Absinthe: Mind-Altering Effects Explained

In recent years, the psychedelic nature of absinthe has been hotly debated. Absinthe was notorious among 19th-century and early 20th-century bohemian artists as "the Green Fairy" that expanded the mind. After it became infamous for madness and toxic side effects among drinkers, it was widely banned.

The modern scientific consensus is that absinthe's reputation could simply be traced back to alcoholism, or perhaps toxic compounds that leaked in during faulty distillation. Still, others have pointed at a chemical named thujone in wormwood, one of the herbs used to prepare absinthe and the one that gives the drink its green color. Thujone was blamed for "absinthe madness" and "absinthism," a collection of symptoms including hallucinations, facial tics, numbness and dementia.

"Today it seems a substantial minority of consumers want these myths to be true, even if there is no empirical evidence that they are," said researcher Dirk Lachenmeier, a chemist with the Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Laboratory of Karlsruhe in Germany.

Keep reading.

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Watch this video on how absinthe is prepared:

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Read about the role absinthe played in this year's Oscar parties.

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Buy absinthe here or buy absinthe here!

Tell us: have you had absinthe? What did it do to you?

Comments

[venicesurfer]

it taste just like licoriche (however the hell you spell that)

[maca]

The demonization of absinthe was purely political. An unusally severe drought caused France's grape crop to wither, and the country's supply of everyday table wine dried up. The people turned to absinthe as a substitute since wormwood grew plentifully in the dry conditions. Once the drought had ended and grape production returned to normal, many people decided to stick with the green stuff, making an unacceptable dent in wine industry profits. The industry lobbied the government to start a propaganda campaign against absinthe, much like the USA's misinformation drive against marijuana. It worked; absinthe was banned, and retains to this day the reputation of "the devil's drink". In reality, it's just alcohol, folks. Greed at work, nothing more.

[antaeus]

And part of the propaganda campaign was the trial of Jean Lanfray, the 1905 "Absinthe Murderer."

The crazed man did kill his wife and children after drinking absinthe, but he also had drunk seven glasses of wine, six glasses of cognac, one coffee laced with brandy, two crème de menthes, and two glasses of absinthe after eating a sandwich. He then went home and drank another coffee with brandy before snapping.

But the jury ignored the fact that he was simply drunk, and they blamed the absinthe.

[fredamae]

..........­.Sounds a Lot like Cannabis Prohibition

[onceler]

yes, exactly analogous. same basic phenomenon.

[AdamX]

Absinthe is illegal in the US. The absinthe you can get in the US is not the real McCoy. Get the French kind.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

Absinthe became LEGAL in the US this year.

[geneven]

Absinthe is also legal in Russia and Spain. I brought some into the US from Spain while it was still illegal. I bought it at Corte Ingles in Barcelona, the equivalent of or maybe a higher-class supermarket than many you can find in the US. It tasted terrible and didn't have any particular bewitching quality that I could detect.

[MrMike513]

I'll stick with those blue stemmed mushrooms.­..alcohol kills brain cells.

[nadinesellers]

Once France had banned absinthe, my parents made frequent trips to Spain and Andorra, the customs officers allowed one large bottle per person, so i became the welcome guest and carried my large bottle clutched in arms through the border.

Ricard and Pernod no longer would satisfy father, his aperetif extended to 5 pre-dinner drinks. at exactly, yes, exactly five, the corner pub served my father his mellifluous phosphorescent cold water and special mixture, i was allowed to watch the liquids flowing and swirling in a wild dance. The ritual never complete until his pitcher was empty, and politics were served cold.

It would be years before i realized that my father's moods were tied to the social tether of custom, and the only water he ever ingested came from tall aromatic drinks.

When i immigrated to the desert West, i collected young Artemisia Absinthium, wormwood for the local Shoshone and Paiute tribes purification ceremonies. They burned the pungent silvery foliage to rid the air of negative spirits.

[StevenHyde]

Ironically, pastis tastes better.

Pastis : Absinthe :: Tequila : Mezcal

Good stuff, all of it.

--Hyde

[lechatnoir]

"Pastis : Absinthe :: Tequila : Mezcal"

couldn't have said it better. actually, pastis IS absinthe without the wormwood.

[JohnCochtosten]

I'm an artist and I decided to try absinthe once after hearing about the effects.

It did nothing for me but make me sick beyond belief. I couldn't even smell licorice for a month without feeling ill.

I work better with a clear mind, anyway.

[thedave25]

I had an absinthe-induce dream about being cooked in an omlette - the disturbing part, was how pleasant a dream it was...

[lechatnoir]

definitely more to absinthe than an alcohol buzz. Anybody claiming otherwise clearly hasn't tried enough of it. About 3-4 drinks ought to give you an idea.

[darylwalmsley]

the placebo effect is pretty strong with this one. nothing you can buy which is manufactured today will do anything other than make you rediculously drunk... no matter what thujone content they claim. this is one of those fashionable drinks that nostalgic people like to drink. i've been brewing this stuff for a while with good results, and any effect more than vividly pleasant dreams is in the mind of the beholder. i fall in with those who believe that the crazy mind- and behavior-altering effects probably came either from the high alcohol content, heavy metals lingering in botched/co­rner-cutti­ng distilling which was common back in the day, or the fact that the real crazies (van gogh) also drank stuff like terpentine to get their kicks. if you're looking to relive the old days, anything produced today in china with FDA oversight will probably give you the result you're looking for.

[lechatnoir]

I experimented with different varieties. I shared one memorable bottle with three friends, it had been smuggled from Andorra, and there was no doubt for any of us that it was something more than an alcohol buzz. Same happened with a bottle that a friend brought over from Barcelona. There is definitely something to it, very pleasant. You get absorbed in the tiniest details, conversation dies off. Dale Pendell wrote about it, very nice kick overall.

[blytzd]

3-4 drinks of alcohol would have me in la-la land, all depends on the drinker.

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

no wonder bush is such a dummy. he thought his church was preaching "absinthe only"!!!

[RoloTomassi]

I and three friends finished off a bottle of Lucid Absinthe in about three hours, and the effective seemed quite different than a simple alcohol buzz; I attributed it to the herbal ingredients of the concoction. I would describe the effect as an alcohol buzz with aa added simulant effect.

Perhaps it's the power of suggestion and nothing more; regardless, I certainly will not reject an opportunity to "commune with the green fairy" in the future based on this analysis.