Post #371460 by Carmine Verandah on Thu, Apr 3, 2008 9:33 PM

The few absinthe drinkers La Verandah knows who have tried such things have said: "Save your money."

What distinguishes real absinthe from pastis is thujone, the ingredient that is in wormwood. If this is not in the ingredients list, it is not absinthe.

Even it is included, there is no guarantee you will produce an elixir of decent quality. I know quite a few beer brewers and wine makers, even a decent home-brewer of saki, Okinawa-style. None of 'em use kits and will hand back any gift of such with a "Thanks, but no."

If you are determined to try making your own, La Verandah would advise you to seek out an actual recipe, then go visit a good supplier of brewing ingredients and products. There are several places on the Internet that offer recipes for making wormwood. I've seen quite a simple one that involved putting the missing wormwood back into pastis, such as Pernod.

All the recipes are different, and La Verandah has not bothered to try any herself. But what they should not advocate is using wormwood oil, which is poisonous. There is a true cautionary tale on the site of "The Gumbo Pages" about a lad who decided to go straight for the promised groovy special effects and drink the essential oil of wormwood. He suffered kidney failure and a three-month hospital stay.