Absinthe thujone

Absinthe thujone is the chemical found in Absinthe’s essential ingredient, the plant called Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its organic name. The chemical thujone was partially responsible for Absinthe being banned in early 1900s in several countries across the world and thujone is still tightly regulated these days, specifically in the United States (or states united).

Thujone was considered to be just like THC present in cannabis and Absinthe had been speculated to be psychoactive and have psychedelic outcomes causing hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe has been popular with the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and several artists and also writers claimed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration and their genius. Famous Absinthe drinkers include Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Baudelaire https://absinthethujone.com and Verlaine. Some say that Van Gogh’s madness was due to Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its influence. Absinthe was even blamed for a man murdering his family, despite the fact that he had ingested a great many other strong alcoholic drinks following the Absinthe.

Prohibition campaigners utilised news of the murder to campaign for the banning of Absinthe and held accountable France’s growing problems of alcoholism on the emerald liquor.

Is Absinthe thujone Unsafe?

Today’s research suggests that it was actually the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that was dangerous instead of the thujone. Absinthe is twice as strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be taken whenever ingesting Absinthe. Thujone is simply contained in minute quantities and must therefore trigger no major side effects or health problems. The EU states that alcohol based drinks with an ABV {alcohol by volume) level more than 25% may only consist of a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” may contain around 35mg/kg, it is not completely clear which class Absinthe fits into but most brands of Absinthe have much under 35mg with many being below 10mg/kg. In the US it is simply legal to get or sell Absinthes with trace amounts of thujone.

High doses of thujone may be harmful causing convulsions but you must drink a large amount of Absinthe to use that quantity of thujone also it would be impossible to drink that amount, you’d be comatose from alcohol until then!

Absinthe Substances

It is known that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the first Absinthe distillery, employed the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper as well as veronica to make his famous Pernod Absinthe. The essential oil from all of these herbs is in charge of La Louche, the clouding which happens when water is added to Absinthe. These kinds of herbs particularly the aniseed and anise lead to the distinctive aniseed or licorice style of Absinthe and wormwood is responsible for the bitter flavor. Absinthe is oftentimes utilized as bitters in cocktails.

There are many brands of Absinthe or Absinthe alternatives which were developed throughout the prohibit and so contain no Absinthe thujone or wormwood, but some would say that Absinthe isn’t Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter style of wormwood. If you want real Absinthe search for brands containing wormwood or Absinthe thujone.