The Absinthe United States Predicament
In early 1900s many European countries suspended the strong alcoholic drink Absinthe, United States banned Absinthe in 1912.
Absinthe was not ever as popular in the United States as it had been in European countries just like France and Switzerland, but there were parts of the US absinthe liquor, such as the French section of New Orleans, where Absinthe was served in Absinthe bars.
Absinthe is actually a liquor created from herbs such as wormwood, aniseed and fennel. It is often green, hence its nickname the Green Fairy, and possesses an anise taste.
Absinthe is an exciting concoction or recipe of herbs that work as a stimulant and alcohol and other herbs that behave as a sedative. It’s the essential oils on the herbs that cause Absinthe to louche, go cloudy, when water is added.
Wormwood, Artimesia Absinthium, posesses a chemical called thujone which is said to be just like THC in the drug cannabis, to be psychoactive and to cause psychedelic effects.
Absinthe United States as well as the ban
At the beginning of the 1900s there was clearly a solid prohibition movement in France and this movement used the truth that Absinthe was connected to the Bohemian culture of Montmartre – with its writers, artists as well as the courtesans and loose morals of establishments just like the Moulin Rouge, and also the allegation that an Absinthe drinker murdered his family, to argue for a prohibition on Absinthe. They claimed that Absinthe will be France’s ruin, that Absinthe was a drug and intoxicant that could drive everyone to madness!
The United States adopted France’s example and restricted Absinthe and drinks made up of thujone in 1912. It became outlawed, a crime, to buy or sell Absinthe in the USA. Americans either were required to concoct their own homemade recipes or journey to countries just like the Czech Republic, where Absinthe was still legal, to savor the Green Fairy.
Many US legal experts believe that Absinthe was not ever banned in the US and that should you look very carefully in the law and ordinance you will find that only drinks that contains 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 granted.
Absinthe United States 2007
Ted Breaux, a native of New Orleans, runs a distillery in Saumur France. He has utilized vintage bottles of pre-ban Absinthe to research Absinthe recipes also to create his own classic pre-ban style Absinthe – the Jade collection.
Breaux was amazed to find that the vintage Absinthe, in contrast to belief, actually only contained very small quantities of thujone – inadequate to harm anyone. He became motivated to provide an Absinthe drink that he could ship to his birthplace, the US. His dream would be to once more see Absinthe being taken in bars in New Orleans.
Breaux and lawyer Gared Gurfein, had several meetings with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau about the thujone content of Breaux’s Absinthe recipe. They learned that actually no law must be changed!
Breaux’s dream grew to be reality in 2007 when his brand Lucid was able to be shipped from his distillery in France into the US. Lucid is based on vintage recipes and possesses real wormwood, unlike false Absinthes. Now, in 2008, a brand called Green Moon as well as Absinthes from Kubler are all capable of being bought and sold within the US.
Absinthe United States – Several Americans now are enjoying their first taste of real legal Absinthe, perhaps you will see an Absinthe revival.