Absinthe recipe

[artooks]

Hi Everyone,

I know from raki that the oils in the anis gives the louche when we diluate the spirit to 38%ABV ( Raki is drank with added water on top once the spirit gets to 38%ABV it becomes cloudy so ı believe the louche is directly corrolated with anise just wanted to add my 5 cent

[artooks]

Hi,

Just trying to get some information before trying the recipe, ok why do I need to keep the tails from each batch or do I keep the backset ? Also what is a phlagm aı could not seem to find it I know what a dephlamagtor is it related so my question is how we treat each batch to use it in the next batch ? Thanks

[NZChris]

Hi Everyone,

I know from raki that the oils in the anis gives the louche when we diluate the spirit to 38%ABV ( Raki is drank with added water on top once the spirit gets to 38%ABV it becomes cloudy so ı believe the louche is directly corrolated with anise just wanted to add my 5 cent

I can make product with no anise, but that still louches.

Add the feints when you add the water.

[Angoth]

I sooooo love this topic about absinthe

First of all a huge thank you to skow69 who convinced me to change my recipe for absinthe by bumping the amount of anise for a richer louche. So last tuesday started a new batch of absinthe, and while I was in a changing mood, I also took into account the advice of grinding the anise seeds (but since i don't have a grinder, I blended the seeds for 2 minutes or so). So everything soaked for 24 hours. Wednesday, threw everything in my alembic and started distilling.

I can say i am very very happy with the results. I took a sip of the pure stuff first. Since i bumped the amount of anise seeds, I was afraid the anise would dominate in the absinthe but it wasn't. It was however sweeter than usual with a touch of fennel and the bitterness of the wormwood at the end. Glad with the quality of the absinthe, I threw in the coloring herbs and let it macerate for another 12h.

Yesterday was the moment of truth : the louche check. No further explanation ... look at the pics

[Angoth]

Angoth,

28 years! That's pretty impressive. You must remember horrible things like Hill's and King of Spirits. Har!

Those were days when you had to go HG because the COs were a real challenge. Lucid and Kubler were a real treat.

I once tried King of Spirits .... bad stuff. If you would serve this to a first time absinthe drinker, people would never again try absinthe. In fact i can't understand why they are allowed to call this absinthe. It's artificial, neutral alcohol with coloring stuff and essences. The only herbs used are those in the bottle to give it a 'natural' look. Since that moment I became very reluctant to czech-style absinthe.
I am very fond of french absinthe with Pernod Absinthe, Peroquet and Un Emile verte amongst my favorites. And since i live near the french border, my source for absinthe is almost limitless.

[artooks]

Angoth the pictures look perfect, I am happy that you have succeeded is this the recipe you gave previously?

[Angoth]

Angoth the pictures look perfect, I am happy that you have succeeded is this the recipe you gave previously?

Posting this from work so sorry for the short info:
Taken into account the bumped amount of anise my recipe for my perfect absinthe would be (per 750 ml of 65%-70% abv neutral):
40gr wormwood
40gr fennel seeds
120gr anise seeds
6gr liquorice
4gr calamus
3gr coriander

Grind or blend the anise (it makes a huge difference).
You can play around with the fennel and the wormwood tastewise, but the 120gr anise seems to the minimum for a rich louche.
Maceration: 24 hours. Distillation took me 7h for 4 liters (one gallon) of absinth.

I can give you more info when i get back home, just ask away ...

[skow69]

Congratulations Angoth!

[Ag_Man]

Hello.

I know that this is an old topic, but I have a question.

Whenever I've drunk absinthe, it causes a euphoric, clear-headed feeling - as if my mental sharpness has increased.

Does anyone know which herb(s) causes this? I'm going to try to recreate the effects in gruit (herbal beer).

Thanks.

[still_stirrin]

...Whenever I've had absinthe, it causes a euphoric, clear-headed feeling, as if someone's mental sharpness has increased. Does anyone know which herb(s) causes this?...

Ummmmm, I have yet to make absinthe....but a good, clean “hearts cut” will give me that euphoric feeling. It’s a stimulant.
ss

[HDNB]

no expert here either but i understand the chemical thujone comes from wormwood, which is considered by some to have hallucinogenic properties.

so maybe you just "think" you feel better

thujone oil is concentrated through the maceration and vapour infusion techniques. found a cut and paste for ya:



Wormwood is used in some alcoholic beverages. Vermouth, for example, is a wine beverage flavored with extracts of wormwood. Absinthe is another well-known alcoholic beverage made with wormwood. It is an emerald-green alcoholic drink that is prepared from wormwood oil, often along with other dried herbs such as anise and fennel. Absinthe was popularized by famous artists and writers such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Manet, van Gogh, Picasso, Hemingway, and Oscar Wilde. It is now banned in many countries, including the U.S. But it is still allowed in European Union countries as long as the thujone content is less than 35 mg/kg. Thujone is a potentially poisonous chemical found in wormwood. Distilling wormwood in alcohol increases the thujone concentration.

