Does anyone know about the drink Absinth?

Question

I heard that it's banned in some states in America because it makes you hallucinate. Is this true?

Has anyone actually drunk it themselves?

Answer 1

I have had it! Its powerful shi*! and yes its banned in places

Answer 2

Hello Yasmin,

Absinthe is made from herbs and the flower & leaves of Artemisia absinthium (Absinth wormwood).

It tastes of aniseed and is green in colour. It is classed as a liqueur or spirit.

Absinthe is highly alcoholic, 68-80% proof.

The drink originated in Val-de-Travers, Switzerland and became very popular in France in the late 19th - early 20th century and was drunk mainly by the artist of Paris.

You are right Absinthe was thought be a dangerously addictive, psychoactive drug and by 1915 many European countries had banned it. The US also banned it.

There now appears to be no evidence that Absinthe is any more dangerous than normal alcohol and in fact since the 1990s some European Union countries have allowed it to be made and sold again, although not all the same ingredients as the old Absinthe are used. There are over 100 brands of Absinthe now being produced.

Practically every country where alcohol is illegal now allows its production and sale.

The strange exception is the US. It is still illegal to produce Absinthe in the US but it is not illegal to own or drink this spirit.

For more info on the legal aspects of Absinthe in the US please visit:

http://www.greendevil.com/absinthe_us.html

Poseidon

Answer 3

the Laws Regulating Absinthe in the United states are both out dated and confusing. Absinthe will (in most cases) NOT make you hallucinate. This was government propaganda that was used during prohibition to illegalise the drink. your Thanksgiving stuffing contains more Thujone (via sage) than absinthe. Thujone is the chemical that people claims makes them hallucinate. When present in Alchohol it tends to produce a feeling milder but simuiliar to that of Marijuana.

I Reconmend Austrian or French absinthe if you should like to try it in the future... it is legal in Europe and Canada.

Answer 4

Absinthe
is flavored distilled liquor, emerald green in color, turning to cloudy, opalescent white when mixed with water. It inspired many prominent artists, writers and poets. Just to name a few - Vincent Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Manet, Ernest Hemingway - in fact his masterpiece " For Whom The Bell Tolls " was written under the influence of "The Green Fairy". Absinthe was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod, who purchased the formula from a French exile living in Switzerland.

Wormwood
Artemisia Absinthium is the chief flavoring ingredient, native to Europe and Asia.; other aromatic ingredients include aniseed, licorice, hyssop, fennel, angelica root, star aniseed... Wormwood is a long-lived plant, with greyish-green leaves and the flowers have a greenish-yellow tint, and like leaves give off a strong aromatic odor and are bitter to the taste. Thujone is a toxic chemical present in wormwood and has a similar molecular geometry with THC, the active chemical in cannabis

It is once again legal to produce and sell absinthe in practically every country where alcohol is legal, the major exception being the United States. It is not, however, illegal to possess or consume absinthe in the United States.

I have never tried it myself, but now that I have researched it I think I just might!

Answer 5

When absinthe was banned in France, Switzerland, the United States and many other countries in the early 1900s, it had really fallen out of favor. It wasn't just frowned upon; it was accused of creating murderers, making children into criminals and turning women into "martyrs." That regular old alcohol received similar treatment during the Prohibition period in the United States turns out to be pretty apropos: We now know that properly manufactured absinthe, an anise-flavored, alcoholic drink, is no more dangerous than any other properly prepared liquor.
What about the tales of hallucinations, Oscar Wilde and his tulips, family massacres and instant death? Not absinthe's fault, technically speaking. Absinthe does have a very high alcohol content -- anywhere between 55 and 75 percent, which equates to about 110 to 144 proof. It makes whiskey's standard 40 percent (80 proof) seem like child's play, which is why absinthe is supposed to be diluted. Absinthe is not a hallucinogen; its alcohol content and herbal flavor sets it apart from other liquors.


Traditional absinthe is made of anise, fennel and wormwood (a plant), and various recipes add other herbs and flowers to the mix. The anise, fennel and wormwood are soaked in alcohol, and the mixture is then distilled. The distillation process causes the herbal oils and the alcohol to evaporate, separating from the water and bitter essences released by the herbs. The fennel, anise and wormwood oils then recondense with the alcohol in a cooling area, and the distiller dilutes the resulting liquid down to whatever proof the absinthe is supposed to be (based on brand variations or regional laws). At this point, the absinthe is clear; many manufacturers add herbs to the mixture after distillation to get the classic green color from their chlorophyll.

The chemical that's taken all the blame for absinthe's hallucinogenic reputation is called thujone, which is a component of wormwood. In very high doses, thujone can be toxic. It is a GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) inhibitor, meaning it blocks GABA receptors in the brain, which can cause convulsions if you ingest enough of it. It occurs naturally in many foods, but never in doses high enough to hurt you. And there's not enough thujone in absinthe to hurt you, either. By the end of the distillation process, there is very little thujone left in the product. Modern science has estimated that a person drinking absinthe would die from alcohol poisoning long before he or she were affected by the thujone. And there is no evidence at all that thujone can cause hallucinations, even in high doses.

