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The Guide to Getting, Preparing, and Drinking Absinthe

collegedrinker.com — Everything you need to know about that mysterious green drink

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  • lopezdash, on 04/23/2008, -13/+5could have used this about a week ago!
  • doctorfungi, on 04/23/2008, -3/+46Absinthe is a fun drink. That being said, don't drink it and expect to trip balls and see things. The Thujone in it does make for a slightly different drunk experience, but 99% of the stories you hear about the stuff are *****.
    • skyshock1, on 04/23/2008, -1/+5Mainly because the Absinthe produced today is done under very strict guidelines and procedures, and has little to do with the rot-gut poison that was being 'stilled in the back-alleys of Paris France in the late 1800s that caused all the hysteria in the art communities.
    • masterm1nd, on 04/23/2008, -2/+8There are different strengths and different ingredients in different absinthe though too. The stuff they make so it can legally be shipped to the US is weak. I've never had either but I would imagine that someone somewhere has brewed some trippy stuff.
      • DJPhoenix, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Only when Absinthe is distilled improperly is when you find high concentrations of Thujone. Old school real absinthe, before all the shoddy bootlegs all over Eurpoe, had way less Thujone than would make a person trip.
    • cnot3, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6Its high alcohol content is likely responsible for most of the "hallucinations" people experience. They aren't hallucinating, they are just piss drunk.
    • rentmitchum, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1If you want something like absinthe just get ahold of some cedarwood oil. Full of thujone. You can smoke it or something. Why would you want to? Thujone isn't that great. Erowid has had some intriguing reports of someone making a wormwood hash and smoking it. Called it "the Thuje" lol.. More than one person reported it being effective. At least then you can tell the difference between it and the alcohol.
    • metric7, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1Absinthe tastes like anise and is nasty, It gave me an alert buzz which was weird.
  • Schnelly, on 04/23/2008, -24/+4People actually need a ***** guide on how to drink absinthe? Sugar, mineral water, drink. Not difficult.
    • doctorfungi, on 04/23/2008, -2/+13a) You don't need mineral water.
      b) You left the absinthe itself out.
      c) If you ***** the order up, you ***** the preparation up.
    • santaliqueur, on 04/23/2008, -5/+3You see, there's this thing called "not everyone has done the same ***** you have". Look into it, you may look like less of a ***** prick.
      • Schnelly, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2You kid right? It is ***** dumbed down absinthe. It isn't a complicated drink. STFU and l2drink.
  • DeathJux, on 04/23/2008, -11/+8From the article:
    "To simulate the forbidden (in the US) ingredient, wormwood, gather a small assortment of sticks and earthworms. Blend them in a blender and strain the resulting slurry through cheesecloth into the drink. It will now have all of the additional benefits of wormwood, without the illegal consequences!"

    Hilarious and useful ! Thanks for this !
    • samadam, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2Thats...not in the article. I just read it.
      • DeathJux, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Surely you're not suggesting that I made all that up! Such blatant deception would be unfathomable... even for Digg!
    • dfsjdkflasjk, on 04/23/2008, -0/+4lmao
  • ryanwarnersteel, on 04/23/2008, -5/+41Sugar, water, purple
  • mrlivingston, on 04/23/2008, -2/+10Absinthe makes the heart grow drunker.
  • SuperSnake2012, on 04/23/2008, -11/+2Already down after 48 diggs... wow. Record time.
  • Alix7, on 04/23/2008, -11/+31. Find sewage water

    2. Find vinegar

    3. ???

