmful than any other strong spirit. It will not give you hallucinations, it will not drive you to insanity but it can make you very drunk. If you think that Absinthe is twice as strong as whisky and vodka, then you can see that Absinthe will get you drunk quickly and easily, whether you use a commercial Absinthe or one you’ve made from a kit like those on sale at AbsintheKit.com.

Although Absinthe will not make you hallucinate, the drunkenness you will experience when drinking Absinthe will be unlike the drunkenness that you feel after drinking other types of alcohol in excess. It has been described as a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness and it is thought that this is caused by the mysterious combination of the sedative effect of the alcohol and the herbal ingredients which are stimulants. So, no green fairies but perhaps a bit of an alcohol high and heightened senses.

So, the answer to the question “How to tell real Absinthe make you hallucinate” is that no Absinthe will make you hallucinate but it’s a wonderful drink. Drink it to enjoy it.

Since the legalization of Absinthe in many countries in the late 1980s and 90s, and 2007 in the USA for certain brands, many people have been wanting to know how to serve Absinthe to enjoy the perfect Green Fairy of history, the drink enjoyed by Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Oscar Wilde.

Firstly, you need to make sure that you have got a real Absinthe. Fake Absinthes and substitutes won’t taste right and won’t louche properly. Real Absinthe contains essential oils from herbs like wormwood, aniseed, fennel, hyssop and lemon balm. These oils are soluble in Absinthe alcohol but when the Absinthe is prepared in the correct way, with cold water, the Absinthe louches (becomes cloudy or milky) because the oils are not water soluble.

Make sure that the Absinthe you buy is called “Absinthe”, Absenta (from Spain) or “Absynthe” and that it contains real wormwood. If you find it difficult to find real wormwood Absinthe, you can make your own Absinthe using the special Absinthe essences sold by AbsintheKit.com. These essences are the same ones that the company sell to the Absinthe Industry and are specially made using top-quality herbs and carbon dioxide distillation. Simply mix some essence with vodka or Everclear to make your very own Absinthe.

AbsintheKit sell 20ml bottles of essence which make one 750ml bottle of Absinthe and they also sell kits which include enough essence to make 14 bottles of Absinthe, bottle labels and a handy measure. See their website for further details and a guide on how to make Absinthe using their essences.

How to Serve Absinthe

The correct culinary term for the cultural preparation of Absinthe is “The Ritual”. To be properly “cultured” you will require:-
– An Absinthe glass – antique or replica.
– An Absinthe slotted spoon (cuillere).
– Absinthe.
– Iced Water.

Pour a shot of Absinthe (25-50ml) of Absinthe into the glass. Rest the Absinthe spoon on the top of the glass and rest a cube of sugar on it. Using either an Absinthe fountain or a carafe with a steady hand, slowly drip or pour the water over the sugar. As the water mixes into the Absinthe the drink will louche. This effect can be quite dramatic depending on the Absinthe and the concentration of essential oils. The ratio of water to Absinthe liquor should be between 3:1 and 5:1. Stir the drink once all the water has dripped in and then enjoy your Absinthe.

Remember to drink Absinthe in moderation, it is a very strong spirit. Many people comment on the very different type of drunkenness they experience when drinking Absinthe. It has been described as a “clear headed” or “lucid” drunkenness. This could be caused by the blend of herbs used in Absinthe production – some have a sedative effect while others act as stimulants, very strange!

Enjoy learning how to serve Absinthe using the ritual.

You may have bought yourself a bottle of Absinthe, the Green Fairy, or made your very own Absinthe by using top-quality Absinthe essences such as those available from AbsintheKit.com. Now you just need to learn how to prepare Absinthe. Follow the following instructions and tips to make the perfect Absinthe drink.

There are two main methods for preparing Absinthe. The Ritual or La Louche is the traditional method used in France and Switzerland in bars and homes before the Absinthe ban of the 1900s. The Czech or Bohemian method is a more modern method of preparing absinthe and is scorned by many Absinthe drinkers who say it was just an advertising stunt and was never used in history.

How to Prepare Absinthe using “The Ritual”

To perform “The Ritual” you will need:-
– An Absinthe glass or large glass – replica Absinthe glasses and spoons are available from AbsintheKit.com
– An Absinthe spoon – which is a slotted or perforated spoon.
– Absinthe
– A cube of sugar
– An Absinthe fountain or jug of iced water.

