January 2008 Archives
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This would be good
historic reading for children and grandchildren who are old enough to
understand. The outlook of the future is challenging. Of Historical Significance By
Raymond S. Kraft, a writer living in Northern California who has studied the
Middle Eastern culture and religion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sixty-three
years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and hammered England
to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat. The Nazis had sunk more than 400
British ships in their convoys between England and America taking food and
war materials. At
that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most Americans
wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war. Then
along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , and in outrage Congress unanimously
declared war on Japan, and the following day on Germany, who had not yet
attacked us. It was a dicey thing. We had few allies. France
was not an ally, as the Vichy government of France quickly aligned itself
with its German occupiers. Germany was certainly not an ally, as Hitler was
intent on setting up a Thousand Year Reich in Europe. Japan was not an
ally, as it was well on its way to owning and controlling all of Asia. Together,
Japan and Germany had long-range plans of invading Canada and Mexico, as
launching pads to get into the United States over our northern and southern
borders, after they finished gaining control of Asia and Europe. America's
only allies then were England , Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Australia, and
Russia . That was about it All of Europe, from Norway to Italy (except Russia
in the Eas t) was already under the Nazi heel. The
US was certainly not prepared for war. The US had drastically
downgraded most of its military forces after WW I because of the depression,
so that at the outbreak of WW II, Army units were training with broomsticks
because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank" painted on the
doors because they didn't have real tanks A huge chunk of our Navy had just
been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. Britain
had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600 million in gold
bullion in the Bank of England (that was actually the property of Belgium)
given by Belgium to England to carry on the war when Belgium was overrun by
Hitler (a little known fact). Actually,
Belgium surrendered on one day, because it was unable to oppose the German
invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next day just to
prove they could. Britain
had already been holding out for two years in the face of staggering losses
and the near decimation of its Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain, and
was saved from being overrun by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake
of thinking the Brits were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with
later. Hitler first turned his attention to Russia, in the late summer
of 1940 at a time when England was on the verge of collapse. Ironically,
Russia saved America 'S butt by putting up a desperate fight for two years,
until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at Germany. Russia
lost something like 24,000,000 people in the sieges of Stalingrad and Moscow
alone . . . 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly civilians, but also
more than a 1,000,000 soldiers Had
Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire war
effort against the Brits, then America. If that had happened, the Nazis
could possibly have won the war. All
of this has been brought out to illustrate that turning points in history are
often dicey things. Now, we find ourselves at another one of those key
moments in history. There
is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants, and may soon
have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons,
almost anywhere in the world. The
Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs -- they
believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam, should
own and control the Middle East first, then Europe, then the world. To
them, all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be killed,
enslaved, or subjugated. They want to finish the Holocaust, destroy Israel ,
and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra. (goal) There
is also a civil war raging in the Middle East -- for the most part not a hot
war, but a war of ideas. Islam is having its Inquisition and its
Reformation, but it is not yet known which side will win -- the Inquisitors,
or the Reformationists. If
the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control the Middle
East , the OPEC oil, and the US, European, and Asian economies. The
techno-industrial economies will be at the mercy of OPEC -- not an OPEC
dominated by the educated, rational Saudis of today, but an OPEC dominated by
the Jihadis. Do you want gas in your car? Do you want heating
oil next winter? Do you want the dollar to be worth anything? You
had better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic
Reformation wins. If
the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who believe that
Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, live in peace with the rest
of the world, and move out of the 10th century into the 21st, then the
troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade away. A moderate and
prosperous Middle East will emerge. We
have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the
Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the Islamic
terrorist movements. We have to do it somewhere. We can't do it
everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a
time and place of our choosing . . . . . . . . in Iraq. Not in New
York, not in London , or Paris or Berlin, but in Iraq (1)
We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly involved
in the 9/11 terrorist attack or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been
actively supporting the terrorist movement for decades Saddam is a terrorist!
Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, responsible for
the deaths of probably more than a 1,000,000 Iraqis and 2,000,000 Iranians. (2)
We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic terrorism
in Iraq . We have focused the battle. We are killing bad
people, and the ones we get there we won't have to get here. We also
have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq, which will be a
catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East , and an outpost
for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East for as long
as it is needed. WW
II, the war with the Japanese and German Nazis, really began with a
"whimper" in 1928. It did not begin with Pearl Harbor.
It began with the Japanese invasion of China. It was a war for fourteen
years before the US joined it. It officially ended in 1945 -- a 17 year
war -- and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and
Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own a gain….a
27 year war. WW
II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a full year's GDP
-- adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion dollars. WW II
cost America more than 400,000 soldiers killed in action, and nearly 100,000
still missing in action. The
Iraq war has, so far, cost the United States about $160,000,000,000, which is
roughly what the 9/11 terrorist attack cost New York. It has also cost
about 3,000 American lives, which is roughly equivalent to lives that the
Jihad killed (within the United States) in the 9/11 terrorist attack. The
cost of not fighting and winning WW II would have been unimaginably greater
-- a world dominated by Japanese Imperialism and German Nazism. This
is not a 60-Minutes TV show, or a 2-hour movie in which everything comes out
okay. The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain,
and sometimes bloody and ugly. It always has been, and probably always
will be. The
bottom line is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism until we
defeat it, whenever that is. It will not go away if we ignore it. If
the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq, then we have an
ally, like England, in the Middle East , a platform, from which we can work
to help modernize and moderate the Middle East. The history of the
world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and civilization,
and the barbarians clamoring at the gates to conquer the world. The
Iraq War is merely another battle in this ancient and never ending war.
Now, for the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear
weapons. Unless some body prevents them from getting them. We
have four options: 1.
We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons. 2.
We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which may be as
early as next year, if Iran 's progress on nuclear weapons is what Iran
claims it is). 3.
We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle East
now; in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in America . OR 4.
We can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad is more
widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has dominated France and
Germany and possibly most of the rest of Europe . It will, of course,
be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier. If
you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or
grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the
Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today. The
history of the world is the history of civilization clashes, cultural
clashes. All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and
civilization should be like, and the most determined always win. Those
who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists always
lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them. Remember,
perspective is every thing, and America's schools teach too little history
for perspective to be clear, especially in the young American mind. The
Cold War lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came down in
1989; forty-two years! Europe
spent the first half of the 19th century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to
1945 fighting Germany! World
War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation, and the US
still has troops in Germany and Japan. World War II resulted in the
death of more than 50,000,000 people, maybe more than 100,000,000 people,
depending on which estimates you accept. The
US has taken more than 3,000 killed in action in Iraq. The US took more
than 4,000 killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the first day of
the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism. In
WW II the US averaged 2,000 KIA a week -- for four years. Most of the
individual battles of WW II lost more Americans than the entire Iraq war has
done so far. The
stakes are at least as high. . A world dominated by representative
governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal freedoms…or a world
dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement, by the Jihad, under the
Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law). It's
difficult to understand why the average American does not grasp this.
They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but evidently not
for Iraqis. "Peace
Activists" always seem to demonstrate here in America, where it's safe. Why
don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, North
Korea, in the places that really need peace activism the most? I'll
tell you why! They would be killed! The
liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights, democracy,
multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins, wherever the Jihad
wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights, democracy,
multiculturalism, diversity, etc. Americans
who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side of their own
worst enemy! |
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Happy New Year! And to my Asian readers- Happy Year of the
Rat/Pig/Dragon/Jew or whatever gay thing it is. Football history was made as the New England Patriots finished the season
with a record of 16-0. While an amazing achievement, it has unfairly
overshadowed other incredible sports moments. Bucs? Maybe next year. Oil prices reached $100 a barrel for the first time in history last week.
As if that weren't bad enough, bio-diesel went up to $150 per barrel, and
wind and solar power went up to $200 per barrel. 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears, star of Zoey 101 and sister of everyone's
favorite muff-shot, has announced that she is pregnant with her boyfriend's
child. The tabloids are having a field day, but I don't see what the big deal
is. By the time I was 16, I already had five boyfriends taking up space in an
unspecified landfill. Speaking of the classiest family in the world, the walking pile of STDs
known as Britney Spears was taken away in an ambulance after police were
called to her house to end a three-hour custody standoff involving her sons.
