A person may like to know the process of Absinthe preparation after watching the prices of bottled Absinthe. A license is required for the distilling process of Absinthe in the United States!

There are many websites with recipes and ingredients for making Absinthe(or Absynth) at home. Away from the traditional three ingredients of wormwood, aniseed and fennel other herbs and essential oils like hyssop, lemon balm, calamus, roman wormwood, anise, licorice, angelica, sage, mint and sweet flag are also used in the manufacturing of Absinthe. The distilling process of Absinthe is both complicated and time consuming. Although kits are also available to make the Green Fairy easily.

Absinthe manufactured from different kits will have different thujone levels. If the thujone content is high the taste will be more bitter of the Absinthe.

How To Make Absinthe With Kits

Some kits provide you with herbs that you have to steep and the filter but by far the easiest kits to use are essence kits. AbsintheKit.com sell Absinthe essencesto both the Absinthe industry and to consumers. With the use of top-quality herbs and essential oils and high tech carbon dioxide distillation they manufacture their Absinthe essences. The solution of 20ml of essence with 730ml of vodka or Everclear along with real wormwood and natural ingredients can give a perfect Absinthe liquor. 750ml of Absinthe can be produced from 20ml bottle of Absinthe essence cost of which is only $3.95!

The essences are also available in a Absinthe kit which makes 14 bottles of Absinthe and it contains a 280ml bottle of essence, bottle labels and a plastic measure – all for $29.

How To Make Absinthe Using the Ritual

Once you have made your bottle of Absinthe you will need to know how to prepare your Absinthe drink. The following recipe or procedure can be used.

First you will need the right equipment:-

– Absinthe
– One will require an Absinthe glass
– An Absinthe spoon (cuillere)
– A sugar cube
– Iced Water

Pour a shot (25-50ml) of Absinthe into the glass.
One will have to rest the Absinthe spoon on top of the glass and place a sugar cube on the slotted spoon.
One can use a fountain or a steady hand to slowly pour the water over the sugar.
One can see the louche after mixing the water and sugar solution into the Absinthe.
A perfect Absinthe drink can be enjoyed now.

It may take you a few attempts to make the Absinthe louche perfectly but it is easy to learn how to make Asbinthe.

In the absence of real wormwood Absinthe one should know the way of brewing Absinthe at home.

A wine base and herbs including aniseed, hyssop, fennel, lemon balm, star anise, angelica, veronica, juniper, dittany and nutmeg were used by Henri-Louis Pernod for making his Absinthe. Besides using a blend of 13 herbs Czech company Sebor also uses chamomile and mint in addition to wormwood and a 100 year old recipe to make their Absinthe.

There are 3 main ways to make your own Absinthe drink:-

1.One will need a recipe to distill his own Absinthe liquor.
2.Use an Absinthe Kit with a blend of herbs and instructions.
3.Use an Absinthe essence

How to Brew Absinthe Using a Recipe

Distilling liquor at home is illegal in most countries unless you have a license and is quite complicated. Typical home-brew recipes include:-

– Wormwood (Grande Wormwood, Artemisia Absinthium)
– Knowledge of Green Anise
– Fennel
– Alcohol

The ingredients are first macerated for several hours, heated and then slowly distilled and then colored with extra herbs such as lemon balm, hyssop and petite wormwood. It is necessary to re-heat the mixture before filtration and dilution.

Distillation is not necessary for other recipes. This is an example:-
– One will need 30g/ 1 ounce dried Wormwood
– Need of 1 teaspoon of hyssop
– 1 tablespoon angelica is required
– Take a pinch of fennel seeds or anise seeds
– It will require a teaspoon of lemon balm
– There is requirement of ¼ teaspoon each of caraway seeds and coriander seeds
– 1 liter of Everclear or vodka

In a bottle mix chopped dried wormwood with the alcohol and leave for 1-2 weeks in a cool dark place. Mix the sieved wormwood with the other herbs. After 3 or 4 days sieve it again. The Absinthe is ready now.

Brewing Absinthe at home in these ways is not recommended. Distilling is an illegal process and simply mixing the herbs with alcohol does not give a real Absinthe.

How To Brew Absinthe with a Herbal Blend Kit

There are many different herbal kits on sale online, for example the kits from  Green Devil. Things that are in their kits:-
– Their unique micron filtration system.
– An Absinthe blend is required which includes grande wormwood, hyssop, calamus, melissa, anise seed, fennel seed, star anise and coriander.
– Absinthe flavoring and finishing blend which contains more herbal ingredients.

Their Deluxe kit also contains two Absinthe spoons, two Absinthe glasses, a 1000ml bottle, two bottle labels, two muslin bags for infusing the herbs, a poster and a pamphlet containing information and instructions.