Pour 25-50ml of Absinthe into the glass and rest the spoon over the rim of the glass.
Slowly drip the water over the sugar cube using a steady hand or by turning on the tap of the fountain.
The sugar will slowly dissolve and drip through the slots of the spoon.
Watch the Absinthe louche as the water mixes into the Absinthe.
Stir and enjoy your Green Fairy drink, the drink enjoyed by the likes of Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and Pablo Picasso.

How to Prepare Absinthe using the Czech or Bohemian Method

For this method you will need:-
– An Absinthe glass or large glass
– An Absinthe spoon
– Absinthe
– A cube of sugar
– A lighter or match

Place the sugar cube on the Absinthe spoon and rest on the rim of the glass.
Pour 25-50ml of Absinthe into the glass, pouring a bit over the sugar to soak the sugar.
Using the match or lighter, carefully set fire to the sugar cube.
Allow the sugar to caramelize, melt and drip into the Absinthe.
Dilute the Absinthe with the iced water to your required dilution.
Enjoy watching the Absinthe louche and then sit back and enjoy.

Be very careful with the Bohemian Method – you do not want to set the Absinthe alight and ruin the flavor or set your house on fire.

For both methods, you will want to use a quality Absinthe which contains real wormwood and real essential oils so that you can enjoy the “louche” effect. You may want to use Czech Absinthe for the Bohemian Method as it is said to come from the Czech Republic.

If you are unable to buy quality Absinthes in your shops then you can search online or make your own using real wormwood Absinthe essences from AbsintheKit.com. These essences are used by the Absinthe industry so you know that they are top quality. You simply mix the essence with vodka or Everclear to make Absinthe. Go to AbsintheKit.com to find out how to prepare Absinthe using essences.

Many people do not know how to pour Absinthe properly and no, it’s not quite as simple as removing the lid, pouring it into a glass and drinking it! Absinthe should be served diluted with iced water and sweetened slightly with sugar. This method is called “The Ritual” or “La Louche” and is the way that Absinthe was prepared in its heyday in the 19th century and early 20th century.

The Ritual isn’t so much a recipe as a method to follow. Here are instructions on how to pour the perfect Green Fairy every time:-

You will need:-

– Absinthe – Use a quality Absinthe which contains wormwood. There are many fake Absinthes around without any thujone and therefore no wormwood.

– An Absinthe glass – This makes measuring the Absinthe really easy because you fill the bulge at the bottom or go up to the mark, depending on what style glass you have.

– A slotted Absinthe spoon (cuillere)

– Iced water

– A cube of white sugar

To make your Absinthe drink you need to pour a shot of Absinthe into the glass and rest the spoon on the rim of the glass.
Place the cube of sugar on the spoon and slowly drip the water over the sugar to make it dissolve into the Absinthe. Top up the Absinthe to taste, usually a ratio of between 3:1 and 5:1 water to Absinthe.

If you use a steady hand and drip the water slowly, you will be able to watch the Absinthe louche as it turns from a transparent bright green to an opalescent, pale, milky green. This is fascinating to watch.

Some Absinthe drinkers buy a special Absinthe fountain which you fill with water and ice cubes and then turn a tap to control the dripping of the water into the Absinthe – great if you are heavy handed. A fountain also allows you to make two drinks at the same time because many fountains have two taps.

Replicas of antique Absinthe spoons and glasses can be ordered online from AbsintheKit.com. The company also sell Absinthe essences on their webshop. You mix an essence with vodka or everclear to make your very own real wormwood Absinthe.

The Czech or Bohemian method differs slightly from the Ritual and is not a traditional method of preparing Absinthe. To make Absinthe this way you need to:-
– Pour a shot of Absinthe into a glass and then dip the cube of sugar into the alcohol.
– Place the cube of sugar onto the Absinthe spoon.
– Using a match or lighter, set the sugar alight.
– Watch the sugar caramelize and melt through the slots of the spoon and into the Absinthe.
– Carefully pour iced water into the Absinthe to dilute.
– Stir and enjoy.

Absinthe can also be mixed with other alcohol in cocktails. Look online for Absinthe cocktail recipes. Ernest Hemingway drank “Death in the Afternoon” – Absinthe mixed with champagne!

There you are, how to pour Absinthe using the Ritual and the more modern Bohemian method. Try them out and have fun with Absinthe.

You may have heard of the mythical, mysterious Green Fairy, the drink known as Absinthe, and now you want to know where you can get hold of this liquor – how to order Absinthe. You may be fortunate enough to be able to find a good quality Absinthe at your local liquor shop or your liquor shop might order a bottle in for you. However, many shops, especially in the United States, are stocked with fake or substitute Absinthe and not genuine wormwood Absinthe. You may be best to order Absinthe online.

