Absinthe Blog

With more and more people making absinthe a drink that they are drinking in their homes and in drinking establishments across the U.S., now that it is legal to do so more and more people are asking about thujone.

In simple terms, thujone substance that is contained in the wormwood herb that goes into the making of absinthe, because of the slightly bitter taste that the wormwood imparts into the drink. Thujone is alleged to have hallucinogenic properties and this is the main reason for much of the mystique that has surrounded the drinking of absinthe since it was formulated over a century ago in Switzerland.

Due to the fact that consuming thujone in large quantities can have toxic effects, it is not recommended that it be experimented with. However; if you are determined to use yourself as a guinea pig, you can easily buy wormwood in its raw form on the Internet from specialty herb retailers.

A much better way to taste wormwood and feel the effects of the thujone that it contains is to buy a bottle of absinthe on the Internet instead. The absinthes that have the highest quantity of thujone are those that are marketed from the Czech Republic but that is not a rule that is chiseled in stone.

Also when you do your “thujone” test by drinking absinthe you also get to experience what it feels like to drink a high alcohol content liquor, because most of the brands of absinthe that are available over the Internet will be 124 proof or more.

If you don’t feel like waiting by your mail box for your bottle of absinthe to arrive though you can now take a ride to your local liquor retailer or bar and order up one of the several brands of absinthe that have been recently cleared for sale in the U.S.

So you are thinking of adding wormwood to your garden this season but you need some tips on how to do it. The first thing that you will need is some wormwood seeds and they should be available over the Internet. However; what you will also find while you are searching for wormwood seeds is that you can easily buy raw wormwood already sifted and bagged from specialty herb retailers on the Internet and that is a lot easier than growing it.

Wormwood grows wild in some regions of Europe and it is also cultivated for commercial use there, so there should be no problem in growing it in the U.S. However; before you crank up your John Deer tractor and plow under your entire crop of tomatoes to plant wormwood, you may want to study up on the various varieties that there are.

For instance, there is a variety of wormwood that is called “Grand Wormwood” that is indigenous to Switzerland and it exclusively goes into the making of Kubler absinthe which is the top selling premium absinthe in Switzerland.

The best idea is to start your seedlings in small Styrofoam cups that you have poked a small hole in the bottom of for drainage. Fill each cup with the best ph balanced potting soil that you can find for sale and plant a seed in each one and place on a window sill that gets plenty of sunlight.

Water once thoroughly and then allow to sit for a few days but don’t over water and don’t fertilize as doing either one of these things will zap your seedlings before they have a chance to sprout.

After your seedling begin to appear, move them outside into more sun but make sure that they don’t get cooked in the direct sun all day. After they outgrow their cups, plant them in the ground and tend to them as they need it.

Aside from alcohol, the other main component in Absinthe is thujone.  Although thujone’s mechanism is not known, it is considered to be a convulsant.  It is believed that there are structural similarities between thujone and tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the active component in marijuana.  This made people think that both substances have the same site of action in the brain.  But these chemicals have been used for ages for medicinal purposes because of their therapeutic claims when taken correctly.

Thujone makes up about 40 to 90 percent of the essence of wormwood, a major ingredient in Absinthe.  This would make thujone appear to be a good candidate for a second active component in Absinthe.  Thujone is shown to cause adverse effects and it is believed to be the component responsible for the ban of Absinthe in many countries.  It has long been considered that thujone is the neurotoxic cause of absinthism.  Thujone has been suggested to cause addictions, hyperactivity, hallucinations and psychedelics.  But there is no direct evidence to support this.

Absinthe is composed of 75 percent alcohol, the alcohol’s effects will control the amount of thujone a person can ingest.  Even with just a moderate amount of Absinthe, you can become drunk from the alcohol.  The thujone would have to be either active at a very low dose or be present in high quantities in order to have a considerable effect.  In a regular dose of Absinthe, there is 2 to 4 milligrams of thujone, which is way below the level wherein acute pharmacological effects are observed.  But frequent intake may cause thujone to build up in the body, and increase the chance of getting seizures of hallucinations.  As with any other drug, each individual’s reaction is different.  But a single serving of Absinthe would unlikely have any lasting effects.