Absinthe/Green Fairy

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Dec 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

meatbox666	23 Dec 2002
Hahahaha. I am going to make some absinthe and try drinking it. Has anyone ever made it? I know it is illegal in the USA but.............. *ahem* Has anyone ever tried it and if so what are your experiences. Every witch should learn tomake absinthe.

Emily	23 Dec 2002
I could be wrong but I think you can still buy absinthe in France, it is banned here in the UK too. Where would you buy wormwood from? Anyway Good luck with your endeavors but remember it was banned for a reason lol :) Edited to say:- No just found out its banned in France too lol Didn't realise there were that many absinthe recipes around lol but I've just found most of them

Diana	23 Dec 2002
Going to brew it in your new fancy cauldron, meatbox? Absinthe is nothing special. Unless you drink too much of it and then you'll go mad. Stark raving mad. But I suppose there are worse things than going mad. Here in Switzerland, people brew it illegally, especially in the Jura mountains. (Hmmm, this may explain a lot of things....)

ihcoyc	23 Dec 2002
I had some real absinthe when I was visiting Czechoslovakia about ten years ago. It tasted like Pernod, only markedly more bitter. To make real absinthe, you have to have access to a still; the stuff you make by steeping the wormwood herb does not act like the genuine article, it does not change colours when you put the water in. I suspect that the effects of wormwood are probably oversold, and there really isn't any good reason for the stuff to still be illegal. The main thing that made people crazy was that the stuff was like 120 proof or so.

DarkElectric	23 Dec 2002
Absinthe is legal AND served in bars in Czech Republic (notably, Prague). I know this from personal experience. I have never made the stuff myself, I had a friend who did, it was sort of an involved process, the stuff was rather nasty, and not that much like the genuine article. My advice? Go to Prague. It's a fun place, real absinthe, and what the hell, why not? You may like it there so much you want to stay. It's a beautiful country.

Sulis	23 Dec 2002
Haven`t tried absinthe, it`s a lovely colour though. Have you tried puchine- irish, made from potatoes; very nice but lethal stuff. Love and light Crystalmynx xx

Emily	23 Dec 2002
Hi Crystalmynx, My Dad used to make potato whiskey lol - that was lethal but an aquired taste :)

Laurel	23 Dec 2002
A friend who's dad owned a microbrewery made some one year after looking at different recipes and we all tried some from three different batches. I expected it to be sweet, and it wasn't. I didn't like the taste or notice any peculiar effects but granted, I probably had a cup worth over the course of an evening. Laurel

Hypatia	23 Dec 2002
The Czech Republic is wonderful place, go see. Absinthe is a horrible drink. I brought back two bottles. We just threw 1 and 1/2 bottles down the sink. It is a very pretty colour but it tastes vile. It looks like mouthwash, smells like mouthwash and tastes far worse. My brother (who is a serious drinker) drank most of half a bottle last New Year and he was seriously out of his skull. He ended up wandering around our village barefoot in just his jeans. He never touched the stuff after that. I can't remember much about the night I drank absinthe but I can remember throwing up in morning. If you do drink the stuff, make sure somebody you trust is there more or less sober. Hypatia

floracove	23 Dec 2002
Never tried any although I wouldn't mind trying it. Sounds as though it may be a cure-all for alcoholism.

ihcoyc	23 Dec 2002
I really, really covet the astronomical clock they have in the gate in Prague.

DarkElectric	23 Dec 2002
I love that clock too! My hotel was around the corner from the Stare Mesto, so I got to watch it at noon when the little figures emerged from the clock tower, did their stuff, then went back in. I was always out and about when I was there, but I usually was in the vicinity of the clock at noon! The green liquor of eternal damnation is ok if you only drank it in small quantities (very small). Like they say, Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder. And the mind go wander. It's possibly a cure for alcoholism, although if somebody drinks enough of the stuff, it can definitely be a cure for rational thought. My bandmates drank a LOT of it one night, and they both got really sick, the whole night they were dealing with absinthe aftermath. They looked like death on the train the next day. I offered them some more to cure them up. It was a long, silent trip.

