Absinthe's Mind-Altering Mystery Solved

[Mugu]

Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience.com via Yahoo

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.

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.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080429/sc_livescience/absinthesmindalteringmysterysolved;_ylt=AqeyejoCgdQUWHsYoJrc_4Cs0NUE">Complete article

[dawgman]

1. The one time I drank absinthe

it was one of the most wonderful, happy drunks I have ever had.

FWIW

[MannyGoldstein]

2. I'm Convinced There's Something Different About Absinthe

I get a much lighter-feeling buzz from Absinthe than from other drinks.

Great stuff!

[DS1]

3. I've only had a few swigs at a party after some beers

but I did have a ganja-like mellow that night but without the rest of the weed buzz.

Of course, that could all be suggestion.

[Howler]

4. Absinthe Buzz

I found it to be kind of a speedy drunk. I liked it all but the taste YUCK!

[MannyGoldstein]

12. Did You Mix It 3:1 With Water, And Pour Over Sugar?

Otherwise it's pretty painful.

[Howler]

24. Shiver.....

LOL!We home brewed it. I pulled the recipe off the net in "96'I got the worm wood from a friend who runs a health store.
I did use sugar but........Shiver.
When you got it down though it was an interesting buzz.Still..... I never made it again.
Thanks for the advice MannyGoldstein.Though I have cured my curiosity on that particular libation.

[MannyGoldstein]

26. That's 3 Parts Water To 1 Part Absinthe

Makes an enormous difference!

[MannyGoldstein]

27. That's 3 Parts Water To 1 Part Absinthe

Makes an enormous difference!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

5. I love this Degas painting

L'Absinthe

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. I used to drink Bacardi's 151 Rum from time to time.

Believe me, high alcohol content enhances nothing but one's state of unconsciousness.

:shrug:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacardi_151

[dawgman]

7. In my limited experience

there is something different about the absinthe buzz. It was almost like an opiate in terms of a feeling of well being and "mellow". I loved it.

[Kali]

8. wish I could remember

I think I had a story about 151:o :rofl:

[slackmaster]

9. I wish I could try pre-ban absinthe

I prefer the Czech method of serving - Soak the sugar cube in absinthe and set it on fire!

[alfredo]

10. I'll stick with Ouzo, Bourbon, and Rye.

[sammythecat]

14. A couple years ago I was interested enough to go online

and check it out. If I remember right, I was led to think that the stuff available here in Pennsylvania wasn't the "real" absinthe, but it was available overseas and could be ordered. I think I finally settled on some that cost $50 a bottle. I never did order any. Maybe someday. It really sounds intriguing.

[Richard Steele]

11. That "high alcohol" idea makes no sense, since Absinthe was traditionally consumed mixed with water.

I still believe it's the wormwood.

[sammythecat]

13. I've never had it, but I can't imagine all the hubbub

is simply due to a higher than expected alcohol content.

I mean really, there's no aura of mystery surrounding Bacardi 151. The only legend I ever heard about that stuff was just that it kicks your ass, in a hurry.

I'm not a big alcohol fan, but I would like to try absinthe sometime. I'd really be bummed if all it did was get me drunk. I hate being drunk. It's the shittiest high there is in my book. I wish I did like it though. It's cheap, legal, and available everywhere.

[bigpenguin]

15. No way.

Absolutely not. I drink alcohol all the time (I'm a fun guy). The two times I have had Absinthe, I ordered it from the Czech Republic. It cost almost $100 a bottle. You don't have to drink that much to feel it.

Let's put it this way - I've had three or four glasses of Absinthe in a sitting. I've also had a bottle of Jack Daniels in a sitting. Now, one of them got me drunk drunk drunk. And one of the got me very happily messed up.

It isn't about higher alcohol count. Something fun is going on in there. I hope they never figure out what it is, because then everyone can just make it. What fun is that?

[Toucano]

16. How else is big pharma going to profit if they can't isolate

the agent and put it in a pill?

They wouldn't think of you as a fun guy at all :)

[bigpenguin]

19. Meh.

Big pharma gets enough of my money for painkillers. Stay out of my hallucinogenic booze!

[hedgehog]

17. Maybe it's my monitor, but the stuff in the glass in the picture looks

like watered milk. It's white, not green.

[Madam Mossfern]

18. Here's a theory that may be a bit far fetched

but I'll throw it out there anyway. I don't think it's the alcohol content.

Wormwood is an artemesia as is Mugwort (in the past used as a bitter to make beer). I know that many people "smudge" with mugwort. Simply put, smudging is a Native American tradition that involves burning herbs to spirtualy cleanse an area. I do know that after smudging a room with mugwort, there is definitely a sense of an altered state of consciousness; not necessarily a high. Perhaps Wormwood has similar and more pronounced qualities.

[spinbaby]

25. Mugwort? Really?

In Japan they sell mugwort-flavored dumplings.

[Madam Mossfern]

28. Yuck!

That's really really bitter. Sorry if I offended anyone, but to be fair I say yuck to gefilte fish as well.

[pleah]

29. Also, Tarragon the herb.

[Richard Steele]

21. That's what it looks like when prepped for consumption.

Very cold water is dripped onto a sugar cube
suspended over the glass of absinthe. Some
of its components aren't water-soluble, and
precipitate out of solution to form a whitish
suspension in the finished drink.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#The_.22ritual.22_.28preparation.29

[Kali]

22. it turns white when you add water

Turkish raki does the same.

The traditional absinthe "ceremony" involves dissolving a sugar cube with ice water into the glass of absinthe. They even make special carved spoons to sit on the rim of the glass. You place the spoon on the glass with a cube of sugar and slowly dribble the ice water on it. It dirps into the class and turns cloudy white.

[eppur_se_muova]

30. It's been diluted with water, and/or mixed with sugar -- that turns it milky.

Absinthe contains volatile oils (including thujone) from the wormwood. These stay in solution as long as the alcohol content is sufficiently high. On dilution with water, or addition of sugar, the solution becomes too polar for the oils to remain in solution, and they separate out as tiny droplets of oil, which can form an emulsion. (Milk is an emulsion of fat in water, as is rubber latex, hence the resemblance.)

Watching the clear grean liquid transform into a milky white emulsion as it is poured over a lump of sugar in an 'absinthe spoon' is part of the ritual of imbibing absinthe.

ON EDIT: Oops, that's *water* poured over sugar into absinthe, not absinthe poured over sugar.

[derby378]

20. It seems that if you drink enough of any spirits, you'll hit a brick wall

I've only been drunk once in my life, and that was from drinking a yardlong frozen mudslide daiquiri fortified with a shot of Everclear. It tasted great overall, but the dregs at the bottom tasted like paint thinner.

But I never hit "the wall." I've seen people who would be drinking moderately throughout the night, and then there would be this one shot of tequila or bourbon or whatever that took the imbiber over the alcohol bell curve. Wham. Just like that, they're staggering and barely coherent.

I have yet to ingest absinthe, and I am not adverse to trying it sometime in the future, but if the effect of the thujone is truly incidental, I can see where a "wall" effect could take place after a glass or two.

[Norrin Radd]

23. Have a bottle of La Fée in the cupboard that a friend gave as a gift.

It's from eabsinthe.com. You really have to like the licorice taste of anise and fennel.