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POPSAbsinthe Goes From Banned Drug to Legal Liquor Breaux's research — finally published this spring in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (.pdf) — and that Wired story have helped change absinthe's image from drug to drink. The US has been slowly peeling away its ban, and in March, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the sale of absinthes that were "thujone free" (containing less than 10 parts per million).
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POPSThe Five Best Bottles of Absinthe The government never banned absinthe itself but rather thujone, the wormwood-derived compound that supposedly gives the stuff its mind-bending edge. However, modern chemical analysis shows that thujone survives distilling in quantities so small they are actually legal. This is something of a double-edged sword: That same analysis also shows that the old brands that spawned absinthe’s dark legend didn’t have all that much thujone, either -- all along it was just really strong, herb-flavored booze. Plus, half the excitement of absinthe was the fact that it was contraband. Now anyone can get it.
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POPSAbsinthe: How does it alter the mind??? An interesting clip from Techoccult on experiments done with Absinthe (which is illegal in the US) and on what exactly causes altered states of consciousness in its imbibers...
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POPSAbsinthe's mystique cops a blow 70% Alcohol would make anyone see green elephants. A researcher also pointed out that when absinthe was most popular, there were no restrictions on drugs such as opium, and cocaine, which are controlled today, so many episodes of 'absinthe' madness may have been a result of taking a number of drugs in combination, with some of the drugs taken not being mentioned.
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POPSAbsinthe Wormwood (in French, absinthe; in German, Wermut) is an herb with a perennial root system from which arise branched, firm, leafy stems that are almost woody at the base and reach a height of two to three feet. Its flowers are tiny, greenish-yellow and globular, and its indented leaves have a silvery-gray sheen. The species was cultivated from the Middle Ages to the early part of the 20th century.
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POPSNo USA Freedom for Drinkers USA one of the few countries to ban Absinthe, an alcoholic drink. Are we still the land of the free, or are other lands more free than us in the USA?
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POPSWill Self "walks" to Touluse... Will self, inspired by this movie, decides to get from London to Toulouse and back only by walking and taking the trains. It's always interesting to try walking places when we would normally take a car. The juxtaposition against the rapid yet somehow antique transport by rail is very interesting. Sorry to clip from Times Select, which means if you want to click through to the link the New York TImes will probably want money, but I really enjoy Will Self's writing.
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