Major Tom	24 Dec 2002
Quote: Originally posted by Emily I could be wrong ... it is banned here in the UK too. They removed the ban in the UK sometime last year. You can find it on the shelves in Tescos. :)

Emily	26 Dec 2002
Thanks Major Tom, I didn't know :) - It would take a lot to turn me off my favourite tipple of vodka though lol :D

Kiama	27 Dec 2002
Absinthe is actually legal in the UK: I have a friend who drank nearly half a bottle of the stuff one night, then wondered why he puked half his stomach lining out the next morning. ;) The reason lots of people think that absinthe can be useful, is cuz of it's hallucinogenic properties (Also the reason why it's illegal in most countries!). But, it has a nasty side feect which affects the eyes... My boyfriend, who spent quite a few years drinking absinthe (He's stopped now) has gone virutally blind in one eye because of it. Kiama

DeLani	27 Dec 2002
I thought it was illegal here in the US as well, but a few months ago my mother & I found some in a liquor store. We bought it and tried it - Hypatia's right, it tastes like mouthwash. We hated it. But at least I can say I've tried it. I didn't drink enough to get any effects though (darn it). I guess it's back to good old-fashioned mushrooms... (kidding) :)

DarkElectric	29 Dec 2002
Hey, nothing wrong with mushrooms! Fresh portebellos, baked with a crabmeat stuffing... Who needs absinthe!

Myrrha	30 Dec 2002
Meatbox, is Wormwood the same thing as Artemnesia? If so it grows all over the place here, I used to put it in little pillows to make my dreams stranger. I wonder if absinthe would give me strange dreams. Myrrha

ihcoyc	30 Dec 2002
There are many species of Artemisia. Wormwood is A. absinthium. Tarragon is A. tarraconensis or A. dracunculus. Sagebrush is A. tridentata. Mugwort is A. vulgaris. There are many others. Not all are edible.

meatbox666	02 Jan 2003
I have finished stepping dried wormwoos in Vodka. Now I have to add caraway(sp) seeds, cardmon pods, hysoop, and something else. I will strain the wormwood today. My drink shood be ready by Sunday. Woohoo!!!

zander770	03 Jan 2003
well, i'll certainly be awaiting these next two more days! anyone care for an agave worm while the sun arises? ~770 :TMAGE

Trish	03 Jan 2003
Absinthe? Hm. Judging from what the people have said here, it seems like it is really potent stuff. *shrugs* And with alcoholism running in my family, I'm not sure I'd want to try it. I might try a tiny bit of it just once though, for the experience. ;)

Violet Gargoyle	04 Jan 2003
Absinthe was believed to have been created by a Dr. Pierre Ordinaire, a French man living in Switzerland in 1792. He sold the recipe to Henry Louis Pernod. It got really popular during the Frech battles in Algeria- Absinthe was given to soldiers to cure or prevent fevers. (maybe it's the forerunner to Nyquil?) There are lots of versions of Absinthe all over the place, even in the US (but it does not have the wormwood and is said a poor knockoff according to a couple of friends who tried it). I suspect that lots of places (except the Czech, that region seems to still make the genuine stuff, though still not as strong as in the 19th century) are sans the wormwood. No one has mentioned sugarcubes yet? Gosh, drinks are no fun unless you can use the word "opalescant" in its description, and you need the sugarcubes (and special spoon) for that, but I digress.... Never drank the stuff myself, just plain read too much about it. Always wanted an Absinthe tshirt, I think thats about it.