How to Order Absinthe online

Before you order Absinthe you need to know how to choose a genuine, quality Absinthe. Here are some buying tips:-

– Educate yourself about Absinthe. There are many websites, such as lafeeverte.net, with articles about Absinthe, details about different brands and reviews of different brands.

– Look at alcohol by volume levels of Absinthes. Absinthe has an abv of between 50% and 75% usually. It is a very strong alcoholic beverage. Proof is approximately twice abv.

– Check that the Absinthe has a thujone level. Some websites list the thujone levels of Absinthes. If the Absinthe contains thujone that means that it is a genuine Absinthe which contains wormwood. Wormwood is a key ingredient in Absinthe, along with herbs such as aniseed and fennel, and it gives Absinthe its characteristic bitter edge.

– Make sure that the Absinthe also contains anise or aniseed. Some Czech Absinth does not contain anise and is more of a wormwood bitter.

– Buy known brands from reputable distillers. Look out for Absinthes which have won awards or that have good reviews. Known brands include Pernod (Absinthe not pastis), Kubler, Sebor, The Jade Collection by Ted Breaux, Doubs Mystique, Mari Mayans, La Clandestine – Bugnon, La Fee, Rodniks, Absinthe Roquette 1797 and Lucid.

– Shop around and compare prices. Remember to take into account shipping costs when comparing prices.

– Consider buying an Absinthe essence instead of bottled Absinthe. The essences from AbsintheKit.com are distilled from natural Absinthe herbs and you just simply mix 20ml of essence with 730ml of Everclear or vodka to make a real wormwood Absinthe. The essences only cost $3.95 for 20ml. AbsintheKit also sell absinthekits which contain enough essence to make 14 bottles of Absinthe, a plastic measure and 14 artistic bottle labels. The absinthe kits cost $29 and so are a very economical way to make real Absinthe.

How to order Absinthe Essences

Simply visit AbsintheKit.com to order Absinthe essences, Absinthe glasses and Absinthe slotted spoons. The company produces 4 different types of Absinthe essence:-

– Absinthe Classics – This essence makes a classic “verte” or green Absinthe.

– Absinthe White – This essence makes a clear, La Bleue Swiss style Absinthe.

– Absinthe Orange – To make an Absinthe with a twist, use this essence to make a yellow-orange colored Absinthe flavored with natural orange oil.

Absinthe Strong 55 – For those who like a stronger wormwood flavor, this essence will make an Absinthe containing 55mg of thujone per bottle. The resulting Absinthe will have a stronger, more bitter, wormwood taste.T he other essences will make Absinthes with 35mg of thujone.

All the essences are made from top-quality traditional Absinthe herbs and are distilled using high tech carbon dioxide distillation. Unlike steeping kits, these essences are already distilled and so will make a true Absinthe that will louche beautifully.

Enjoy learning about this wonderful drink and I hope that this information has helped you find out how to order Absinthe.

There is much controversy about the levels of the psychoactive chemical thujone in Absinthe and so many people want to know how to measure thujone levels in Absinthe that they have made at home. It is impossible to do this at home unless you have the right equipment and know what you are doing. Thujone levels can be measured by solid phase extraction and gas chromatography.

What is Thujone?

For those who don’t know, thujone is a chemical found in the herb common wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium) and in the past was thought to be psychoactive like THC in the drug cannabis. In large doses it was thought to have psychedelic effects, to cause convulsions, insanity, brain damage, and ultimately death. The alleged effects of thujone along with the fact that Absinthe was an intoxicant, being such a strong liquor, were enough for the prohibition movements in France, the United States and other countries to persuade governments to ban Absinthe.

Recently, studies have shown that thujone would have to be consumed in large quantities to cause any harmful side effects, so Absinthe with 10mg of thujone per liter or less was legalized in the European Union. Many people in the USA were disappointed that legalization did not take place at the same time in the United States. The United States required that alcoholic beverages should be “thujone free”.

Lux and Fire Erowid contacted both the FDA and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to seek clarification on the laws surrounding the Green Fairy and thujone. The FDA used a rather outdated indicator test to test for the presence of thujone, not proper analytical chemistry. The TTB stated that wormwood products should be thujone free which meant less than the limit of detection – 10 ppm (parts per million).

