Discovering Whats Absinthe Effect on the Body?

Absinthe, also known as the Green Fairy, is actually a herbal alcoholic drink having an anise flavor. It was the drink of La Belle Epoque time period of history and of the Bohemian culture of Paris, specifically Montmartre. Absinthe fans – Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Wilde as well as Ernest Hemingway professed that the drink was responsible for their genius and that it gave them ideas – the Green Fairy was their muse. But, what is in Absinthe?

What is in Absinthe?

Henri-Louis Pernod’s Absinthe from the early 19th century was developed using a wine based alcohol that has been distilled with natural herbs. It is known that his Absinthe recipe was made utilizing the plant common wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium) as well as other herbs such as Florence fennel, green aniseed, hyssop, lemon balm, dittany, star anise, angelica, veronica, nutmeg and juniper. Some of these herbs were utilized at the start of the method and others were used at the end to give the Absinthe its classic green or verte color.

Wormwood gave Absinthe its name (from Absinthium) and its somewhat bitter taste. Roman or petite wormwood (artemisia pontica) is usually sometimes employed in Absinthe production.

Wormwood includes a substance called thujone. Thujones are monoterpenes and ketones which are seen in many other plants too – sage, cypress and tansy. Thujones act within the GABA receptors inside the brain and might cause convulsions and muscle spasms when consumed in large quantities. They can also be toxic to organs like the liver and brain. Thujone was considered to be similar to THC in the drug cannabis creating psychedelic effects for instance hallucinations but research has revealed this for being false.

Wormwood, or thujone, was responsible for the banning of Absinthe during the early 1900s. The medical job of the time believed that drinking Absinthe led to Absinthe addiction, Absinthism whose signs and symptoms were:-

– Hallucinations
– Hyper excitability
– Weakening of the intellect
– Brain injury
– Insanity
– Death

These claims have at the moment been proved false and appear to be just part of the mass hysteria promoted by the prohibition movement of the time. Absinthe, even pre ban Absinthe, only contains very tiny amounts of thujone and it would be impossible to consume enough thujone to become harmful – you will die of alcohol poisoning first! There is much more thujone in sage and no one hallucinates after eating a casserole flavored with sage!

All good Absinthe is made up of wormwood as well as other essential oils. These oils enable the Absinthe to louche when water is added in Absinthe preparation and give it its wonderful anise flavor. Make sure that you purchase a quality Absinthe or make your own Absinthe by using a top-quality essence from AbsintheKit.com. See AbsintheKit.com for information and help regarding their Absinthe products.

Absinthe also contains alcohol and it has an extremely high alcohol by volume, as much as 75% ABV. Care needs to be taken when drinking Absinthe, not mainly because it could make you hallucinate but because it is very easy to get drunk on Absinthe particularly if you are mixing it along with other alcohol in cocktails.

I hope that this data has answered the question “What is in Absinthe?”. Enjoy getting to know the Green Fairy!