JC	04 Jan 2003
Nice post. I did do some research after reading this thread. What the absinthe gets from the wormwood is a chemical called thujone. It seems to be related to turpentines, since it was first derived from white cedars. In large enough quantities it is definately psychoactive, but many biochemists say there is not enough in genuine absinthe to be the active ingredient (that would still be the alcohol.) Debate is still up as to wether or not thujone can accumulate in one's body. Based on my understanding of turpenoids, I would assume it can. Vermouth also has trace amounts of thujone as it is also distilled with wormwood. I think the opalescant quality when mixed with water or sugar comes from the anise and other things the absinthe is distilled with, though. Ouzo, raj and grappa do the same thing sans wormwood.

kayne	04 Jan 2003
I have seen absinth available on the shelf in my local bottle shop... I wonder if it is the real thing? It has sort of become a bit popular to try after the success of Moulin Rouge. I wanna' see the green fairy too... (yay Kylie Minogue! :D) Maybe I will try it one day...

Trish	08 Jan 2003
Oh no .... Moulin Rouge ... please, don't get me started! The hills are aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiive! :D (I suppose Absinthe would do that to ya, huh?) ROFL! BTW -- meatbox, you never told us how it worked out! Well ... ?

meatbox666	16 Jan 2003
I never got around to adding the other ingredients. LOL, I drank all of the woormwood tincture. LOL. (I put one ounce of wormwood in 100 proof vodka and let it soak for a few weeks) I open my bottle and try the stuff. It is not absinthe as of yet because I have not added the rest of the ingredients. Why, I drank all of the wormwood tincture. Man that stuff is powerful. I let my sister try some(wormwood tincture) and we felt like we smoked a joint and drank an energy drink. We danced around and eventually felt sleepy. I have to make a new batch and leave it over a friends house. If I do not I will drink it all before it becomes absinthe.

Centaur	16 Jan 2003
Don't they sell it in Spain?

Osher	24 Jan 2003
Absinthe is one of my favourite tipples. It is easy available in England. Wine chain shops, for example, sell it. However, I know that they do not hold large stocks of it, and they will not sell you more than 1 bottle. Which is madness! Ordinary shops will sell as much as you want. Absinthe is generally mid to dark green. It's alcohol content varies a lot. I often drink Hill's Absinthe, from Prague, which is 70%. It can be half that for some brands. For everyone who has seen 'Murder by Numbers', what they are drinking is not Absinthe. It might be called it, but it is pale green and drunken like fruit juice. Impossible with real Absinthe (sorry Miss Bullock, but I laughed at that point). They are right in the melting the sugar then mixing it in. Absinthe tastes like mouthwash (try Listerine). However, the good thing is that the first shop will numb you to further assualts on your taste buds. As far as shots go: I am built like a Viking. 2 shots make me tipsy, and slightly hard to walk. 4 shots make standing an exercise. 6 shots? Don't ask! It is said that Absinthe is hallucinagenic. Possibly, but one assumes that the alcohol is more potent. In the absence of Absinthe, try rum. It is just as potent, only legal in more places. When I say rum, I do not mean that weak stuff, but the real stuff. As far as Absinthe on sale in the UK goes, Hills is I think the most popular brand. However, there are some new brands, in fancy bottles. Which means that you pay a lot for a fancy bottle. Hills was the brand that re-started the popularity of Absinthe in England (oh, and Hill's spell it Absinth, no e at the end). It is also one of the most potent brands at 140% proof or 70% alcohol. Oh, and Absinthe was never banned in England, it just fell out of fashion. Americans might want to try: Herbsaint Liqueur D'Anis, from New Orleans. It is legal in America, being similiar to, but not the same as, real Absinthe. Anyway, if anyone wants more information, such as Spanish & French Absinthe's on sale in the UK, and where to buy them, just reply to this message

Cat	24 Jan 2003
The issue with absinthe in the UK is that its legal to buy, but isn't made anywhere in the country. Only other places in Europe where it's legal are the Slovak and Czeck republics. As a result of the limited supply, it costs about £40 a bottle (about US$60). Mush cheaper to smuggle it in after a summer Interrailing;)

Osher	24 Jan 2003
My mate buys it for me for around £5 a bottle in Prague. I believe it costs around £15 a bottle here (for Hill's)

The Absinthe/Green Fairy thread was originally posted on 23 Dec 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.