The effects of Absinthe are well known. Ask anyone regarding Absinthe and they can remember Absinthe as the green liquor which was notoriously banned around the globe because it drove people to insanity. A number of these folks have never tried Asbinthe and can’t comment from personal experience.
Absinthe was initially developed being an elixir or tonic by a doctor in the Swiss town of Couvet. Dr Ordinaire made it out of a wide range of herbs better known for their medicinal components. His recipe eventually got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who manufactured Absinthe from a wine base and absinthe recipe added herbal ingredients like aniseed, wormwood, hyssop, fennel, star anise, angelica root, lemon balm, nutmeg, juniper and also dittany. Some other producers used several types of herbs in combination with Pernod’s recipe, herbs just like calamus root and mint.
The Green Fairy, or Absinthe, was given to French soldiers in the 1840s to deal with malaria and have become popular with the troops who brought it home along where it grew extremely popular in bars in France. Some bars even had Absinthe hours – L’heure vert – the green hour.
The Absinthe Ritual was an essential part of the pleasure of drinking Absinthe. Absinthe was provided in bars in exclusive Absinthe glasses through an Absinthe spoon, a sugar cube and cold water. The barman or waiter would work with a carafe or fountain to drip the water on the sugar on the spoon and the buyer would observe the Absinthe louche as the water mixed with the liquor.
Absinthe evolved into a popular drink amongst the artists and writers of the Bohemian part of Paris – Montmartre. Artists and writers, just like Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Degas, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Oscar Wilde and also Gauguin, all claimed that Absinthe gave them their genius and inspiration. Absinthe and Absinthe drinkers are featured in lots of works of art like Albert Maignan’s “Green Muse” from 1895 displaying an Absinthe drinker that has a fairy (the green fairy) and Degas’ “L’Absinthe” from 1876.
Oscar Wilde had written “After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Others have described the effects of drinking Absinthe as a “clear headed” or “lucid” drunkenness and this might be because Absinthe is made up of both sedatives as well as stimulants.
Effects of Absinthe and also the Ban
Absinthe was famously suspended in France in 1915 and lots of other countries around the world also banned it. The prohibition campaigners had been able to convince the French government that Absinthe will bring about the country’s downfall and therefore continuous drinking of Absinthe, Absinthism, caused the subsequent effects:-
– Hallucinations
– Super excitability
– Deterioration of the intellect
– Insanity
– Brain deterioration
– Lack of control
The chemical substance thujone, seen in one of many vital ingredients of absinthe, wormwood, was viewed as like THC in the drug cannabis. Thujone was speculated to be a neurotoxin, to be psychoactive and to result in psychedelic effects. The wormwood in Absinthe was held responsible for Van Gogh’s suicide and then for a man killing his family.
Numerous studies have shown that thujone should be consumed in huge amounts to result in such unpleasant effects so when Ted Breaux, Absinthe manufacturer and creator of the “Lucid” brand, tested bottles of vintage pre-ban Absinthe he found out that Absinthe only comprised minute levels of thujone. Absinthe has thus been legalized in many countries now.
Absinthe is principally alcohol and is a very strong spirit, about twice as strong as other sorts of spirits like whisky and vodka. It might therefore be virtually impossible to take in a substantial amount of thujone as you may not be able to consume so much alcohol and still be capable to drink!
The consequences of Absinthe are really just stories, part of the myth and legend that is all around this glorious drink. Try some yourself by ordering a bottle of real wormwood Absinthe on the internet or by developing your own personal by making use of Absinthe essences via AbsintheKit.com.