Lucid Absinthe’s Distiller on Thujone: Confused?

“How much thujone in Lucid, Sir?” … “Ask no questions child.”

The words below were written by Lucid Absinthe’s distiller on the subject of thujone, the naturally occurring element in wormwood, previously credited in the 19th century with hallucinogenic and mind altering powers.

If you didn’t know yet Lucid Absinthe is the new FDA “thujone free” compliant absinthe that is being hyped from coast to shining coast in America this week. But is it real absinthe if it has no thujone? Read on..

Using every bit of information I’ve processed over the past seven years, my calculations indicate that quality original Pontarlier labels contained anywhere from 50-100mg/kg total thujone. I do agree that I feel that thujone is not the only player in the secondary effects, although I’m convinced it plays an important role. I also have some evidence that indicates that the presence of other essences and even manufacturing methods is influential.T.A. Breaux

June 5, 2000 (FeeVerte.net)

These days we are told that there was little or no thujone in pre-ban real absinthe by exactly the same source! Seven years of research, and a sudden change of heart? To quote Alice in Wonderland: “Curiouser and curiouser”. What should we make of this? The only person that can answer this is T.A.Breaux himself and he alone is invited to do so below.

Lada, Hašek and Kontušovka

Josef Lada, “Sváteční hospoda“, 1932

Christmas has come early! An exhibition of the works of Josef Lada (15 November-3 February, Municipal House, Prague) With “a visual perspective ..praised by Picasso” this great Czech artist is a real treat. Josef is probably best known as the illustrator of Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk. Czech absinth drinkers might be interested in this note:

Charmed by Lipnice, then a community of 800 people, perched idyllically up on a hill with its 14th century castle slumped and crumbling above the gently winding Sázava River, Hašek entered merrily into village life. He enjoyed nothing more than treks through the surrounding farmland, woods and villages, or annoying the local women by dragging their menfolk to the pub, where he would stand to read completed sections of text to his audience, dictating new sections to a more sober writer. Sometimes he would simply play cards, albeit for sums of money way beyond his means. He drank copiously at the bar, chasing the locally produced beer, Lipnicée Lezák, with rum, slivovice and kontušovka; an aniseed based liquor, similar to absinthe. At the end of the evening, the wild writer had only a couple of flights of stairs to negotiate before bed.

 

🙂

Absinthe La Fee Verte by Elli Mayhem

The Czech absinth drinkers at L’Absinthe Rend Fou voted this our favourite absinthe film.

We watched a whole selection on a chilly grey Prague afternoon when the bar was “Dnes zavřeno – Soukromá akce”. The brands on offer at our event were Toulouse Lautrec, Doubs Mystique, Reality Absinth, La Fee Bohemian and, of course, my favourite Century Absinth 100.

Elli Mayhem

Check out Elli’s art and poetry by clicking on her name above.

Absinthe Recipe

Josef Archleb (1843 – 1913) founded a famous liquor distillery in Dobruška (a small town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic) in 1865. He was the patron of several artists, including Frantisek Kupka, the pioneer of the early abstract art movement and orphic cubism. The painting above is Kupka’s Planes by Colours or Great Nude, circa 1909. Below you will find the Dobruška absinthe recipe.

1. Base

Grande Wormwood : 6 750 g
Pure alcohol 96% : 50 000 ccm
Water : 35 000 ccm

2. Distillate

Anise seed : 9 600 g
Star anise : 400 g
Cinammon :135 g
Grande Wormwood : 1 070 g
Hyssop : 3 210 g
Mace : 67 g
Pure alcohol 96% : 3 000 ccm
Water : 10 000 ccm

Then it is distilled

3. To make absinthe

Base as per point 1 : 60 000 ccm
This much of distillate as 2 : 4 000 ccm
Pure alcohol 96% : 30 000 ccm
Water : 8 000 ccm
Sugar syrup : 2 000 ccm

To be coloured for a light green colour.

The Effects of Absinthe?

A very strange film showing two well known folks apparently off their rockers after drinking Czech absinth in a Prague bar. It is titled “Happy Hour Absinthe in Prague”

Absinthe Party with Marilyn Manson

Here’s Marilyn Manson in Las Vegas celebrating the launch of Kübler Absinthe in the USA. The party was held to celebrate the arrival of absinthe in America after a long absence. What better place than the Playboy Club in Sin City! Due to pure Texan determination, and the timely intervention of the Swiss Embassy in Washington, Kübler has arrived intact without tampering with the thujone content! This looks like the very first absinthe with thujone available stateside since Prohibition – an historic first. Unfortunately I polished off the last of my Kübler a while back…time to get some more in and join the party?

Still Life with Hill’s Absinth

Europe, May 2001

Another great painting in the Modern Absinthe Art series. If you are interested in this absinth painting please let me know.

Absinthe Supreme from Slovenia

http://www.absinthe-supreme.com/

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