Rediscovering Absinthe: Removing The Green Fairy From The Banned List
If there is any alcoholic drink in the global market that has been in for a lot of bad rep, then that would be the absinthe, or the green fairy as it is called. For decades this clear, green liquid has been condemned as a vile and vicious drink that can drive a sane man into distraction, and an unbalanced one into violence. It has been long labeled as a dangerous, hallucination-generating drink that should only be taken by the incredibly brave or the perpetually crazy. As part of the smear campaign against this drink, absinthe has been blamed for all sorts of fetal disorders, mental disorders and even the break down of social consciousness.
However, these last few years, people (particularly absinthe distillers, manufacturers and enthusiasts for the drink) have been adamant about clearing absinthe’s undeserved repute. It turns out that with modern technology and a more open-minded approach to this problem, people are slowly seeing that absinthe isn’t the killer drink everyone labeled it to be. In fact, it probably has the same general negative effects as any other alcoholic drink out there.
Perhaps one of the most credible advocates for absinthe in this time and age is chemist, microbiologist and absinthe manufacturer Ted Breaux. He reversed engineered absinthe’s most standard recipes and found that most blends did not contain the dangerously high doses of the chemical thujone that absinthe opponents claimed. It is said that thujone is the culprit behind the psychedelic effects brought by imbibing the drink (which, by the way, activates different receptors in the brain than THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive substance). Ted Breaux’s treatise, published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, negates that claim, stating that most absinthe-based liquor being produced now contains the chemical in a 5:1,000,000 ratio. That’s 5 parts thujone to a million parts of absinthe.
Due to this study, most countries who had earlier placed absinthe under the banned list are now, so to speak, releasing their hold on the green fairy. Being a type of contraband, absinthe’s marketability and demand in the black market increased which lead to amazing prices in certain parts of the world. Importation and exportation processes, as well as manufacturing and distilling processes can now come out openly, and this will help bring down its prices to a more consumer-friendly level. The world’s governments can also benefit from such ban-lifting since now it would also be legal to put taxes on the liquor.
However, this does not mean that absinthe is the next health drink. Like all alcoholic drinks, it may be highly regulated by both international and national laws. Only absinthe liquors with thujone-free labels (or less than 10:1,000,000/10ppm thujone.) are allowed to be put up for public sale. Additionally, there are medical warnings against the over-consumption of liquor.
So where did the bad reputation come from? Historical evidence suggests that in the earliest production days of absinthe, many bootleg brands and home made brews did not undergo rigorous distillation or even sanitary processing. Impurities in the drink may have contaminated the drink, and may have led certain people into dangerous forms of hallucinations. Also, the earliest “researches” done with absinthe were faulty, and no one corrected the findings until now. However, the general presumption is: too many people simply had too much to drink. Present day studies show that alcoholism in general can lead to fetal defects, brain damage, liver damage and susceptibility to violence – it all boils down to moderation and being smart about what you put into your body.
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I would like to see an unbiased study on the content of absinthe, in case this one is not one. After all, he is a brewer himself. Also, the commoner, such as myself, has no idea how much 5:1,000,000,000 is in reference to this chemical. This may be a large proportion, depending on the harmful effects of the chemical.
Do you know any more about the topic? What do you think?