Posted on 04/30/2008 3:45:26 PM PDT by blam
Absinthe Uncorked: The 'Green Fairy' Was Boozy -- But Not Psychedelic
ScienceDaily (May 1, 2008) — A new study may end the century-old controversy over what ingredient in absinthe caused the exotic green aperitif's supposed mind-altering effects and toxic side-effects when consumed to excess. In the most comprehensive analysis of old bottles of original absinthe -- once quaffed by the likes of van Gogh, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso to enhance their creativity -- a team of scientists from Europe and the United States have concluded the culprit was plain and simple: A high alcohol content, rather than thujone, the compound widely believed responsible for absinthe's effects. Although consumed diluted with water, absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol, giving it a 140-proof wallop. Most gin, vodka, and whiskey are 80 -- 100-proof and contain 40-50 percent alcohol or ethanol.
Absinthe took on legendary status in late 19th-Century Paris among bohemian artists and writers. They believed it expanded consciousness with psychedelic effects and called it "the Green Fairy" and "the Green Muse." The drink's popularity spread through Europe and to the United States. However, illness and violent episodes among drinkers gave absinthe the reputation as a dangerous drug, and it was banned in Europe and elsewhere.
In the new study, Dirk W. Lachenmeier and colleagues point out that scientists know very little about the composition of the original absinthe produced in France before that country banned the drink in 1915. Only a single study had analyzed one sample of preban absinthe. The researchers analyzed 13 samples of preban absinthe from sealed bottles -- "the first time that such a wide ranging analysis of absinthe from the preban era has been attempted," they say.
The analysis included thujone, widely regarded as the "active" ingredient in absinthe. "It is certainly at the root of absinthe's reputation as being more drug than drink," according to Lachenmeier. Thujone was blamed for "absinthe madness" and "absinthism," a collection of symptoms including hallucinations, facial contractions, numbness, and dementia.
However, the study found relatively small concentrations of thujone, amounts less than previously estimated and not sufficient to explain absinthism. Thujone levels in preban absinthe actually were about the same as those in modern absinthe, produced since 1988, when the European Union (EU) lifted its ban on absinthe production. Laboratory tests found no other compound that could explain absinthe's effects. "All things considered, nothing besides ethanol was found in the absinthes that was able to explain the syndrome of absinthism," according to Lachenmeier.
He says that scientific data cannot explain preban absinthe's reputation as a psychedelic substance. Recent historical research on absinthism concluded that the condition probably was alcoholism, Lachenmeier indicates.
"Today it seems a substantial minority of consumers want these myths to be true, even if there is no empirical evidence that they are," says Lachenmeier. "It is hoped that this paper will go some way to refute at least the first of these myths, conclusively demonstrating that the thujone content of a representative selection of preban absinthe... fell within the modern EU limit."
The study "Chemical Composition of vintage Preban Absinthe with Special Reference to Thujone, Fenchone, Pinocamphone, Methanol, Copper, and Antimony Concentrations" is scheduled for the May 14, 2008 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Adapted from materials provided by American Chemical Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS
Beat me to it. I haven’t double-checked, but I think it came back on the US market in Nov 2007.
so it was all standard alcohol poisoning? Drink alcohol to enough excess and all kinds of bad things will happen, no matter what beverage conveys it....
I’m with the skeptics when it comes to this article. At least in this country where cocaine was part of coca-cola, and opiates were routinely added to various “patent medicines” (for example I like the portrayal of Laudanum use in the movie Tombstone), pharmacoactive substances were the rule rather than the exception pre Food and Drug Act of 1915 or so. In fact that was one of the main forces behind enacting that law. I would think France would have been just as much the case. Whose to say what ended up in any particular bottle? And as other posters say whose to say how long that stuff hangs around mixed with alcohol.
But furthermore look at the artistic output of the people who used. Those guys were on more than just booze IMHO. No one can convince me otherwise. And the contemperaneous descriptions of the users don’t resemble just alcoholics, and drunkenness as well as drug use was well understood back then.
Trivia - I only recently learned that the common drink Pernod has always been kind the non-absinthe Absinthe and that the company Pernod et Fils were the major Absinthe producers way back when.
Interesting stuff.
“Serious drinkers respond to me beyond this point only. “
You, sir, are one rude boy.
Don’t mess with me when I’m sober.
Two absinthes before work
creme de menthe
cognac
six glasses of wine at lunch
a glass of wine at work
coffee with brandy
a litre of wine on his arrival at home
another coffee with brandy
Then he butchered his wife and children. Obviously absinthe was a terribly dangerous drink. This was in 1905. The drink was banned in Switzerland a year later.
Just as now, public opinion can be swayed in any direction by people who want to get policy changed. The wine industry had been damaged by a parasitic fly a few decades before and absinthe had enlarged its market share. The European vineyards had recovered, and the wine industry wanted to recapture its broader customer base. Voila! Absinthe drives men mad.
Absinthe is legal again. I saw it on the shelf at the local liquor supermarket.
One French brand, “Lucid” at $70. claims original formula.
One American brand, “St. Georges” at $60. Uses Star Wormwood not the absinthe type, so not original recipe.
One brand I don’t remember. also $60
Then...I got busted, literally, trying to bring a couple bottles back aboard ship under my Pea Coat. The OD at top of the gangway suspected something, asked me to raise my arms, and then with a nightstick, popped me under my armpits on my upper sides and broke both bottles.
Got a Captains' Mast, some extra duty, and no liberty during the rest of time in Yokohama.
another coffee with brandy
!! So it was the brandy that did it!! Ban Brandy Now!!
no, wait, let’s ban coffee......
The video linked above, of a Jade "PF 1901", has been reviewed as being the closest modern absinthe to original well-preserved bottles.
Learn all you would like to know at: Wormwood Society
Still at Amazon. Paul Verlaine, what a wasted life. “I take sugar with it!”
The Book of Absinthe: A Cultural History (Paperback)
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Of course, anything that's 140 proof will tend to do that. ;-)
I’ve never been much of a drinker, just don’t like the feeling of inebriation or losing my sober intellect so one or two of beer or wine is my usual limit — but on the rare rare occasion (maybe 4-5 times in 30+ years, I’m now 48) that I’ve had 8+ drinks all I want to do is lie down in a dark quiet place and go to sleep. That’s it.
So I’m certain that alcohol affects different brains in very very different ways because my own experience is that I have no desire (or ability) to do any of the wild things some people do when drunk. Just let me sleep it off, thank you.
Last week, St. George Spirits of Alameda received the news that, after seven applications, the federal agency had approved its label, the final obstacle before going to market. On Monday, the small artisan distillery sold its token first bottle, becoming the only American company since 1912 to sell absinthe in the United States. Then the staff took a moment to celebrate.
FROM GOOGLE. SORRY YOU HAVEN’T. DEC 5,2007
I’ve never understood the belief that creativity based on intoxication has value. It’s just cheating.
I do. I have tried several brands.
No mind-altering experiences. It's just like any other alcoholic beverage....drink enough, you get sh*tfaced.
Currently, there are three brands approved for sale here in the States:
Lucid (France)
Kübler 53 (Suisse) and
St. George Absinthe Verte (U.S.)
And you can buy 'em online here.
Other brands should be approved in the coming months. Among them are Absinthe Marteau Classique (currently from Switzerland but will be made domestically) and Taboo (B.C.). Both of which I highly recommend. Excellent resources on absinthe can be found at The Wormwood Society
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