atkinsa Posted July 29, 2007 Share Posted July 29, 2007 Anyone try the new Absente (Refined Absinthe)? Legal in the US by using Southern Wormwood, which has less Thujone. It runs about $40 a bottle here in NC so I wanted to see if anyone has tried it before I go out and get a bottle. Experiences with the original would be desired as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrispyCritter Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Fee Verte would probably be the best place to start regarding absinthe. By the way, the US has now accepted the EU standard 10 mg/liter or less of thujone, and there's now a true absinthe, Lucid, legally available in the US - and more on the way.The gist of it is that the US is now considering 10 mg/liter to be effectively thujone-free - and modern analysis of classic pre-ban absinthes has shown that most of them would fall under this limit.There is a great deal of misinformation and outright BS about absinthe, and Fee Verte has a lot of information... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nor02lei Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Fee Verte would probably be the best place to start regarding absinthe. By the way, the US has now accepted the EU standard 10 mg/liter or less of thujone, and there's now a true absinthe, Lucid, legally available in the US - and more on the way.The gist of it is that the US is now considering 10 mg/liter to be effectively thujone-free - and modern analysis of classic pre-ban absinthes has shown that most of them would fall under this limit.There is a great deal of misinformation and outright BS about absinthe, and Fee Verte has a lot of information...10mg/ litre is no absinthe more than the name. A real absinthe is +200mg/litre. Leif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatmiser Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I just read about a recent testing of thujone levels is historic absinthe came in way under their originally claimed amounts. Here is a link to the information located on Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nor02lei Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 I just read about a recent testing of thujone levels is historic absinthe came in way under their originally claimed amounts. Here is a link to the information located on Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThujoneVery interesting indeed Jeff. A friend and me did drink quit a lot of bootleg absinth that was supposed to have far over 200mg/litre a year or 2 ago. We didn’t feel anything from the thujone. It did have a very strong taste of fresh wormwood though. Maybe its all a myth.Leif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 From what I understand, Absinthe got it's bad rep from the wine makers in France.They, the wine makers, did to Absinthe, what the politicians did to marijuana in this country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barturtle Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 From what I understand, Absinthe got it's bad rep from the wine makers in France.They, the wine makers, did to Absinthe, what the politicians did to marijuana in this country.Ah, yes while it was ultimately the the politicians that illegalized it, it was actually Dupont that was responsible...seems they couldn't sell their synthetic hemp(that's how they marketed it anyway), nylon, as cheaply as hemp could be grown....it was also about to be in a position to be used as paper as cheaply as wood pulp with the advent of a new machine to utilize it (Dupont also sold many of the chemicals used in papermaking) and Henry Ford had already made a car built of and running on hemp. The Marijuana Tax Act(1937) had already killed commercial production long before the Boggs Act(1951) made it illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLfarmboy Posted July 30, 2007 Share Posted July 30, 2007 Ah, yes while it was ultimately the the politicians that illegalized it, it was actually Dupont that was responsible...seems they couldn't sell their synthetic hemp(that's how they marketed it anyway), nylon, as cheaply as hemp could be grown....it was also about to be in a position to be used as paper as cheaply as wood pulp with the advent of a new machine to utilize...nylon rope is good for mooring your boat but don't use it as a tag line to lift a 5 gal. bucket of tools or other similarly heavy load up a fair distance like a bucket elevator leg; 100+ feet. Damn nylon is too slick, especially when lowering your tools! Good hemp rope is best. It also shrugs of welding and cutting sparks better. Friggin' nylon melts and burns way too easily! We can import hemp rope and I'm asuming other products but farmers can't grow it here. :smiley_acbt: Now to stay on topic. I think I saw this Absente on store shelves at two different Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits in the Quad Cities area. What I saw was packaged in a colorful box. I didn't take one out to look at the bottle but I suspect this is what atkinsa is referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atkinsa Posted July 30, 2007 Author Share Posted July 30, 2007 Upon further research, the absente using Southern Wormwood, which I first referred to differs mostly in taste (less bitter), lower thujone, and lower alcohol content. If I try any of this I'll probably wait for the more authentic brands to hit the shelves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrispyCritter Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Very interesting indeed Jeff. A friend and me did drink quit a lot of bootleg absinth that was supposed to have far over 200mg/litre a year or 2 ago. We didn’t feel anything from the thujone. It did have a very strong taste of fresh wormwood though. Maybe its all a myth.fThere lies part of the problem. Some of the Czech products actually tout their thujone content as if that were a good thing. This is the sort of fly-by-night thinking that (along with the French vintners already mentioned) helped give absinthe its bad reputation.A proper absinthe will have lots of other things besides wormwood (especially anise, but a variety of other herbs and spices as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nor02lei Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 There lies part of the problem. Some of the Czech products actually tout their thujone content as if that were a good thing. This is the sort of fly-by-night thinking that (along with the French vintners already mentioned) helped give absinthe its bad reputation.A proper absinthe will have lots of other things besides wormwood (especially anise, but a variety of other herbs and spices as well).I don’t see the problem. Even thou I is a lot of other spices in Absinthe thjuone is the thing that make it special. It has given it a bad reputation but I would say that the positive reputation it has given it overpowers the bad. The fact that most of this late 1800 and early 1900 artists got there inspiration from this stuff with is amazing. Maybe it was manly from the alcohol and not from the thjuone, but still. Sweden’s most famous writer ever Agust Strindberg was a big consumer of Absinthe and he did claim that he got most of his inspiration from it. He did also get very serious mentally illness after a divorce but he did cure himself with absinthe and came back better than ever.Leif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 late 1800 and early 1900 artists got there inspiration from this stuff with is amazing. Agust Strindberg was a big consumer of Absinthe and he did claim that he got most of his inspiration from it. Leif This reminds me of a story I heard about Duke Ellington.One of his band members was nodding out from heroin while Duke was off stage talking to someone and both were observing this."It's a shame", said Duke, "he claims heroin gives him his inspiration.""I take it you don't use drugs", asked the person with Duke, "Then where do you get your inspiration?"Duke replied, "I've always been a pussy man myself." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barturtle Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 This reminds me of a story I heard about Duke Ellington.One of his band members was nodding out from heroin while Duke was off stage talking to someone and both were observing this. "It's a shame", said Duke, "he claims heroin gives him his inspiration." "I take it you don't use drugs", asked the person with Duke, "Then where do you get your inspiration?" Duke replied, "I've always been a pussy man myself." Ah, the most addictive of all drugs...can cost you your soul(marriage), and keep taking your money long after you've quit using it(alimony)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 When I was a young man, Coors beer had this almost mystical reputation, since it was unavailable in my part of the country. When it became available there, the interest faded pretty fast. I suspect the same thing will happen with absinthe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jburlowski Posted August 3, 2007 Share Posted August 3, 2007 When I was a young man, Coors beer had this almost mystical reputation, since it was unavailable in my part of the country. When it became available there, the interest faded pretty fast. I suspect the same thing will happen with absinthe.I'm with you Chuck... I remember back in college when someone would return from Colorado with a coveted six-pack of Coors. Man, it tasted special!... or so we convinced ourselves. Later we realized it was the "Krispy Kreme" of beers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 Remember Stroh's beer?Made in Detroit, it to was a regional thing like Coor's.I remember when people would go out west and take cases of Stroh's with them to swap for Coor's.It was the big thing on the U of M campus in Ann Arbor back then, all the out of state UM students would drink it because they could not get it back home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted August 21, 2007 Share Posted August 21, 2007 I grew up in northern Ohio and Stroh's was, literally, mother's milk to me. I never knew it was the midwest's version of Coors. That's funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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