Lucid US-legal Absinthe
A significant article in todays’s New York Times, announcing what is apparently the first “proper” US-legal absinthe, made by Ted Breaux of Jade Absinthe fame. Called Lucid Absinthe Superieure, it’s made from a recipe including Artemisia absinthium, but tests thujone free.
Release date is late May, initially in New York and LA.
If the product checks out – and given Ted’s involvement it’s likely to, this is important news for the US market – the first product sold in the US to legally carry the word “Absinthe” on the label since Prohibition (Strictly speaking the New Orleans-based Legendre company produced a product called “Legendre Absinthe” in 1934, but this was almost immediately renamed Herbsaint, by which name it’s still called today. There’s lots about Herbsaint, including some great cocktail recipes, in the Virtual Absinthe Museum).
I spoke to Ted earlier today, and he’s very confident both in the quality of the product, and in his ability to continue producing it with no measurable level of thujone. It’s early days yet, but if the demand is there, this is something we might consider including in the line-up at Absinthe Classics.
Robert said,
April 30, 2007 @ 9:46 pm
Legally speaking, “Absente” http://www.absente.com already carries the name Absinthe on its label.
Also, without thujone this is just faux absinthe. All of Ted’s Jade products contain thujone.
Oxygenee said,
May 1, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
Your’re technically correct about Absente’s “Absinthe refined” tagline, but they don’t market it as “absinthe” in the traditional French or Swiss sense.
Your second point is incorrect. Thujone is not a prerequisite for true absinthe, the use of Artemisia absinthium in the distillation step is the critical thing. The one doesn’t necessarily imply the other, for complex reasons which are only now being fully understood.
Steve said,
May 1, 2007 @ 5:55 pm
I have confidence that it will be a quality product with Ted’s involvement.
I don’t care about thujone, but I wonder what the lower detection limit is with the tests used to validate this stuff. And I wonder if any other authentic-style distilled absinthes already on the European market would pass this (presumably) more stringent test.
Greg said,
May 1, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
No, w/o thujone you have bitter green crap with nothing to recomend it other than marketing BS.
Oxygenee said,
May 2, 2007 @ 8:51 am
Greg: Thujone level and bitterness (or lack of it) are completely unrelated.
Read the FAQ on this site or at Fee Verte and educate yourself.
M said,
June 18, 2007 @ 8:00 pm
Ted, you are my hero! Can’t wait to try it, but everyone is out of stock…how disappointing. I will wait patiently. Thanks for all your hard work!
I wouldn’t even bother with those guys who don’t know what they’re talking about, but seem to think they do. You’re brilliant!
Drew said,
September 3, 2007 @ 11:44 am
Lucid contains Thujone, it is impossible to seperate it from Artemesia Absinthium. It does however, not cross over through the distillation process to any great extent. Where Lucid is concerned, the inventor asserts he has reverse engineered actual 19th century Absinthes found at estate sales and from other collectors, in this process he has found that the actual thujone content of these traditional absinthes just happens to fall under the legal requirements of the US (along with a successful argument in semantics with the FDA) and he has created Lucid, jumped through all the correct hoops, and here it is.
The problem we are facing today with all the other producers of the appertif is that the true formulaes were lost and those that produced it in the internm, what with the law screaming about thujone, assumed that there must be high concentrations in the original formulaes, which we now know is untrue.
Drew said,
September 3, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
I apologize for the double post.
According to scientists associated with the National Academy of Science, thujone is a GABA antagonist. Other GABA antagonists include some nootropics like piracetam. GABA is a neurotransmitter. Alcohol is know to depress the production or intake of GABA. Therefore, with an alcoholic drink that contains thujone, the effect is that your mind is feeling more effect from the alcohol. The alcohol depresses the neurotransmitter while the thujone contradicts this effect. The lucid, clear feeling one gets while drinking absinthe is due to the fact that the thujone in the drink is increasing the amount of this neurotransmitter that you can process. This is why it is a different ‘buzz’ than when you are drinking straight alcohol.
My above passage is further proved by this quote from the National Academy of the Sciences
“the 10 ppm (66 µM) upper limit of the European Commission (6) and particularly the 260 ppm (1710 µM) thujone content of old absinthe (6) would give a detectable to major inhibitory effect beyond that of the ethanol content. Current low levels of – and -thujone in absinthe are of much less toxicological concern than the ethanol content”
Wormwood is traditional an insecticide and used to treat intestinal worms. The herb itself has been safely used for centuries for this specific treatment. I have grown wormwood and have a lb. sitting in my cupboard. I drink it straight as a tisane with no toxic effects. Thujone itself will contribute to renal failure if taken in large doses. One should never consume the essential oil of wormwood for any purpose.
Lucid and those that follow like Marteau Verte Classique are to be, in my opinion, perfectly legitimate classic absinthes that contain thujone. When you drink it, you will be producing the effect in your brain that I described above.