    4. Profit
  • emix, on 04/23/2008, -4/+18absinthe isn't as good as everybody says it is.
    • bigmacur, on 04/23/2008, -6/+5it's better........
    • gothelium, on 04/23/2008, -3/+6Tastewise, hell no, but as far as how badly it can ***** you up, it's great...
    • cnot3, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Its over 68% alcohol generally, how good were you expecting it to taste?
    • Berkana, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3I had some pretty expensive absinthe at Bourbon & Branch in SF, and I was disappointed. It tasted like licorice alcohol. As far as I can tell, much of the appeal comes from the fact that it has been illegal for so long.
    • hollismb, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I recently went to an absinthe tasting in Tahoe, and thought it was disgusting. There were two brands I tried, although I only remember that one was Lucid. I was really excited about it, only to be completely let down, and couldn't finish the glass I was so repelled by it.
  • Wang, on 04/23/2008, -10/+4Absinthe is the only drink that has ever caused me to pass out and wake up with a black eye + no recollection of anything that happened. In other words, it's awesome :)
  • metapop, on 04/23/2008, -9/+32Not too long ago, I passed through U.S. Customs with a nice little bottle of magic from Israel. It was green, it was bitter, it was something that’s supposed to get you really messed up. But low and behold, after a night of merely 3 shots of alcohol, I wake up to see pictures of me without any pants for majority of the night.

    While this can easily be described as “the night my girlfriend dumped me because of the amount of nudity on facebook,” it’s actually “the night that absinthe kicked my ass.” And absinthe baby, I got only one thing to say to you: welcome to the U.S. of A.

    Absinthe is Legal

    For those of you that don’t know already, absinthe has been legalized in this beautiful nation for the first time since 1912. No more do you have to empty shampoo bottles to import the highest concentrated alcoholic beverage into the States. No. If you want to grab a bottle, just find a store that carries it. Boing!

    Yes, you’ve all probably heard from your friend that his cousin went to France and had absinthe and was so ***** up he started hallucinating. But most of the time your friend’s cousin is full of *****. But don’t worry weary public, I’m here to hold your hand and walk you through that mystical place that is le truth, de la absinthe.

    But what is absinthe?

    The first thing you need to pop into your head when you hear the word absinthe is alcohol by volume (ABV). To put this all into perspective for you, beer has an ABV of 12%, wine 15%, vodka, whiskey or rum 60%, and absinthe…89.5%. That’s 180 proof. Take that Bud Light!

    Unless you break out a bathtub and have your g-ma dust off her old recipe for grain alcohol from 1930, this is the crème de le crème. You can’t get more alcohol than this without sipping rubbing alcohol. So if you’re looking to really party hardy hardy, you can’t go wrong with these numbers.

    But wait, I’ve seen that absinthe poster with the sort of hot chick on it. Isn’t she adding all these crazy things to the absinthe and drinking it out of some strange glass? And for that I would give you a cookie because you just saved your ass.

    I have tried absinthe straight up and it was a bad idea man. Don’t do it! Chugging an entire coke after a non-prepared shot doesn’t even cut it. Think of the bitterest thing imaginable, and that is the pure taste of absinthe.

    Preparation

    There are two ways to prepare absinthe to cut the edge: The Kosher Way and The Poor Man’s Way. The Kosher Way is a little more complicated. You pour your shot of absinthe into a glass and then hold a slotted spoon over it. You place a sugar cube on the spoon and then pour water over the sugar and into your glass. This will distill the harshness of the 90% alcohol you’re about to consume and also cut the bitter taste. Prepared this way is more like a cocktail you nurse.
    If you’re looking to fully get a college experience of absinthe, you need to follow The Poor Man’s Way. You need a shot glass, a normal glass, sugar, a spoon, and a lighter. Poor out a shot’s worth of absinthe and pour it into your glass. Then take your spoon and dip it in a little bit of the absinthe. Poor sugar on the spoon, and then light the spoon on fire. You read that correctly, free-base your sugar (also known as caramelization). Once all the sugar is a golden brown (and you’ve blown out the flame), quickly dip the spoon in the cup of absinthe and stir quickly. The sugar will mix directly with the liquid, making your shot lose its bitter edge.

    A disclaimer on the Poor Man’s Way: because you don’t distill the alcohol content, you will fully feel the power of 90% ABV. Chasers work just fine but be prepared to feel the burn.

    Hallucinations

    Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Can absinthe make you hallucinate? The answer is, sort of.

    When shopping for absinthe you need to read the fine print. Absinthe is made from a mixture of flowers that when mixed around creates a different type of absinthe. The one you want to look for contains wormwood.

    Say it with me, “wormwood.” Now that is what will make you “hallucinate.” Wormwood as a drug is used to help alleviate extreme pain. It’s most common use was for pregnant women in labor. So if you take back enough shots (usually 2-3, but hey, go crazy if you want) you will feel a sense of euphoria accompanied by your body getting drunker faster than ever before.