I wish I could tell you there were no survivors, but unfortunately everyone
walked away unharmed. If there is a silver lining, it's that Britney's kids
just set a record for "Youngest people to ever be put on suicide
watch." And yet another day has passed without me thinking about Iraq.
Go Britney! I can only imagine how many people will be dressed up as her on
the 19th at Keith’s 1st “Dress as a Hollywood Wreck
Party”. I’m shooting for Jessica
Sierra (before rehab). In political news, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee were both victorious in
last week's Iowa caucuses. And while I'm glad our next president will very
likely have a funny last name, I can't help but be put off by their
bipartisan campaign ad. It's called 2candidates1cup. You should check that
shit out. Looks like Obama and Ms. Clinton are neck and neck in New Hampshire
tonight. |
2008 is finally here. Auld Lana Lang My Vagina! Yeah, I know that doesn't
make sense. I don't really give a fuck.
Anyway, the Keith’s web site is doing well. It may be a new year, but fortunately for Keith’s, arbitrary cursing and hand jobs are still funny.
This morning, shortly after I spit on yet another cashier at RaceTrac who
greeted me with "Happy New Year!", I couldn't help but realize how
naive that statement is. As if a seven switching over to an eight is some kind
of guarantee that your world is now rife with opportunity. If you're cleaning
the toilets at an Waffle House on December 31, odds are you won't be performing
neurosurgery on January 1. Believing that a new year offers new hope is kind of
like calling your boyfriend Bobby instead of Jeff to convince yourself he's not
the same fat bitch you've were married to for five years.
I'm not trying to suggest that this year will suck. I'm stating it
definitively. '07 sucked, '08 will suck, and '09 will suck (especially since
that'll mark the last New Years' celebration where people can wear those sweet
novelty glasses with zeroes for eyes). I don't say this as a jaded cynic
(despite the fact that I am one). I say this as an individual who sees the big
picture. Even if you're a comparatively happy person, odds are the year, when
viewed in its entirety, will suck a big, fat walrus scrotum. You'll have good
days, to be sure, but unless you win the lottery or land a job as a porn
tester, you're in for another shitty year.
But enough about you. Even though the year is still young and I'm only a few
sheets into my "365 Ways to Torture a Drifter" daily calendar, I
think it's as good a time as any to see how I'm doing on my resolutions. The
burn marks covering the neck and face of my Cuban houseboy indicate that I've
already broken at least one, but we'll see how the others are stacking up. (B)
means I have already broken the resolution and (U) means it remains unbroken.
I resolve to...
stop throwing used tampons (mine and others) at meter maids. (U - I think. I didn't actually ask what her occupation was.)
limit myself to six abortions. (U -
This early in the year it'd be physically impossible to require six abortions,
but I think this one will hold up. Unless Mickey Rooney gets all
"rapey" again.)
visit sick children and lift their spirits. (Not sure. I did visit sick children, but who can say for
sure that the unconscious enjoy getting their assholes fisted?)
stop setting fire to assisted living centers. (BBBBBBBBBBBB)
be more of a team player during orgies.
(Little bit of B, little bit of U. Mama's vag is open to the public, but I'm
sorry, beluga caviar is too pricey to just haphazardly rub it on anyone's
taint.)
quit smoking. (Cigarettes - B. Pot,
meth, crack, Jew pubes - B)
lose 20 pounds. (U - I know it seems
unlikely that I lost 20 pounds this quickly, but you haven't seen what I just
pulled out of my ass.)
make amends with all whom I've wronged. (Mostly U, but I'll be dead and buried before I apologize to
Ted Kennedy's balls.)
attend church regularly. (U - Where
else am I supposed to get emotionally damaged young boys?)
live a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. (U - Which has been really tough on the midgets who pull my
rickshaw.)
stop shouting "I know goddamn well what 'bestiality'
means!" at judges. (B)
quit drinking. (U, to be immediately
followed for the rest of the year by B.)
