The Fresh Absinthe Thujone
Absinthe thujone is the chemical found in Absinthe’s vital ingredient, the plant identified as Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its botanical name www.absinthekit.com/articles. The chemical thujone was partly the cause of Absinthe being banned in early 1900s in many countries around the world and thujone continues to be tightly regulated today, especially in the United States (or states united).
Thujone was regarded as just like THC present in cannabis and Absinthe was speculated to be psychoactive and have psychedelic effects producing hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe was well-liked by the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and many artists and writers believed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration as well as their genius. Renowned Absinthe drinkers include Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Baudelaire and Verlaine. Some say that Van Gogh’s madness was due to Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its influence. Absinthe was even held accountable for a man murdering his family, even though he had ingested many other strong alcoholic drinks right after the Absinthe.
Prohibition campaigners used news of the murder to campaign for the banning of Absinthe and blamed France’s growing problems of alcohol addiction on the emerald liquor.
Is Absinthe Thujone Unsafe?
Today’s studies suggest that it was in fact the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that was dangerous rather than the thujone. Absinthe is doubly strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be used when taking in Absinthe. Thujone is simply present in minute quantities and ought to therefore cause no major negative effects or health issues. The EU stipulates that alcohol based drinks with an ABV (alcohol by volume) level over 25% might only consist of a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” can contain as much as 35mg/kg, it isn’t totally clear which class Absinthe suits but many brands of Absinthe have much less than 35mg with a lot of being under 10mg/kg. In the US it is simply legal to purchase or sell Absinthes with trace amounts of thujone.
High doses of thujone can be dangerous leading to convulsions however you will have to drink a substantial amount of Absinthe to consume that quantity of thujone and it might be impossible to drink that amount, you’d be comatosed from alcohol until then!
Absinthe Components
It is known that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the initial Absinthe distillery, employed the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper and veronica to create his famous Pernod Absinthe. The essential oil from these herbs is mainly responsible for La Louche, the clouding which comes about when water is included with Absinthe. These herbs particularly the aniseed and anise are responsible for the distinctive aniseed or licorice taste of Absinthe and wormwood is mainly responsible for the bitter flavor. Absinthe is oftentimes used as bitters in cocktails.
There are lots of brands of Absinthe or Absinthe substitutes that have been developed over the ban and therefore contain no Absinthe thujone or wormwood, but many would state that Absinthe isn’t Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter taste of wormwood. If you want real Absinthe search for brands containing wormwood or Absinthe thujone.