The Absinthe United States Position
Absinthe thujone is the chemical present in Absinthe’s vital ingredient, the plant identified as Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its botanical name. The chemical thujone was partly accountable for Absinthe being banned in the early 1900s in several countries across the world and thujone remains tightly regulated today, especially in the United States (or states united).
Thujone was thought to be much like THC found in cannabis and Absinthe was alleged to be psychoactive and possess psychedelic effects producing hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe was popular with the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and several artists and writers claimed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration as well as their genius. Famous Absinthe drinkers include Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Baudelaire and Verlaine. Some claim that Van Gogh’s madness was brought on by Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its influence https://alcoholplant.com. Absinthe was even blamed for a man murdering his family, despite the fact that he had taken a great many other strong alcoholic drinks after the Absinthe.
Prohibition campaigners used news of the murder to campaign for the suspending of Absinthe and charged France’s growing problems of alcohol addiction to the emerald liquor.
Is Absinthe Thujone Hazardous?
Today’s studies suggest that it was in fact the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that was dangerous rather than the thujone. Absinthe is doubly strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be utilized when consuming Absinthe. Thujone is merely found in minute quantities and must therefore cause no major negative effects or health issues. The EU stipulates that alcohol based drinks with an ABV (alcohol by volume) level over 25% may only consist of a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” can contain approximately 35mg/kg, it is not completely clear which class Absinthe matches but a majority of brands of Absinthe have much less than 35mg with many being under 10mg/kg. In the US it is simply legal to get or sell Absinthes with trace quantities of thujone.
High doses of thujone can be dangerous triggering convulsions but you would need to drink a large amount of Absinthe to consume that amount of thujone and it will be impossible to drink that amount, you’d be comatosed from alcohol until then!
Absinthe Materials
It is said that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the very first Absinthe distillery, used the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper and veronica to produce his famous Pernod Absinthe. The essential oil from these herbs is mainly responsible for La Louche, the clouding which comes about when water is added to Absinthe. These herbs especially the aniseed and anise are accountable for the distinctive aniseed or licorice taste of Absinthe and wormwood is liable for the bitter flavor. Absinthe is usually used as bitters in cocktails.
There are several brands of Absinthe or Absinthe substitutes that have been developed in the ban and thus contain no Absinthe thujone or wormwood, but some would say that Absinthe is not Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter taste of wormwood. If you wish real Absinthe look for brands that contains wormwood or Absinthe thujone.