Recently it has come to my attention that I would like to try Absinthe, but in the US it lacks the thujone/wormwood qualities (banned by FDA) that is rumored to have inspired artists and writers to create such as Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and many,many others.

I've studied up on it and know it will have a bitter taste, but like the sugar cube ritual of dripping ice cold water over the sugar cube on an Absinthe spoon in the french fashion to create a Louche.

Some say the inspirations it gave these artists and writers was due to the alcohol consumption alone, not the mix of herbs used to make it.

I am very curious and would like you to answer the poll.

If you have tried an overseas version of Absinthe, what brand was it? Did you like it? Did it bring about any inspiration to create for you?

I have a homemade recipe, and wonder about trying to make it myself as the so-called best Absinthe seem to be high priced. less

Recently it has come to my attention that I would like to try Absinthe, but in the US it lacks the thujone/wormwood qualities (banned by FDA) that is rumored to have inspired artists and writers to create such as Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and many,many others.

I've studied up on it and know it will have a bitter taste, but like the sugar cube ritual of dripping ice cold water over the sugar cube on an Absinthe spoon in the french fashion to create a Louche.

Some say the inspirations it gave these artists and writers was due to the alcohol consumption alone, not the mix of herbs used to make it.

I am very curious and would like you to answer the poll.

If you have tried an overseas version of Absinthe, what brand was it? Did you like it? Did it bring about any inspiration to create for you?

I have a homemade recipe, and wonder about trying to make it myself as the so-called best Absinthe seem to be high priced. less

I would suggest that you do not try to make your own Absinth. I don't know why but home made stuff has become the latest idiotic trend and a ton of people are poisoning themselves. I have seen a number through my ED in the last month.

Wormwood is dangerous and the reason it is not allowed to be put into Absinth that is sold in the USA is because it builds up in the body if consumed in large quantities. That is why in the US they began manufacturing "Absinthe" the added "e" was to indicate that while the alcohol is made to taste the same the "dangerous" ingredient has been removed.

Anyhow back to my point, making your own alcohol is dangerous in itself, as you cannot distill out impurities without the right equipment, and you could end up accidentally poisoning yourself like these idiots did and having a really big hospital bill

If you are going to try the stuff please find a supplier that can get you the real stuff still produced in Europe, but that may be difficult since real Absinth is illegal in the US less

Your advice is great, but I'm not sure what you mean about absinthe vs. absinth.

Real Absinthe is legal and has been for quite some time. This is (as close as can be for something not popular for a very long time) what they had "Back in the Day". It's not that hard to get and you can get it legally in the USA, no problem.


"Absinth" without the e is usually used by makers of crappy fake products. SOMETIMES it's a cultural spelling difference, but more often than not is found on "fakes" - not the real thing.



The date in the corner is 1896. "Absinthe" is how the French (where Absinthe was incredibly popular and where much was produced) have always spelled it.

Here's an old, genuine antique bottle :




I have bought Absinthe with Grande Wormwood in the USA multiple times. It is not illegal. It is a regulated quantity, yes, but it is not banned. Also, "more thujone" does not mean "better liquor", so I would not buy into ads who claim this is why you should buy THEIRS over an actual quality drink. People who claim excessive thujone levels are actually tampering with the recipes and just dumping things like sage oil in them.

Here's an article from Wikipedia that explains it. There are Czech makers of real absinthe who are trying to reclaim it from all the knock-offs, and I think this is great. However, this is an area you need to do a bit more research in to distinguish real from fake.

Also, you can also find thujone in generally higher levels in Bitters (as they are allowed a higher concentration, legally). But no one goes nuts about that. less

Now if I remember correctly though the US has regulated the amount and purity of the thujone levels. Here in the US Absinthe only has 10mg and the traditional European brands have 35mg and are not legally sold.

Also I have heard there is a difference in how the thujone is purified etc. less

Recently it has come to my attention that I would like to try Absinthe, but in the US it lacks the thujone/wormwood qualities (banned by FDA) that is rumored to have inspired artists and writers to create such as Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe, and many,many others.

I've studied up on it and know it will have a bitter taste, but like the sugar cube ritual of dripping ice cold water over the sugar cube on an Absinthe spoon in the french fashion to create a Louche.

Some say the inspirations it gave these artists and writers was due to the alcohol consumption alone, not the mix of herbs used to make it.

I am very curious and would like you to answer the poll.

If you have tried an overseas version of Absinthe, what brand was it? Did you like it? Did it bring about any inspiration to create for you?

I have a homemade recipe, and wonder about trying to make it myself as the so-called best Absinthe seem to be high priced. less

I don't believe that absinthe is or ever was anything more than liquor. The mercury that Oscar Wilde took for syphilis probably had more of an effect than it did. Not to mention things like lead content in food and such.

I don't agree that it should be bitter, unless you like it that way and choose to add less sugar, but that still depends on the brand (some are sweeter than others). Back in the day, people preferred sweeter drinks, anyway. It's really just milky, herb-y licorice-drink.

It's really nice with a fruity and sweet champagne / champagne-like drink. I joke that we need to get the "bottom shelf" spumante because nothing else will do. Unless you're at a specialty store, you're not going to find much "top shelf" or even "middle shelf" that's not BRUT BRUT BRUT. Brut can go fuck itself in general, but especially for this purpose even dedicated absinthe snobs agree that you want something fruity and sweet.


I would recommend trying a similarly-flavoured drink first - something like Ouzo or Sambucca. This will give you a pretty good idea of what to expect without spending a lot of money - you can usually get that for very cheap at a bar if you just buy a single, drink, too !

I would only buy an absinthe if it's made with true Grande Wormwood. The rest is a rip-off and you'd be better served supporting honest makers of Ouzo (which, by the way, also louches).


And it's fun to do the whole "ritual" - but if you're a terrible drunk with just a smidge of class left, you can make it louche with a water bottle and chopsticks.

I think the "ritual" aspect is part of the appeal. When it wasn't being abused by drunks, it was a social drink.

If you're mixing it to the usual 1/4 or 1/5, you're not even going to get drunk fast. Although if you use the champagne, you totally will. Super fast. Woo.

I think the lighting it on fire thing is lolzy. It's made up to appeal to young people who think that absinthe will be LSD or something. I guess I'm a snob, but why would you light good liquor on fire for no reason ? I guess if you have the shitty faux-absinthe, go ahead.

I would recommend Kubler as a balance of trying it without spending a fuckton.

Lucid was... okay. But it was like russian roulette - I'd get this terrible after-taste every few drinks that I blame the shitty beet alcohol for.

Gettin' some Obsello fer muh birtday. w00t. less

I've had it, it was wonderful. I found it did give me more inspiration because of the power of suggestion probably. It was fun but unfortunately the little I had left got contaminated because a drunk friend tried to shoot it recently straight from the bottle.
People, don't ever, ever try to do that. less

I would suggest that you do not try to make your own Absinth. I don't know why but home made stuff has become the latest idiotic trend and a ton of people are poisoning themselves. I have seen a number through my ED in the last month.

Wormwood is dangerous and the reason it is not allowed to be put into Absinth that is sold in the USA is because it builds up in the body if consumed in large quantities. That is why in the US they began manufacturing "Absinthe" the added "e" was to indicate that while the alcohol is made to taste the same the "dangerous" ingredient has been removed.

Anyhow back to my point, making your own alcohol is dangerous in itself, as you cannot distill out impurities without the right equipment, and you could end up accidentally poisoning yourself like these idiots did and having a really big hospital bill

If you are going to try the stuff please find a supplier that can get you the real stuff still produced in Europe, but that may be difficult since real Absinth is illegal in the US less