Absinthe thujone is the chemical found in Absinthe’s essential ingredient, the plant called Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its organic name. The chemical thujone was to some extent liable for Absinthe being banned during the early 1900s in many countries across the world and thujone is still tightly regulated these days, specifically in the United States (or states united).
Thujone was thought to be much like THC present in cannabis and Absinthe has been purported to be psychoactive and have psychedelic results causing hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe has been popular with the Bohemian set in Montmartre inside Paris and lots of artists and also writers claimed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration and their genius. Famous Absinthe drinkers include Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Degas, Baudelaire absinthethujone.com and Verlaine. Some say that Van Gogh’s madness was brought on by Absinthe and that he cut off his ear under its influence. Absinthe was even blamed for a man murdering his family, even though he had eaten a great many other strong alcoholic drinks right after the Absinthe.
Prohibition campaigners utilized news of the murder to campaign for the banning of Absinthe and held accountable France’s growing problems of alcoholism on the emerald liquor.
Is Absinthe thujone Dangerous?
Today’s research suggests that it was really the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that was dangerous rather than the thujone. Absinthe is twice as strong as spirits like whisky and vodka and can be 75% alcohol. Care should therefore be utilized when taking in Absinthe. Thujone is merely present in minute quantities and should therefore result in no major side effects or health conditions. The EU states that alcoholic beverages with an ABV {alcohol by volume) level more than 25% may only have a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” can contain as much as 35mg/kg, it is not completely clear which class Absinthe fits into but most brands of Absinthe have much lower than 35mg with many being under 10mg/kg. In the US it is only legal to buy or sell Absinthes with trace amounts of thujone.
High doses of thujone could be dangerous causing convulsions but you would need to drink a lot of Absinthe to take that quantity of thujone and it will be impossible to drink that amount, you would be comatose from alcohol before then!
Absinthe Elements
It is stated that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the initial Absinthe distillery, employed the herbs wormwood, aniseed, fennel, lemon balm, hyssop, angelica root, dittany, star anise, nutmeg, juniper and veronica to make his famous Pernod Absinthe. The essential oil from these herbs is in charge of La Louche, the clouding which comes about when water is put into Absinthe. These kinds of herbs particularly the aniseed and anise lead to the distinctive aniseed or licorice style of Absinthe and wormwood is responsible for the actual bitter flavor. Absinthe is usually used as bitters in cocktails.
There are many brands of Absinthe or Absinthe replacements which were developed during the prohibit and for that reason contain no Absinthe thujone or even wormwood, but many would say that Absinthe isn’t Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter flavor of wormwood. If you want real Absinthe look for brands that contains wormwood or Absinthe thujone.