Absinthe legal in US?

Soccerman18

I was over at Binny's (liquer store) the other day and they were sampling Absinthe and the lady working there said that it was the real stuff and that a few months ago a law was passed making it legal. Has anyone else heard this or was she just blowing smoke trying to sell it?

fritz

oh man....i don't know. i know peeps that have brought it here from spain. i've actually never heard of it being sold here legally.

i tried it once....took a swig....went down the wrong pipe. i coughed a bit....and a small amount came out around my mouth area like a sneeze would. and my entire face around my mouth burned like hell. interesting type of booze. proceed with caution.

adam

You can get absinthe in north america without wormwood, yes.

amadeux

Yes, this has been done for a while now. I'm not sure if its like the real stuff because I haven't tried any of the local ones, the one I tried in Germany was very potent. Here's a link to the PDF copy of the approval.

-Drink safe

Microneezia

Ive had a bunch of it in bars around vancouver, its not the Prague stuff, like Mr. Brome points out, it has like 2%wormwood, which is the active ingredient that pleasured the real boho's we all love so fondly. But It'll get cha drunk.

Mark Dygert

I think its missing a key ingredient, but they're still allowed to call it that... A budy of mine had a bottle and did some research and was disappointed.

aesir

No, before it was missing the key ingredient of wormwood, now it is legal.

However, the amount of wormwood is any absinthe currently made today, in europe or in north america, is very very very small. So small you will never feel a hallucinagenic effect that is commonly shown in crappy teen movies.

If you do get absinthe that can cause hallucinations, you are getting something very rare, and probably not good for you. And it probably has opium in it.


HOWEVER, all of the absinthe producers that are currently producing for the US market make some very good stuff. It's a very tasty drink.

Soccerman18

I knew you could get the non-wormwood kind in the US, but she was touting it as the real deal and when I asked her about it that's when she said the law had been changed recently and that the bottle they were sampling was from Italy.

Or maybe it was a really low percentage so it was the 'real deal' as a mere technicality?

Never had it before, pretty good stuff.

aesir

I'm sure it was the "real deal". Or at least as is much so as is possible anywhere these days. The whole wormwood thing has practically reached urban legend levels. Enjoy the drink for what it is.

Microneezia

Why would there be opium in it? Ive never heard that.

Vailias

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/MNQJTO9FM.DTL&tsp=1

also
"Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations, especially ones similar to those described in 19th century studies. Thujone, the supposed active chemical in absinthe, is a GABA antagonist and, while it can produce muscle spasms in large doses, there is no evidence that it causes hallucinations. It has been speculated that reports of hallucinogenic effects of absinthe may have been due to poisonous chemicals being added to cheaper versions of the drink in the 19th century, to give it a more vivid color.[53]" - wikipedia

So yes its real absinthe though it still has a low Thujone content

"In 2007, TTB relaxed the US absinthe ban, and approved several brands for sale.[79] These brands must pass TTB testing, which is performed by the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry method[80]. The TTB considers a product to be thujone-free if the FDA’s test measures less than 10ppm (equal to 10mg/kg) thujone.[81] A US distillery also began producing and selling absinthe, the first US company to do so since 1912.[82]"

danr

can you buy wormwood legally in the US?

we used to get it from our local comic shop. Much easier than trying to score

PixelMasher

yea, you wont ever trip balls and see crazy shit with it, total hype from movies. the idea originated from back in ye' olde times when people love them some opium :P probably in conjunction with the various old chemicals used to boost the color people had some messed up trips indeed.

if anyone you know ever claims to be trippin' on it they are eitther bs'ing, placebo effect or its been laced with soemthing haha.

Pedro Amorim

sure why not

Irreal

I remember a guy bringing a bottle of Abisnthe into work. I asked him what would happen if I downed it one. He told me that I would piss out my soul. I was sold after that.

JohnnyRaptor

Heres what you need

http://www.originalabsinthe.com/absinthe-king-gold-p-56.html

oh yeah, and some time ago when i was in prague, i found this dedicated absinthe shop with so many different types of absinthe it was inspiring! some of them with some alien looking bugs in em! dang!

I_luv_Pixels

About 6 months ago they legalized the sale of Absinthe in the US. I used to have to import it from France but now i can just order it from New York. I recommend you get nouvelle orleans if you are going to get some.

t4paN

I've had the "prague stuff" in two separate occasions.. One was red absinthe, 60% alc IIRC, which was meant to be used in coctails and was very bitter, so we ended up drinking it in shots. It was a fairly bad idea and led to a very bad night for all involved.

The other time it was the green-ish thing, 70% alc with ice and sipping - it does give you a bit of a different buzz, but nothing hallucinogenic. We split a 70cl bottle for three people and nobody saw any weird stuff. It was pretty good though, but nothing that would warrant the drink be sold illegally.

edit/ that said, I've got no idea about how things are in the states, I'm just talking about Europe.

JacqueChoi

There's a place here in Montreal that sells the real stuff with Wormwood (wicked place on Mont Royal). That stuff will knock your socks off.

If true, I'm surprised US is legalizing it., simply based on it being a hallucinagen.

TomDunne

The effects of absinthe are overrated. Thujone, the compound in absinthe, does have psychoactive properties, but you'll pass out blind stinking drunk from the alcohol before you get enough thujone in you to have an effect. No one understood this 100 years ago, but it's pretty much commonly accepted fact today. The change in America's thujone restriction is more like "science 4TW!" rather than "yay, everyone get crazy on the green fairy juice!"