Absinthe Thujone

Absinthe thujone is the chemical found in Absinthe’s important ingredient, the plant called Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its botanical name. The chemical thujone was to some extent responsible for Absinthe being banned in early 1900s in lots of countries around the world and thujone is still tightly regulated nowadays, especially in the United States (or states united).

Thujone was thought to be similar to THC found in cannabis and Absinthe had been purported to be psychoactive and have psychedelic results causing hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe had been popular with the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and lots of artists as well as 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 and absinthethujone Verlaine. Some claim that Van Gogh’s madness was caused by Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its influence. Absinthe was even blamed for a man murdering his family, although he had eaten many other strong alcoholic drinks right after the Absinthe.

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

Is Absinthe thujone Hazardous?

Today’s research suggests that it was really the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe which was dangerous as opposed to the thujone. Absinthe is doubly strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be utilized any time taking in Absinthe. Thujone is only obtained in minute quantities and must therefore cause no major unwanted effects or even health issues. The EU stipulates 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” can easily contain around 35mg/kg, it is not completely clear which class Absinthe matches but most brands of Absinthe have much less than 35mg with many being below 10mg/kg. In the US it is only legal to buy or sell Absinthes with trace amounts of thujone.

High doses of thujone can be hazardous causing convulsions but you would need to drink a great deal of Absinthe to take that quantity of thujone plus it will be impossible to drink that amount, you’d be comatose from alcohol until then!

Absinthe Elements

It is said that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the very first Absinthe distillery, utilized the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper and veronica to create his famous Pernod Absinthe. The primary oil from all of these herbs is responsible for La Louche, the clouding which happens when water is combined with Absinthe. These kinds of herbs specially the aniseed and anise lead to the distinctive aniseed or licorice style of Absinthe and wormwood is responsible for the particular bitter flavor. Absinthe is sometimes employed as bitters in cocktails.

There are many brands of Absinthe or Absinthe substitutes which were developed in the bar and so contain no Absinthe thujone or even wormwood, but some would say that Absinthe isn’t Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter taste of wormwood. If you’d like real Absinthe search for brands containing wormwood or Absinthe thujone.