absinthe

tribesman44

i have never tried it before, but have always wanted to. was wondering where is a good place to start. i want the real stuff though..wormwood, thujone, etc.. i want it as authentic as possible. any help would be appreciated. i am in galway as well, so if you can direct me to a shop, please do. cheers

number10a

As far as I know, it cannot be sold in Ireland, but a pub can give you a shot of it for free. I know a guy who used to work in a pub in Limerick and he said that was what they had to do with the stuff anyway.

Brought a bottle of it back from Spain once and had just one shot of it (80%). I sipped it really slowly and literally just wet my lips and actually felt myself getting drunker with every sip I took - never felt it before or since. Friend of mine had about three shots of it that night and we nearly had to call the priest for her the morning after because her hangover was simply the work of Satan. Lesson of the day: Absinthe is lovely to try, but don't go beyond trying!!

tribesman44

haha, i would be afraid to have more than 1 drink of it. i think you can import it for personal consumption. trying to find the legalities of it now

BeerNut

It's perfectly legal here and always has been.

My preferred brand is Marí Mayans but the only place I ever see it is Spanish airports.

Avoid the Czech varieties: they're awful and they don't louche.

tribesman44

BeerNut wrote: »

It's perfectly legal here and always has been.

My preferred brand is Marí Mayans but the only place I ever see it is Spanish airports.

Avoid the Czech varieties: they're awful and they don't louche.

i was looking at this one. any thoughts? http://www.originalabsinthe.com/absinthe-absinthe-original-bitter-spirit-p-58.html

it is from the czech rep. but it got some pretty good reviews. if im going to buy it i want to do it right. do you know of any places to get the stuff you recommend online? thanks

emmet the rover

drinkstore.ie or the celticwhiskeyshop both have websites

BeerNut

tribesman44 wrote: »

any thoughts?

Nope. Never seen it before.

tribesman44 wrote: »

do you know of any places to get the stuff you recommend online?

First time I bought it was directly from their website but I can't seem to find that at the moment. Google around.

tribesman44 wrote: »

if im going to buy it i want to do it right

Not sure what you mean by this. I don't see the benefit of the spoon and sugar business, for example. I prefer absinthe with just ice and water -- exactly like Pernod, which is basically what it is.

Bear in mind the whole thujone thing is nonsense. You'd die of alcohol poisoning long before you ingested enough thujone to have any psychoactive effect.

tribesman44

basically i want an absinthe that would have been served in the 1800s. not some new trendy stuff being labled as absinthe. and i wanted to ask about the thujone...figured it was some marketing ploy. in your opinion, is it better to have a higher alcohol percentage?

BeerNut

tribesman44 wrote: »

i want an absinthe that would have been served in the 1800s.

Pfft. I'm sure they all claim to be that. Good luck cutting through the marketing guff.

Pernod were an original absinthe maker in the 1800s. When it was banned in France they just took the wormwood out of the recipe and modern Pernod was born. A few years ago they launched, or re-launched, Pernod Absinthe. I very much doubt the recipe is the same pre-1915 one, but it is a brand of absinthe that people in the 1800s would have drank.

They have a website about it here. No idea where you'd get it, though. I've never seen it on sale.

tribesman44 wrote: »

in your opinion, is it better to have a higher alcohol percentage?

Not really. I've had several different brands of different strengths and there's no correlation between the strength and how nice it tastes, IMO.

tribesman44

interesting. does it give you a different buzz than standard alcohol?

RonMexico

La Fee Absinthe - Official Website

I have a bottle of this at home. Powerful stuff and not to be messed with. First bottle was sold to Johnny Depp who gave it to Hunter S. Thompson as a gift.

BeerNut

tribesman44 wrote: »

interesting. does it give you a different buzz than standard alcohol?

Nope.

eternal

BeerNut wrote: »

It's perfectly legal here and always has been.

My preferred brand is Marí Mayans but the only place I ever see it is Spanish airports.

Avoid the Czech varieties: they're awful and they don't louche.

It hasnt always been legal here.I remember going to Belfast in 2000 and trying it there cos it was illegal here.It became legal here year or two after.

BeerNut

eternal wrote: »

It hasnt always been legal here.I remember going to Belfast in 2000 and trying it there cos it was illegal here.It became legal here year or two after.

Then if you searched the Irish Statute Book for "absinthe" it would show up. But it doesn't.

It's never been banned in the UK and never been banned here. I'm open to correction if you can find something that says otherwise.

emmet the rover

perhaps it has more to do with the the strength of the drink more than the ingredents added to it.
i remember being in tallin in estiona and there being signs up in the supermarkets and the airport regarding leaving the country with very high strength vodka over 70%.

also the lack of a market id imagine would be a issue

moonflower

OP, I'm pretty sure they sell it in McCambridges. It's really expensive here though, your best bet is to ask anyone you know who's visiting the continent to bring you back a bottle.

