I've been looking into trying this stuff for the longest time after seeing it in a few movies and reading about it's newfound popularity here in the U.S. Does anyone have any experience with this liquor? I'd be interested in hearing some personal experiences before actually trying it myself.

There's a long, excellent article in the brand new

Wired magazine. It was actually a really fascinating read. You should check it out.

KaiKai,

It's kind of the in thing amongst a few of my colleagues. I'll ask them. I don't know anything about it other than the good stuff is expensive and that it tastes really bad.

LOL Adroomi, isn't that the truth!!!!

Thanks for the heads up Cigarhusker and Adroomi. I'll check out the article in Wired Magazine and I ordered a few books online so I should be up to speed on info prior to ordering a bottle or two. My buddies think I'm crazy for wanting to try the stuff but they said the same for my curiousity when it came to cigars. Now I've got all of them smoking cigars so go figure.

Real absinthe is made from wormwood if I remember. Supposedly this extract has toxic as well as strange psychotropic affects and is generally outlawed for health reasons. It can't be had in the states that I'm aware of, but if you could get it, probably one or two experiments with it would do no lasting harm.

There's a place here in Singapore I believe that serves it. The good stuff. I've got a date tonight, and I will do my best to find this place. If I do, I'll give you a full report.

If you don't hear back from me, I'm either dead, or having a really good date.

I looked into making this (the real way) several months ago, but gave up because the fresh ingredients were just too costly (go try to buy 40lbs of star anise seed).

Here is what I remember;

It is made by macerating wormwood, anise, hysopp, and a few other herbs in grain alcohol, then redistilling the mixture to extract the essential oils fro the herbs......it is an herbal liquor (i.e. Jagermeister, Ouzo, etc)

It is wicked strong.....very close to 100% alcohol.

Although many people believe that wormwood is hallucinogenic/narcotic/etc, most "scientific types" agree that while the interaction of herbs provides SOME relaxing properties (much like a nice chamomile tea might), the main effect is drunkedness from the alcohol.

.........and distilled wormwood oil is VERY bitter.

I have made it,

It was aweful, and not worth the expense. But it was very relaxing, just tasted horrible.

I'll stick to scotch.

Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)

ggod stuff if you like black licorice!

though i spelled good bad, i would say that life is short, give it a try.

you can do it like the movies with sugar, fire and water, but i have only added the water, WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, as diluting is wise, and truly the only way to drink it. the water is what makes it "cloud".

to my knowledge, it is illegal in the US, but recently legalized in Canada and even back in Europe where it originated.

there are many kinds of absinthe, some of which do not have wormwood, and though it tastes the same, true believers would never touch the fake stuff. it does give you a strange drunk if you ever dare go the distance.

the story is that the TRUE reason Van Gogh cut off his ear was in an absinthe drunken rage. Degas even has a great painting of the "green genie".

an acquired taste, but like i said--black licorice. i got a small 100mL bottle over here for arond $7, but it may have been the non-wormwood variety.

kaikai1102, do an internet search of it and you'll find it and anything you want to know about it. Been thinking about trying it myself. There's even a website that has the accesories to do with it.

My friend Lisa tried it on a trip abroad. She said it tasted terrible and made her hallucinate. The next day was rough. She had to try it, though, being the goth princess that she was at the time.

Heather

I’ve had several different types of Absinthe. The flavor of each was absolutely terrible, no matter how I mixed it. Why I had it more than once I will never know, considering I can’t stand licorice. It is a powerful alcohol, however. As far as hallucinating goes, I never experienced those effects. When considering cost and ‘availability’, I just don’t think it’s worth it. (real Absinthe is quite expensive)

all of the above is correct . . . fun to try to say you've done it. Especially since it's outlawed . . . But it does have quite a storied history . . .

I actually DID make some (or something close) from a kit I got on Ebay. It was just the herb mix, which you steeped in grain alcohol (I used some swiss-made bathtub hooch called "Trasch").

It tasted like hell and nearly made me sick.

andy,

didn't the word TRASH give it away. a little German 101 and you could've avoided the sickness. LOL

The stuff is pretty potent. I had to put a lot of bar sugar into it to be able to drink it...tooo bitter.

Forgot to add....not as potent as Andy's fire water. LOL.