How does it work?
Wormwood oil contains the chemical thujone, which excites the central nervous system. However, it can also cause seizures and other adverse effects. Other chemicals in wormwood might decrease inflammation (swelling).

[Ag_Man]

Thanks for the replies. Based on my research, thujone would not cause any psychoactive effects when in the concentrations found in absinthe (less than 10ppm).

Could it be something else?

[still_stirrin]

...Could it be something else?

Uhhhhhh.....maybe.....the alcohol?

[KSpirits75]

Hello.

I know that this is an old topic, but I have a question.

Whenever I've drunk absinthe, it causes a euphoric, clear-headed feeling - as if my mental sharpness has increased.

Does anyone know which herb(s) causes this? I'm going to try to recreate the effects in gruit (herbal beer).

Thanks.

I know what you are describing and it's definitely not the Thujone. There's not enough of it in Absinthe to have any effect on the body.

Absinthe is much higher in ethanol content than your typical spirits so when you pour a 3 oz glass of whiskey vs a 3 oz glass of absinthe, your're getting almost twice the alcohol percentage. I also have a theory that the high sugar content of absinthe compounds the effects of the ethanol on the brain. Probably just a crazy theory since sugar rushes have been debunked.

[NZChris]

There shouldn't be any sugar in the Absinthe itself and you shouldn't be sucking it out of the bottle like a soccer hooligan because the proof is high enough to do cell damage where you really don't want that happening.

I drink mine traditionally, with sugar and chilled water and haven't noticed any unusual effects.

If I want to get hyper quickly, I have my version of Buckfast Tonic Wine that does the job courtesy of caffeine, sugar and alcohol. I wouldn't advise sucking that out of the bottle like a soccer hooligan either

[KSpirits75]

There shouldn't be any sugar in the Absinthe itself and you shouldn't be sucking it out of the bottle like a soccer hooligan because the proof is high enough to do cell damage where you really don't want that happening.

I drink mine traditionally, with sugar and chilled water and haven't noticed any unusual effects.

If I want to get hyper quickly, I have my version of Buckfast Tonic Wine that does the job courtesy of caffeine, sugar and alcohol. I wouldn't advise sucking that out of the bottle like a soccer hooligan either

Definitely. Typically 68% out of the bottle compared to 40% with your other spirits and liquors. I drank a few of my first 81% batch before diluting it down to 68% and the room was spinning like nothing I've ever experience before! Big mistake.

I typically add a sugar cube when I drink it but I discovered that my Absinthe recipe is very sweet out of the bottle. I don't even add a sugar cube any more as mine is very sweet as is. I did an essential oil type run using water instead of ethanol an it tastes like sugar water absinthe. My recipe is based on the Pontarlier recipe but I add star anise in the same weight as the anise seed. I suspect that this is what accounts for the sweetness.

It might be smart to half it since you're generally going to be mixing it with 3 oz or so of water anyway. Maybe a single (1.5 oz) shot to 3 oz of water. I usually do a double (3 oz) shot 68% Absinthe to 3 oz water, plus ice. I'm actually drinking a second glass of my new batch of 68% Absinthe at 3 oz Absinthe and judging by how much trouble I'm having typing now, it's way too high of an ethanol concentration. Especially considering that I'm 6'5" and weigh about 285 lbs!

[NZChris]

Treat it with respect. I seldom have more than two and never drink it in a hurry.

[Ag_Man]

What I'm describing isn't from the alcohol. If no one knows which herb it's from, I guess I'll have to test each one individually.

[Corsaire]

Please be careful.
The thujone myth in absinthe has been debunked for quite a while.
The only thing thujone does if ingested in large doses is give you renal failure.

I'm thinking placebo effect. If some herbs' effect amplify each other I think there would have been anecdotes from gin makers and drinkers.

[HDNB]

courtesy of caffeine, sugar and alcohol. I wouldn't advise sucking that out of the bottle like a soccer hooligan either

Drunk AND awake, the perfect combo.

[Ag_Man]

I'm thinking placebo effect.

