Browse > Home / Food / What are the known Effects of Absinthe?

What are the known Effects of Absinthe?

May 26, 2009

Since Absinthe is once again legal in many countries around the world, people are asking “What are the effects of Absinthe?”, “Will it make me trip or hallucinate?”, “Will I see and meet the Green Fairy?”.

Absinthe is a drink with many legends and stories surrounding it. Created in Switzerland as an elixir by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, it quickly became a best selling alcoholic beverage when Henri-Louis Pernod started distilling it in France. It overtook beer, cider and even wine as the most popular drink in France in the period known as La Belle Epoque or the golden age leading up to the First World War.

Famous drinkers of the Green Fairy include Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Oscar Wilde. After the second you begin to see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that can be the most horrible thing in the world.”

Pernod made Absinthe from a base of wine which he then flavored with natural herbal ingredients such as wormwood, fennel, aniseed, star anise, veronica, dittany, lemon balm, hyssop, nutmeg, angelica and dittany. Many manufacturers used additional herbs such as coriander, calamus root and mint.

So, what are the effects of Absinthe?

Absinthe was popular in the time known as “The Great Binge”, a time when beverages which contained cocaine were popular and heroin was thought safe to use in medicine. It was linked to other types of drugs and was thought to be psychoactive and to cause:-

– Hallucinations
– Extreme or hyper excitibility
– Convulsions and spasms
– Weakening the intellect
– Insanity
– Addiction
– Damage of the brain
– Violence
– Death

Artistic types consumed Absinthe to help them get inspiration and many said they it was responsible for their genius. Famous Absinthe poetry.

The prohibition led people to believe that Absinthe was going to drive the French people insane and, cause the collapse of the morals of the nation. Doctors tested wormwood and thujone, the chemical from wormwood , on animals and claimed that it was like cannabis and that it caused epileptic fits and the prohibition movement blamed Absinthe for causing a man to murder his whole family, despite the fact that he had only consumed two glasses of Absinthe and copious amounts of other alcoholic beverages. Drinking Absinthe was also famously blamed for Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and for his suicide.

Absinthe was thought to contain huge amounts of thujone, up to 350mg per liter but high tech tests on original vintage bottles have proved that claims about thujone levels and the safety of Absinthe were completely false. Absinthe contained a small amounts, up to 6mg, not enough to cause anyone to hallucinate a little. Studies show that Absinthe is just as safe as any other alcoholic drink.

Absinthe will not help you see green fairies but it is very strong drink, up to 75% alcohol — so will get your drunk rather quckly. Also the mysterious blend of alcohol and herbs will give you a strange drunken experience, a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness – a completely new experience!

What are some of the effects of Absinthe? There are no bad effects except perhaps a terrific hangover if you overdo it. Absinthe is a unique drink to be enjoyed slowly and to make you feel good. You should buy good quality Absinthe which contains real wormwood or make your own with essences from AbsintheKit.come and enjoy the taste of Absinthe, also known as the Green Fairy. Absinthe kits are available from http://absinthekit.com/.

Related Articles:

Comments

Comments are closed.