Talk:Absinthe

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This article is written in British English with Oxford spelling (colour, realize, organization, analyse; note that -ize is used instead of -ise) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Absinthe is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.

This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on June 20, 2006.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
April 7, 2006	Peer review	Reviewed
May 31, 2006	Featured article candidate	Promoted
October 9, 2008	Featured article review	Demoted

Current status: Former featured article

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The following reference(s) may be useful when improving this article in the future:

Studer, Nina S. (2024). The Hour of Absinthe: A Cultural History of France’s Most Notorious Drink. Montreal; Kingston; London; Chicago: McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 978-0-2280-2222-0.

Absinthe in Prince Edward Island, Canada section

This article states that Deep Roots absinthe is not available from provincial liquor stores, but it has since been stocked by them. See https://liquorpei.com/products/deep-roots-absinthe/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.215.105.65 (talk) 05:06, 31 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Citation Error

The first website cited in the tab Health affects under the number 84 is not a credible website or author. 24.240.72.156 (talk) 23:56, 20 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Those numbers change. Can you cite the source of your concern. GenQuest ^"scribble" 02:50, 21 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

At this late stage, the citation that was first in that section for the revision of 17 July 2022 is still the first today. It is https://eatsiptrip.10best.com/2018/06/07/everything-you-think-you-know-about-absinthe-is-a-dirty-lie/ dated in 2018. I'll leave this here for anybody still concerned about its credibility to act accordingly.--45.26.202.244 (talk) 04:37, 6 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Mythology of absinthe

It's wild that the mythology of the alleged psychoactive and harmful effects of absinthe still persists and was pervasive throughout the 20th century despite zero evidence. I think the cultural influence should say a bit more about this odd reputation. Viriditas (talk) 00:43, 28 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Absinthe is a cocktail of terpenoid bearing plants proportioned according to flavor and physical effect. I will explain to the uneducated layperson: All terpenoids are hallucinogenic. The hallucinogenic dosage is interchangeable, so that one may combine multiple different terpenoids. BUT those terpenoids with a strong physical effect are always dosed according to the physical effect, so that by the time you had as much of the physical effect as you could handle, from lemon balm for example, you would need hundreds of times more to notice the hallucinogenic effects. THC is for example a terpenoid but because of its physical effects one could not get enough in one's system to notice any hallucinogenic qualities.

So lemon balm couldn't produce the hallucinogenic effects by itself, so the other herbs are added, proportioned according to flavor. Made correctly, absinthe tastes good and by the time you have as strong of physical effects from the lemon balm as what you can handle, you'll notice the hallucinogenic dose of terpenoids in your system and be able to "See" the effects.

Terpenoids are hallucinogenic because they contain phenol, as made obvious in the other name for terpenoids: Phenylpropanoids. Phenylpropanoid is the compositional naming convention name, and terpenoid is the structural naming convention name. Terpenoids break down in the bloodstream and release phenol. This phenol is now across the blood brain barrier. Phenol is a messenger chemical, it stores chemical data.

If a messenger chemical gets passed the blood brain barrier, it would produce hallucinogenic effects (in high enough doses). Tryptophan is derived from phenol. Every life form that makes tryptamine first makes phenol then uses the phenol to make first tryptophan then the tryptamine. Since phenol has more chemical data than tryptophan, it would have stronger hallucinogenic effects.

The best comparison of the hallucinogenic effects of terpenoids is to say that if serotonin could cross the blood brain barrier it would be hallucinogenic and phenol only has a little more data in it, so terpenoids can show you what the hallucinogenic effects of tryptophan would be like if it could cross the blood brain barrier.

So as for "Alleged" psychoactive effects, please know what you are talking about before you talk. You should have experimented with real absinthe that was made correctly, and you would have experienced the powerful euphoria of lemon balm and the mild hallucinogenic effects of the terpenoids cocktail.

Real recipe of absinthe as obtained from one of the books cited on the wiki absinthe page (not concentrated) (per gallon): 1 ounce of Angelica root, 1 ounce of lemon balm, quarter ounce of anise, eighth ounce of nutmeg, eighth ounce of mugwort. Without the mugwort, the drink will be too rich to drink. The bitter balances it. And yes it's mugwort, not wormwood. Don't argue with me until you've had this drink. It tastes good, it has powerful euphoria, and hallucinogenic effects. 65.75.232.102 (talk) 13:52, 22 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]