    About this time is when you should hallucinate. But in all honesty, you won’t. The “hallucinations” you’ll experience are really things you might see if you were just really drunk. During my experience I saw a floating, fuzzy dot about 10 feet in front of me that I was chasing around. While that is out of the norm, it’s not like dropping acid or smoking salvia. Maybe you’ll see something when you’re out of your brain on absinthe, but most likely you’ll experience a very loose, high-type drunk that’s just plain fun.

    Getting Your Own

    A final piece of advice as you go off to the nearest liquor store carrying absinthe. Don’t rely on the bottle you’ll by there. While absinthe has become legalized, the U.S. is only producing and selling a few brands of absinthe. Most of these start at an ABV of 45% as opposed to the typical 90%. If you want the real good *****, you can personally import it from out of the States. As time goes on though, the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau will allow more types of absinthe be produced and sold through U.S. liquor stores.

    And when you get a bottle of the good stuff, happy trails.
    • Ryan166, on 04/23/2008, -1/+17Beer has an ABV of 12%? That is really not the norm.
      • skyshock1, on 04/23/2008, -1/+33-6% is the norm in the USA w/ the high gravity beers reaching typically 7-12%
      • fatrandy13, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1all his percentages were off, vodka 60% ?? sorry buddy vodka is 40%
    • Gizza, on 04/23/2008, -4/+5This is pretty much all complete *****. It's a complete myth that absinthe can make you hallucinate AT ALL. You would die of alcohol poisoning before you would consume enough to hallucinate. Preparing and drinking absinthe is no different to preparing and drinking vodka. It's just slightly more alcoholic.
      • NuclearWookie, on 04/23/2008, -3/+8I have hallucinated off of absinthe. Three shots into it, I began to see minor undulations of straight edges, which is similar to my experiences on LSD. You don't see pink elephants or green fairies, but you DO hallucinate.
      • ZiggityZhang, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2By slightly more alcoholic you mean twice as alcoholic. I made the same mistake once when I thought whiskey was less proof than vodka.
    • NuclearWookie, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3Dude, can you cite that? I'll be ordering a case (or buying it in person) if it's true. La fée verte kicked my ass once and I'd like to try it again.
    • asherchang, on 04/23/2008, -5/+7WTF! +4 diggs? Does an obnoxious reposting of the article into the comments annoy no one? Did anyone actually click the link?
      • passedoutghost, on 04/23/2008, -1/+5Because sometimes, people on dialup or for whatever reason don't want to click on a link. Also link could be dead. Did you think of that?
      • metapop, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2based on other people's comments, i opened the page just before it died, and had it in another window. i thought it might be nice to post it so everyone doesn't complain that the link is down. welcome to digg, we kill websites.
    • skyshock1, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Erm... having consumed probably about 5-6 bottles of Mari Mayans, Sebor, La Fee Verte, Staropolski in recent years I can honestly say the little diatribe about hallucinations is complete *****.

      Want a good aperitif that tastes basically the same? Buy Pernod or Herbsaint. Absinthe while tasty is pretty much all hype.
    • ElGigi, on 04/23/2008, -1/+5Hallucinating with absinthe? Complete *****. I tried this drink a year ago, and yes, it is very strong, and the flavor is the same of all drinks that contains anise. (like the Arak from arabs countries). And it's not the strongest alcohol in the world. Bolivian Cocoroco is sold in metal cans in the heights of the Andes, and it has at least 96% ABV. Its said that if you throw a little in the air it doesn't fall to the ground, because it evaporates in the air before hit the ground, as its almost pure alcohol. Take that, absinthe.