I don't think that it's the placebo effect. I experienced the "high" before I ever read about the specifics of what others were experiencing. And lo and behold, others have described the same sort of sensations. The experience is one of ultra lucidity and mental sharpness - not just intoxication. In fact, it feels like the opposite of drunkenness.

[NZChris]

I doubt Grand Wormwood does anything. I've drunk that as a tea many times without noticing any effects.

[Corsaire]

Yeah, but there's a story of someone years back who drank essential oil of grand wormwood. Best not to replicate that.

On topic, I've ordered petite wormwood. I've got the other basics growing in the back yard, plus three elecampane plants. I hope the petite wormwood will grow in my garden as well.

[Ag_Man]

EDIT: According to the Absinthe Encyclopedia at absinthes.com:

At the very heart of the absinthe legend is the idea that it provides a noticeably different quality of intoxication. In other words, over and above the normal effects expected from alcohol, absinthe supposedly has “secondary effects”. These are often said to include visual disturbances, unusual sensitivity to light and colour, euphoria and a peculiarly clear-headed type of drunkenness.

I guess that's what I'm talking about. I've definitely experienced the euphoria and "clear-headed drunkenness" (seemingly with some absinthes more than others.) But everyone says that absinthe does not contain enough thujone to cause those effects.

So if it's not thujone, what's causing it?

[NZChris]

You might be asking your question in the wrong type of forum.

[Ag_Man]

You might be asking your question in the wrong type of forum.

Well, my question has to do with formulating a liquor recipe.

[KSpirits75]

EDIT: According to the Absinthe Encyclopedia at absinthes.com:

At the very heart of the absinthe legend is the idea that it provides a noticeably different quality of intoxication. In other words, over and above the normal effects expected from alcohol, absinthe supposedly has “secondary effects”. These are often said to include visual disturbances, unusual sensitivity to light and colour, euphoria and a peculiarly clear-headed type of drunkenness.

I guess that's what I'm talking about. I've definitely experienced the euphoria and "clear-headed drunkenness" (seemingly with some absinthes more than others.) But everyone says that absinthe does not contain enough thujone to cause those effects.

So if it's not thujone, what's causing it?

My recipe contains grand wormwood, anise seed, fennel seed and star anise and ethanol. I do not color mine. Any of these contain caffeine, maybe?

[Corsaire]

You might be asking your question in the wrong type of forum.

Well, my question has to do with formulating a liquor recipe.

I think Chris alludes to the fact we make recipes for flavor, not for secondary effects.

I'm partial to absinthe myself. Spent some time last summer in the Jura region between France and Switzerland where absinthe comes from. There's a nice route d'absinthe there, I highly recommend it.
I haven't experienced the clear headed drunkenness you describe, but I don't think I've drunk more than 2 in a sitting.

[Boozewaves]

EDIT: According to the Absinthe Encyclopedia at absinthes.com:

At the very heart of the absinthe legend is the idea that it provides a noticeably different quality of intoxication. In other words, over and above the normal effects expected from alcohol, absinthe supposedly has “secondary effects”. These are often said to include visual disturbances, unusual sensitivity to light and colour, euphoria and a peculiarly clear-headed type of drunkenness.

I guess that's what I'm talking about. I've definitely experienced the euphoria and "clear-headed drunkenness" (seemingly with some absinthes more than others.) But everyone says that absinthe does not contain enough thujone to cause those effects.

So if it's not thujone, what's causing it?

lemonbalm / melissa apparently does something to dopamine receptors , when I was researching how much it would cost to order all the herbs I would need to try to make my own absinthe on the website wholefoodsdotcodotuk I saw a review saying this for lemonbalm

after a bit of googling https://nootropicsexpert.com/lemon-balm/ seems to back it up .

it may just be because of the high ABV , or the fact thats it a very nice drink and so it puts you in a good mood . it may be placebo effect . maybe the inhibition depressant properties of alcohol make the brain more receptive to the lemonbalms effect .

I remember feeling something similar (the euphoric clear headedness) when I bought my first bottle of absinthe in 06 but I was with 2 friends and it was a bit of a special occasion and at the time our normal drink was just any old supermarket spirits at 37.5 abv and then we had some la fee 68 abv in front of us . not really got a conclusion to all this but I definitely will make absinthe eventually , as soon as I have enough neutral , plenty of recipe choices here ,

And I think the funniest comment in this thread is this one , :

[BoomTown]

So, has someone posted an actual Absinthe recipe here yet? My access clips my research window to only the past 12 months, so if it has been posted before that, I can’t see it...