They claim that their finished Absinthe will contain as much as 70-90mg of thujone per liter which is the chemical found in wormwood and was believed to cause psychedelic effects. There is no distilling involved so the Absinthe produced will not be a true Absinthe.

How To Brew Absinthe With an Essence

Absinthe essences are available to buy from AbsintheKit.A person can make real Absinthe at home by going through the site AbsintheKit.com. The essences are prepared from traditional Absinthe herbs. Mix the essence with Everclear or vodka to have your own bottled Absinthe.

4 types of essence are available – one to make a classic verte Absinthe, one to make a clear La Bleue style Absinthe, one to make an orange flavored Absinthe and another to make a stronger more bitter Absinthe. One can find real wormwood in all of them and essences are used by the Absinthe industry.

AbsintheKit.A person can also buy an Absinthe kit which is available with essence to make 14 bottles of Absinthe, bottle labels and a plastic measure. See their website to get more information on how to brew Absinthe with their essences.

There has been much controversy regarding the thujone levels in Absinthe and whether Absinthe can really make you hallucinate but what about its alcohol content – How much alcohol is in Absinthe?

All commercial alcoholic drinks are labeled according to their alcohol content which makes people able to decide about the drink and also about the quantity of consuming them.

A person needs a hydrometer to measure alcohol content. A hydrometer is available with a thermometer attached to it. The direction of hydrometer is vertical when kept in liquid. One can see the water line to be moving at the level marked 1 after putting it in water.The water becomes denser when it is put in sugared water and the level of water increases. The float moves lower with the use of hydrometer in fermenting alcohol as the sugar is eaten by the yeast. There is done two measurements of alcohol, one is taken with the sugar but before the yeast is added and then the final reading is taken after the fermentation of yeast.

One can detect the volume of alcohol by the following formula
The calculation of alcohol content can be done by the formula, Original gravity – Final gravity x 131 = Alcohol by volume.

The EU and the United States label the alcohol by volume content of drinks on the other hand some other countries believe on proof. Proof is near about twice alcohol by volume.

Different brands of Absinthe have different alcohol contents. Look at the following statistics:-

Lucid Absinthe 62% abv (124 proof)
La Clandestine Absinthe 53% abv (106 proof)
Sebor 55% abv (110 proof)
Pere Kermanns contains about 60% abv
One can get 68% abv in Pernod Absinthe
The alcohol content is found to be 70% abv (140 proof) in Mari Mayans Collectors 70
Tips about La Fee XS Absinthe Suisse 53% abv (106 proof)
The alcohol content in La Fee XS Absinthe Francaise is 68% abv (136 proof)
La Fee Bohemian 70% abv (140 proof)
The alcohol content is 68% abv in La Fee Parisian
One can get 53% abv (106 proof) of alcohol content in Kubler 53
Research shows that Doubs Mystique Carte D’Or contains 65% abv alcohol
The availibility of alcohol content in Roquette 1797 is 75% abv
Jade PF 1901 68% abv (136 proof)
The alcohol content is about 72% abv (144 proof) in Jade Edouard
Information about Jade Verte Suisse 65% abv (130 proof)
Jade Nouvelle Orleans 68% abv (136 proof)

As you can see Absinthe can range from 53% abv to 75% abv, quite a difference. Now, let’s compare those levels to other alcoholic drinks:-

Absolut Blue Vodka 40% abv (80 proof)
Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila contains 38% abv
Beer can have 4 or 5% alcohol by volume.
Alcohol by volume in Table Wine is 9-12%.
One can get 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof) in Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch Whisky.
Everclear 95% abv (190 proof)

No other alcoholic drink seems to come close to Absinthe!

Homemade Absinthes can also vary in alcohol content. One can visit AbsintheKit.com to mix an Absinthe essence.There is a great difference in alcohol content between Absolut vodka and the Everclear (95% abv).

Absinthe was banned in the 1900s because of claims that thujone, the chemical in wormwood, was like THC in the drug cannabis and that it was psychoactive and caused psychedelic effects. Consumption of enough amount of any liquor can be dangerous to health. People in Memphis have realized this and, in 2006, Memphis was the city that drank the least alcohol in the USA – more than 6/10 Memphis citizens had not even consumed a sip of alcohol in at least a month when they were polled.

One should definitely know about the alcohol content in Absinthe and other alcohol that is consumed by the people.

Artemisia Absinthiumis the botanical and Latin name for the plant Common Wormwood. The name of Greek Goddess Artemis was used for naming “Artemisia”. Artemis was the goddess of forests and hills, of the hunt and also a protector of children. It was thought to be link between Artemis and the moon. According to the people’s thought the Latin word “Absinthium” came from the Ancient Greek meaning “without sweetness”.

