One should go through the history of Absinthe. In the late 18th century a French doctor created Absinthe as an elixir for his patients. By 1805 the Absinthe recipes had got into the hands of Henri-Louis Pernod who started distilling it in his factory in Pontarlier in France.
Original Absinthe Recipes
Pernod’s Absinthe, Original Pernod Fils, was distilled from wine and contained many natural herbs and essential oils from plants including grande wormwood, aniseed, melissa, fennel, lemon balm, dittany, angelica root, hyssop, star anise, nutmeg and juniper.
The recipes and ingredients were not same for the Green Fairy Absinthe. Absinthe production also includes herbs like calamus root, mint, cloves, nutmeg, roman wormwood, anise seed, coriander, sweet flag and licorice. The characteristic bitter taste and name of Absinthe was given by the herb wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium.
People believed that the thujone chemical and THC in the drug cannabis have the same effects. A person consuming decent amount of thujone can suffer with psychedelic effects. Anethole is the content in anise seed and fennel seed which is psychoactive and Angelica root is grown in the form of a drug in Lapland. Absinthe is a mysterious mix of sedatives and stimulants, no wonder that artists and writers like Van Gogh and Oscar Wilde claimed that it gave them their genius and inspiration! “A clear headed drunkenness” is the explanation on how being drunk on Absinthe.
Absinthe was claimed to be dangerous for the society so it was illegalized in France in 1915. Just like other strong alcoholic drinks drinking Absinthe is also safe. Absinthe is not dangerous for anyone as it is basically alcohol and only contains only a small amount of wormwood and the other herbs.
Homemade Absinthe Recipes
There are many Absinthe recipes on the Internet using different herbs and different methods – steeping, filtering etc. Using plants, dried herbs or essential oils for Absinthe preparation at home is not suggested. Why?
– A person must use distilled Absinthe.
– A person have no way of knowing the thujone content of the intaken Absinthe.
It is far better to buy either a quality Absinthe, making sure that it’s got the vital ingredient wormwood, or to buy an Absinthe kit which consists of Absinthe essences that have already been distilled.
Breaux’s label “Lucid” is legal in the USA.
AbsintheKit.com does great Absinthe kits which consist of:-
– Absinthe essence – choose from classic, white (which makes clear Swiss style Absinthe, Strong 55 (with a 55mg thujone content) and Orange (flavored with orange oil).
– Appropriate measure.
– Buy Artistic Labels for decorating Absinthe bottles.
One bottle of essence will make 14 bottles of Absinthe!
Using these kits one had to mix 20ml of the Absinthe essence with a neutral alcohol to make own bottle of Green Fairy.
These essences are simple and easy to use and a safe, top-quality product.
There are numerous cocktail Absinthe recipes onlie for example Ernest Hemingway’s famous “Death in the Afternoon” – Absinthe and champagne. There is fun in searching and mixing the cocktails.