Enjoying Wines

Since Absinthe is once again legal in many countries around the world, people are asking “What are the effects of Absinthe?”, “Will it make me trip?”, “Will this cause me to see the Green Fairy?”.

Absinthe is a mythical drink with many legends and stories surrounding it. Created in Switzerland as an elixir or tonic by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, Absinthe quickly became a best selling alcoholic beverage when Henri-Louis Pernod started distilling it in France. In fact, it overtook beer, cider and even wine as the most popular drink in France in the period known as La Belle Epoque, the golden age leading up to the First World War.

Among the famous drinkers of the Green Fairy was Oscar Wilde who said “After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. Next you see them as they are not. And in the end, you finally see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”

Pernod made Absinthe from a base of wine which he then flavored with natural herbal ingredients such as wormwood, fennel, aniseed, star anise, veronica, dittany, lemon balm, hyssop, nutmeg, angelica and dittany. Some manufacturers used additional herbs such as coriander, calamus root and mint.

So, what are the effects of Absinthe?

Absinthe was popular in the time known as “The Great Binge”, a time when beverages which contained cocaine were popular and heroin was thought safe to use in medicine. It was linked to other types of drugs and was thought to be psychoactive and to cause:-

– Hallucinations
– Extreme or hyper excitibility
– Spasms and convulsions
– Weakening of the intellect
– Insanity
– Addiction
– Causes of brain damage
– Violence
– Death

Artistic types consumed Absinthe to help them gain inspiration and many artists and writers said they it was responsible for their genius. Famous Absinthe poetry.

Absinthe, so the prohibition led people to believe, was going to drive the French people insane, make them immoral and cause the collapse of the nation. After doctors tested wormwood and thujone, the chemical in wormwood, they claimed that it was like cannabis and could cause epileptic fits. The prohibition movement blamed Absinthe for causing a young man to murder his whole family after only consuming a few glasses. The consumption of Absinthe was also famously blamed for Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and for his suicide.

Absinthe was thought to contain huge amounts of thujone, up to 350mg per liter but high tech tests on vintage bottles have proved these claims to be completely false. Absinthe contained a small amounts, up to 6mg, not enough to cause anyone to even hallucinate a little. Studies show that Absinthe is just as safe as any other alcoholic drink.

I’m afraid that Absinthe won’t help you to see green fairies but it is a very strong drink, up to 75% alcohol by volume, and so will get you drunk rather quickly and easily. The mysterious blend of alcohol and herbs in Absinthe will give you a strange drunken experience, a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness – a completely new experience!

What are some of the effects of Absinthe? Well, there are no bad effects except if you overdo it and perhaps get a hangover. Absinthe is a drink to be enjoyed slowly and to make you have a feeling of well being. Buy Absinthe of good quality which contains real wormwood or make your own with essences from AbsintheKit.come and enjoy the exciting taste of the Green Fairy. Absinthe kits are available from http://absinthekit.com/.