Absinthe is flavoured distilled liquor, emerald green in colour, turning to cloudy, opalescent white when mixed with water. It inspired many prominent artists, writers and poets. Just to name a few - Vincent Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Manet, Ernest Hemingway - in fact his masterpiece " For Whom The Bell Tolls " was written under the influence of "The Green Fairy". Absinthe was first produced commercially in 1797 by Henry-Louis Pernod, who purchased the formula from a French exile living in Switzerland.

http://www.absinth.com/images/ecollection_5_new.jpg

Has anyone here tried it?
What brand?
Worthwhile?
Discuss.

http://www.absinth.com/images/louche_close_150_new.jpg

Never tried it, but I think they had it in the movie "Murder by Numbers"

BTW Love the red X's :nice:

it was in the movie From Hell too....btw it's worth trying you get ****ed up!!

Absinthe causes brain damage, I'll be back with a link.

Originally posted by Desert_jackal
Absinthe causes brain damage, I'll be back with a link.

So does TV, Microwaves, and falling on your head.

Fact of the matter is... "Everything in Moderation"
A couple shots of Absinthe isn't going to make you a vegetable.
It takes years of drinking it hardcore.

-Æ (Life's short. Live it.)

Originally posted by ÆSiR


So does TV, Microwaves, and falling on your head.

Fact of the matter is... "Everything in Moderation"
A couple shots of Absinthe isn't going to make you a vegetable.
It takes years of drinking it hardcore.

-Æ (Life's short. Live it.)


years of drinking anything hardcore will give you brain damage....:werd:

Apparently the culprit that causes this is an ingredient called 'wormwood' and the oils in the wormwood contains the toxins thujone and isothujone which is what attacks the human nervous system. Long term use can cause nausea, vomiting, insomnia, restlessness, vertigo, tremors, brain damage, and even death which is why is was banned in most places in the early twentieth century.

Originally posted by Desert_jackal
Apparently the culprit that causes this is an ingredient called 'wormwood' and the oils in the wormwood contains the toxins thujone and isothujone which is what attacks the human nervous system. Long term use can cause nausea, vomiting, insomnia, restlessness, vertigo, tremors, brain damage, and even death which is why is was banned in most places in the early twentieth century.

Exellent. At $70-$200 a bottle I don't plan on using it Long Term.

;)

You can get it over here for about £2 per shot in bars, or buy a bottle for about £20, if I remember rightly. Haven't had any in a while, but it's not as bad as it's made out to be. Then again, the stuff on sale is pretty much neutered - it weighs in at about 80% by volume, but there are strict legal limitations on the levels of the stuff that supposedly caused the hallucinations and so on. Not a bad spirit, but not something I'd want to drink regularly, if only because it's got a very potent flavour which would annihilate any mixer you drank it with and would get tiresome after a bit.

Its illegal in the states, isn't it?

I believe thats what drove Van Goh crazy.

I'd try it, probably.

Originally posted by Manu
Its illegal in the states, isn't it?

I believe thats what drove Van Goh crazy.

I'd try it, probably.

Legality is relative.

Van Gogh was an every day type of drinker. Drove him insane.
Could you imagine tripping every day?
That would drive anyone insane.

Originally posted by Terrapin
it was in the movie From Hell too

Ooh, the bathtub scene!

I get shivers just thinking about that "cocktail".

Originally posted by colonel


Ooh, the bathtub scene!

I get shivers just thinking about that "cocktail".

oh lordy....what a trip that must have been!! I'd love to try that, if I could get a hold of some laudinum;)

I've never tried it, but I really am looking forward to when I can. A couple of my friends spent some time in Prague and had a bit of it there, said it tastes like ****, but it was a great time.

Originally posted by Terrapin


oh lordy....what a trip that must have been!! I'd love to try that, if I could get a hold of some laudinum;)

Being a self proclaimed expert on these matters, perhaps you could hazzard a guess as to what the white substance was that he melted into the drink. I've always wondered about that.:confused:

Originally posted by colonel


Being a self proclaimed expert on these matters, perhaps you could hazzard a guess as to what the white substance was that he melted into the drink. I've always wondered about that.:confused:

Sugar

Is sugar. You put it on an Absinthe spoon after dipping it in the drink then light it on fire. Either that your you dissolve it by pouring water over it.

The sugar gives it taste...without it...i think it tastes like water...



It smells of black licrice....it's intresting stuff..




I don't think it's illigal to own in the US, just illigal to sell..


I don't know if it still causes brain damage, i think they have changed how it is made

Scott, how ya know that :P

Because a few of my friends were drinking it a party..


as for the last part....i think i remember them saying it wasn't harmful any more...to anything but your liver i suppose

okay,

the active ingredient besides the high alcoholic content IS thujone,

you will die of alcohol poisoning before you can OD on wormwood.

its been illegal to make and sell in the states since the 1800's, but its legal to import, and also legal to sell non-thujone absinthe in the states, and you can buy wormwood oil seperately and mix it in, thus becoming illegal.

aesir, can you get absinthe w/thujone in holland?

Ugghhh. That stuff tastes so disgusting. I have a bottle that cost me about $70 sitting around and I don't know what to do with it. I've only had a couple of drinks.

Originally posted by Johnson
okay,

the active ingredient besides the high alcoholic content IS thujone,

you will die of alcohol poisoning before you can OD on wormwood.

its been illegal to make and sell in the states since the 1800's, but its legal to import, and also legal to sell non-thujone absinthe in the states, and you can buy wormwood oil seperately and mix it in, thus becoming illegal.

aesir, can you get absinthe w/thujone in holland?

Johnson.... you can get weed and shrooms in amsterdam. I hardly think that Absinthe would be much of a dealio.