      • makkaveli19, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1while it's true that absinthe is not the strongest, it can make you hallucinate. get the stuff that is still illegal in the states(way higher amounts of wormwood, or add your own.) and it makes you hallucinate. granted you won't see pink elephants, but things will start looking more smooth, and colours will blend a little.
    • ic4rus, on 04/23/2008, -2/+5What a crock of *****. Beer, that is the lager the ameri-queens drink, ranges from about 2.9% - 4.5% ABV. Most premium lagers or beers in the UK or Continental Europe have an upper limit of around 6% ABV. It's only tramp juice like Tenant's Super or Carling Special Brew or most "proper" ciders that reach the heady heights of < or = to 8-9% ABV. And at this point you can really taste the alcohol in the beer so it is not worth drinking. Most wines reside around 13-14% ABV with only very rare examples any higher. The point being that any higher concentration of alcohol (that is Alcohol By Volume) starts to kill the yeast used in generating alcohol from the fruit sugars or other sugar used in the fermentation process.

      The only way to get higher concentrations is by fortifying with some other higher concentration spirit or distilling, i.e. Port and Sherries. (Port as an example is red wine fortified with Brandy). Distilling is of course the way that we achieve drinks such as whisky, rum and vodka. These drinks are regularly found at commercial points of sale with ABV's of 40-42.5% and it's only the "export" strength liquor that can be found at around 47.5-50% ABV.

      Absinthe itself is commonly sold at around 60-70% ABV. Trust me, me and my three house mates are all bar stewards and we serve Absinthe on a regular basis, using an absinthe spoon, sugar and water in an absinthe glass (the traditional way).

      This article ceases to become believable as anything other than the rantings of a frat-boy discovering alcohol for the first time as soon as these figures are mentioned. Do us all a favour and research this stuff before you sprout it. Oh, and for the pedantry record, the Thujone from wormwood is a poison and will show toxic effects in the human body, WAY before it shows any "hallucinatory" effects. Also, you will be suffering from alcohol poisoning long before you imbibe enough Absinthe to swallow enough Thujone before you see even the effects of the wormwood.

      So all in all, to use a nice pejorative colloquialism, the article is whack.
      • flyindutchman, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Clearly you have never seen the beers from Belgium. Scaldis, Gulden Draak, Delerium, Piraat are just a few examples of Belgian beers that range in the 11-12% ABV and do not taste like alcohol. In fact, they are very sweet and considered to be some of the best beers in the world. Not arguing that beer is anywhere near hard liquor for ABV, but you should get a few facts straight before writing a five paragraph diatribe.
      • ruski1985, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1I may have been watching too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer recently, but first thing I thought was: Thanks Giles.

        That was a very well thought out and English criticism of the article. The figures they gave me threw me a little as well. Anyway. Good show!
      • fatrandy13, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2this guy's still bitter about the american revolutionary war
      • lanium, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0There are plenty of Quebecois beers that range between 8-11%, of the top of my head I can think of a couple made by Unibroue. They don't taste any more of alcohol than a regular beer.
    • KaneElson, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2The people in the comments annoyed me, claiming rum is 40%....
      Inner circle grey label (A fantastic award winning Australian rum) is 75.9%, there are probably even higher proof rums, I'm no expert.
      • noncon, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Their beer and wine percentages are a bit off, too. Different yeast strains yield different alcohol levels. The highest I obtained during my debauched wine and beer making years was about 17 or 18% for cider.
        In Oregon you can buy Bacardi 151 (75.5%) and 180 proof (90%) Clear Springs and Everclear. There was a fuss last year so I believe the 180 is stashed behind the counter. When we were young and partying in California we would make trips to Boomtown on the Nevada side to get the Everclear. Fill up an ice chest with fruit and pour in cans of pre-sweetened Kool-Aid. Soak in Everclear all day. Add water, ice and chicks to taste.
      • fatrandy13, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1no one's disputing that there are brands that have a higher ABV percentage, but the standard brands in american are 40. You don't write an article (coming from a guy in america) claiming that vodka/rum is typiclly 60, that is just dead wrong.
    • SillyRabbits, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2Apparently the author isn't familiar with Everclear. It is 190 proof, and is so hard to find you might have to venture as far as your local super Wal-Mart to get it (in states without silly blue laws). That's as high as you get (at least without contaminating it with nasty stuff like benzene).
    • voodoozombie, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3*****. True Absinthe has between 90 and 150 proof (45% to 75%). 90% is grain alcohol, not Absinthe, and if you buy any that is 90% you have been ripped off.. The rest of the article is ***** too. True Absinthe is great, but don't listen to this *****. Check it out on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe. It may give a nicer buzz than regular alcohol, but thujone (wormwood) is not the cause. Digg articles are often ***** you lemmings.
  • Brassbud, on 04/23/2008, -4/+23Absinthe Green is made of people! IT'S PEOPLE!!!
  • TheSlinky, on 04/23/2008, -9/+2Ha, I remember last year on my 16th birthday my friend and I went to a bar and ordered absinthe. The bartender didn't know how to properly louche it though so we just took straight shots of it. To cut the story short, we ended up downing 3 shots of absinthe and got completely wasted. Awesome night haha, our stomachs burned so much though.
    • DeathJux, on 04/23/2008, -3/+5Way to start young on the road to alcoholism, genius.
      • TheSlinky, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0Way to completely presume I drink a lot of alcohol genius, I only have alcohol on special occasions i.e. parties, etc.
        As if you've never done something stupid when you were a teen.
    • passedoutghost, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2What sort of place serves you spirits when you're 16?

