Absinthe Uncorked: The 'Green Fairy' Was Boozy -- But Not Psychedelic

Science Daily ^ | 5-1-2008 | American Chemical Society

[uglybiker]

Absinthe rule of thumb:

Any brand that hypes thujone levels is crap.

The funny thing is, the REAL high quality brands (Duplais, La Petit,Clandestine, etc.) don't cost any more. And in many cases cost less!

[hewhowaits]

hehe

[alarm rider]

Wormwood?

I tried it and it was not that tasty. I know why they cut it with sugar.

I caught a moderate buzz, but nothing special.

[hewhowaits]

Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out.
regards

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Often in the case of toxicity in products, the assumption of the active agent is incorrect—it is contaminants and breakdown products that produce the problems.

For example, investigators looking at Agent Orange, the Vietnam-era defoliant, kept looking at the active agent, herbicide 2,4-D. But it was not the problem, which was both contaminants and breakdown products that released dioxins into the herbicide.

So what if thujone isn’t the problem in absinthe?

Any number of other things, such as fungus or bacteria on the wormwood or other plants, or different plants growing side by side with any of the eight or more plants put into absinthe.

The different recipes of the main types of absinthe: Blanche/la Bleue, Verte, Absenta, and Bohemian style absinth varied considerably, as did the various ingredients.

Anethole, the principal component of anise oil is a precursor that can eventually produce 2,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde which is used in the clandestine synthesis of psychedelic drugs such as ecstasy.

[hewhowaits]

not the brands hyping, the online vendors. what a suprise.
I think I'll try to get some of those you mentioned. This conversation is making me want to go check the liquor cabinet to see what I have left thanks regards

[uglybiker]

Check the reviews at The Wormwood society and at The Absinthe Buyer's Guide.

[hewhowaits]

Thanks! I will
hehe ; )

[VOA]

“...a colleague did the distillation with Thujone she grew in her garden.”

Minor point: the colleague probably grew wormwood...which is the plant
ingredient that AFAIK gives abisinthe it’s content of the molecule thujone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone

History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” had a segment on a fellow trying to
imitate the pre-ban abisinthe production process. In addition to
wormwood, I think there were at least two other spices used
(one of them being sweet anise?)

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Creativity is thinking outside the box. Getting outside the box can be done in many ways. “I’m gonna tell you one thing, kid...lateral connectivity.”

[Ghengis]

I tried it a few years ago. Felt like a deeper, more intense buzz than having a few beers or some sipping whiskey.

[donna]

But then it’s just an accident, not an achievement.

[hewhowaits]

“Minor point: the colleague probably grew wormwood...which is the plant
ingredient that AFAIK gives abisinthe it’s content of the molecule thujone.”

LOL yes you are absolutely correct, I really had no Idea how far the thead was going to go WRT the actual chemistry. I had another colleague who gave me huge clumps of it from his garden. (it makes an interesting ground cover) She never know he was growing it, he never knew she was distilling it and they work in the same lab. hehe regards

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Depends on the what sort of intellectual equipment you bring to the playground of accident. I wouldn’t recommend adding chemicals together to see what happens in a laboratory, but doing something analogous to that in art, adding randomness, is totally legitimate. The thing about going on an expedition, is you bring a lot of gear to take care of as many contingencies as possible, but you still don’t know where the trail will lead. It’s a mix between accident and plan to one degree or another depending on how daring you want to be. Daring is good in my book.