In view of modern analysis of the drink and its ingredients, any absinthe-related deaths can most likely be attributed to alcoholism, alcohol poisoning or drinking the cheap stuff, which, like moonshine, can have poisonous additives in it. Do not buy absinthe from some guy in an alley -- you're looking at the same dangers you'd face drinking moonshine sold off the back of a truck. And unless you've got a distiller in your garage, those make-it-yourself kits sold on the Internet are going to help you create a really terrible tasting liquor-soaked-herb beverage, not absinthe.

For the record, that man who killed his family in Switzerland in 1905, spurring a whole slew of absinthe bans and even a constitutional amendment, was under the influence of absinthe -- which he'd been drinking since he woke up that morning and throughout the rest of the day (and the day before that and the day before that). And Oscar Wilde? Well, no doubt the poet did see tulips on his legs as he walked out into the morning light after a night of drinking absinthe at a local bar. Poets are like that. The rest of us wouldn't see a tulip after drinking absinthe any more than we would after a gin and tonic.

Absinthe is now perfectly legal in almost every country in which alcohol is legal. The United States is one of the only countries that still bans the sale of absinthe.

Answer 6

Absinthe has frequently been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug.The chemical compound thujone, regardless of if cutting-edge contained in the spirit in only hint quantities, become blamed for its alleged volatile outcomes. by technique of 1915, absinthe were banned contained in the US and in a lot of Europe, such as France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. regardless of if absinthe become vilified, it has no longer been validated to be any more suitable risky than trouble-free spirits. Any psychoactive homes attributed to absinthe, apart from that of the alcohol, were a lot exaggerated.The French be conscious absinthe can refer both to the alcoholic beverage or, a lot less many times, to the rather wormwood plant, with grande absinthe being Artemisia absinthium, and petite absinthe being Artemisia pontica. The Latin call artemisia comes from Artemis, the historic Greek goddess of the search. Absinthe is derived from the Latin absinthium, which in turn is the latinisation of the historic Greek ???????? apsínthion, "wormwood".[8] using Artemisia absinthium in a drink is attested in Lucretius' De Rerum Natura (I 936–950), the position Lucretius exhibits that a drink containing wormwood is given as drugs to toddlers in a cup with honey on the brim to make it drinkable. This turned right into a metaphor for the presentation of complicated concepts in poetic style.[9] some declare that the be conscious skill "undrinkable" in Greek, even though it may as a replace be appropriate to the Persian root spand or aspand, or the version esfand, which meant Peganum harmala, also noted as Syrian Rue—regardless of if it isn't easily a style of rue, yet another famously bitter herb. That Artemisia absinthium become many times burned as a protecting providing would propose that its origins lie contained in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-eu root *spend, which skill "to finish a ritual" or "make an providing". even if the be conscious turned right into a borrowing from Persian into Greek, or from an issue-free ancestor of both, is uncertain.[10] in spite of this, the Greek be conscious would originate in a pre-Greek Pelasgian be conscious, marked by technique of the non-Indoeuropean consonant complicated ??.

Answer 7

It is manufactured in France but it is illegal to sell or drink it there. It is however exported and it can be purchased in England Latvia and some other European countries. It is expensive but it does not make anyone hallucinate as it is only made of herbs one of the main ones being worm wort but it was the downfall of many a French person in the 1800s in the artistic community because it is and was a strong spirit drink.

Answer 8

Yes I have seen Absinth in person, Its illegal in the states but you can get it over seas. Pretty expensive. You can actually light it on fire, along with some sugar im pretty sure. It's pretty cool. Stores may sell something that has the words "absinth' on it but its def. not the same

Answer 9

I personally enjoyed it.I saw people pouring on the spoon full of sugar and lit it.it looked aw some but I'd be worried that I burnt my mouth.I'd try it in the drink called in Slovakia Kalimero which was Absinthe,Vanilla Corkey and Coke,there were 3 different colour layers, apparently you not supposed to mix it. was strong really.It's really nice drink on it's own as well but you shouldn't have too much.In a way it's similar to tequila,you drink one,you won't feel anything but after couple it can hit you pretty hard.I watched my ex boyfriend rolling on the grass after he had too many,it nearly looked that his eyes turned green - the colour of absinthe...I prefer it to all them sticky horrible shots you get in clubs.

Answer 10

the reason it was banned, is because of toxins released by the wormwood during the distilling process, which causes hallucination. they use different kinds of wormwood now, but it is still banned throughout most of the U.S.

i drank it a couple times, and it feels a lot like you just smoked weed, because the active ingredients are very close to THC.

Answer 11

Hi i live in england and its not banned ,we mixed it with other stuff which is banned and we tripped all night,lots of fun might i say.
its green in colour is about 70 to 80 % proof
Tastes like realy strong aniseed .
And the majic ingediant is worm wood which is a root with hallucinagnic properties (the reason why its been banned in some places).It truly tasts grim
Pretty dangerous stuff because of its strength,so if you have any be carefull but have fun.