There they are. For the most part I think I've done a good job of sticking to them. There have been slip-ups, but nobody ever said self-improvement was easy. It's a long and hard struggle that goes on and on until the day you die. And then you're perfect. Happy New Year!
How to Drink Absinthe
Absinthe is a formerly banned spirit drink that is made with Artemisia absinthium (wormwood) and other herbs. Also known as la fée verte (the green fairy), absinthe was originally formulated during the 18th century by the French-born Dr. Pierre Ordinaire in Switzerland as a digestive tonic. During the 19th century absinthe became a very popular drink in France. Often associated with artists and writers, absinthe was consumed by such figures as Edgar Allen Poe, Vincent van Gogh and Ernest Hemingway. After being illegal for many years, true absinthe is once again legal in many countries. There are many different types of absinthe, some much more authentic and of higher quality than others. Absinthe is traditionally prepared and enjoyed according to the absinthe ritual.
Steps
1. Select a quality bottle of absinthe. Absinthe is made using many different methods and ingredients. There are several standards that help one to determine if a particular brand of absinthe is authentic and of high quality. It is also possible to make absinthe, although this is dangerous and not recommended.
o Different brands of absinthe will contain anywhere from negligible amounts of thujone up to about 35 mg/kg thujone. See the Tips below for more about the role of thujone in absinthe. International standards require that alcoholic beverages that contain greater than 25 percent alcohol by volume contain no more than 10 mg/kg thujone, while bitter spirits may contain up to 35 mg/kg thujone. If an absinthe is labeled as a bitter, it will probably contain 10 to 35 mg/kg thujone. Thujone is illegal as a food additive in the United States, but authentic absinthe containing negligible amounts of thujone can be legally sold. Vintage bottles of pre-ban absinthe can be obtained, and it is reputed that some of the lesser quality versions contained inordinately high levels of thujone and harmful adulterants such as copper salts, aniline dye and antimony trichloride, which led to its poor reputation.
o
Completed louche effect
Quality absinthe will usually show the louche effect. It is desirable for absinthe to gradually demonstrate increasing turbidity (opaqueness) or turn partially translucent as ice water is gradually added to it. This is known as the louche effect. The louched color should demonstrate complexity as well as nuance, and the absinthe should not turn opaque rapidly. However, it must be noted that not all quality absinthe will turn opaque, as the louche effect is primarily produced by the herbs anise and fennel. Absinthe typically tastes like liquorice due to the addition of such herbs. The louche effect is produced by the precipitation of the herbal essential oils.
o
Pernod Fils has historically been a high-quality absinthe
The absinthe should be made from natural, whole herbal ingredients. The finest absinthe is made with whole, natural herbs and does not contain any artificial ingredients such as artificial colors and flavors. The herbs are merely ground up so that they can be efficiently used during the distillation and extraction processes. The pale-green color of typical high-quality absinthe is imparted by the chlorophyll that is extracted from whole, natural herbs. Absinthe that is bright green may be artificially colored. However, not all quality absinthe has a green color. Quality absinthe may also be clear, orange, or red, but the color should be imparted by natural herbal ingredients such as petite wormwood. Vintage absinthe may have an amber color, as the chlorophyll will have faded over time.
o
Absinthe with 74 percent alcohol by volume
Quality absinthe has a high alcohol content. The best tasting absinthe falls into the range of 45-68 percent alcohol by volume. Absinthe has traditionally been about 136-proof. A very high alcohol content is not considered to be excessive because absinthe is traditionally diluted with water before drinking and it is meant to be sipped slowly over time, so as not to allow the effects of alcohol to overwhelm the subtle and pleasant effect of the herbs.
2. Prepare the absinthe for drinking. There are different traditional and non-traditional ways to prepare absinthe. The most popular method is referred to as the absinthe ritual, although there are slight variations on this method. When preparing absinthe, keep in mind that the green fairy is associated with creativity, and is not something to be conformed to. Several methods are described below.
3.
