[thechat] the absinthiste

[Joe Crawford]

Bob Davis wrote:
> Yeah, wormwood is a psychotropic. Lots of artists used to drink it
> (van Gogh among them).
> Vermouth was originally made from it too - according to legend.
> 
> In the US, it is illegal to sell it as a food item, but it is legal
> to have it, consume it, and it's legal to bring it into the country.
> My brother had a bottle that he bought in the Czech Republic, which
> apparently was one of the places famous for good absinthe. You can
> buy it in England too.
> 
> Like anything - too much is bad for you. I'd like to try it though.

+!

> My brother said it tastes terrible. Very bitter. It's also >50%
> alcohol, which will mess you up. He didn't have all of the special
> spoons and sugar cubes and such..part of the allure, I suppose.
> 
> There is supposed to be a whole ritual to the preparation of
> absinthe. Dipping the sugar in the absinthe, placing it on the
> slotted spoon that is resting over the glass, lighting the now highly
> flammable cube and watching the sugar melt into the absinthe
> (possibly catching the glass alight) and pouring water over the sugar
> to extinguish it and  dilute the absinthe.
> It turns milky (like Pernod - a substitute for Absinthe when it was
> made illegal) when mixed with water.
> 
> Interesting stuff.
> 
> Seen Braham Stoker's Dracula? Mina and the Count are drinking Absinthe.

Also featured in _Moulin Rouge_ in a silly and funny sequence. I also
recall a Bruce Sterling essay about bohemianism which mentioned it as a
prediliction of the day. And I think it's mentioned in _The Difference
Engine_ (a novel).

But it was outlawed, and remains not very well consumed, largely because
as I understand it - it has some peculiar neurological effects which
might not be your friend. There was clearly outcry about Absinthe, but
as with many drugs, the outcry was more about those who /used/ the
substance than the substance itself.

I did some googling and research on it a few months back - some nice
resources out there on the net.
	http://www.google.com/search?q=absinthe gets you some great stuff.

	- Joe <http://artlung.com/>