One can get the herb, oil and seeds from the Common Wormwood plant which often grows in rocky areas and on arid ground in Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean. It has also been found growing in parts of North America after spreading from people’s gardens. Other names for common wormwood, or Artemisia Absinthium, are armoise, green ginger and grande wormwood.

Wormwood plants are pretty, with their silver gray leaves and tiny yellow flowers. Wormwood oil is produced in tiny glands on the leaves. The Artemisia group of plants also includes tarragon, sagebrush, sweet wormwood, Levant wormwood, silver king artemisia, Roman wormwood and southernwood. The Artemisia plants are members of the Aster family of plants.

A lots of medical uses are there of wormwood since ancient times
– The labor pains can be lowered down by it.
– The poisoning from toadstools and hemlock can be counteracted.
– One can use it as an antiseptic.
– It is used to ease digestive problems and to stimulate digestion. Wormwood is helpful in dealing with the problem of insufficient stomach acid.
– People can find it as a cardiac stimulant in pharmaceuticals.
– Reducing fevers.
– As an anthelmintic to expel intestinal worms.
– Taken as an elixir.

There is research proving wormwood to be effective on Alzheimer’s disease and Crohn’s disease.

Effects of Artemisia Absinthium

Wormwood is a key ingredient in the liquor Absinthe, the Green Fairy, which was banned in many countries in the early 1900s. Absinthe is named after this herb which also gives the drink its characteristic bitter taste,

Absinthe was banned because of its alleged psychedelic effects. It was thought to cause hallucinations and to drive people insane. Absinthe was also linked with the loose morals, courtesans and artists and writers of the Bohemian culture of Parisian Montmartre.

The effects of thujone in wormwood and THC in the drug cannabis are said to be the same. The quantity of thujone is so small in Absinthe that one had to drink excess of Absinthe to feel the harmful effects of thujone!

As Absinthe is two times more stronger than whisky and vodka so care should be taken while consuming it.

Artemisia Absinthium is the main content of real Absinthe. Other herbs and flavorings are used in the manufacturing of “fake” Absinthes which are not the real Absinthe. If you want the real thing you must check that they contain thujone or Common Wormwood or use essences,such as those from AbsintheKit.One can visit AbsintheKit.com to make his own Absinthe containing Artemisia Absinthium.

Absinthe wormwood is normally Artemisia Absinthium or Grand Wormwood which is actually a variety of wormwood which does not contain a vast amount of the chemical thujone. A few brands of Absinthe use Roman Wormwood which also contains thujone in addition to Grand Wormwood so drinks with two types of wormwood may contain more thujone. Thujone amounts can differ between brands significantly, some Absinthes only have negligible amounts of thujone, whereas others have up to 35mg/kg. Absinthe with thujone content is restricted in the USA.

Controversy is there about Absinthe Wormwood?

Common Wormwood, Artemisia Absinthium, is a plant which has been used in medicine since Ancient times. It has already been used:-
– To counteract poisoning caused by toadstools and hemlock.
– One can use as a tonic.
– To reduce a fever.
– It is used as a stimulant to digestion.
– Treating with parasitic intestinal worms.
Due to wormwood Absinthe got it’s bitter taste, green color and name. The essential herbal oils in Absinthe are also responsible for the famous “louche” effect, the cloudy that happens when water is added to the drink.
Absinthe was banned in the early 1900s in many countries because of the alleged harmful effects of the chemical thujone, found in Wormwood extract. Absinthe drinking was linked to different crimes and problems and thujone was thought to be a psychoactive and psychedelic element. After drinking the Absinthe a french man consumed lots of other alcohol and killed his family for which Absinthe was made responsible!
Several writers and artists enjoyed this Bohemian drink and it was suddenly a banned and illegal drink. Absinthe was never restricted in the UK, Spain, Portugal or the Czech Republic though banned in many European countries.

Absinthe Wormwood Revival

There was never any real evidence linking Absinthe drinking to hallucinations or insanity and it is now known that Absinthe is no worse than any other highly alcoholic drink. One should consume Absinthe in moderation because of double amount of the alcoholic content in it. The combination of the sedative effects of some of the herbs (and the alcohol content)and the stimulating effects of the Wormwood and other herbs can make a person feel a funny lucid or clear headed type of drunkenness when consuming heavy dose of Absinthe.

Several countries legalized Absinthe in the 1990s. There are many different types and brands of Absinthe available to buy and buyers can even order Absinthe essence, to make their own Absinthe, online from companies like AbsintheKit.com.

Even today the exact amount of thujone in Absinthe is unauthorized in the European Union and in the United States. It is necessary to have Absinthe that contain real wormwood and herbs.