The Absinthe United States Problem
During the early 1900s many European countries banished the strong alcoholic drink Absinthe, United States banned Absinthe in 1912.
Absinthe was never as popular in the United States as it was in European countries just like France and Switzerland, but there have been areas of the US absinthe liquor, just like the French portion of New Orleans, where Absinthe was served in Absinthe bars.
Absinthe is actually a liquor created from herbs just like wormwood, aniseed and fennel. It is often green, hence its nickname the Green Fairy, and it has an anise taste.
Absinthe is surely an interesting concoction or recipe of herbs that work as a stimulant and alcohol and other herbs that work as a sedative. It is the essential oils on the herbs that can cause Absinthe to louche, go cloudy, when water is added.
Wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium, contains a chemical called thujone which is considered to be much like THC in the drug cannabis, to be psychoactive and to cause psychedelic effects.
Absinthe United States and also the ban
At the start of the 1900s clearly there was a strong prohibition movement in France and this movement used the fact that Absinthe was linked to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre – with its writers, artists and also the courtesans and loose morals of establishments such as the Moulin Rouge, as well as the allegation that an Absinthe drinker murdered his family, to dispute for a ban on Absinthe. They said that Absinthe will be France’s ruin, that Absinthe was obviously a drug and intoxicant that would drive everyone to madness!
The United States adopted France’s example and banned Absinthe and drinks containing thujone in 1912. It became illegal, a crime, to purchase or sell Absinthe in the USA. Americans either had to concoct their own homemade recipes or journey to countries just like the Czech Republic, where Absinthe was still being legal, to savor the Green Fairy.
Many US legal experts believe that Absinthe was never banned in the US and that should you look cautiously to the law and ordinance you will notice that only drinks containing over 10mg of thujone were restricted. However, US Customs and police would not allow any Absinthe shipped from abroad to go into the US, only thujone free Absinthe substitutes were granted.
Absinthe United States 2007
Ted Breaux, a local of New Orleans, runs a distillery in Saumur France. He has utilized vintage bottles of pre-ban Absinthe to research Absinthe recipes also to create his personal classic pre-ban style Absinthe – the Jade collection.
Breaux was amazed to uncover that the vintage Absinthe, as opposed to belief, actually only contained very tiny quantities of thujone – inadequate to harm anyone. He became serious to offer an Absinthe drink that he could ship to his birthplace, the US. His dream was to yet again see Absinthe being used in bars in New Orleans.
Breaux and lawyer Gared Gurfein, had numerous meetings with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau about the thujone content of Breaux’s Absinthe recipe. They found that actually no law must be changed!
Breaux’s dream grew to be reality in 2007 when his brand Lucid was able to be shipped from his distillery in France to the US. Lucid is founded on vintage recipes and has real wormwood, unlike artificial Absinthes. Now, in 2008, a brand called Green Moon as well as Absinthes from Kubler are all capable of being bought and sold within the US.
Absinthe United States – A lot of Americans at the moment are enjoying their first taste of authentic legal Absinthe, perhaps you will see an Absinthe revival.
