to most of us its old news. to others its probably a shock
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080429/sc_livescience/absinthesmindalteringmysterysolved

Quote :

" An analysis of century-old bottles of absinthe - the kind once quaffed by the likes of van Gogh and Picasso to enhance their creativity - may end the controversy over what ingredient caused the green liqueur's supposed mind-altering effects . ADVERTISEMENT The culprit seems plain and simple: The century-old absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof kick. In comparison, most gins, vodkas and whiskeys are just 80- to 100-proof. 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. Prior studies suggested that absinthe had only trace levels of thujone. But critics claimed that absinthe made before it got banned in France in 1915 had much higher levels of thujone than modern absinthe produced since 1988, when the European Union lifted the ban on making absinthe. "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. Lachenmeier and his colleagues analyzed 13 samples of absinthe from old, sealed bottles in France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States dated back to the early 1900s before the ban. After uncorking the bottles, they found relatively small concentrations of thujone in that absinthe, about the same as those in modern varieties. Laboratory tests found no other compound that could explain absinthe's effects. "All things considered, nothing besides ethanol was found in the absinthes that was able to explain the syndrome of absinthism," Lachenmeier said. (Ethanol is a word for common drinking alcohol.) The scientists are set to detail their findings in the May 14 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. "

4/29/2008 4:10:55 PM

my guess is the same as with moonshine... bad batches and stupid distillers get methanol in their liquor that will EFF YOU UP BIGTIME.

4/29/2008 4:17:06 PM

^you've cracked this case wide open!

4/29/2008 4:19:18 PM

Quote :

""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."

LOL it's like the frat boys who buy kegs of O'Douls and make fun of ppl who act drunk

4/29/2008 4:25:38 PM

When I did some research and purchased a bottle of absinthe 5 years ago, this was widely known and not contested. What the hell?

4/29/2008 4:27:44 PM

I have a bottle of Lucid in my liquor cabinet, but I haven't opened it yet. I'm waiting for a sign.

4/29/2008 4:35:18 PM

I nominate

absinthe
absinth
absynth
absynthe
absenthe
absenth

for most spellings of a beverage ever!

4/29/2008 4:35:29 PM

cool

I've had absinthe before and never saw any green fairies, sorry.


I've heard it was teh wormwood, but if not who knows...

I know moonshine sometimes has methanol in it, which can make you a little crazy as well as blind, Maybe that was it

4/29/2008 4:38:44 PM

I wanna know where they got their hands on the old school absinthe.....

4/29/2008 4:41:57 PM

From people like Van Gogh you can't rule out that they were meant to go nuts anyway...

4/29/2008 4:47:28 PM

I think what a lot of people fail to realize is that absinthe was also commonly consumed with laudanum. That's a one-two punch that will have you forget your own name.

4/29/2008 4:52:27 PM

Neither one of those would describe Van Gogh's behavior. He was probably a manic depressive...

4/29/2008 4:54:00 PM

i've got a bottle in my cabinet and no one has been able to finish a glass of it. to me it tastes like licorice. and when is drinking a beverage that taste like licorice ever a good experience. NEVER !

4/29/2008 5:00:51 PM

^^ i was in amsterdam when van gogh's son got stabbed and they inserted pages of the Qur'an in his chest. i thought that was mega-ill. i was at the van gogh museum when I heard the news.

it was bugged out, B.

4/29/2008 5:01:46 PM

i've gone through many bottles of Absinthe. It tastes like shit because it tastes like licorice

4/29/2008 5:06:44 PM

Quote :

"i've got a bottle in my cabinet and no one has been able to finish a glass of it. to me it tastes like licorice. and when is drinking a beverage that taste like licorice ever a good experience. NEVER !"

Well, did any of you let water slowly drip through a sugar cube on your absinthe spoon? No? Therein lies your problem.





[Edited on April 29, 2008 at 5:15 PM. Reason : Most types of absinthe need to louche.]

4/29/2008 5:10:15 PM

GOTTA CHASE THE DRAGON SON. THROW SOME OPE' ON THAT SUGA SPOON.

4/29/2008 5:15:04 PM

don't be an assbag hooksaw, of course I used sugar and all that. i familiar with drinking absinthe. it just taste like sh!t regardless. there's no way around. how someone could tolerate the taste enough to get drunk off of it is beyond me.

4/29/2008 6:02:52 PM

A+

4/29/2008 6:16:47 PM

There isn't any reason to keep it illegal. I've also read where cheaper distillers used green toxic dyes to enhance the color back before there was serious regulation over the distilling process. The wormwood thing is a myth. And I wanna try some dammit.

[Edited on April 29, 2008 at 6:25 PM. Reason : more]

4/29/2008 6:24:27 PM

get some licorice schnapps, sounds like it'd taste the same

4/29/2008 6:25:35 PM

Eh it's not the same. It's like if you buy that so called moonshine that they sell in the ABC stores already in the mason jar. It's just not the same.

4/29/2008 6:26:47 PM

actually, i can vouch that shine and everclear will pretty much do the same thing

4/29/2008 6:28:04 PM

schnapps doesn't louche, isn't anywhere near the ABV and you can't make tacky TWW threads about how much you spent getting it shipped directly from Switzerland.

4/29/2008 6:31:08 PM

don't waste your money. i mean it looks cool in my house. i brought back a couple of bottles from amsterdam and people always want to try it and 90% are hugely disappointed.

i'd rather have a tequilla shot.

4/29/2008 6:41:21 PM

They now sell Absente at NC ABC stores. $41.95

http://absente.com/

5/3/2008 11:43:34 PM

pwnt

5/3/2008 11:44:24 PM

if you like jager, you'l probably like absinthe. if not, it's nothing special.

5/4/2008 1:31:25 AM

Double up on the sugar and lotsa ice and its a good time.

5/4/2008 2:32:29 AM

yah i was going to suggest getting a fifth of jager and saving yourself some money.

5/4/2008 2:44:58 AM

Quote :

"don't be an assbag hooksaw, of course I used sugar and all that."

Amsterdam718

That's very convincing.

5/4/2008 8:41:26 AM

Quote :

"They now sell Absente at NC ABC stores. $41.95 http://absente.com/"

Quote :

"Absente, Absinthe Refined, is a modern version of the original Absinthe recipe. It's still the same aromatic, dazzling emerald green liqueur made from a combination of exotic botanicals. The only difference is we replaced Wormwood, the botanical that caused the initial ban, with a less bitter cousin called Southern-Wormwood, also known as "Petite Absinthe," which allows us to offer Absente in the United States. "

How the fuck are you going to make lemonade without lemons? This is bogus.

[Edited on May 4, 2008 at 8:42 AM. Reason : blasphemy, madness]

5/4/2008 8:41:38 AM

its a diffent Artemisia species. big whoop

[Edited on May 4, 2008 at 1:41 PM. Reason : plenty was made with Artemisia annua back in the day ]

5/4/2008 1:38:48 PM