Re: [CH] Fireman's Bitter
Kristofer Blennow (kristofer@blennow.se)
Sun, 3 Jan 1999 07:46:56 +0100
On 2 Jan 99, Ed Cutrell wrote:
> me here at home--write me and I'll look it up for you), but high doses are
> associated with serious side-effects, like memory disorders,
> un-coordinated movements, inadvertent eye-blinking, confusion, skin
> disorders, blood abnormalities and interaction with other medicines.
> Combination with some antidepressants can lead to death!
> If I'm not mistaken, the sale of true absinthe is forbidden in the US,
It is very interesting, since the US ban seems to be of a political
and cultural origin, rather than scientific. In Sweden I don't think
there was as much "abuse" of wormwood (not sure). You can still buy
deadly tobacco cheap in the US, and few people are abusing pure
caffeine. Here, we usually have one or two shots of a mild infusion,
and we have never seen any advere effects. The plant is listed by
Swedish government as "non toxic".
Forwarding my reply to Doug (slightly edited):
The term Absinthe for the drink is derived from the latin family name
of the plant, Artemisia Absinthium. There a several varieties here in
Sweden, no idea about what some of the English names are.
Artemisia Vulgare ("Gråbo") is a regular weed here. Tastes
disgusting, we once tried it as a substitute for:
Artemisia Absinthium ("Malört" - "Absinth Wormwood") is the classic
medicinal herb used for the drink.
Artemisia Maritima ("Strandmalört" - "Beach Wormwood") very nice
looking, whiteish, grows mainly by the sea. This one we have used to
make the schnaps.
Artemisia Campestris ("Sagewort Wormwood")
Artemisia Arbotanum ("Åbrodd" - "Oldman Wormwood") - Spice
Artemisia Dracunculus ("Tarragon") - Spice... the best to use in
garlic butter... Mmmm...
Wormwood contains some pretty strong therpene called "thujone" as
well as "absinthal". These are sedative, increases digestion
(therefore great to use with the starters ... compare a dry martini
which contains vermouth). Also they are antiparasitical, the swedish
word "Malört" means "Wort against moth". Maybe the most usual use of
the drink was/is to cure indigestion and an upset stomach. That
really works well, have tried it numerous times.
The DRINK Absinthe, however, is made by extracting wormwood and other
plants in high proof alcohol, then destilling it again, concentrating
the essential oils. The drink (120-140 proof) was then consumed with
water and sugar. The bad reputation of Absinthe is partly due to pure
alcoholism, partly to the intoxicating effects of the highly
concentrated thujone content. Prolonged use in high doses has adverse
effects. Like drinking pure caffeine solution instead of coffee... ;)
In Sweden "Besk" ("Bitter") can be bought in the liquor store. It is
just wormwood extracted in vodka, no afterdestillation. The best
result is really from low proof alcohol, the ideal is about 70 proof.
It is my guess, that the way we make and consume it, makes the
concentration of the essential oils quite low, while the taste still
is bitter and nicely aromatic. I call it "the essence of summer".
The plant is easy to grow. It needs to be harvested in full bloom,
usually here in Sweden that is late August. It can then be dried and
used for years and years. Harvesting in the spring is no good. The
taste is very bitter, but not aromatic at that early stage. Really,
the small budlike, green/yellow flowers are the part that has the
best aroma.
Personally I would never eat or drink any "essential oils/extracts",
including something like pure capsicain, unless I there was a long,
proven history of it being benign. There is just a huge difference
between the effects of "normal" use and such wildy high
concentrations.
Gotta go get myself a hab fix... ;)
Kristofer