Absinthe: The American Remix

New York Times ^ | April 29, 2007 | BRENDAN I. KOERNER

[Mr. Blonde]

IN praise of the opaque green liqueur beloved by his creative contemporaries, Oscar Wilde once posed the rhetorical question, “What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?” Skip to next paragraph Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

The prosaic answer, at least for Americans, has long been one of legality: sunsets can be freely enjoyed, but absinthe was forbidden because it contained thujone, a potentially toxic compound.

Intrepid drinkers have worked around the ban by ordering imported bottles off the Internet or smuggling them back from Eastern Europe. Now they have a third, less dodgy option: Lucid, which is being marketed as the first legal, genuine American absinthe in nearly a century.

[Mr. Blonde]

I don't know about hallucinations, but after we drank some my roommate played football, in the nude and in the rain.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Heck, I rode my bicycle through campus nude on E&J Brandy. You coulda saved your money.

[Tax-chick]

Domestic jug wine is behind most of my youthful indiscretions, of which there is fortunately no video or photo documentation.

My worst experience was Yugoslavian wine. I’m glad there’s no such thing as Yugoslavia anymore.

[Mr. Blonde]

Wasn’t my money, but I actually liked Absinthe. It is a little too strong to take a lot of though, at least to not be packing it in early. It isn’t something to drink all the time though on a college budget either, but I’m definitely hoping to bring some home from Europe this summer.

[BreezyDog]

They have a cool website... drinklucid.com

[toddlintown]

The Urban Legend continues...

[jakewashere]

Absinthe isn't actually hallucinogenic, no matter what the urban legends say. From what I've heard about it, all the 'secret ingredients' do to you (the thujone and so forth) is clear up your head so you're lucidly drunk. All of the dumb euphoria of drunkenness, with none of the loss of coordination. You couldn't drive a car while plastered on the stuff (naturally), but I imagine one could write some really interesting poetry...

[Publius]

Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.

[jakewashere]

The way I heard it was, Absinthe makes the brain go yonder.

[Tijeras_Slim]

It was good to live before everyone had a camera in their phone and the internet.

[Tax-chick]

I was just reminding my teenagers about that a few days ago. Times have changed!

[meowmeow]

Wow - I had Yugo wine back in the 80s in East Germany (diplomatic trip). The waiter showed us the bottle, then pulled a bottle opener (the kind you use to open a Sam Adams) out of his pocket and flipped the top off.

Vile, is the only recollection I have of the experience.

[Tax-chick]

It was bright yellow. I gave up drinking for a year after that.