Absinthe thujone is the chemical seen in Absinthe’s vital ingredient, the plant known as Common Wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium to give it its botanical name www.absinthekit.com/articles. The substance thujone was partly the cause of Absinthe being banned in early 1900s in lots of countries across the globe and thujone continues to be tightly regulated today, specifically in the United States (or states united).
Thujone was regarded as similar to THC present in cannabis and Absinthe was speculated to be psychoactive and have psychedelic effects producing hallucinations and insanity. Absinthe was favored by the Bohemian set in Montmartre in Paris and several artists and writers claimed that Absinthe, the Green Fairy, gave them inspiration as well as 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 blamed for a man murdering his family, even though he had consumed many other strong alcoholic drinks after the Absinthe.
Prohibition campaigners used news of the murder to campaign for the suspending of Absinthe and charged France’s growing problems of alcohol dependency to the emerald liquor.
Is Absinthe Thujone Dangerous?
Today’s research suggests that it was in fact the alcohol (ethanol) content of Absinthe that’s dangerous instead of 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 taking in Absinthe. Thujone is simply contained in minute quantities and ought to therefore cause no major side effects or health issues. The EU stipulates that alcoholic beverages with an ABV (alcohol by volume) level over 25% may possibly contain a maximum of 10mg/kg of thujone, beverages classed as “bitters” can contain approximately 35mg/kg, it isn’t entirely 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 leading to convulsions but you would need to drink a large amount of Absinthe to consume that volume of thujone and it would be impossible to drink that amount, you’d be comatosed from alcohol before then!
Absinthe Components
It is known that Henri-Louis Pernod, who owned the very first Absinthe distillery, utilized 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 mainly responsible for La Louche, the clouding which happens when water is added to Absinthe. These herbs particularly the aniseed and anise are responsible for the distinctive aniseed or licorice taste of Absinthe and wormwood is mainly responsible for the bitter flavor. Absinthe is oftentimes used as bitters in cocktails.
There are several brands of Absinthe or Absinthe substitutes which were developed in the ban and so contain no Absinthe thujone or wormwood, but some would state that Absinthe is not Absinthe without Absinthe thujone and the bitter taste of wormwood. If you want real Absinthe try to find brands that contain wormwood or Absinthe thujone.