The Fresh Absinthe Thujone

Absinthe thujone is the chemical seen in Absinthe’s vital ingredient, the plant identified as Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its botanical name. The substance thujone was partly the cause of Absinthe being banned during the early 1900s in several countries across the world and thujone continues to be tightly regulated today https://absinthesupreme.com, especially in the United States (or states united).

Thujone was considered to be just like THC present in cannabis and Absinthe was purported to be psychoactive and have psychedelic effects creating hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe was well-liked by the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and several artists and writers believed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration in addition to their genius. Well-known Absinthe drinkers include Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Baudelaire and Verlaine. Some point out that Van Gogh’s madness was brought on by Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its control . Absinthe was even held responsible for a man murdering his family, despite the fact that he had taken a great many other strong alcoholic drinks following the Absinthe.

Prohibition campaigners used news of the murder to campaign for the outlawing of Absinthe and charged France’s growing problems of alcohol addiction on the emerald liquor.

Is Absinthe Thujone Dangerous?

Today’s studies suggest that it was in fact the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that was dangerous instead of the thujone. Absinthe is twice as strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be taken when consuming Absinthe. Thujone is simply found in minute quantities and must therefore cause no major negative effects or health problems. The EU stipulates that alcoholic beverages with an ABV (alcohol by volume) level over 25% may possibly contain a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” can contain up to 35mg/kg, it is not completely clear which class Absinthe suits but many brands of Absinthe have much less than 35mg with a lot of being under 10mg/kg. In the US it is simply legal to purchase or sell Absinthes with trace levels of thujone.

High doses of thujone may be dangerous triggering convulsions nevertheless you would need to drink a great deal of Absinthe to consume that quantity of thujone and it will be impossible to drink that amount, you would be comatosed from alcohol before then!

Absinthe Ingredients

It is said that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the first Absinthe distillery, used the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper and veronica to make his famous Pernod Absinthe. The essential oil from all of these herbs is mainly responsible for La Louche, the clouding which happens when water is added to Absinthe. These herbs specially the aniseed and anise are responsible for the distinctive aniseed or licorice taste of Absinthe and wormwood is responsible for the bitter flavor. Absinthe is sometimes used as bitters in cocktails.

There are many brands of Absinthe or Absinthe substitutes which were developed during the ban and therefore contain no Absinthe thujone or wormwood, but many would claim that Absinthe isn’t Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter taste of wormwood. If you’d like real Absinthe look for brands that contain wormwood or Absinthe thujone.