The green fairy -- on a stick

Absinthe lollipops -- for a grown-up Easter basket.

Somehow I don't think the notorious beverage would have earned its Bohemian reputation in this form. Picture Albert Maignon's enraptured poet in "The Green Muse" (1895) overcome by a sucker . . . . We might have lost an entire generation of dreamy French writers in one fell swoop.

But what makes absinthe so absintheful? One of its ingredients is wormwood, an herb containing the chemical thujone, but the actual effect of thujone in the amounts used in absinthe is under debate:

Thujone, the supposed active chemical in absinthe, is a GABA  antagonist and while it can produce muscle spasms in large doses, there is no evidence that it causes hallucinations. It has been speculated that reports of hallucinogenic effects of absinthe may have been due to poisonous chemicals being added to cheaper versions of the drink in the 19th century, to give it a more vivid colour. 

However, the debate over whether absinthe produces effects on the human mind additional to those of alcohol has not been conclusively resolved. The effects of absinthe have been described by some artists as mind opening. The most commonly reported experience is a 'clear-headed' feeling of inebriation — a form of 'lucid drunkenness'. Some modern specialists, such as chemist, historian and absinthe distiller Ted Breaux, claim that alleged secondary effects of absinthe may be caused by the fact that some of the herbal compounds in the drink act as stimulants, while others act as sedatives, creating an overall lucid effect of awakening. 

It is also unknown whether the effects of excessive absinthe consumption is any more deleterious than excessive consumption of any other form of alcoholic beverage. Apparently the excessively romantic depictions of absinthe drinkers in the nineteenth century were the products of excessively romantic artistic imaginations.

Here's a nice set of absinthe spoons, which were used to hold a sugar cube over the glass when pouring in cold water to dilute (and sweeten) the drink. "The slot on the handle . . . allows the spoon to rest securely on the brim of the glass." These would never have been invented if absinthe drinkers had gone the lollipop route back in the nineteenth century.

Comments

[CraigC]

Shouldn't that be "swell foop?"

[MC]

Is pizen...