The Absinthe United States Scenario
In early 1900s many countries in europe suspended the strong alcoholic drink Absinthe, United States banned Absinthe in 1912.
Absinthe never was as popular in the United States as it had become in European countries www.absinthe-spoons.com just like France and Switzerland, but there were areas of the US, like the French part of New Orleans, where Absinthe was served in Absinthe bars.
Absinthe is a liquor created from herbs like wormwood, aniseed and fennel. It is usually green, hence its nickname the Green Fairy, and it has an anise taste.
Absinthe is surely an interesting concoction or recipe of herbs that behave as a stimulant and alcohol and other herbs that work as a sedative. It’s the essential oils in the herbs that can cause Absinthe to louche, go cloudy, when water is added.
Wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium, has a chemical called thujone which is considered to be just like THC in the drug cannabis, to be psychoactive and also to cause psychedelic effects.
Absinthe United States and also the prohibition
At the outset of the 1900s there was a solid prohibition movement in France and this movement used the reality that Absinthe was connected to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre – with its writers, artists and also the courtesans and loose morals of establishments just like the Moulin Rouge, and the allegation that an Absinthe drinker murdered his family, to claim for a ban on Absinthe. They said that Absinthe would be France’s ruin, that Absinthe was obviously a drug and intoxicant that would drive everyone to insanity!
The United States adopted France’s example and prohibited Absinthe and drinks that contains thujone in 1912. It became illegal, a crime, to purchase or sell Absinthe in the USA. Americans either were forced to concoct their own homemade recipes or go to countries such as the Czech Republic, where Absinthe remained legal, to savor the Green Fairy.
Many US legal experts believe that Absinthe was never banned in the US and that when you look very carefully to the law and ordinance you will see that only drinks that contain over 10mg of thujone were restricted. However, US Customs and police won’t allow any Absinthe shipped from abroad to go into the US, only thujone free Absinthe substitutes were allowed.
Absinthe United States 2007
Ted Breaux, a native of New Orleans, runs a distillery in Saumur France. He’s used vintage bottles of pre-ban Absinthe to research Absinthe recipes also to create his own classic pre-ban style Absinthe – the Jade collection.
Breaux was amazed to find that the vintage Absinthe, contrary to belief, actually only contained very tiny quantities of thujone – insufficient to harm anyone. He became motivated to offer an Absinthe drink which he could ship to his birthplace, the US. His dream was to yet again see Absinthe being taken in bars in New Orleans.
Breaux and lawyer Gared Gurfein, had numerous meetings with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau concerning the thujone content of Breaux’s Absinthe recipe. They discovered that actually no law had to be changed!
Breaux’s dream became reality in 2007 when his brand Lucid managed to be shipped from his distillery in France towards the US. Lucid is founded on vintage recipes and possesses real wormwood, unlike fake Absinthes. Now, in 2008, a product called Green Moon as well as Absinthes from Kubler are all capable of being traded in throughout the US.
Absinthe United States – Many Americans are now enjoying their first taste of real legal Absinthe, perhaps there’ll be an Absinthe revival.