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Becky
That Other Power Hour
by Becky - April 9, 2007 - 1:10 PM

Around the end of the 19th century, the French were fond of christening cocktail hours “l’heure verte” in honor of all the absinthe people were knocking back. erI’ve loitered with the green fairy myself, but if I ever spent a full hour in its company, it’s likely I’d be interred in some quaint Czech hillside. While absinthe isn’t technically classified as a hallucinogenic, the ingredient in wormwood–terpene thujone–is what causes all the upset. Strangely, it’s also found in tarragon and sage, and is part of the chemical team present in vermouth. On its own, the silvery leaves of wormwood have been rumored to fight malaria, improve digestion (a good thing when you’re wanting for stomach lining), and, of course, to conquer worms!

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Comments (3)

  1. It’s a fantastic alcohol drink!

    posted by Amuseal on 4-9-2007 at 4:27 pm

  2. Absinthe has been maligned ever since returning French soldiers put a strain on the supplies of absinthe in France and shady types started peddling faux absinthe made with wood alcohol. That, and only that, is the cause for absinthe’s overblown reputation. Of itself, this beverage is tasty and, other than having a very high alcohol content, harmless.

    posted by Alice Venables on 4-10-2007 at 2:41 pm

  3. I agree with Alice that absinthe has been wrongly maligned and it’s good to know that it is now making a comeback in every non-Muslim country in the world except the USA.

    Given that the original article refers to a “Czech hillside,” it seems that the writer may not have been drinking REAL absinthe. Check my blog for a few more details.

    posted by Alan on 4-18-2007 at 3:50 am

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