Absinthe thujone is the chemical present in Absinthe’s vital ingredient, the plant called Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its botanical name https://absinthekit.com. The substance thujone was partly accountable for Absinthe being banned in the early 1900s in many countries around the globe and thujone remains tightly regulated today, particularly in the United States (or states united).
Thujone was considered to be much like THC seen in cannabis and Absinthe was purported to be psychoactive and have psychedelic effects triggering hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe was popular with the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and several artists and writers believed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration in addition to their genius. Well-known Absinthe drinkers include Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Baudelaire and Verlaine. Some point out that Van Gogh’s madness was due to Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its control. Absinthe was even held responsible for a man murdering his family, even though he had consumed a number of other strong alcoholic drinks after the Absinthe.
Prohibition campaigners used news of the murder to campaign for the suspending of Absinthe and blamed France’s growing problems of alcohol dependency to the emerald liquor.
Is Absinthe Thujone Harmful?
Today’s studies suggest that it was actually the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that was dangerous rather than the thujone. Absinthe is two times as strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be taken when consuming Absinthe. Thujone is merely present in minute quantities and must therefore cause no major negative effects or health issues. The EU stipulates that alcoholic beverages with an ABV (alcohol by volume) level over 25% might only consist of a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” can contain approximately 35mg/kg, it isn’t completely clear which class Absinthe fits into but a majority of brands of Absinthe have much less than 35mg with a lot of being under 10mg/kg. In the US it is just legal to purchase or sell Absinthes with trace quantities of thujone.
High doses of thujone may be dangerous causing convulsions however you would have to drink a large amount of Absinthe to consume that volume of thujone and it will be impossible to drink that amount, you’d be comatosed from alcohol before then!
Absinthe Formula
It is said that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the first Absinthe distillery, used the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper and veronica to create his famous Pernod Absinthe. The essential oil from all of these herbs is responsible for La Louche, the clouding which comes about when water is added to Absinthe. These herbs especially the aniseed and anise are accountable for the distinctive aniseed or licorice taste of Absinthe and wormwood is liable for the bitter flavor. Absinthe is sometimes used as bitters in cocktails.
There are several brands of Absinthe or Absinthe substitutes that have been developed in the ban and so contain no Absinthe thujone or wormwood, but many would say that Absinthe just isn’t Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter taste of wormwood. If you’d like real Absinthe try to find brands containing wormwood or Absinthe thujone.