Science!!

Top absinthe experts have finally put their money and lab equipment (and vintage absinthe) where their mouths are, publishing a paper to back up what they've been saying for years: that absinthe didn't (and doesn't) have very much thujone in it, far less than the badly estimated 260mg/l figure that so many idiots people still cling to.

More opinions to come, but I didn't want to post before reading the study in its entirety. The paper is convincing as far as its results are concerned, though I worry it may only stoke the fires of conspiracy theorists and other internet douchebags.

Artemis reviews 1914 Pernod Fils

Fantastic review by Artemis of a taste of "the cache" of 76 bottles of 1914 Pernod Fils absinthe recovered "from the cellar of a descendant of a once substantial liquor distributor."

The cache appears to be depleted at this point [sniffle], but the glowing review leads one to wonder about so many points of technique... the coloring is pale-- are modern "correct" absinthes too colored/seasoned? So many questions, and a thrill to read.

The newest Jade: "PF 1901"

The target was matching pre-ban, pre-fire Pernod Fils absinthe, and I'm predisposed to believe Ted Breaux's superlative claims:

Those who have been fortunate enough to have been able to taste these and have also tasted the pre-release Jade PF 1901, are unanimous in their remarks as to the striking similarities between the vintage bottles and the Jade clone.

Please: don't order any (before I do)...

"Absinthism" debunked

From an Italian addiction blog comes news of a study finding no detremental health effects from absinthe drinking other than those encountered in common alcoholism. The study will be published in Bio Med Central and was led by Stephan A Padosch (Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg), Dirk W Lachenmeier (Chemisches und Veterinäruntersuchungsamt CVUA Karlsruhe) and Lars U Kroener (Institut für Rechtsmedizin der Universität zu Köln). Say that ten times fast.

From the blog (not the report):

Based on the current available evidence, thujone concentrations of both pre-ban and modern absinthes may not have been able to cause detrimental health effects other than those encountered in common alcoholism.

Today, a questionable tendency of absinthe manufacturers can be ascertained that use the ancient theories of absinthism as a targeted marketing strategy to bring absinthe into the spheres of a legal drug-of-abuse. Misleading advertisements of aphrodisiac or psychotropic effects of absinthe try to re-establish absinthes former reputation.