Absinthians! I just ordered a bottle!

I will soon join your ranks...

I've heard the quality is extremely variable.

I'm wanting to try.

Just to get the numbers higher...the drive ends soon...

I do want to try the Emilie 68 though

lower alcohol absinths? 70 is a bit too strong for me.

I don't believe absinth has any hallucinogenic effects. Never has for me, anyhow.

and a bottle of what???

WHo? where? when? why?

Eats the brain or some thing. Always green in the paintings of all those sad people in bars they painted.

except it has hallucinagenic effects for some, the wormwood makes it illegal in the states. rather, absynthe is.

Absinthe (from the French) is a liqueur containing the possibly-psychoactive substance thujone, in addition to alcohol. Absinthe is known for its popularity in France in the late 19th century and early 20th century, until its prohibition in 1915.

The source of thujone is wormwood, whose scientific name is Artemisia absinthium. Absinthe has a pale-green color and tastes much like an anise-flavored liqueur, but with strongly bitter undertones. It was originally distilled, since a maceration of wormwood produces an extremely bitter drink. Additionally, it contains anise (often partially substituted with star anise), fennel, hyssop, melissa, and Roman wormwood (Artemisia pontica). Various recipes also include angelica root, sweet flag, dittany leaves, coriander, and other mountain herbs.

The distillation of wormwood, anise, and fennel first produces a colorless "alcoholate", and to this the well-known green colour of the beverage is imparted by steeping with the leaves of roman wormwood, hyssop, and melissa. Inferior varieties are made by means of essences or oils cold-mixed in alcohol, the distillation process being omitted.

Historically, there were four varieties of absinthe: ordinaire, demi-fine, fine, and supérieures or Swiss, the latter of which was of a higher alcoholic strength than the former. It can be colored green (which is done to add flavors) or left clear. The best absinthes contain 65 to 75% alcohol. It is said to improve very materially by storage. It is known that in the 19th century absinthe, like much food and drink of the time, absinthe was occasionally adulterated by profiteers with copper, zinc, indigo, or other dye-stuffs to impart the green colour, but this was never done by the best distilleries.

It was thought that excessive absinthe-drinking led to effects which were specifically worse than those associated with over-indulgence in other forms of alcohol, creating the condition absinthisme. The wormwood extract is responsible for the drink containing a compound called thujone, which is an epileptic in extremely high doses, but far more than could be consumed by normal drinking. Most of the thujone is removed during the distillation process, but can remain in higher amounts in oils or when macerated, especially the plant stems, where thujone content is the highest. No modern scientific studies have been carried out to back the validity of 19th century medical claims to absinthe's supposed dangers as a drink, apart from its high alcohol content.

------------
Shamelessly lifted off the wikipaedia.

I wanted to give it a try

How very romantique! I can't wait to drink a bottle and watch 'Three Coins In A Bidet'.

I felt just fine right afterwards . Or maybe thats the reason I felt fine .

Which brand did you get? The 'extra strong' czech version packs a wallop.

First, I don't think it should be, so I'm not being critical of those who drink it. Heck I'm tempted to get a bottle to see what the big deal is?

But here is my concerns:

First - it's illegal in the United States, so wouldn't this get stopped at customes?

Second - USPA tracks every credit card purchase you make so they'll have a record of you purchasing this illegal substance.

Details, because actually, as someone who enjoys interestings liquors, I'd like to know more

I've had homemade Absynthe before (the botanical gardens in my town didn't used to be fenced in, so wormwood was freely available to all who'd venture a nighttime stroll!), but I remain unconvinced that the persons preparing it got it right. I'd love to try a proper bottle, but the import questions you've just posed are exactly what have kept me from doing so.

EstimatedProphet - you could just PM details if you don't want to post any further on these specifics, nudge nudge.

Just go to one of the distributors in the absinthe faq, and fork up the dough (it's expensive). BTW stay away from the home-made stuff; I remember a link somewhere that talks about permanent brain damage form some of the "bathtub absinthes"!

but not to own or partake. :shrug:

As I understand the regs from the http://www.feeverte.net/guide/">absinthe faq, the issue in the US is not a legal one but a regulatory one. Which means in effect that is prohibited to trade in absinthe in the Us, but not to have any. I ordered from a British distributor that uses a courier for delivery, and so far, this company and others aren't having any trouble with imports.

I may want to try some but they all seem so expensive. Is there a good bargain brand similar to Charles Shaw Wine (2 buck Chuck)? Just a decent first foray into this nectar at a reasonable price.

What makes it so expensive is importing. Now, if you go to Europe and get a bottle, then that's a different matter.

I'm interested, which one to order?

Which one did you pick?

More on price than anything else...shipping is way expensive