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Alcohol-age: Absinthe coming back to US

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XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Just saw this on SFGate: St. George Spirits in Alameda has approval to release the U.S.'s first domestic absinthe since the 1912 ban.

Now it seems that no one can remember exactly why it was prohibited. Some say it was the chemical thujone found in the herb wormwood, used to make absinthe, that affects the brain. Others say it was a plot by the wine industry to put the popular spirit out of business. And there are those who believe it was a case of baseless hysteria, not unlike "Reefer Madness," the 1936 propaganda film about marijuana.

Earlier this year, a lone Washington, D.C., lawyer took on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in an attempt to lift the ban. After some legal wrangling, the agency agreed - with some limits.

Last week, St. George Spirits of Alameda received the news that, after seven applications, the federal agency had approved its label, the final obstacle before going to market. On Monday, the small artisan distillery sold its token first bottle, becoming the only American company since 1912 to sell absinthe in the United States. Then the staff took a moment to celebrate.

"We made champagne and absinthe cocktails, which rapidly degenerated into just sipping absinthe out of the bottle with crazy straws," said Lance Winters, a 42-year-old master distiller at the seven-employee company.

...

St. George will compete with three other absinthe distillers - the Swiss Kubler, French Lucid and the Brazilian Absinto Camargo. All have begun importing the licorice-flavored spirit into the United States in recent months. It was the Kubler distillery that hired attorney Robert Lehrman to end the prohibition, while Lucid was the brainchild of Ted Breaux, a New Orleans chemist who reverse-engineered an old bottle of absinthe to devise his formula. He worked with a French distillery to reproduce it. All have paved the way for U.S. distillers to sell their own perfected versions of the drink, which are likely to hit the shelves soon.

Lehrman said Yves Kubler, who produces a few hundred thousand bottles of absinthe a year, saw a real market for the spirit here and was eager to tap into it. So in 2000, Lehrman started making inquiries of federal regulators only to determine that the fight would be a tough one.

"When something has been banned since 1912, it's hard to get it undone," he said.

But Lehrman persevered. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau officials said they were willing to accept absinthe formulas that fall under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations that the drink contain no more than 10 parts per million of the chemical thujone, but the word absinthe on the bottle's label had to be small and used with a qualifier like St. George's Verte or Kubler's Swiss Absinthe Superieure.

Lehrman said thujone in mass quantities "is bad stuff," but small amounts are found in a number of herbs, ingredients and materials, including sage and cedar, and are considered fairly harmless. More notable is absinthe's high alcohol content, typically 120 proof or more, about 50 percent higher than vodka and whiskey.

"Look, absinthe is bad the way Jack Daniels is bad, the way Skyy Vodka is bad," says Lehrman. "The worst component is the alcohol. If you drink too much, something bad will happen."
 

Kaervas

Banned
News flash:

23240_755799011.jpg



Best alcohol drink. Ever.
 

Timedog

good credit (by proxy)
Whoa awesome! Isn't this supposed to make you hallucinate? How much of that chemical does normal absinthe have?
 

Kaervas

Banned
Timedog said:
Whoa awesome! Isn't this supposed to make you hallucinate? How much of that chemical does normal absinthe have?


Actually, it's only a very mild hallucination, if it happens...

And, weed is always better with some booze to soften your throat from the smoke!
 
This new stuff is crap.

It can be sold in the U.S. only if they are classified as thujone-free. This is the stuff that is supposed to give you its transcendent experience. It makes your brain zap around really fast causing lucid inebriations.

This new absinthe can only be sold in the US if it contains less than 10 ppm (parts per million) of thujone. Compare this to the stuff from a hundred years ago and earlier, which contained up to 260 ppm. Most countries only allow between 10-30 ppm.

Supposedly Logan Fils has 100 ppm which is probably close to what people used to drink.
 
heavy liquid said:
This new stuff is crap.

It can be sold in the U.S. only if they are classified as thujone-free. This is the stuff that is supposed to give you its transcendent experience. It makes your brain zap around really fast causing lucid inebriations.

This new absinthe can only be sold in the US if it contains less than 10 ppm (parts per million) of thujone. Compare this to the stuff from a hundred years ago and earlier, which contained up to 260 ppm. Most countries only allow between 10-30 ppm.

Supposedly Logan Fils has 100 ppm which is probably close to what people used to drink.


in other words, drink alot of it kiddies.
 
Napoleonthechimp said:
"If you drink too much, something bad will happen."

They should put that on every bottle. Sales would sky rocket.

This is actually very true. I have video footage of my friend just out of his mind on the stuff. He tore up a Roman hotel room leaving us no choice but to upscond into the night leaving light fixtures and hairdryers in disarray.
 

Armitage

Member
Karakand I've become somewhat enamored with your crusade against The Puritans. Yesterday I was talking to someone and I mentioned I had a beer (ONE) on Monday. It was like I was an alcoholic! The fuck!
 

Karakand

Member
heavy liquid said:
This new stuff is crap.
Baby steps, friend. Baby steps. Rome was not built in a day and we cannot expect anything else in our campaign to eradicate Temperance from our great nation.

Armitage said:
Karakand I've become somewhat enamored with your crusade against The Puritans. Yesterday I was talking to someone and I mentioned I had a beer (ONE) on Monday. It was like I was an alcoholic! The fuck!
I feel your pain brother Armitage. I feel it down to my core. Join our righteous cause and help us build a better America!
 

