Absinthe is one of my favorite drinks, not because it gives me otherworldly visions, but because it`s refreshing, herbaceous and light. But whenever I offer something to a friend, I always have to explain, “Yes, it`s real absinthe,” “No, real absinthe isn`t illegal,” and finally, “Trust me, you won`t start stumbling.” Absinthe has been frequently and wrongly described as a hallucinogen in modern times. No peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown that wormwood has hallucinogenic properties. [84] The belief that absinthe produces hallucinogenic effects is rooted, at least in part, in the discoveries of 19th-century French psychiatrist Valentin Magnan, who conducted experiments with wormwood oil for ten years. During this research, he looked at 250 cases of alcoholism and concluded that those who abused wormwood were worse off than those who abused other alcoholic beverages and had rapid hallucinations. [85] Such reports of absinthe opponents (such as Magnan) were greeted with joy by famous absinthe drinkers, many of whom were Bohemian artists or writers. [86] If you order absinthe online from abroad, it can be confiscated just as easily if CBP inspects it. In 2000,[133] a product called Absente was legally sold in the United States under the marketing slogan “Refined Absinthe”, but because the product contained sugar and was made from southern wood (Artemisia abrotanum) rather than large wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) (prior to 2009),[134] the TTB classified it as a liquor. Das 21. Century has seen new types of wormwood, including various frozen preparations that are becoming increasingly popular. [53] [54] [55] The 1915 French ban on absinthe was lifted in May 2011 on petition by the French Federation of Spirits, which represents French distillers. [56] Absinthe was born at the end of the 18th century in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
It gained great popularity as an alcoholic beverage in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially among Parisian artists and writers. The use of absinthe has been opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists, in part because of its association with bohemian culture. Notable absinthe drinkers from Europe and America were Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Aleister Crowley, Erik Satie, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron and Alfred Jarry. [7] [8] In the Netherlands, the restrictions were challenged in July 2004 by the Amsterdam wine merchant Menno Boorsma, again confirming the legality of absinthe. Similarly, Belgium lifted its long-standing ban on 1 January 2005, citing a conflict with the adopted rules on food and drink of the European single market. In Switzerland, the constitutional ban was lifted in 2000 as part of a revision of the national constitution, although the ban was incorporated into general law. This Act was subsequently repealed and entered into force on 1 March 2005. [42] Absinthe has long been said to be illegal in the United States, but brands such as Lucid and St. George openly sell their absinthe products in liquor stores across the country. So why all the fuss about absinthe? Artificially colored or clear wormwood is aesthetically stable and can be filled with clear glass. When natural-colored wormwood is exposed to light or air for an extended period of time, chlorophyll is gradually oxidized, gradually changing the color from green to yellow-green and eventually brown. The color of wormwood that completed this transition has historically been called dead leaf.
In the period before the ban, this natural phenomenon was positively assessed as it confirmed that the product in question was naturally coloured and not artificially with potentially toxic chemicals. As might be expected, vintage absinthes often emerge from bottles sealed as a distinctly amber hue due to decades of slow oxidation. Although this color change does not affect the taste of wormwood, it is generally desirable to preserve the original color, which requires naturally colored absinthe to be bottled in dark, fading-resistant bottles. Absinthe destined for decades of storage should be stored in a cool place (room temperature), dry, away from light and heat. Wormwood should not be stored in the refrigerator or freezer, as the anethole in the bottle can polymerize, producing an irreversible precipitate and affecting the original taste. In 1905, Swiss farmer Jean Lanfray murdered his family and attempted suicide after drinking absinthe. Lanfray was an alcoholic who drank a lot of wine and brandy before the murders, but this was neglected or ignored, and responsibility for the murders was attributed solely to his consumption of two glasses of absinthe. [25] [26] The Lanfray murders were the turning point in this hotly debated issue, and a subsequent petition collected more than 82,000 signatures to ban it in Switzerland. A plebiscite was held on July 5, 1908. [27] It was adopted by voters[27] and the ban on absinthe was incorporated into the Swiss Constitution.
On March 27, 1923, a ban on absinthe was issued in Germany. In addition to banning the production and trade of absinthe, the law went so far as to prohibit the distribution of printed matter containing details of its manufacture. The original ban was lifted in 1981, but the use of Artemisia absinthium as a flavouring substance remained banned. 27. In September 1991, Germany adopted the European Union standards of 1988, which effectively relegalized absinthe. [118] It is legal to manufacture and sell absinthe in Georgia, which has claimed to possess several absinthe producers. In the United States, all absinthe must be free of thujone. But, and it is important to know, the TTB considers a product to be free of thujone if the thujone content is less than 10 ppm (equivalent to 10 mg/kg). This means that American absinthes are also made from absinthe and can be considered true absinthes. But European absinthes can use more absinthe.
The legal limits for thujone in the European Union are 35 mg. This is the difference between American absinthes and European absinthes: European absinthes can legally contain more thujone. The scandalous history of absinthe begins in France at the end of the 19th century. French soldiers took wormwood to protect themselves from malaria. When they returned home, they brought their taste for aniseed alcohol. Over the next twenty years, absinthe became very popular in France. It was served in bars, bistros, cabarets and cafes and drunk by everyone from the wealthy bourgeoisie to the working class. However, in the early 20th century, the French began to prefer wine to absinthe. At that time, various countries also began banning wormwood, claiming that the mind makes you crazy and criminal. In 1912, the United States became one of those countries and maintained the ban on absinthe until 2007, long after prohibition was a thing of the past.
While it`s not hard to imagine the U.S. banning some form of alcohol because of apocryphalia, the ban still lasted a very long time. The aura of illegality and mystery surrounding absinthe has played out in literature, movies, music and television, where it is often portrayed as a mysterious, addictive and psychotropic drink. L`Absinthe de Marie Corelli: Un drame de Paris (1890) is a popular novel about a Frenchman who was driven to murder and ruin after his introduction to absinthe. It was conceived as a moral story about the dangers of drinking and has been speculated that it contributed to the subsequent ban on absinthe in Europe[141] and the United States. [142] Early film references include The Hasher`s Delirium (1910) by animation pioneer Émile Cohl,[143] and two different silent films entitled Absinthe from 1913 and 1914, respectively. [144] [145] “When I tested bottles of vintage absinthe,” he says, “I was surprised that they contained very little thujone.” It was legalized in the United States in 2007 with regulated levels of thujones. It is usually made from wormwood, anise and fennel and contains no added sugar. You need wormwood to make actual absinthe, but the herb is hard to work with — one of its key compounds, thujone, has long been thought to be the cause of the drink`s alleged side effects: hallucinations, artistic inspiration, degeneration, and murderous mania. Thujone has been banned in the United States as a food and beverage ingredient since 1912.
It was the Czech Republic that popularized all the flaming sugar cube you`ve probably seen somewhere in a movie. While it certainly has a cinematic effect and is especially exciting for those who feel like they`re doing something illegal while drinking absinthe, it`s by no means traditional. No. The hallucinogenic properties of absinthe are – and always have been – just an urban legend. Wormwood or Artemisia absinthium, the plant that gives wormwood its name, contains a chemical compound called thujone, which is said to have hallucinogenic properties. But the thujone content of wormwood is – and always has been – so low that you`d faint or die of alcohol poisoning long before you felt these effects. The import, distribution and sale of absinthe is permitted subject to the following restrictions: When cooking[72] and preparing the classic New Orleans-style Sazerac cocktail,[73] anise-flavored liqueurs and pastis have often been used as substitutes when absinthe is not available.