A secret ingrediant!

[kiwi Bruce]

The Henriod sisters may not have give Dr Pierre Ordinaire the whole ingredients list when they sold their "Old family " formula for their health tonic "I believe Absinthe was give it's name by the Good Doctor" This secret addition does appear in some of the hand written herb lists from earlier, that survive from before Ordinaire, and there is some evidence (even if it is somewhat spurious) that the Alpine folk were making a killing selling their tonic to the Roman Empire (they were Roman citizens.) The herb is "Calamus"
It's used even today for Depression
"The effects that this herb can have on the nervous system are well known and proven, so for those who do suffer from psychological disorders or depression, drinking calamus tea from the rhizome (root) can be very helpful."
(https://www.organicfacts.net/calamus.html)
Remember Dr Ordinaire went the the Alps in the first place because he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
So there you go, just some food for the mass of cells between your ears....Bruce

[Bolverk]

Old thread... i know.

It's funny to think that the use of calimus root being an anti depressant would have led to absinthe drinkers being less "crazy" and more fun to be around.

Man, the smear campaign the wine industry did on absinthe has got to be the greatest in history. Here, we are 100+ years later, and people still think absinthe makes you go nuts and gets you high.

[MooseMan]

Old thread... i know.

It's funny to think that the use of calimus root being an anti depressant would have led to absinthe drinkers being less "crazy" and more fun to be around.

Man, the smear campaign the wine industry did on absinthe has got to be the greatest in history. Here, we are 100+ years later, and people still think absinthe makes you go nuts and gets you high.

I know right! It's astounding that the misinformation has lasted so long.

I always thought that it was more of a government led campaign that was instigated by the wine industry heavyweights of the time.

It's still got restrictions on the levels of Thujone allowed FFS!
You'd have to drink so much of it in order to ingest a noticeably psychoactive level of Thujone, you'd be basically flammable by that point.
And also dead from alcohol poisoning.

[Bolverk]

I know right! It's astounding that the misinformation has lasted so long.

I always thought that it was more of a government led campaign that was instigated by the wine industry heavyweights of the time.

It's still got restrictions on the levels of Thujone allowed FFS!
You'd have to drink so much of it in order to ingest a noticeably psychoactive level of Thujone, you'd be basically flammable by that point.
And also dead from alcohol poisoning.

Crazy

[contrahead]

I'm not familiar with this “calamus root” or with its 'asarone oils'. Interesting. I just stepped in to say that there are thousands of absinthe recipes, and no two are the same.

In some past thread of this forum I believe that I mentioned that (a few years back) a friend of mine returned from a vacation with his girlfriend from a trip to Rome. He brought back a small bottle of Italian absinthe, which he purchased from a little shop (in Rome) that specialized only in absinthe. The shop had hundreds of different brands. I was fortunate enough to get a sip or two of what he purchased. I must say that it was far and away better than any of the domestic commercial absinthe's that I have tasted otherwise.

I don't remember all of the absinthe comment's I've made in the last 11 years, but I did search a few out. One thread (Absinthe:- a women's drink?) had a catchy title. Incidentally, around the turn of the century when absinthe was being outlawed worldwide and when prohibition was in vogue – many women in particular had a penchant for laudanum. Far more dangerous - but legal, laudanum is a tincture (dissolved in ethanol) of the whole poppy. Laudanum was cheap (then) because it was un-taxed (a medicine : legal); and is still available (though rare) through prescription today.

One of the main historic figures to blame for absinthe's ostracization, was a French psychiatrist named Valentin Magnan.
--------
also:
Thujone Absorbtion Rate From Wormwood To Alcohol
and this video needs a plug:
ChatGPT Absinthe

[Bolverk]

I'm not familiar with this “calamus root” or with its 'asarone oils'. Interesting. I just stepped in to say that there are thousands of absinthe recipes, and no two are the same.

In some past thread of this forum I believe that I mentioned that (a few years back) a friend of mine returned from a vacation with his girlfriend from a trip to Rome. He brought back a small bottle of Italian absinthe, which he purchased from a little shop (in Rome) that specialized only in absinthe. The shop had hundreds of different brands. I was fortunate enough to get a sip or two of what he purchased. I must say that it was far and away better than any of the domestic commercial absinthe's that I have tasted otherwise.

I don't remember all of the absinthe comment's I've made in the last 11 years, but I did search a few out. One thread (Absinthe:- a women's drink?) had a catchy title. Incidentally, around the turn of the century when absinthe was being outlawed worldwide and when prohibition was in vogue – many women in particular had a penchant for laudanum. Far more dangerous - but legal, laudanum is a tincture (dissolved in ethanol) of the whole poppy. Laudanum was cheap (then) because it was un-taxed (a medicine : legal); and is still available (though rare) through prescription today.

--------
also:
Thujone Absorbtion Rate From Wormwood To Alcohol
and this video needs a plug:
ChatGPT Absinthe

I was just reading something earlier that had a clip from Duplais book stating calimus was a necessity

[Bolverk]

This was an old post so I couldn't get the Pic to carry over hence the screenshot

[kiwi Bruce]

I was rereading this post and something occurred to me...There was a very infamous German/Austrian, head of the "ministry of propaganda" 85+ years ago, who said this..."if you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth"
Not to me, a lie, is a lie, is a lie and I don't care how often you say it. Absinthe's "fall from grace" is a perfect example of a "lie told often enough" and the decedents of the families that started the lie still hold the purse strings of Europe.