‘Absinthe Drinker’ by Viktor Oliva
Drink your absinthe. The prepared absinthe can be drunk as desired, perhaps sipped gradually while pondering creative ideas. Oscar Wilde described drinking absinthe as such: “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Absinthe Preparation Methods
Classic French Absinthe Ritual
1. Pour about one ounce (30ml) of absinthe into a glass. There are various types of glasses that can be used, some of antique or historical design and others of more modern design. French absinthe glasses, such as reservoir pontarlier glasses, are quite suitable for the French absinthe ritual. Different styles of reservoir glasses are available, but every style will have a distinct or bulbous bottom area that indicates the amount of absinthe that is to be initially poured.
2. Absinthe spoon (various types of absinthe spoons are used)
Lay a flat, perforated absinthe spoon across the rim of the glass, and place a single cube of sugar on the perforated area of the spoon. This is customary but is not necessary. The sugar is traditionally used to balance the bitter taste of the wormwood.
3.
Sugar cube laid on absinthe spoon over glass (various types of glasses can be used)
Dripping ice cold pure water over sugar into absinthe drink Drip very pure ice cold water into the absinthe from a small pitcher. This very slow and gradual addition of the water forms the heart of the absinthe ritual, and is done with or without the sugar. When using sugar, the cold water is dripped over the sugar and into the drink, causing the sugar to slowly dissolve into the absinthe. Very high quality absinthe can be expertly experienced simply with the ice cold water.
• Three or four ounces of water are added per ounce of absinthe.
• Ice cubes can be added to the pitcher of water if desired, but be sure that they don’t fall into the glass of absinthe.
• As the water is added to the absinthe, the absinthe should gradually louche.
• Absinthe fountains were traditionally used to drip the ice cold water into absinthe drinks.
• Brouilleur devices can also be used to automtically drip the water into individual glasses. The brouilleur is placed over the glass, and water, ice cubes, or ice water (as well as sugar if desired) is added to it. The water will gradually drip through the brouilleur into the absinthe. The brouilleur is removed before drinking the prepared absinthe. 4. Stir the drink with the absinthe spoon after the water has been added. Two or three ice cubes can be added to the finished drink, but this practice may be frowned upon by absinthe purists.
“Glass in a Glass” Method
1.
Drip or trickle the ice cold water into the small glass of absinthe so that it overflows into the larger glass
Place a small glass full of absinthe (containing one ounce of absinthe) inside a larger empty glass.
2. Drip the cold water into the the small glass, causing the contents of the small glass to overflow into the larger glass. Once the three or four ounces of water have been added, the large glass will contain the absinthe and water mixture, while the small glass will just contain water.
3. Remove the small glass from the larger glass before drinking the absinthe from the larger glass.
Absinthe Neat 1. Drink absinthe straight (neat). It may be ideal to taste vintage absinthe neat, as this will enable one to evaluate some of the particular nuances of a particular sample of absinthe. 2. Keep in mind that this is not customary due to the very high alcohol content of traditional absinthe. 3. Remember that the louche effect is a very important quality of absinthe, however, and should therefore be experienced when preparing quality absinthe.
Czech or Modern Bohemian Method
1. Pour a dose of absinthe into a glass, then place a sugar cube on an absinthe spoon or teaspoon.
2. Soak the sugar in absinthe by dipping it into the absinthe with the spoon or pouring a little absinthe over it.
3.
Flaming absinthe-soaked sugar cube over glass of absinthe
Light the absinthe-soaked sugar on fire for about one minute, allowing the sugar caramelize and melt. If an absinthe spoon is used, the burning, melted sugar should drip into the absinthe.
4. Dunk the still flaming spoon into the absinthe, which may then ignite.
5. Add ice cold water to the absinthe to quench the flames and produce the louche effect.
6. Use this method appropriately. This method is not traditional, but has become popular. Absinthe with a high alcohol content will ignite more readily, but it is certainly not recommended that high-quality absinthe be set aflame.