      I started about that age, but with shots of vodka bought by my friends' mums. And even then it was only 1 or 2 shots for the night.
      • TheSlinky, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0Fake ID.
        Btw, that was one of the few nights I've ever gotten completely trashed. I usually have it in moderation.
    • Tyrghast, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3ugh straight absinthe tastes like gasoline, found that out this most recent spring break...
      • TheSlinky, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0Yup, haven't touched the stuff since then.
  • makkaveli19, on 04/23/2008, -3/+4Damn, i never thought 505 Internal Server Error would help me make absinthe.
  • hansolo007, on 04/23/2008, -4/+4Shoot me up some of the Poor Man's Way.
  • Jenadae, on 04/23/2008, -4/+5The reason people "trip balls" on this is because of its abnormally high alcohol percentage. One shot of it is well over 1 maybe even 2 beers and that much liquor that quickly produces effects that all but the heaviest of drinkers commonly deal with.
    • passedoutghost, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2lol 1 or 2 beers? You haven't had alcohol before have you?
      • Jenadae, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2Absinthe is 190 proof, 95% alc/vol or if you drink one ounce(a literal shot) is .95oz of liquor compared to a beer which is, in this case Budweiser, is 5% alc/vol or .05oz of liquor. A beer is typically 12oz so 12*.05 is .60oz of liquor per beer. So a shot of absinthe would be in fact 1.35 beers.

        Any more questions?
        • Kaethre, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Your math is *almost* right. .95/.6 = 1.58 beers
  • asherchang, on 04/23/2008, -6/+12Buried for perpetuating the myth that absinthe contains anything special other than alcohol that "***** you up". Badly main absinthe contained a toxic chemical that caused seizures, never hallucinations, and legal absinthe doesn't contain it at all.
  • nsummy, on 04/23/2008, -1/+33I quit reading when he wrote this: "Unless you break out a bathtub and have your g-ma dust off her old recipe for grain alcohol from 1930, this is the crème de le crème. You can’t get more alcohol than this without sipping rubbing alcohol."

