Discovering What is in Absinthe?

Absinthe, often known as the Green Fairy, is actually a herbal alcoholic drink having an anise flavor. It was the drink of La Belle Epoque time history and of the Bohemian society of Paris, particularly Montmartre. Absinthe fans – Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde and also Ernest Hemingway claimed that the drink was responsible for their genius and that it afforded them motivation – the Green Fairy was their muse. But, what is in Absinthe?

What is in Absinthe?

Henri-Louis Pernod’s Absinthe with the early 19th century was developed by using a wine based alcohol that has been distilled with natural herbs. It is said that his Absinthe recipe was created utilizing the plant common wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium) as well as other herbs like Florence fennel, green aniseed, hyssop, lemon balm, dittany, star anise, angelica, veronica, nutmeg and juniper. Many of these herbs were utilised at the start of the procedure and others were utilised towards the end to provide the Absinthe its classic green or verte color.

Wormwood offered Absinthe its name (from Absinthium) and its particular marginally bitter taste. Roman or petite wormwood (artemisia pontica) is likewise sometimes used in Absinthe creation.

Wormwood contains a chemical referred to as thujone. Thujones are monoterpenes and ketones which are present in several other plants too – sage, cypress and tansy. Thujones act on the GABA receptors in the brain and may result in convulsions and muscle spasms when ingested in big amounts. They can even be toxic to organs including the liver and brain. Thujone was considered to be similar to THC in the drug cannabis causing psychedelic effects such as hallucinations but research has shown this to be false.

Wormwood, or thujone, was answerable for the banning of Absinthe in the early 1900s. The medical profession of the time claimed that drinking Absinthe resulted in Absinthe addiction, Absinthism whose signs or symptoms were:-

– Hallucinations
– Hyper excitability
– Decline of the intellect
– Brain damage
– Insanity
– Death

These claims have now been proved false and seem to be just part of the mass hysteria marketed by the prohibition movement of the time. Absinthe, even pre ban Absinthe, only contains really small amounts of thujone and it will be impossible to consume enough thujone to get harmful – you would die of alcohol poisoning first! There is much more thujone in sage and no one hallucinates after enjoying a casserole flavored with sage!

All good Absinthe is made up of wormwood and other essential oils. These oils permit the Absinthe to louche when water is added in Absinthe preparation and provide it its wonderful anise flavor. Ensure that you obtain a quality Absinthe or make your own Absinthe using a top-quality essence from AbsintheKit.com. See AbsintheKit.com for details and help regarding their Absinthe products.

Absinthe also contains alcohol and it has an extremely high alcohol by volume, up to 75% ABV. Care needs to be taken when drinking Absinthe, not mainly because it could make you hallucinate but because it is really easy to get drunk on Absinthe especially if you are mixing it with other alcohol in cocktails.

I hope that this info has answered the question “What is in Absinthe?”. Enjoy getting to know the Green Fairy!