Wines and Beyond

Now that Absinthe is again

legal in countries around the world, people are asking “What are the effects of Absinthe?”, “Will it make me trip and 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 or tonic by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, Absinthe 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, the

age leading up to the First World War.

Famous drinkers of Absinthe include Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Oscar Wilde. The second you see them as they are not. In the end, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”

Pernod made Absinthe from a base of wine and

flavored it with natural herbal ingredients such as wormwood, fennel, aniseed, star anise, veronica, dittany, lemon balm, hyssop, nutmeg, angelica and dittany. Some manufacturers used additional herbs such as coriander, calamus root and mint.

What are the major effects of Absinthe?

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

- Hallucinations
- Hyper excitability
- Convulsions and spasms
- Weakening the intellect
- Insanity
- Addiction
- Brain damages
- Violence
- Death

Artists and writers drank Absinthe saying it helped them gain inspiration and was responsible for their genius. Famous Absinthe poetry.

Absinthe, so the prohibition led people to believe, was going to drive the French people insane, make them immoral and cause the collapse of the nation. Doctors tested wormwood and thujone, the chemical from wormwood on animals and claimed that it was like cannabis. The prohibition movement blamed Absinthe for causing a man to murder his whole family. Absinthe was also 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 vintage bottles have proved these claims to be completely false. Absinthe only contained very small amounts, up to 6mg, not enough to cause anyone to even hallucinate a little. Studies have shown that Absinthe is just as safe as any other strong alcoholic drink.

Absinthe is a very strong drink which is up the 75% alcohol and it might not help you see green fairies but it will get you drink rather quickly. The mysterious blend of alcohol and herbs will give you a strange experience, a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness – a completely new and different experience!

What are the major effects of Absinthe? Well, there are no bad effects except perhaps a hangover if you overdo it. Absinthe is a unique drink to be enjoyed slowly and to make you feel good. Buy the best quality Absinthe which contains real wormwood or make your own with essences from AbsintheKit.com.Come and enjoy the great taste of the Green Fairy. Absinthe kits are available from http://absinthekit.com/.