Tips
•
Artemisia absinthium
The primary active botanical constituent in absinthe has been thought until recently to be thujone. However there is debate that the push and pull effect of the many herbs such as valerian root for example which is a depressant and the stimulant effect of other herbs used in its production may simply be at work. Thujone is derived from wormwood, although varieties of wormwood that are grown in certain geographical locales may not contain appreciable or significant amounts of thujone and other botanicals such as common sage contain much higher concentrations. As such, authentic absinthe that is made with grand wormwood need not contain measurable amounts of thujone. Roman or petite wormwood (Artemisia pontica) also contains thujone, and is commonly used in addition to Artemisia absinthium. Artemisia absinthium should be used during the primary distillation of absinthe, while Artemisia pontica may be used to naturally color the distilled absinthe. Thujone can be extracted during the distillation and coloring processes.
• Some modern absinthe distilleries produce absinthe that is similar to pre-ban absinthe. As absinthe was banned for such a long time, the art of absinthe production is still being researched and re-learned. As such, some very high quality absinthe is produced using antique pre-ban distillation equipment as well as historical recipes and techniques. Some of the pre-ban absinthe production techniques were apparently quite complex, and are difficult to reproduce.
• Purchase absinthe that has been produced by reputable, traditional European distillers. France, Spain and Switzerland produce authentic, high-quality absinthe.
• Wormwood and other herbs can be added during different stages of the absinthe production process, and various production methods are utilized. This results in different flavors, variable final absinthe color, and variable concentrations of thujone. As such, different absinthe distillers produce absinthe that contains high levels of thujone, medium to low levels of thujone, and negligible levels of thujone.
• When purchasing absinthe and absinthe-related products, be sure to read product labels or follow the advice of trusted absinthe connoisseurs.
• If you don’t like the licorice taste of traditional absinthe, there are various brands of absinthe that are made without anise and other herbs that impart the licorice flavor to absinthe.
• Quality absinthe is made by using herbs during the distillation process. The herbs used during this process are not used to impart the characteristic color to the absinthe. The color is created later during the absinthe production process when herbs are merely soaked in the alcohol that has already been distilled with herbs. This is referred to as an herbal maceration (without subsequent distillation). Lower quality absinthe is essentially made from an herbal maceration, and no herbs are used during the distillation process. Very low quality absinthe may be made using cheap herbal extracts or essences, as well as artificial flavors and colors. Such absinthe may in fact be quite expensive and be labeled with somewhat misleading information. Traditional absinthe recipes call for a maceration of natural, whole wormwood and other herbs such as anise, licorice, hyssop, veronica, fennel, lemon balm, and angelica. An initial maceration may be distilled, then the resulting alcohol may be used for a subsequent maceration that is not distilled.
• Wormwood is quite bitter, and the additional herbs are used to improve and mask the bitter taste of absinthe. Quality absinthe is also distilled using certain methods to produce a less bitter product. Like fine cognac, the “heart” of the distillation should be used for the finest absinthe, while the “heads” and “tailings” of the distillation (the beginning and the end of the distillation process) are used to make lower-quality absinthe ordinaire or are used to process (soak) the herbal maceration. However, authentic absinthe should have a somewhat bitter taste, as this bitter taste is an indication that wormwood has been used.
Warnings • Absinthe that contains high levels of thujone may be harmful and is more than likely “bathtub” or homemade variety and not the authentic item. Thujone is toxic, especially when high concentrations are consumed. Thujone is a convulsant and binds to gamma-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptors in the central nervous system. The level of thujone in European absinthe is regulated, and such set levels are not thought to be harmful. Absinthe is not an illegal drug, although thujone is regulated due to its potential toxicity. It is not recommended that one drink more than three or four servings of absinthe in one sitting. The acute intake of absinthe is not thought to be harmful, but chronic, long-term consumption may cause harm as with any other alcohol. • Never drink absinthe just because it contains thujone. The GABA-type brain receptors that thujone acts upon are also acted upon or influenced by antioxidant polyphenol flavonoids. These flavonoids are not toxic like thujone, and are found in non-toxic herbs such as chamomile and valerian. • Absinthe that is labeled as a “bitter” may contain a relatively large amount of thujone, perhaps up to 35 mg/kg. • Never consume wormwood extract or oil, as these are very toxic and can be lethal. • Absinthe has a high alcohol content. • Always drink alcoholic beverages responsibly. Do not drive, operate heavy machinery, or discuss marriage while your judgment is impaired.
