During the early 1900s many countries in europe banished the strong alcoholic drink Absinthe, United States banned Absinthe in 1912.
Absinthe never was as popular in the United States as it had become in European countries such as France and Switzerland, but there initially were areas of the US absintheliquor, just like the French part of New Orleans, where Absinthe was served in Absinthe bars.
Absinthe is a liquor made from herbs like wormwood, aniseed and fennel. It is often green, hence its nickname the Green Fairy, and possesses an anise taste.
Absinthe is definitely an interesting concoction or recipe of herbs that behave as a stimulant and alcohol and other herbs that behave as a sedative. It is the essential oils from the herbs that can cause Absinthe to louche, go cloudy, when water is added.
Wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium, has a chemical called thujone which is said to be similar to THC in the drug cannabis, to be psychoactive and also to cause psychedelic effects.
Absinthe United States and the prohibition
the 1900s clearly there was a strong prohibition movement in France and this movement used the fact that Absinthe was connected to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre – with its writers, artists as well as the courtesans and loose morals of establishments such as Moulin Rouge, and the allegation that an Absinthe drinker murdered his family, to argue for a ban on Absinthe. They said that Absinthe would be France’s ruin, that Absinthe was a drug and intoxicant that would drive everyone to madness!
The United States followed France’s example and banned Absinthe and drinks containing thujone in 1912. It became outlawed, a crime, to buy or sell Absinthe in the USA. Americans either were required to concoct their particular homemade recipes or travel to countries just like the Czech Republic, where Absinthe was still legal, to enjoy the Green Fairy.
Many US legal experts argue that Absinthe was never banned in the US and that should you look cautiously to the law and ordinance you will find that only drinks that contain over 10mg of thujone were restricted. However, US Customs and police wouldn’t allow any Absinthe shipped from abroad to enter the US, solely thujone free Absinthe substitutes were permitted.
Absinthe United States 2007
Ted Breaux, a local of New Orleans, runs a distillery in Saumur France. He has used vintage bottles of pre-ban Absinthe to analyze Absinthe recipes and also to create his own classic pre-ban style Absinthe – the Jade collection.
Breaux was amazed to uncover that the vintage Absinthe, contrary to belief, actually only comprised very small quantities of thujone – insufficient to harm anyone. He became driven to offer an Absinthe drink which he could ship to his homeland, the US. His dream was to yet again see Absinthe being used in bars in New Orleans.
Breaux and lawyer Gared Gurfein, had numerous meetings with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau about the thujone content of Breaux’s Absinthe recipe. They discovered that actually no law had to be changed!
Breaux’s dream became reality in 2007 when his brand Lucid was able to be shipped from his distillery in France towards the US. Lucid is based on vintage recipes and possesses real wormwood, unlike artificial Absinthes. Now, in 2008, a brand called Green Moon and two Absinthes from Kubler are all able to be traded in around the US.
Absinthe United States – Many Americans now are enjoying their first taste of real legal Absinthe, perhaps there’ll be an Absinthe revival.