    Has this guy never heard of Everclear?
    • feelmo, on 04/23/2008, -1/+4
      I was in Ireland and got to drink Absinthe. Absinthe is a liquor that they outlawed because it's supposed to make you trip hallucinogenically. So, I got excited because I like to hallucinate. So, I started drinking lots of shots of it. But, really, it's just a liquor. So, I was just getting ***** up... I wasn't even remotely tripping. But, after 10 shots, I fell to the ground and tried to force the trip. "WHY IS THE FLOOR AS LOW AS I CAN GO!?". But, I was just faking it, ya know? It wasn't a from the heart trip. "Why is lemonade not aiding?"
      Mitch Hedberg
    • hoovcluck, on 04/23/2008, -1/+7yeah what the hell? i guess thats what happens when you have a bunch of rookies jump onto a fad and start talking out of their ass. everclear has more alcohol than this garbage. hallucinations? please, what a crock. it just the placebo effect.
    • hansolo007, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2My friend's and I call EverClear "Mind Eraser". You can hear your brain cells pop after the shot.
    • seandaly, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Or how about Spirytus from Poland? It's distilled from Potatoes and can be bought at 192 proof (96% Alcohol). It's basically ultra-distilled Vodka made in the same rectified way as EverClear.
      I used to get bottles from a friend who's mother owned a Polish import shop in my younger, more retarded years. This stuff was like drinking jet fuel! It HAD to be diluted! You couldn't do shots, although it was fun to find a "macho" or "tough" guy to trick into downing a shot, only to watch him ram his face into the sink gasping for relief under a faucet.
      No lie, I actually ran a Honda 450cc motorcycle engine on this stuff!
      My friends and I also learned (when I was 17 and stupid) that you can easily inject enough of this into a box of chocolates with a syringe to get that chick we all know who "thinks all alcohol tastes wicked yucky" completely annihilated.
      God I was such an idiot.
  • Mardala, on 04/23/2008, -4/+6"highest concentrated alcoholic beverage" - I wonder if its more concentrated than Everclear?
    • flipz4, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2yea, my thoughts exactly
      • Revolution101, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1you don't say that. you just digg him up to agree. not reply. lurk moar.
  • moogle516, on 04/23/2008, -1/+33"To put this all into perspective for you, beer has an ABV of 12%, wine 15%, vodka, whiskey or rum 60%, and absinthe…89.5%. "

    WTF what normal beer has an ABV of 12% ?! Its usually 4-5 % ABV, and Normal vodka, whiskey, and rum is 40% ABV Also Normal Absinthe is usually around 70% ABV
    • stevetron, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3Complete lack of research (such as looking at a bottle of vodka) aside, wormwood present or not, psychologists have found that one of the key factors in how drunk you get is how much you want to get drunk. As a special occasion liquor, one used exclusively to get drunk, absinthe is well utilized, but by no means magical.

