Now that Absinthe is once again legal in many countries around the world, people are asking “What are the effects of Absinthe?”, “Will it make me hallucinate?”, “Will I perhaps see the Green Fairy?”.
Absinthe is a drink with many legends and stories surrounding it. Created in Switzerland as an elixir by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, and 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, the
age leading up to the First World War.
Famous drinkers of Absinthe include Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Oscar Wilde who said “After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you begin to see them as they are not. Finally, 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 which he then flavored 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 was popular in the time commonly known as “The Great Binge”, when beverages contained cocaine and heroin was thought safe to use in medicine. It was linked to these other types of drugs and was thought to be psychoactive and to cause:-
– Hallucinations
– Hyper excitability
– Convulsions
– Weakening the intellect
– Insanity
– Addiction
– Possible damage of the brain
– Violence
– Death
Artistic types consumed Absinthe to help them gain inspiration and many artists and writers 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. The consumption of 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 original vintage bottles have proved that claims about thujone levels and the safety of Absinthe were completely false. Absinthe 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 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 easily. The mysterious blend of alcohol and herbs will give you a strange drunken experience, a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness – a completely new experience!
So, what are the effects of Absinthe? Well, there are no bad effects except if you overdo it and perhaps get a hangover. Absinthe is a drink to be enjoyed slowly and to make you have a feeling of well being. You should buy good quality Absinthe which contains real wormwood or make your own with essences from AbsintheKit.come and enjoy the great taste of Absinthe also called the Green Fairy. Absinthe kits are available from http://absinthekit.com/.