Is it legal?

Topic created by Ray
on Mon, 26 May 2008 at 19:25

Ray said on Mon, 26 May 2008 at 19:25...

absinthe is legal now? i thought it got banned

Anonymous said on Wed, 28 May 2008 at 21:21...

It depends on what kind you want and where you live. Absinthe with real wormwood isn't legal in the US because of thujone

Moondancer said on Thu, 29 May 2008 at 11:34...

Actually *some* absinthe that is sold in US bars is made with a special kind of wormwood.

There are a couple of brands now and more that are jumping onboard. It is possible to remove thujone, the active ingedient in absinthe, using a specially modified plant, or to use chemicals to take it out of the finished product. In this way the drinks manufacturer can comply with the Prohibition Era laws that prohibit thujone. Crazy!! It is not the same stuff as you get in European countries though.

Another crazy thing is that it *is* legal to import the real stuff from Europe for personal use. You can drink real absinthe on your porch and watch the sunset if you order online (which is what most folks do)...but you cannot drink real absinthe with measurable levels of thujone in a bar, or buy it at a local store. Go figure :-(

Anonymous said on Mon, 2 Jun 2008 at 16:41...

Moondancer: "It is possible to remove thujone..."

And what is the point of that? You might as well drink ouzo or something. Sticking an absinthe label on a bottle of stuff that had the MAIN INGREDIENT removed does NOT make it absinthe, for God's sake!

Moondancer said on Tue, 3 Jun 2008 at 01:42...

"And what is the point of that?"

You should read more carefully before responding, Anonymous. I did *not* say that tampering with ingredients was a good thing. I was making exactly the same point as you. Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough.

MsJekYll said on Sat, 7 Jun 2008 at 11:12...

Ray and others,

I recently wrote an article about USA legal absinthe imitations - that should answer the question. In short:

Certain adulterated versions of "absinthe" are now available in the USA. In flavor, they do share some similarity to the genuine stuff but that's where it ends.
Real absinthe still cannot be sold in US stores or bars. Outdated FDA/TTB regulations get in the way.
However, possession and importation for personal use is legal. Nobody will bat an eyelid unless you resell to the public.

domino said on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 at 23:21...

that sucks................. nice site btw, msjekyll

MsJekYll said on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 at 23:42...

Thanks Domino.

I would suggest we continue this talk in the Absinthe USA thread which I created specifically for this topic. The discussion somehow spilled over to here. Well, never mind, just a suggestion. There are no "forum rules" and such here.

j shy said on Thu, 2 Dec 2010 at 01:11...

where is a good site to buy the real absinthe and could you show me the laws on it