Food & Drink

Since Absinthe is once again legal in many countries around the world, people are asking “What are the effects of Absinthe?”, “Will it make me trip and hallucinate?”, “Will this cause me to see the Green Fairy?”.

Absinthe is a mythical drink with many legends and stories surrounding it. Orginally created in Switzerland as an elixir or tonic by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, it quickly became a best selling alcoholic beverage when Henri-Louis Pernod started distilling it in France. In fact , Absinthe overtook beer, cider and even wine as the most popular drink in France in the period known as La Belle Epoque, the golden age leading up to the First World War.

Famous drinkers of the Green Fairy include Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Oscar Wilde who said “After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. The second you see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the one of the most horrible thing in the world.”

Pernod made his recipe for Absinthe from a wine base flavored with natural herbal ingredients such as wormwood, fennel, aniseed, star anise, veronica, dittany, lemon balm, hyssop, nutmeg, angelica and dittany. Some manufacturers used additional herbs such as coriander, calamus root and mint.

What are some of the effects of Absinthe?

Absinthe became popular in the time known as “The Great Binge”, a time when beverages containing cocaine were popular and the time when heroin was thought safe to use in medicine. Absinthe was linked to these types of drugs and thought to be psychoactive and so caused:-

– Hallucinations
– Extreme excitability
– Convulsions and spasms
– Damage of the intellect
– Insanity
– Addiction
– Brain damages
– Violence
– Death

Artists and writers who drank Absinthe say it helped them gain inspiration and was responsible for their genius. Famous Absinthe poetry.

Absinthe, so the prohibition led people to believe, was going to drive the French people immoral and cause the collapse of the nation. Doctors tested wormwood and thujone, the chemical from wormwood ,on animals and claimed that it was like cannabis and that it caused epileptic fits. The prohibition movement blamed Absinthe for causing a man to murder his whole family, after he had only consumed two glasses of Absinthe and copious amounts of other alcoholic beverages. The consumption of Absinthe was also famously blamed for Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and for his suicide.

Absinthe was thought to contain large amounts of thujone, as much as 350 mg per liter but high tech tests on original vintage bottles have proved that claims about thujone levels and the safety of Absinthe were completely false. Absinthe contained a small amounts, up to 6mg, not enough to cause anyone to even hallucinate a little. Studies show that Absinthe is just as safe as any other alcoholic drink.

Absinthe will not help you see green fairies but it is very strong drink, up to 75% alcohol — so will get your drunk rather quckly and easily. The mysterious blend of alcohol and herbs in Absinthe will give you a strange drunken experience, a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness – a completely new experience!

What are some of the effects of Absinthe? There are no bad effects except a hangover if you overdo it. Absinthe is a drink to be enjoyed and to make you have a feeling of well being. Buy good quality Absinthe which contains wormwood which is real or make your own with essences from AbsintheKit.come and enjoy the great taste of Absinthe also called the Green Fairy. Absinthe kits are available from http://absinthekit.com/.

Absinthe is an anise flavor liquor which is made by distilling alcohol with herbs one of which is wormwood and aniseed. It is known it is strong and can get you very drunk, but what percentage of alcohol is Absinthe and what is its proof?

Let’s look at the alcohol by volume levels of popular brands of Absinthe:-

La Fee XS Absinthe Francaise 68% abv (136 proof)
Doubs Mystique Carte D’Or 65% abv or 130 proof
La Clandestine Absinthe is 53% alcohol by volume or 106 proof
Jade Edouard 72% abv (144 proof)
Sebor is 55% abv or 110 proof
Jade Nouvelle Orleans 68% alcohol is 136 proof
Mari Mayans Collectors 70 is 70% abv (140 proof)
La Fee Parisian which 68% alcohol by volume (136 proof)
Lucid Absinthe 62% alcohol by volume = 124 proof
Jade Verte Suisse 65% alcohol by volume which is 130 proof
Pernod Absinthe 68% abv (136 proof)
Kuber 53 is 53% alcohol or 106 proof
Pere Kermanns 60% abv (120 proof)
Jade PF 1901 which is 68% abv is 136 proof
La Fee XS Absinthe Suisse 53% alcohol by volume (106 proof)
Roquette 1797 is 75% abv or 150 proof
La Fee Bohemian 70% abv which is 140 proof

