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. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - 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. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Tue, 9 May 2000 21:49:44 -0500 From: "RANDALL DIAMOND" 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" 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 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 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe To: Christiane , Cooks within the SCA > 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe To: Christiane , Cooks within the SCA --- Christiane 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe To: Cooks within the SCA 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Absinthe To: Cooks within the SCA 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 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 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Absinthe and herbed liqueurs and cordials To: Cooks within the SCA Also sprach Chris Stanifer: > --- Christiane 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Absinthe and herbed liqueurs and cordials To: Chris Stanifer , Cooks within the SCA > 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 Edited by Mark S. Harris absinthe-msg Page 6 of 6