      Next article on Digg please: The Guide to Getting, Preparing, and Drinking Becherovka
    • KaneElson, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1What does normal have to do with anything? OP Rum is still rum...
      Inner circle grey label rum is 75.9%. (Great Award winning Australian rum BTW...)
  • Niightwitch, on 04/23/2008, -4/+5I tried absinthe once. I had two shots of it, diluted because as they said in the article because it's very, very bitter if you drink it straight. I didn't hallucinate, but I did have the odd sensation of my body being totally drunk, but my mind being totally clear. Usually, if I'm drunk one of the things that goes is my ability to hold a coherent conversation, but that night I was totally clear mentally even though my body was really drunk.
  • Lowlypeon, on 04/23/2008, -1/+20Buried for being one of the most inaccurate articles I've seen on the front page in a while.
    First of all, Beer is typically less than 5% ABV. Rum is typically 30-40%.
    Second, the whole "light the sugar on fire" method is not historically accurate. At all.
    This ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe#The_.E2.80.9 ... ) is the correct method. No fire! Fire ruins your drink. Ever since that damn Johnny Depp movie was released, people have been totally confused as to how this drink works. This guy obviously needs some more drinking experience before people start taking his reviews/guides seriously.
    • KaneElson, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1Stop drinking pussy rum, cheers.
      Inner circle grey label (Great Aussie rum) is 75.9%. I guess we just know how to make real alcohol ;)
  • gabesobol, on 04/23/2008, -0/+6since when did beer have 12% and liquor 60% ABV. Can you really trust a blog on drinking from someone who doesn't have ABV number correct, I sure won't
  • merc22, on 04/23/2008, -2/+4Tastes like high-priced Jagermeister to me.
  • jasegruver, on 04/23/2008, -2/+3Mirror on my site in case it goes down: (Only Html and Jpg)
    http://www.billabonger.net/Absinthe/index.html
    If useful, help me out.
  • BlackJackJester, on 04/23/2008, -2/+795% Everclear. fastest way from 0-wasted. You'll regret it though.
    • mike17032, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1If I dont remember it, it didnt happen.
  • tibs, on 04/23/2008, -1/+15What a horrible inaccurate article. I guess you can't expect much from collegedrinker.com.
    Look up the fine print about absinthe in the USA and try hitting a site like absintheonline.com
    Absinthe is a wonderful thing and not just about the "ABV"
  • killerknives, on 04/23/2008, -2/+4down, mirror?
  • asherchang, on 04/23/2008, -1/+8Also buried for the obnoxiousness inherent in the words "baby", "chick", "Boing!", "g-ma", repeating "crazy" a million times, and talking about "the college experience" and emphasizing a point with the words, "now say it with me". Jeez, this drink was the mythical "green faerie" which supposedly was the muse of Parisian Bohemia in the 18th century, and while taking a modern approach to it would be fine with me, this guy is just a douchenozzle fratboy and nothing in this article tells you anything more than what the Wikipedia article on Absinthe will give you.
  • OwlFlavored, on 04/23/2008, -0/+9That stuff tastes so nasty. It's like black licorice combined with pure hatred.
  • feelmo, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6
    I was in Ireland and got to drink Absinthe. Absinthe is a liquor that they outlawed because it's supposed to make you trip hallucinogenically. So, I got excited because I like to hallucinate. So, I started drinking lots of shots of it. But, really, it's just a liquor. So, I was just getting ***** up... I wasn't even remotely tripping. But, after 10 shots, I fell to the ground and tried to force the trip. "WHY IS THE FLOOR AS LOW AS I CAN GO!?". But, I was just faking it, ya know? It wasn't a from the heart trip. "Why is lemonade not aiding?"
    Mitch Hedberg
  • Enron1985, on 04/23/2008, -3/+4The real "active ingredient" in absinthe, as with any other alcoholic beverage, is alcohol. There is no evidence that thujone has any psychoactive effects, and if it did, the dose in Absinthe is so small its almost pointless. However, an acute dose of thujone will cause convulsions, so don't get too curious and do something stupid like drink a bottle of wormwood oil, which would have more thujone in it than any absinthe ever would.
  • litheon, on 04/23/2008, -2/+3If it's not in a store near you: http://www.drinklucid.com/
  • wepto, on 04/23/2008, -2/+3Absinthe is best taken in shots. Preparing it makes it horrible, tradition or no.
  • waterboy1628, on 04/23/2008, -4/+4A friend of mine picked up a bottle of Absente 55 in France. I drank half the bottle and didn't hallucinate at all, though i did drink other types over alcohol and the Absinthe caused me to have bright green vomit.
  • swrostmore, on 04/23/2008, -3/+8What a ***** article, wildly inaccurate and uninformative. Lighting absinthe on fire is not traditional, on the contrary it was invented by eurotrash ***** to distract them from the fact that they can only drink neutered wormwood-free liqueurs such as "Absente 55."
    • KaneElson, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Are we reading different articles ? He says the traditional method is using the slotted spoon. The college way is lighting it on fire.
  • jpezzznuts, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6Booze buyer beware - almost all of the brands sold in the US (at least in Virginia and Pennsylvania) are hardly the same wormwood carrying products you can find in (parts of) Europe. Some of the brands have miraculously sprang up in hopes of attracting the unsuspecting buyer who hears something about Absinthe going legal. A few of these brands even existed long before the ban was lifted and of course do not carry the ingredients of "true" Absinthe. Just as the article says, your best bet is getting it imported or bringing it back with you from abroad, otherwise be very careful to inspect the bottle and understand if what you are buying is the real deal.
  • DiggieDarko, on 04/23/2008, -2/+3wouldn't lighting absinthe on fire remove the alcohol? whatev. its a crap drink that tastes like rotten anal leakage.
    • insomniac8400, on 04/23/2008, -0/+4First, your only burning the little bit on the spoon with the sugar, not the full shot. Second why do you know what rotten anal leakage tastes like?
      • Gunsdead, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Do you really want him to answer that question? I don't think I do.
  • SilverhammerMBA, on 04/23/2008, -1/+5"Dude, I just drink socially - it's not just about getting drunk."
  • insomniac8400, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Thanks, you forgot the part about where we can buy it here in the US. Most people don't want to travel to France to personally import alcohol.
    • KaneElson, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I don't know, sounds like something you would go to a liquor store for, I may be wrong....
      • insomniac8400, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I don't know, he said liquor stores don't carry the higher alcohol content version. And I have yet to see it at a liquor store. So yes, per the article and real life, you are wrong.
  • mizatt, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3I didn't follow this guide and I woke up on a garage floor with a big black ***** drawn on my back
  • Mothrog, on 04/23/2008, -0/+14"To put this all into perspective for you, beer has an ABV of 12%, wine 15%, vodka, whiskey or rum 60%, and absinthe…89.5%. That’s 180 proof. Take that Bud Light!"

