Wormwood is produced in the same way as gin. It is a neutral spirit with high strength that is generally safe 110 to 144 and enriched with a mixture of plants. It can be many plants, but the three main herbs used in making wormwood are large wormwood, green anise, and sweet fennel. Traditionally, alcohol is infused a second time before bottling to intensify the taste and create the characteristic green color. (Click on any image below to enlarge.) It has already been widely promoted that excessive absinthe consumption causes effects recognizable by those associated with alcoholism, a belief that led to the creation of the term absinthism. One of the first doses of wormwood followed an experiment in 1864 in which Magnan simultaneously exposed a guinea pig to high doses of pure absinthe vapor and another alcohol vapor. The guinea pig exposed to wormwood steam had convulsions, unlike the animal exposed to alcohol. Magnan would later blame the natural chemical thujone (in wormwood) for these effects. [98] In most countries, there is no legal definition of absinthe, while the production method and content of spirits such as whisky, spirit and gin are defined and regulated globally. Therefore, manufacturers are free to label a product as “absinthe” or “absinthe” regardless of a specific legal definition or quality standards. Many modern absinthes are produced in the cold mixing process. This low-cost production method does not involve distillation and is considered inferior for the same reasons that low-cost compound gin is legally distinguished from distilled gin. [59] The cold mixing process involves the simple blending of aromatic essences and artificial colors in commercial alcohol, similar to most flavored vodkas and cheap liquors and cordials.
Some modern mixed cold wormwoods have been bottled with concentrations of almost 90% ABV. Others are simply presented as an ordinary bottle of alcohol with a small amount of powdered herbs floating in it. Today, it is known that wormwood does not cause hallucinations. [91] It is generally accepted that reports of hallucinogenic effects resulting from absinthe consumption were due to toxic adulteration agents in the 19th century. [95] such as wormwood oil, impure alcohol (possibly contaminated with methanol) and toxic dyes – in particular (among other green copper salts), copper acetate and antimontrichloride (the latter is used to falsify the ouzo effect). [96] [97] The absence of a formal legal definition in most countries regulating the production and quality of absinthe has made it possible to misrepresent products manufactured at low prices in production and composition as traditional. In Switzerland, the only country with a formal legal definition of absinthe, any absinthe product that has not been obtained by maceration and distillation or artificially dyed cannot be sold as absinthe. [60] Édouard Manet`s first major painting, Le Buveur d`absinthe, was controversial and was rejected by the Paris Salon in 1859. Despite the adoption of sweeping Eu food and drink legislation in 1988 that effectively reintroduced absinthe, a decree was issued the same year that maintained the ban on products explicitly labeled as “absinthe,” while fenchon (fennel) and pinocamphon (hyssop)[115] set strict limits in an obvious but unsuccessful attempt to thwart a possible return of products similar to absinthe. French producers have circumvented this regulatory hurdle by calling absinthe herbal spirits absinthe, many reducing or eliminating fennel and hyssop in their products.
A legal challenge to the scientific basis of this decree led to its repeal (2009)[116], which opened the door for the official French to re-legalize absinthe for the first time since 1915. The French Senate voted in mid-April 2011 to lift the ban. [117] In 2007, the first true absinthe (absinthe tabooe) in Canada was created by the Okanagan Spirits artisanal distillery in British Columbia. [113] Combined with the evidence presented by Magnan, the crime was added to the narrative of the abstinence movement (also known as the prohibition movement), which advocated a ban on absinthe. In the early 1900s, alcohol was banned in most parts of Europe and the United States. The bans lasted more than 100 years. Modern interest in absinthe has spawned an eruption of absinthe kits from companies that claim to produce homemade absinthe. Kits often require soaking herbs in vodka or alcohol, or adding a liquid concentrate to vodka or alcohol to create a substitute wormwood. Such practices usually result in a hard substance that bears little resemblance to the genuine product and is considered false by any practical standard. [70] Some mixtures can even be dangerous, especially if they require supplementation with potentially toxic herbs, oils and/or extracts.
In at least one documented case, a person suffered acute kidney damage after drinking 10 ml of pure wormwood oil – a much higher dose than wormwood. [71] “After the first glass of absinthe, you see things the way you want. After the second, you see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that`s the most terrible thing in the world. Oscar Wilde New Orleans has a cultural connection to absinthe and is considered the birthplace of Sazerac, perhaps the first absinthe cocktail. The Old Absinthe House Bar on Bourbon Street began in the first half of the 19th century. ==External links== Its Catalan tenant, Cayetano Ferrer, named it the absinthe room in 1874 because of the popularity of the drink, which was served in the Parisian style. [20] Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Aleister Crowley and Frank Sinatra attended. [20] [21] It was legalized in the United States in 2007 with regulated levels of thujone.
It is usually made with wormwood, anise and fennel and does not contain added sugar. In 2007, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) effectively lifted the long-standing ban on absinthe and has since approved the sale of many brands in the U.S. market. This was made possible in part by the TTB`s clarification of the Food and Drug Administration`s (FDA) thujone content regulations, which stipulate that finished foods and beverages containing Artemisia species must be free of thujone. [125] In this context, the TTB considers a product to be free of thujone if the thujone content is less than 10 ppm (equivalent to 10 mg/kg). [126] [127] This is demonstrated by the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. [128] The Kübler and Lucid brands and their lawyers did most of the work to get absinthe legalized in the United States in 2004-2007. [129] In the United States, March 5 is sometimes referred to as “National Absinthe Day” because it was the day the 95-year ban on absinthe was finally lifted. [130] On March 27, 1923, a ban on absinthe was issued in Germany. In addition to banning the production and trade of absinthe, the law went so far as to prohibit the distribution of printed matter containing details of its manufacture.
The initial ban was lifted in 1981, but the use of absinthium Artemisia as a flavouring substance remained banned. On the 27th. In September 1991, Germany adopted the 1988 European Union standards, which effectively reintroduced absinthe. [118] Then, in 1905, a Swiss man named Jean Lanfray murdered his wife and two daughters one night in a drunken rage. Lanfray had been drinking absinthe (as well as cognac, brandy, mint cream, wine and beer) since breakfast that day – and the day before and the day before.