Absinthe?

[Dude-Man]

Hey, i was considering ordering a bottle for a few of my friends and I to experiment with. Has anyone tried it? I'm curious about personal experiences. In case you've never heard of it, it's a liquor with wormwood extract that also acts as a mild hallucionogen.. I've heard that it makes everything look like either CGI or technicolor/cell shaded. Sounds interesting, like a good fun one time thing to do.

[arthurb999]

I've heard of it... never used it.

[Danielle]

huh...........what is this?.............i never heard of it?!?!.... .......now you got me curious

[Warrior]

Isn't legal now in Europe. I read in Maxim that you can now order it from there... they recently lifted the ban in many countries that was put in place during WWII...

[Dude-Man]

bingo, i actually have a website that lists many foreign distributors. They made it legal in france, chechz, england, a bunch of other european countries, but the thujone content (the stuff that gives it the extra kick) is limited to 10 mg per liter. I'm guessing it's pretty potent stuff for a concentration that low to do something. Anyway, i just ordered two bottles of pernod 68, hopefully it'll be here in a week or two. Shipping was brutal, 30 bucks, where the two bottles were 35 a piece. thank goodness there's no tax. Now i've just got to hope customs doesn't take it on me.

It's really all pretty interesting. You take a shot of the stuff, pour it through a slotted spoon with sugar cubes on it, pour an equal part of water through the sugar cubes, stir and drink. There are other ways to do it, heating it with sugar like a junkie cooks his heroine, then stirring that into water, many other ways.. It was illegal for a long time because they thought it caused a dissease called absinthism, which was actually just alcoholism. (the stuff is around 70% alcohol.)

anyway, i'll let you know how everything goes.

[Testify]

Yeah bro. Absinthe is the shit. I spent a summer abroad in Barcelona and we used to go out to Absinthe bars quite a bit. It is illegal in every country now except Spain. (This was 3 years ago, so legal issues may be different now Warrior?)In fact, it is such an old "drug" that even in Spain few people know what you are talking about if you ask them where to buy it. But of course there are places.

Absinthe is distilled from wormwood, which is poisonous. It is also considered a mild hallucinagen, but in my experiences I never hallucinated. It is alchoholic, but more like THC, and I believe someone told me that the two drugs are structurally similar. When you have drunk a lot of it, you do not quite feel drunk - not in the conventional uncoordinated sort of way. It gives you one hell of a happy high-type of buzz. One of the bars I drank at in the gothic district was a former hangout of Dali and Gaudi. The bartenders told us that they used to come there and drink Absinthe all the time. I guess they found their inspiration. Rembrandt was rumored to be high on absinthe when he cut off his ear.

If you can get Absinthe, you should try it. You pour the glass half full, and then dissolve a sugar cube into the absinthe by pouring water over it until the glass is full. Use a fork to hold the sugar cube over the glass while you pour. All ingredients should be at room temperature. The liquid will turn from a "neon" yellow-green to a milkier and paler shade. It has a very strong tatse of liquorice. A lot of people do not like it, and even if you do, its definitely for sipping. You will only need one or two to begin to feel the effects. Enjoy!

[Dude-Man]

wasn't it van goh who cut of his ear?

and warrior is right, it is now legal in almost all of europe.

[Testify]

Yeah, you're right. It was van Gogh.

So it is legal now? I brought back a few bottles, and managed to get them through customs somehow. This huge and cranky customs officer walked directly to me as soon as I walked through the gate with my boxes, and told me to go to the search line. I was freaking out. I had everything bubblewrapped - and there was other stuff in there too - so when they opened the box and asked what was inside, I told them that the bottles were wine. They never unwrapped the bottles to see what the label said. I guess I was lucky.

I still have an almost empty bottle. If you are interested, it says "Le Vrai Absinthe" at the top of the label. And the name "Philip La Sala" in big letters at the bottom as well. It was good stuff. It also says that is is "50% vol" - alchohol, I assume. And on the back label it says that the distributor is "Depsa." It doesn't say anything about the concentration of wormwood. Anyway, if you happen to see this variety in your searches, I can vouch for its quality. As for getting it through customs . . . good luck.

[Dude-Man]

We're getting it shipped, so it's got as good a chance of getting through customs as about anything else.

[someday]

chris let us know if it makes it.....i've been wanting to get some for a while and haven't even thought of getting it online.....why the hell not you can get everything else right.

[Dude-Man]

you want a website? I'll PM you one for sure.

[someday]

yah man that'd be sweet......

[Vanmuscle]

You can buy it at the liquor storese here in Vancouver, so it must be legal in Canada. I've had it a couple times, but didn't do the sugar/water thing, just shot it. You definitely feel that quickly (70%) As Testify mentioned, it's more of a high than drunk. It's expensive too though, like $80 for a bottle.