Now that Absinthe is once again legal in many countries, people are asking “What are the effects of drinking Absinthe?”, “Will it make me hallucinate?”, “Will this cause me to see the Green Fairy?”.

Absinthe is a mythical drink with many legends and stories surrounding it. Created in Switzerland as an elixir by Dr Pierre Ordinaire, and it quickly became a best selling alcoholic beverage when Henri-Louis Pernod started distilling it in France. It overtook beer, cider and even wine as the most popular drink in France in the period known as La Belle Epoque leading up to the First World War.

Among the famous drinkers of the Green Fairy was Oscar Wilde who said “After the first glass of Absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you begin to see them as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that can be the most horrible thing in the world.”

Pernod made his recipe for Absinthe from a wine base flavored with natural herbal ingredients such as wormwood, fennel, aniseed, star anise, veronica, dittany, lemon balm, hyssop, nutmeg, angelica and dittany. Many manufacturers used additional herbs such as coriander, calamus root and mint.

What are the effects of Absinthe?

Absinthe was popular in the time known as “The Great Binge”, a time when beverages containing cocaine were popular and the time when heroin was thought safe to use in medicine. Absinthe was linked to these types of drugs and thought to be psychoactive and so caused:-

- Hallucinations
- Hyper excitability
- Convulsions
- Destriction of the intellect
- Insanity
- Addiction
- Brain damages
- Violence
- Death

Artists and writers drank Absinthe to help them get inspiration and many said they it was responsible for their genius. Famous Absinthe poetry.

Absinthe, so the prohibition led people to believe, was going to drive the French people insane, make them immoral and cause the collapse of the nation. Doctors tested wormwood and thujone, the chemical from wormwood , on animals and claimed that it was like cannabis and that it caused epileptic fits and the prohibition movement blamed Absinthe for causing a man to murder his whole family, despite the fact that he had only consumed two glasses of Absinthe and copious amounts of other alcoholic beverages. Absinthe was also blamed for Van Gogh cutting off his own ear and for his suicide.

Absinthe was thought to contain huge amounts of thujone, up to 350mg per liter but high tech tests on original vintage bottles have proved that claims about thujone levels and the safety of Absinthe were completely false. Absinthe contained a small amounts, up to 6mg, not enough to cause anyone to even hallucinate a little. Studies have shown that Absinthe is just as safe as any other strong alcoholic drink.

Absinthe will not help you see green fairies but it is very strong drink, up to 75% alcohol — so will get your drunk rather quckly. The mysterious blend of alcohol and herbs will give you a strange experience, a “lucid” or “clear headed” drunkenness – a completely new experience!

So, what are the major effects of Absinthe? Well, there are no bad effects except if you overdo it and perhaps get a hangover. Absinthe is to be enjoyed and to make you feel good. Buy high quality Absinthe which contains real wormwood or make your own with essences from AbsintheKit.come and enjoy the taste of Absinthe, also known as the Green Fairy. Absinthe kits are available from http://absinthekit.com/.