    Beer at 12%? Uh, no. Try more like 4-5%. Rum's typically 80 proof or 40%.

    "This will distill the harshness of the 90% alcohol you’re about to consume and also cut the bitter taste... A disclaimer on the Poor Man’s Way: because you don’t distill the alcohol content, you will fully feel the power of 90% ABV. Chasers work just fine but be prepared to feel the burn."

    Yeah, *****. Learn what the ***** distill actually means. Distillation is a method of purification. Watering down liquor would be the exact ***** opposite of distilling.

    "You can’t get more alcohol than this without sipping rubbing alcohol."

    Except of course rubbing alcohol is poisonous (oh, and generally sold at 70% concentration at stores, which would be lower than the ABV quoted in the article), and there's this thing called Everclear which is 95% ABV, higher than the quoted ABV of absinthe. Oh, and I don't care how traditional the absinthe you're getting is, the thujone content in wormwood is too low to cause hallucination. You'd drink yourself to death before you ever got high on absinthe.

    Buried for being a shoddy piece of inaccurate writing.
  • jihadjoe75, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3The tujone levels in US sold vendors are way to low for anyone to start seeing anything. 3 or 4 shots and all you'll see is a face of a toilet.
  • phrenzy, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Absynthe (Lucid) was a big letdown for me. Just tasted like *****, and I had to force it down just to get a mild buzz. Maybe I'll try shots next time. But it is a seriously disgusting taste. It's like Jagermeister but polluted.

    Will shots make you sick because of how concentrated it is?
    • jihadjoe75, on 04/23/2008, -1/+2You'll have a better time simply getting drunk off of vodka, or at least until you can get your hands on some legit spirits from overseas.
    • lostarchitect, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I think Lucid is pretty good, actually. Most absinthe drinkers agree.
  • corryface, on 04/23/2008, -5/+1who give a ***** about your chemistry lesson mothrog. *****!!1. absinthe is the *****.
    • Mothrog, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3My, my. It seems I've stumbled on to someone even dumber than the author... Or are you the author? Oh, and FYI, *****, there's a thing below each comment that says "Reply to [username]'s comment." Maybe, just maybe, if you try really hard, you can find it next time. Don't tax your brain too much, though. God know with what few brain cells you have, if you tax too many of them you may just forget to breathe. Wait, never mind, go ahead and concentrate really, really hard.
      • corryface, on 04/23/2008, -3/+0i tried to concentrate there but but it wasnt really up to much. but i suppose youre one of these guys who takes himself really seriously so its ok mothrog, just carry on what youve been doing, reading up on the old science documents i suppose.
    • tibs, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I'd say about +7 people at the moment.
      • corryface, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0haha, yeah you right. dont i look silly.
  • gib0r, on 04/23/2008, -0/+6YOU DO NOT SHOOT ABSINTHE.
  • Codeblew, on 04/23/2008, -3/+1Isn't this the same as Everclear that my buddies and I had a neighbor buy us when we were 15? Ughh, no thanks. I will stick to beer or Scotch these days.
  • p014k, on 04/23/2008, -4/+2Preparing is for newbs, just take it straight up like a man.
  • username484767, on 04/23/2008, -4/+2lol, it's a very light drug

    want something a little stronger but still keeps you "lucid"? Try 2C-B, it's a very rare chemical, no known adverse side effects if you only take 30mg per dose, maybe 3 times a day when you have fun. Don't go taking it all the time of course.

    What is 2c-b like?

    It feels like everything is just perfect... like laying naked on perfect grass on a warm summer's day with a light breeze going over you. Sex on it is amazing, music doubly so.

    GL finding some if you aren't in "the hip" crowd...
  • talkenglish, on 04/23/2008, -0/+8This article was really really lame, unless you like listening to a freshmen in college articulate his wisdom of worldly travels and drugs. Sounds fun to me!
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