Drew said,
September 3, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
Last post on this subject.
Alright, I think I got it slightly wrong.
Alcohol is a GABA agonist. It stimulates the production of this neurotransmitter which causes drowsiness and sleep.
Thujone is a GABA antagonist. It prohibits alcohol from performing that part of it’s function.
Absinthe is therefore a type of ‘speedball’, it’s chemical constituents at once promote the production of GABA and opens its receptors, while also closing those receptors off. This explains the ‘lucid’ effect that absinthe has, as oppossed to just normal drunkenness, which is associated with drowsiness.
Another definition would be that the inhibitory effect of the antagonist thujone allows the consumer of absinthe to reach a stage of drunkenness that one would not be able to experience; the key word here is experience, not achieve; if one were consuming normal alcohol.
This is the muse revealed. All the thujone allows is for the door opened in the psyche by alcohol to remain open longer, allowing the consumer to experience the effects of the alcohol as he would normally not be able to.
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Johnny said,
October 30, 2007 @ 6:18 am
I have yet to try the “Legal” absinthe yet called Lucid. However, I have had the real deal before, 2 different bottles. One was called Absinthium 1792, The other Absinthe Original. First, Absinthe varies in flavors and colors. The 1792 was blueish and tasted like anise(licorice). The Original was green, the taste…hard to describe but it wasn’t bad. Anyway both were good, very good. I prepared a glass traditionally; pour one part absinthe and 2 or 3 parts water ( I just did 50/50…good) and you put a suger cube on a spoon, pour absinthe on the suger cube (over the glass, less messy) then light the cube on fire to carmalize it. Next mix the melted suger with the absinthe and enjoy! Seriously…1 glass and I was gone. And no I did not hallucinate. Just really drunk. Best part about REAL absinthe…No burn. You know that nasty burn you get when you do shots? Gone. This stuff was smooth as milk which is what surprised me the most.
Marc said,
December 4, 2007 @ 11:10 pm
I have a bottle of Lucid at home right now. It’s not wuite what I expected and I have yet to perfect the whole routine. But it certainly is strong. I for one do not see any difference (other than flavor) with other alcohol.
bosoxyaz8 said,
December 12, 2007 @ 6:11 am
Well after hearing about this for years i finally went out and spent 70 bucks on a bottle of lucid from a little store in berkeley,ca friday night. got pretty tanked no question about it but Its just a bummer its not the real deal with that magical thujone you read all about. Crazy country i live in i can make a phone call and get an 8 ball this very second but i cant drink thujone absinthe..i might send away spend the $ money take the risk get is shipped from where ever europe ? oh well i`ll do some research…any tips anybody ?
donny….san fransisco,ca………aka:bosoxyaz8.
Beardis of the weirdis said,
February 5, 2008 @ 5:30 am
So I have a bottle of Lucid right now and have drank it at least four seperate nights. I must also say that I’ve drank three other brands of “real” Absinthe before. I’ve had Francois Guy from France which has a suppossed 10mg of thujone. I’ve also had Serpis Classic from Spain and that suppossedly had 35mg of thuone. Oh and lastly I had quite an awful bottle of Czech Absinthe (Highly Not Recommended) with 35mg of thujone as well. The Czech brand tasted much like mouth wash while the other two were more of an herbal anise taste.
As for the effect well The Czech brand produced weird dreams and a taste that stained my mouth for the entire night. I felt quite awake and drunk at the same time on all three foreign bottles. As for the Lucid well I only feel drunk.. Slightly drunker then normal maybe.. But highly questionable.
Now how do I rate Lucid. Well to be honest it tastes wonderful for absinthe. very smooth and well balanced. Mix 1 part absinthe to 4 parts water with one cube of sugar ( oh and please leave the flame out of this. Burnt sugar just isn’t right in a true Absinthe). I must also say that I’ve had many other anise drinks and absinthe is quite different then the rest. This list includes Pastis, Ouzo, Aarrak, Sambucha, and Jaggermeister. All include anise but I really like absinthe the best.
Now how would I rate Lucid.. Well I’d give it a 7.5 out of 10. Mainly for the taste. Lucid tastes excellent and to be honest it taste better then any other absinthe or anise drink that I’ve had to date. But why the lower score if it taste so good. Well it comes down to the effect. No alertness or weird dreams. Just slightly quicker drunkidness.
So in conclusion would I say that Lucid is a true absinthe. Well Yes and No. Graned Lucid brings true absinthe flavor unlike the previous bogus products but it still doesn’t produce the same effect. My next bottle however will be from the swiss and in the end try out Lucid if your looking for the true taste and quick availabity.
Robbie said,
April 24, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
I just purchased a bottle of Lucid ($56.00) and have yet to try it. Does anyone have a more ‘positive’ opinion regarding the effects ? I have never tried any Absinthe from overseas but would love to one day. I am hoping the new Lucid will have some effects of some kind … other than the alcohol .. Will post again after I try it !