Ted Breaux, an Absinthe distiller, tested his collectibles, antique vintage bottles of Absinthe, for thujone levels by using gas chromatography and was surprised by their low thujone levels. It was always believed that vintage pre ban Absinthe contained 260-350mg of thujone per liter, Breaux found that the highest reading from the vintage bottles was 6mg per liter – a very small amount. He also tested the Absinthes of his Jade collection in which he’d put a “full measure” of wormwood, and found that after distillation that these also contained only very small amounts of thujone.

Absinthe and the United States 2007

Breaux and the company Veridian developed an Absinthe called “Lucid” and were able to prove to the FDA and TTB that it contained less than 10 ppm of thujone. Lucid went on sale in the US in 2007 and was soon followed by a few other brands of Absinthe. Americans can now enjoy the taste of Absinthe at home and in bars throughout the US.

Does Absinthe Have Any Effects?

The thujone content in Absinthe is certainly not high enough to cause hallucinations, but Absinthe is a very strong alcoholic liquor, up to 75% abv. It is not meant to be consumed straight or on the rocks. The correct way to serve Absinthe is to pour a shot in an Absinthe glass and dilute with iced water poured over a cube of sugar.

It is possible to get drunk quite quickly when drinking Absinthe because of its strength, but the drunkenness associated with Absinthe drinking is very different from getting drunk on beer, wine or cider. Some of the herbs in Absinthe acts as a sedative and some as a stimulant so you experience a “clear headed” or “lucid” drunkenness – a strange experience!

Absinthe Kits and Thujone Levels

It is not important to know how to measure thujone levels in Absinthe if you use kits containing quality essences, like those from AbsintheKit.com, where thujone levels in the essences are already measured for you. These essences are easy to use. They are already distilled, you just have to mix with Everclear or vodka to make your very own real wormwood Absinthe.

Absinthe is an expensive liquor so many people want to find a how to make Absinthe recipe to use at home.

Absinthe is a distilled spirit and so it is complicated to make from first ingredients at home, especially when distillation is illegal in many countries without a proper license.

Absinthe was originally produced commercially by Henri-Louis Pernod who used a wine base and natural herbs. His Absinthe recipe included the three main Absinthe herbs – wormwood (artemisia absinthium), aniseed and fennel, along with veronica, dittany, juniper, nutmeg, hyssop, star anise, lemon balm and angelica. These herbs are still used in Absinthe production today and some Absinthe distillers also use additional herbs such as calamus root, coriander seeds and mint.

Using recipes and mixing herbs with alcohol like vodka, steeping and then filtering is not to be recommended because this method does not involve distillation and simply produces an alcohol with a flavor a bit like Absinthe not true Absinthe.

By far the easiest way of making real Absinthe at home is to use Absinthe essences. AbsintheKit.com produce Absinthe essences for both the Absinthe industry and for the public. These essences are already distilled and are produced with the finest Absinthe herbs and essential oils. Simply mix 20ml of essence with 730ml of neutral alcohol, such as vodka or Everclear, to make your very own bottle of the Green Fairy. There are even 4 different types of essence to choose from – something to suit everyone whether you like a classic verte Absinthe, a strong Absinthe, a clear Absinthe or an orange flavored Absinthe.

Absinthe is also used in many cocktails and food. There are many articles online containing recipes and information, I even found a great recipe for Absinthe cookies sprinkled with sugar crystals! Ernest Hemingway, the famous writer and Absinthe drinker, drank “Death in the Afternoon” which is Absinthe mixed with champagne!

You also need to know how to prepare Absinthe to serve. Absinthe is a very different and special alcoholic beverage in that it is not often served straight but, instead, is diluted with iced water. It also has its own equipment or “Absinthiana” used in Absinthe preparation – Absinthe glasses and spoons, drippers or fountains. Many of these are now expensive antiques but you can buy replica items from companies like AbsintheKit.com.

To prepare your Absinthe in the traditional way known as “The Ritual”, you need to pour a shot of Absinthe into a large glass or Absinthe glass. Get a slotted Absinthe spoon (cuillere) and rest it over the rim of the glass. Place a cube of granulated sugar on the spoon and slowly drip or pour iced water over the sugar and into the Absinthe. Hopefully, you will now see the effect known as the “louche” when the essential oils, which are not soluble in water, cause the drink to turn milky or cloudy. Stir your Absinthe and drink it – easy!

When you use an essence and follow the guidelines for the Ritual you really don’t need to find a how to make Absinthe recipe.