I find the 70% abv and above ones to be pretty much undrinkable, but a friend gave me a bottle of 55% abv Absinthe once and it was lovely.

BeerNut

emmet the rover wrote: »

perhaps it has more to do with the the strength of the drink more than the ingredents added to it.

There's never been a law of that sort either. Spirits are made and sold here at 96% ABV, which is pretty much as strong as possible outside of lab conditions.

Once you pay the appropriate tax, the Irish government couldn't care less.

eternal

BeerNut wrote: »

eternal wrote: »

It hasnt always been legal here.I remember going to Belfast in 2000 and trying it there cos it was illegal here.It became legal here year or two after.

Then if you searched the Irish Statute Book for "absinthe" it would show up. But it doesn't.

It's never been banned in the UK and never been banned here. I'm open to correction if you can find something that says otherwise.

Www.erowid.org and numerous other sites tell you what Ive already said.i remember it like it was yesterday.nobody in the rep had ever tried it here.it simply wasnt available.excuse if that link isnt exact.im on a ****e phone.

Mantel

It's never been banned here or in the UK, it just was never popular and the countries where it had been banned happen to produce a good bit of it. Once that happened it was harder to get a hold of and transport of goods in the early 20th century wasn't as easy as it is now so the local variants became more popular as they where easier to get a hold of and make.

Some are easier to drink than others, the German Ulex brand is known for being really bitter and hard to drink with a strenght around 50%, there have been French absinths I've had around 70% that have been really easy to drink.

emmet the rover wrote:

leaving the country with very high strength vodka over 70%.

That's more to do with the nature of such a high % alcohol on a plane, it becomes less of a drink and more of a liability in the hold. Most airlines will only allow up to 70% to be transported on passenger planes.

BeerNut

eternal wrote: »

i remember it like it was yesterday.

But do you remember anything other than someone saying it was illegal?

eternal wrote: »

nobody in the rep had ever tried it here.it simply wasnt available.

Perhaps, but that's not related to legality.

Erowid says:
"Absinthe was never banned in the UK".
It also says:
"Thujone-containing absinthe is not legal to sell in the Republic of Ireland, although personal importation is not blocked. (unconfirmed)"

The word "thujone" does not appear in the Irish Statute Book. Unless you've a source, Erowid's opinion remains unconfirmed.

eternal

BeerNut wrote: »

eternal wrote: »

i remember it like it was yesterday.

But do you remember anything other than someone saying it was illegal?

eternal wrote: »

nobody in the rep had ever tried it here.it simply wasnt available.

Perhaps, but that's not related to legality.

Erowid says:
"Absinthe was never banned in the UK".
It also says:
"Thujone-containing absinthe is not legal to sell in the Republic of Ireland, although personal importation is not blocked. (unconfirmed)"

The word "thujone" does not appear in the Irish Statute Book. Unless you've a source, Erowid's opinion remains unconfirmed.

What I am saying is I dont believe it was available here before 2000.Like in pubs.In the bar in Belfast ,they told us ' oh you wouldnt be able to get this in the republic ' If it was all a dream please refer to Alice in Wonderland for further reference.

BeerNut

eternal wrote: »

What I am saying is I dont believe it was available here before 2000.

That's fine. It may not have been. Though that's quite different from:

eternal wrote: »

It hasnt always been legal here .... it was illegal here

eternal wrote: »

in Belfast ,they told us ' oh you wouldnt be able to get this in the republic

So someone trying to sell you something told you you had to buy it from them? :rolleyes:

eternal

BeerNut wrote: »

eternal wrote: »

What I am saying is I dont believe it was available here before 2000.

That's fine. It may not have been. Though that's quite different from:

eternal wrote: »

It hasnt always been legal here .... it was illegal here

eternal wrote: »

in Belfast ,they told us ' oh you wouldnt be able to get this in the republic

So someone trying to sell you something told you you had to buy it from them? :rolleyes:

Whats your problem.we were in a pub already drinking.i doubt the bar person WHEN ASKED would really care how much we spent.hardly getting commission on each pint we had.
I believe it wasnt available here and it was illegal.im not discussing this further .

adamski8

the barman probably thought it was illegal here like a lot of people do, I doubt he was trying to mislead you but I wouldn't believe everything a barman tells you!

Losty Dublin

Sounds a bit like poítín being illegal, if you ask me

emmet the rover

Losty Dublin wrote: »

Sounds a bit like poítín being illegal, if you ask me

well poítín is a drink distilled without a licence or controls on quality not to mention lack of duity paid so is illegal.

unless you are talking about the perfectly legal and safe drink sold in certin off licences made by licenced distillers to resemble the flavour of the illegal one

shanered

Brought back the green, red, blue and black absinthe from Lanzorote, 70%, 75%, 80% AND 85% I think they were, crazy nights, brought out a bottle each weekend as a teenager and it absolutely ruined everybody who drank it. People crying, falling asleep, puking and the rest.
Absolutely crazy stuff!
Worth a try! Wouldn't become your regular drink without some dire consequences though!

