On Saturday night N. and I invited Jamie over for a couple of drinks. I had bought a small bottle of Absinth, of the Czech variety. We had been planning for some time to try it. (He studied French literature in university, and I was a big Rimbaud fan when I was a teenager, so that should explain it.)
I opened the bottle and took a sniff. It looked and smelled like Aqua Velva aftershave. The taste did not change this impression.
A colleague of mine had told me that she had tried some and had found it very bitter. I thought this was why people poured it through sugar. The ingredients on the bottle said there was sugar, and so we assumed we wouldn’t need to add any. We were wrong, but I only found this out today.
We poured a small amount into a glass and tried it, straight. This is the 60% type, not the 70%. I remember years ago seeing a drunk on the subway guzzling down some Aqua Velva. On Saturday I got an idea of what that must have been like. As soon as I swallowed it, the heat ran through my body. We wondered how on earth people could drink so much of it, and thought it would be better with water. Then we went on to safer ouzo or beer.
Today I’ve read up on how it should be drunk. I knew about the sugar, having seen it in a couple of films. I don’t have the special spoon that is used, or even sugar cubes, so I used a regular spoon and put some of the drink into some cane sugar. I lit it and let it burn for about twenty seconds and then dropped it into the absinthe, stirred it, and then added cold water. The result is at least drinkable.
However, Czech absinth is supposed to be a cheap imitation, a fake, according to the Wormood Society. I’d have to try the French kind that the compare it to to understand the difference. With the amount of water I’ve put in, it’s not at all bad, although nothing special either.
Of course, I only paid eight euros for it. If I don’t drink any more of it, I can always slap some on my face after I shave.
I’ve only tried the Czech version. I rather liked it…
I really don’t think that people consume it for the taste. They drink it for the affect.
If the French ones are as good as the Wormwood Society claims, then some people do drink it for taste.
I suppose most people drink alcohol for the effect (of drunkenness) and surely some people drink absinthe for affectation.
People do indeed drink it for the taste. Authentic absinthe is very nice, if you like anise. It tastes a lot like ouzo, but is more herbal and not as harsh.
It’s never intended to be drunk straight, but should always be diluted at about 4 parts absinthe to 1 part ice-water. Aside from being too strong, a proper dilution ratio opens the full flavor of the drink. Pouring a good absinthe is a knack.
People rarely drink it for “the effect” more than once, because the effect is largely a myth.
I’m glad you found my site to be useful!
Kind regards,
~ Hiram
Correction! That should be 4 parts ice-water to 1 part absinthe,!
Too late, Hiram.
Hick*
“People rarely drink it for “the effect” more than once, because the effect is largely a myth”
Totally wrong I am afraid! There is a well documented absinthe effect which is now backed up by modern science. That’s a bit of a pity for some.
Please read:
Toxin in absinthe makes neurons run wild
Corinna Wu
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000401/fob4.asp
The reason absinthe is banned in the USA is because of the thujone content in wormwood. Some people (manufacturer interest groups) have stated the opinion that Hiram has shared.
Oscar Wilde:
“After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Franco, the modern science you speak of had to do with a kind of absinthe which is no longer available. Hiram says clearly that people now rarely drink it for the effect more than once. If he’s wrong about the effect in the past, he’s right about it now. There simply isn’t enough thujone in absinthe now to make a difference, as the article you yourself quote says.
The person who said people drink for “the affect” [sic] may have meant “affectation”. The reason for this affectation is ridiculous poetes maudits statements like Wilde’s. Over-romanticised rubbish.
Here’s another, more in-depth article, with sources cited:
http://wormwoodsociety.org/thujone.html
“Totally wrong I am afraid! ”
First of all, the article cited by Franco is seven years old.
Second, it’s been shown more recently that WN Arnold grossly over-estimated the amount of thujone in pre-ban absinthe. He did in fact estimate, without doing any analysis of pre-ban absinthe. He apparently extrapolated the assumed thujone content in absinthe from the thujone content in the amount of wormwood we know was used, neglecting to account for thujone lost in the distillation process.
Modern GC/MS analysis of pre-ban absinthes and of modern absinthes made to the same recipes as pre-ban, show a thujone content of no more than modern absinthes, and no degradation products which would result from its breaking down over the years. In fact, many modern authentic absinthes and faux products offered as absinthe, contain much more thujone than any pre-bans known.
As for the hypothetical thujone effect, i.e. hallucinations, being well-documented by science, there is no study which demonstrates that thujone is a hallucinogen or a euphoric or has any other type of effect which could be considered recreational by a rational person.
The hallucinations suffered by 19th century patients were most likely simply alcoholic hallucinosis—the DTs—suffered by any severe alcoholic when cut off cold turkey, as they would be when admitted to the hospital. It’s unlikely in the extreme that they had anything close to what the modern person thinks of in terms of psychedelic experiences.
I recommend reading the recent (2006) work of Dr. Dirk Lachenmeier, particularly Thujone–cause of absinthism? and Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact.
If you actually read the older studies themselves you’ll find that much of the later 20th century science began with assumptions that the 19th century science was accurate. Many of the studies for instance merely test pure wormwood extract or thujone on animals, not absinthe itself, failing again to account for the fact that absinthe does not—and never did—contain as much thujone as previously supposed.
True connosuers most definately drink for the taste.
True aclcoholics drink for the effect.
Alcohol always has been thought of as a appetite stimulant. That is why the green hour was between 5-7 right before dinner.