Title: absinthe-msg
Subject: A cordial made with wormwood.
Author: Edited by Mark Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, wormwood, cordial, insanity, distill

absinthe-msg – 5/21/06

A cordial made with wormwood. 

NOTE: See also the files: beverages-msg, cordials-msg, herbs-msg, bev-distilled-msg, infusions-msg, spiced-wine-msg, Clarea-d-Agua-art, spices-msg.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 21:49:44 -0500
From: "RANDALL DIAMOND" <ringofkings at mindspring.com>
Subject: SC - SC absinth again, was-Coffee Soap

Margali writes:
>>>> But there are still cordials made with wormwood, they 
just arent imported into america. I have had the original with 
wormwood, and though interesting I just plain dont like the 
bitter undertaste and probably wont drink it again.<<<<

The only country in the world in which absinthe is still legally 
available is Spain.  Basically ALL wormwood based cordials
are completely illegal in the rest of the world! 
The chemical constituents in the wormwood are very seriously
addictive and work on the central nervous system.  I made 
a small batch and wrote a short paper for Meridies Kingdom
A&S a few years ago, growing all the required herbs or gathering 
them from the wild.  A few brave souls have tried it in the traditional
manner on sugar with water added to see the colour change.  

However, the classic formula for absinthe is of dubious
period origin and is more likely post period.  Of course, wines were
adultrated with wormwood essences in Roman times and medieval,
but I do not recommend them for taste!!

Akim Yaroslavich

Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 22:00:23 -0500
From: "RANDALL DIAMOND" <ringofkings at mindspring.com>
Subject: SC - SC Absinthe

Morgana comments:
>>>>Actually, what made absinthe dangerous wasn't the wormwood.  It was the
fact that they used pure grain alcohol for the base.  I have an absinthe
recipe which only uses 1/3 oz. of wormwood for 2 liters--not enough to
cause harm to normal people.
Spain still makes real absinthe; they use lower alcohol levels now.
I'd still caustion most people against it.<<<<

Sorry Morgana, I have an extensive article from an old
Scientific American that disagrees with your statement.
It gives a comprehensive history of absinthe and the
exact chemicals in the wormwood that are so dangerous.
It also gives the breakdowns in the body chemically and the
effects it has on specifics of the central nervous sysytem.
If you need it, I'll see if I can locate it in my files.  I
know it's there as I used it in writing my research 
doucumentation for the A&S entry I had.

Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 23:54:37 -0600
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: Gorgeous Muiredach <muiredach at bmee.net>
Subject: Unusual Liqueur...  (was Re: [Sca-cooks] Procrastinating while
  the caffeine kicks in...)

>who wants to buy a couple unusual liqueurs, Parfait Amour (rose and
>spice) and Creme Yvette or Creme de Violet but can't find any
>nearby...

Unusual?  Ok, how about absinthe?  Yep, the drink that made a few famous
painters and poet crazy.  It's actually pretty good, just don't abuse the
stuff :-)  I was rather satisfied with the customer service at:

http://www.laboheme.uk.com/absinthe.htm

Gorgeous Muiredach
Rokkehealden Shire
Middle Kingdom
aka
Nicolas Steenhout

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 16:42:58 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

By the way... I had the opportunity two weeks past to sample authentic Absinthe, smuggled in from the Middle East by one of our U.S. soldiers.  It was entirely too  bitter for my tastes (no sugar available in the alley behind the bar), and I was very nervous about trying it (not knowing the quantity needed to produce ill-effects).  I tried one whisky shot full of it to no effect, other than a slight tingling of the tip of my tongue, and an acrid taste in the back of my mouth (like burnt peanuts). The flavor was reminiscent of bitter watermelon, if  you can imagine that, but the heat of the alcohol was pronounced.  Now that I have tried it, I can pass it up the next time it is offered...

William de Grandfort

==========================================================
Good god, man! The Middle Eastern stuff is rotgut!

Believe me, a good Czech absinthe, properly diluted with sugar and 
water, is a very different experience. There's a sensual aspect to 
dripping the water through the sugar spoon and watching the bright 
green liquid  turn whitish and opalescent.

One or two glasses of it, drunk slowly, make me feel very floaty. It's 
less of a feeling of being drunk than high, but no hallucinations or 
anything like that. Although I would imagine if I drank glass after 
glass, day after day, I would experience thujone poisoning, but more 
likely it would be cirrhosis from all of the alcohol. I don't have it 
very often because I am not a big fan of anise or licorice flavoring.

I have in my possession a potboiler 19th century novel by Maria Corelli 
called "Wormwood," which is the sordid tale of a young rich man who 
becomes addicted to the "Green Fairy" and murders his fiancee's lover 
and hounds her to death; the histronics are quite funny, and it's 
obvious that Corelli never had a glass of absinthe ever.

Now limoncello ... that's a good digestif!

Gianotta

Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:07:31 -0500
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe
To: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> One or two glasses of it, drunk slowly, make me feel very floaty. It's 
> less of a feeling of being drunk than high, but no hallucinations or 
> anything like that. Although I would imagine if I drank glass after 
> glass, day after day, I would experience thujone poisoning, but more 
> likely it would be cirrhosis from all of the alcohol. I don't have it 
> very often because I am not a big fan of anise or licorice flavoring.