Waterford laddy

i manage a bar since 1998 and we have stocked Absinthe since we opened. Usually the green or red ones from 65%-80%. most young ppl want it chilled as a shot, but have a few older discerning clients who drink it in a conical whiskey glass - pour water over a spoon with a sugar cube on it and sip it slowly. i think most of our stock comes from Celtic Whiskey Shop in Dublin, a great range there last time i was there! we also shock Knockeen Poitin, distilled in Waterford - 40%, 60% and 80%, its mostly exported to the States

slippy wicket

http://www.alandia.de/absinthe/product_info.php/language/en/info/p155_Absinthe-Abisinthe-Amer.html

I would give this one a go, but only in small amounts as a shot.

Too much messes with your head.

rubadub

adamski8 wrote: »

I wouldn't believe everything a barman tells you!

Most barmen I have spoken to know very little about the product they sell. I would not trust erowid either. But on the Irish Medicine Boards site it does call out 2 herbs which cannot be in food which contain thujone. So the rumour may have stemmed from that.

http://www.imb.ie/images/uploaded/documents/HerbalSubstances_NonFoodSupplements_Version5-1.pdf

Herbal Substances not permitted in foods or food supplements ‐ IMB Draft Guideline 1 IMB Draft Guideline – Version 5.1, 20/4/ 2011

Tanacetum parthenium (L)
Sch.Bip
Feverfew - Contains thujone

Chrysanthemum vulgare L. Bernh
(Syn. Tanacetum vulgare)
Tansy - Contains thujone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tansy

Because it contains thujone, the U.S. FDA limits the use of tansy to alcoholic beverages, and the final product must be thujone-free.............


According to liquor historian A. J. Baime, in the 19th century Tennessee whiskey magnate Jack Daniel enjoyed drinking his own whiskey with sugar and crushed tansy leaf.

So maybe some absinthes do have tansy in them.

ReviveTheParty wrote: »

Took two shots of it before after drinking bout 12 cans already and I got a weird drunk off it.

People say the same about "dodgy burgers", had 12 cans and woke up sick, never going to that chipper again.

2 shots is like about 4shots of vodka, I would expect trouble.

Mantel

slippy wicket wrote: »

http://www.alandia.de/absinthe/product_info.php/language/en/info/p155_Absinthe-Abisinthe-Amer.html

I would give this one a go, but only in small amounts as a shot.

Too much messes with your head.

I have a bottle of this at home, nice stuff and easy enough to drink. I think nicer with a bit of water rather than a shot but you can feel it evaporating off your tongue if you sip it straight.

EmacB

I learned from a paramedic tending to my unconscious friend that the stuff we get nowadays isn't really proper absinthe. The real stuff was banned years ago because it had 'hallucinogenic' qualities. It could have an effect, and i quote, 'similar to LSD':pac:.

BeerNut

EmacB wrote: »

The real stuff was banned years ago because it had 'hallucinogenic' qualities. It could have an effect, and i quote, 'similar to LSD':pac:.

It's a myth. The real stuff was banned in some places because there was a panic about its supposed hallucinogenic qualities which wasn't based on any scientific evidence. Virtually everywhere that banned it has subsequently unbanned it.

The most dangerous substance in absinthe is the alcohol, and always has been.

Mellor

eternal wrote: »

What I am saying is I dont believe it was available here before 2000.Like in pubs.In the bar in Belfast ,they told us ' oh you wouldnt be able to get this in the republic ' If it was all a dream please refer to Alice in Wonderland for further reference.

Just because you can't get something doesn't mean it's illegal.
It simply wasn't being imported by many people.

a few years ago it was impossible to get mountain dew in ireland, it was never illegal.

shanered wrote: »

Brought back the green, red, blue and black absinthe from Lanzorote, 70%, 75%, 80% AND 85% I think they were, crazy nights, brought out a bottle each weekend as a teenager and it absolutely ruined everybody who drank it. People crying, falling asleep, puking and the rest.
Absolutely crazy stuff!
Worth a try! Wouldn't become your regular drink without some dire consequences though!

Absinte is green from the herbs used to make it. Rarely, it could be red with other herbs.
The blue and black were fake, prob the red and green you bougth too. Absinte flavoured cheap vodka at best, although strong.
Most people who get it on holidays are buying one of these knock-offs.

rubadub wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tansy

So maybe some absinthes do have tansy in them.

The Thujone in absinthe comes from wormwood not tansy.