Let’s now compare Absinthe to several other beverages:-

Whisky – Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof)
Absinthe can be up to 75% alcohol by volume (150 proof)
Table Wine 9-12% abv is 18-24 proof
Beer is only 4 or 5% alcohol by volume or 8-10 proof

Now, the information on the alcohol.com website has worked out that if you have one shot of 190 proof Everclear is equivalent to drinking 2.85 beers and about 3 brandies. With this information it can be established that one shot of Absinthe is equivalent to 2.2five beers. So, 22 shots Absinthe is equivalent to 49.5 beers!

As you can see, Absinthe is much stronger than as wine and beer and even whisky. We need to be careful when consuming Absinthe because it is so strong and will intoxicate quickly. We need to take particular care when mixing Absinthe with other alcoholic drinks in cocktails.

Care needs to always be taken when your are making your own Absinthe drink. If you buy an Absinthe kit from Green Devil then you are steeping herbs in a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Now, Everclear has alcohol by volume of 95% and a proof of 190 so it is much stronger than commercial Absinthe. In the Absinthekit are Absinthe essences.many are mixed with a neutral alcohol such as Everclear or vodka. Your finished Absinthe will be whatever the proof or abv of the neutral alcohol you have used.

What % is in Absinthe? For commercial Absinthe look on the bottle label or, if you are ordering online, look at the product details for abv or proof. If you are making your own Absinthe from a kit, you need to look at the bottle of Everclear or vodka that you are using.

There is much interest in Absinthe, which is also known as Green Fairy or La Fee Verte. People want to know what type to buy, how to buy it, how to prepare it and what is the recommended amount of Absinthe to use when preparing a drink.

First be certain to buy a quality Absinthe which is rich in oils and that contains worm wood. Many Absinthe substitutes or fake Absinthes are for sales but you should buy Absinthes that contains common wormwood. Make sure you buy a proper real Absinthe. If you are in a country where it is hard to find a good quality Absinthe then you can make your own using essences from AbsintheKit.com.

After you have your Absinthe, you will need to learn the Ritual called La Louche. This is the traditional French or Swiss way of preparing Absinthe and it uses one shot of Absinthe. Following are the instructions:-

To perform the Ritual, you will need an Absinthe glass, a slotted Absinthe spoon, a lump of sugar and iced water.

– Pour 25-50 ml of Absinthe into the glass.
– Rest the Absinthe spoon over the rim of the glass and place a cube of sugar on it.
– By either pouring from a carafe or dripping from the tap of the fountain, slowly drip iced water over the sugar. Dripping it slowly gives the sugar a chance to dissolve and drip through the slots of the spoon. You will probably see a lovely “louche” effect as the water mixes into the alcohol. The drink louches as the oils of the herbs are souble in alcohol but not in water and therefore make the mixture cmoudy when water is added.
– Sit down and enjoy.

Similar to the Ritual is the Bohemian or Czech Method and is a modern way of preparing cheap Czech Absinthes. The Bohemian method is scorned by many Absinthe followers.

Instructions for using the Bohemian method:-

– Pour 25 to 50 ml of Absinthe into the glass and dip the sugar cube into it and soak the cube.
– Place the Absinthe spoon on the rim of the glass and place the cube of sugar on the spoon.
– Set the sugar cube alight for one minute to allow the surgar to melt and caramelize. The sugar will drip through the slots of the spoon and into the Absinthe.
– Place the spoon into the glass and pour the iced water into the Absinthe to put out the flames and to cause the Absinthe to louche.
– Enjoy your Absinthe drink.

To really enjoy your Absinthe properly then you will want some Absinthiana – Absinthe glasses, spoons and perhaps even an Absinthe fountain to control the flow of the water. Replicas of antique spoons and glasses can be purchased from AbsintheKit.com.

To Prepare Absinthe drink, what is the rcommended amount of Absinthe to use? A US shot or about 45 ml. You can use Absinthe in cocktains – search for recipes online.