Questions and answers

The questions that come up most often about absinthe, answered as plainly as the evidence allows. Where the popular answer and the documented answer differ, this page gives the documented one.

Does absinthe cause hallucinations?

No. There is no credible evidence that absinthe produces hallucinations at any quantity a person could drink, and the thujone content of historical absinthe — measured directly in sealed pre-ban bottles — turned out to be broadly comparable to that of modern regulated absinthe. The nineteenth-century syndrome of “absinthism” was reviewed in detail in 2006 and found to be a construction rather than a condition. What absinthe reliably contains is a great deal of alcohol.

Why does it turn cloudy when water is added?

That is the louche, and it is straightforward physical chemistry. Anethole, from the anise, dissolves in alcohol but not in water. Adding water drops the alcohol concentration below the point where the anethole stays in solution, and it comes out as a fine emulsion that scatters light. There is more under the ritual.

Is absinthe legal?

In most of the world, yes, and has been since the mid-2000s. The European Union regulates thujone content by category. The United States permits absinthe that is “thujone free” as defined in the food additive regulations, which is a limit rather than a true zero, and labelling and formula approval sit with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Local law varies, and this page is not legal advice.

What is the difference between “absinthe” and “absinth”?

Spelling, mostly, but the shorter form has become a rough marker. Absinthe is the French spelling and the traditional product: distilled, anised, and capable of a louche. Absinth without the final e is the Czech and German form, and during the 1990s revival it was widely attached to products that were neither distilled nor anised, usually coloured a hard emerald and unable to louche at all. The convention is not absolute, but a bottle spelled the short way is worth a second look.

What are the Holy Trinity herbs?

Grande wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), green anise and sweet fennel. Every traditional recipe is built on those three; the rest is house signature. See the botanicals.

Should absinthe be set on fire?

No. The burning sugar cube routine dates from the 1990s, not the nineteenth century, and it exists because the products it was invented for could not produce a louche and needed some other spectacle. It burns off the aromatics the drink was made for, and it is dangerous with a liquid of that strength.

Why is the green colour important?

Because in a traditionally made verte it comes from chlorophyll drawn out of petite wormwood, hyssop and melissa in a second steep after distillation — and chlorophyll fades. A natural green shifts over years towards amber and then to the brown known as feuille morte. A bottle that stays a hard emerald indefinitely was coloured artificially. An absinthe deliberately left uncoloured is a blanche.

Is wormwood itself illegal?

No. Artemisia absinthium is an ordinary garden and herb-trade plant, sold dried by herb suppliers and grown widely. Regulation applies to thujone in finished food and drink, not to the plant. It is also worth knowing that thujone is not remotely exclusive to wormwood — common sage contains a good deal more.

What is a slotted spoon for?

It bridges the rim of the glass and supports a sugar cube while iced water is dripped through it, so the sugar dissolves gradually into the drink rather than sitting at the bottom. It is described further under the anatomy of a kit. Sugar is optional and always was.

Can absinthe be made without distilling?

Historically it was, and the earliest preparations almost certainly were macerations rather than distillates. A cold infusion extracts the bitter compounds that a still leaves behind, so it produces a greener, more vegetal and considerably more bitter drink than a distillate. The methods are compared under how infused absinthe was made.

Does this site sell absinthe or kits?

No. Absinthe Kits is a reference site. There is nothing here to buy, no ordering, and no supplier recommendations. See the editorial note.

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