In america, anything sold as absinthe, has the thujone removed, so its not absinte anymore, and just some strong green alcohol. Doesn't apply here though.

EmacB wrote: »

I learned from a paramedic tending to my unconscious friend that the stuff we get nowadays isn't really proper absinthe. The real stuff was banned years ago because it had 'hallucinogenic' qualities. It could have an effect, and i quote, 'similar to LSD':pac:.

He's just another person believing the hype and myths.
The real stuff was banned in 1915, but the ban lifted ages ago. The "real stuff" is availible, but it simply doesn't live up to the rumours of the "illegal hallucinogenic drink".

That said, most people who try it are trying a knock off from spain thats just 75%. The reason they get ****ed up its the strength, nothing else.

rubadub

Mellor wrote: »

The Thujone in absinthe comes from wormwood not tansy.

Yeah, I was saying/wondering perhaps some absinthes had it (as in a mixture of herbs along with wormwood) and led to the confusion.

But checking again on imb again wormwood IS banned in "foods or food supplements".

Herbal Substances not permitted in foods or food supplements

Artemisisia cina. O.Berg and C F Schmidt - Levant wormseed; Santonica
Artemisia maritima L -Sea wormwood
Artemisia absinthium -Wormwood

It didn't appear in my first search as I was looking for thujone.

So maybe it is technically banned, unless alcohols get away from being classed as foods. They do have the bizarre status of not having to declare nutritional information or ingredients (which I have never heard a reasonable reason for).
EDIT: I sent IMB an email about it.

BeerNut

Mellor wrote: »

Absinte is green from the herbs used to make it. Rarely, it could be red with other herbs.
The blue and black were fake

I would say that a lot of absinthes, even reputable brands, are artificially coloured. There's no way of knowing, really.

Mellor

True. They using artifical colour to speed up a process.
But a blue one, by definition, is a bit rediculous. I've only ever seen this in resort towns in spain.

BeerNut

Mellor wrote: »

a blue one, by definition, is a bit rediculous.

I understand it became normal practice in prohibition-era Switzerland to make illicit absinthe blue. There are still blue brands from Switzerland, like La Clandestine.

The Hill Billy

Most of the absinthes on sale here in Switzerland are quite clear (some with a hint of yellow). Occasionally I would come across one with a slight green tinge to them. This colouration is mainly down to the herbal infusions.

I've just dug a bottle out of my desk drawer (from a session in the office a while ago). It is 'Absinthe Bovet la Valote' - a craft-made absinthe from Val-de-Travers in Switzerland. The ingredients are listed as: "Alcohol, water, Grand Absinthe [also known as 'grande wormwood'] & other aromatic plants." It has a very, very slight yellowish tinge & is quite a smooth drink.

FWIW - Over here the 'verte absinthe' (greenish version) is generally considered to be a bit more of a dangerous drink.

Served properly with a flamed sugar cube & iced water from an ansinthe fountain (after a raclette) is a lovely way to pass an evening.

Mellor

BeerNut wrote: »

I understand it became normal practice in prohibition-era Switzerland to make illicit absinthe blue. There are still blue brands from Switzerland, like La Clandestine.

Wasn't aware of that, the anem is rather fitting

chickenbutt

Just reading this thread makes me sick to my stomach remembering that one night 3 years ago where I was introduced to absinthe... Never. Again.

Mantel

BeerNut wrote: »

I understand it became normal practice in prohibition-era Switzerland to make illicit absinthe blue. There are still blue brands from Switzerland, like La Clandestine.

I have a bottle of this one also the liquid is clear and of course turns a milky colour when you add water but I wouldn't say there's much blue in it really but tastes quite licorice-y. Would the blueness be more down to it being clear rather than coloured to make it blue(ish)

Must break it out when I get home tonight, nearly forgot I had it!

rubadub

rubadub wrote: »

EDIT: I sent IMB an email about it.

From them

Dear Mr rubadub

Further to your enquiry about the above herbal substance I can confirm that this plant has been included on the IMB “negative” list on toxicity grounds. Consequently products containing this herb would not be acceptable for our traditional herbal medicines registration scheme, nor indeed for inclusion in food supplements in the opinion of IMB. However you need to be aware of the advisory status of this guidance list-i.e. it has no statutory basis, and was considered as being helpful to try to distinguish between those herbal substances used in food supplements from those confined to medicines. IMB is the regulatory authority for the latter and FSAI for the former. IMB has raised the concerns about the potential toxicity of Artemisia species, because of the presence of artemisinin and thujone . When it comes to alcoholic beverages however these are a different matter and ultimately they would fall under food legislation. Such substances are used in small quantities as a bitter and flavouring agentsin such products, as I understand it but perhaps FSAI can tell you if there are restrictions in place given the presence of these toxic components.

Yours Sincerely
senior person