MrOctober

Banned
I ordered absinthe from the Czech Republic for a friend last year for x-mas. It was universally considered to taste akin to a skunk's asshole. But it was like 160 proof or some shit so it got everybody fucking rocked in like one cup.
 

FLEABttn

Banned
heavy liquid said:
Compare this to the stuff from a hundred years ago and earlier, which contained up to 260 ppm.

False.

Past reports estimated thujone levels in absinthe as high — up to 260 mg per kg of absinthe.[44] More recent studies have shown that very little of the thujone present in wormwood actually makes it into a properly distilled absinthe, even one using historical recipes and methods. Most proper absinthes, both vintage and modern, are within the current EU limits.[45][46][47]

Mr. Banana Grabber said:
This is actually very true. I have video footage of my friend just out of his mind on the stuff.

Nope. Also false.

Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations, especially those described in the old 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 it causes hallucinations.

Having been drunk off my ass on it before, I know for a fact it does dick, other than get you drunk.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
It's no big deal.

More of a glory drink that everyone does a shot of at the bar on a night out rather than anything else.
 

LordMaji

Member
Absinthe is pretty harsh. I had a bottle of it given to me year ago, but it vanished. The guy that gave it to me was in the Netherlands and brought it back w/ him.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
I've always found this far more interesting (and far more drinkable) than absinthe:

left_bottles.jpg


And the Bolivian Kiss, where you drink a shot with slices of lime tequila-style gives you a great little headrush.
 
Absinthe is good, especially over ice. You kind of have to like licorice, but it's great IMO. And as others have said, after a single glass of it, you're feeling just fine.
 
does it taste like black licorice? I think I had that in france...

So does this stuff make you hallucinate or something? hows it different from regular liquor
 
FLEABttn said:
Nope. Also false.

Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations, especially those described in the old 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 it causes hallucinations.

Having been drunk off my ass on it before, I know for a fact it does dick, other than get you drunk.

Wait. No seriously hold on. Are you telling me that I don't have video evidence of my friend drunk on absinthe tearing apart a hotel room? Hallucinations have nothing to do with sheer insanity my friend, even Wikipedia can tell you that.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
Mr. Banana Grabber said:
Wait. No seriously hold on. Are you telling me that I don't have video evidence of my friend drunk on absinthe tearing apart a hotel room? Hallucinations have nothing to do with sheer insanity my friend, even Wikipedia can tell you that.

The lightweight.
 
I've had a couple bottles of Jade absinthe, the Edouard and the Blanchette. Very expensive, cost about $150 to import, but split between five of us for a beach vacation. It's hard to know just what contributed to the effects felt by Van Gogh, Gaugain, Toulouse, etc. Perhaps it was thujone, perhaps it was turpentine. Distillation standards weren't as strict back then. Absinthe is a very high alcohol spirit (~120-150 proof), but it does have a different effect than any other alcohol I've drunk. While you are intoxicated, it seems like it only affects the mind and not as severely as the amount of alcohol consumed would lead you to believe. I've had 5-10 glasses in an evening, and with bourbon, gin, vodka, etc. I would have been passed out in my own vomit. Instead, I was clear-headed, able to converse, play cards, games, etc. The consensus was even that we could drive a car if need be. Like I said, you're drunk (loquacious, happy, fingers tingling, etc.), but you can function. It was easy to see that a painter or musician could really perform well even under its influence.
 

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Tastes like old lady candy, has alcohol, is otherwise unremarkable.

No hallucinations. May as well drink Jager.
 

Karakand

Member
TemplaerDude said:
someday, i will venture down to the states and procure me a bottle of that.

my manlihood demands it.
Make sure the state hasn't outlawed it. Stupid ass California did. :mad:
 

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
I saw a bottle of absinthe for sale just the other night, $80 AUD a bottle. Couldn't believe it was there.
 

Kyoufu

Member
Mr. Banana Grabber said:
This is actually very true. I have video footage of my friend just out of his mind on the stuff. He tore up a Roman hotel room leaving us no choice but to upscond into the night leaving light fixtures and hairdryers in disarray.

Vid or it didn't happen.
 

FLEABttn

Banned
Mr. Banana Grabber said:
Wait. No seriously hold on. Are you telling me that I don't have video evidence of my friend drunk on absinthe tearing apart a hotel room? Hallucinations have nothing to do with sheer insanity my friend, even Wikipedia can tell you that.

No, I'm telling you he's a fucking lightweight pussy and got too into himself being drunk, not that the absinthe made him hallucinate and go completely crazy.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
For anyone curious, there is a fantastic Hookah/Absinthe bar in Osaka called Absente (its about a block west of Nishohashi station on the yellow line). They have a fantastic (but stupidly expensive) absinthe/champagne mix called a hemingway that is definitely worth trying.

Fucks you up right quick.
 
Had some in England, its ok.

Im surprised the brazilian manufacturer entered the US market. Absinthe is available in most brazillian bars, but Im not sure which.


Also:

Absinthe has the chemical
Absinth doesnt

That was the rule of thumb before anyway, looks like the new US rules make no distinction
 

robot

Member
(Bump)

Picked up a bottle of Lucid Absinthe last night and was curious if anyone's ever had it. Didn't see the need to create a thread about.

At $65 a bottle, I'm hoping this shit is good!
 
robot said:
(Bump)

Picked up a bottle of Lucid Absinthe last night and was curious if anyone's ever had it. Didn't see the need to create a thread about.

At $65 a bottle, I'm hoping this shit is good!

you live in the states, right?

did you order it online or were you able to find it at a liquor store
 
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