That would be reasonable: the active ingredients are a nervine-- a mild
nerve poison. Slightly more effective on the central nervous system, in
a different way, than alcohol.
-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 00:46:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Chris Stanifer <jugglethis at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe
To: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

--- Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net> wrote:
If you want to have some of the absinthe ritual experience without the worries of thujone, try Pernod (which is absinthe without the wormwood). Do as the old men in "A Year in Provence" do, put the sugar cube on a slotted spoon suspended above your glass, and slowly pour the water through the spoon until the sugar dissolves.
<<<

Pernod used to contain wormwood, and is an entirely different beverage  
than Absinthe.  In the U.S., Pernod no longer contains wormwood, and will give you none of the same effects.

William de Grandfort

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 06:40:31 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach Chris Stanifer:
> Pernod used to contain wormwood, and is an entirely different
> beverage than Absinthe.  In the
> U.S., Pernod no longer contains wormwood, and will give you none of
> the same effects.
>
> William de Grandfort

Maybe it's a case of distant evolution, but I have to agree. While
Pernod may once have contained wormwood, and have been created by an
absinthe manufacturer, it's not really bitter, it's not green, and
it's fairly sweet without added sugar (at least the Pernod I've had
has been). I can't imagine anyone really wanting to add sugar to it.

Besides, Real Provencale Men (tm) drink Pastis Ricard -- the
fennel-flavored version of Pernod...

Adamantius (who uses Pastis Ricard for Bouillabaise)

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:05:46 -0500
From: Bill Fisher <liamfisher at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

http://www.absinth.com/

They have a reproduction Absinthe..........

Apparently with the right wormwood in it for sale.

Cadoc

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 11:47:42 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Absinthe and herbed liqueurs and cordials
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 06:40:31 -0500, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius
<adamantius.magister at verizon.net> wrote:
> Maybe it's a cae of distant evolution, but I have to agree. While
> Pernod may once have contained wormwood, and have been created by an
> absinthe manufacturer, it's not really bitter, it's not green, and
> it's fairly sweet without added sugar (at least the Pernod I've had
> has been). I can't imagine anyone really wanting to add sugar to it.
>
> Besides, Real Provencale Men (tm) drink Pastis Ricard -- the
> fennel-flavored version of Pernod...
>
> Adamantius (who uses Pastis Ricard for Bouillabaise)

Pastis! Thank you I knew I had written the wrong thing. And the men in 
Provence drink it watered with sugar; Peter Mayle lovingly describes 
the ritual. It louches — turns whitish — when cold water is added to 
it.

> http://www.absinth.com/

> They have a reproduction bsinthe..........

> Apparantly with the right wormwood in it for sale.

> Cadoc

For interesting information about the history of absinthe, here is one 
about absinthe in New Orleans that mentions Henri Pernod as the premier 
19th century distiller:

htt://www.gumbopages.com/food/beverages/absinthe.html

For a really good outline of what is absinthe, what isn't absinthe, 
resources for buying absinthe online, and a translation of an 1897 
catalog from the House of Pernod, which says how the Pernod familygot 
into the absinthe business and when (1797):

http://www.feeverte.net

Pastis is essentially absinthe without the wormwood, developed in 
Marseille as an absinthe substitute.  Pastis Ricard, which is yellow 
rather than green, was developed by Paul Riard, according to this 
article:

http://frenchfood.about.com/cs/horsdoeuvres/a/pastis.htm

So, that brings to mind a question I have; Absinthe is 19th century, 
but when were Benedictine, Chartreuse, and Frangelico invented? All 
three were invented by monks, but when? If these are period, are there 
other "period" liqueurs today?

Gianotta

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 17:12:41 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Absinthe and herbed liqueurs and cordials
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach Chris Stanifer:
> --- Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>  So, that brings to mind a question I have; Absinthe is 19th century,
>
> No, Absinthe is much, much older than 19th century.  Apicius has a
> recipe for it in one of his volumes (or 'their' volumes).

Eeeeehhhhhhhh, maybe. I believe Flower and Rosenbaum translate this
as vermouth, which make sense when you consider that both vermouth
and absinthe once contained wormwood, and it's vermouth, not
absinthe, that is made from wine (i.e. not distilled), and "vermouth"
appears to be a distortion of a Germanic term for wormwood.

Adamantius

Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:56:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Christiane <christianetrue at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Absinthe and herbed liqueurs and cordials
To: Chris Stanifer <jugglethis at yahoo.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> So, that brings to mind a question I have; Absinthe is 19th century,
No, Absinthe is much, much older than 19th century.  Apicius has a  
recipe for it in one of his volumes (or 'their' volumes).
=============================================

The Pernod family claims it was invented by a Swiss doctor late in the  
18th century, and they began making it in 1797. Yes, wormwood was used  
before then, so I'd love to see the Apicius recipe to see how closely  
it correlates to the modern recipes.

One of the pastis sites I poked around in has the "legendary" origin of  
the drink; a happy monk in the Luberon distilled a marvelous drink, and  
he used it to cure people during the plague; and then he quite being a  
monk to open a bar.

The Chartreuse Website says the Carthusian monks originally were gifted  
the manuscript with the recipe in 1605; makes me wonder how much older  
it actually is! Especially since they claim they couldn't figure out  
the recipe until the 18th century ...

Gianotta

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	absinthe-msg	Page  of