I read this article last night and my first reaction was “Is this a hoax?”. If you don’t know what absinthe is, it is a distilled, highly alcoholic liquor derived from herbs. It is normally green in color. Here is the wikipedia entry on Absinthe.

This drink is banned in most countries. For a long time I consider Absinthe as the marijuana of Liquor. The only country I know of that allows this drink to be sold is the Czech Republic. Even then, the ones sold in stores are much tone-down version of the original absinthe. You have heard of stories how Van Gogh cut off one of his ear when he was so high hallucinating from this drink. I got a chance to try this drink when I was in Prague some 2 years ago. I had 2 shots. It wasn’t overly bad but it was pretty strong. I can only imagine how strong the original absinthe is.

Anyway, this drink has been banned from US for nearly a century. According to the SF Chronicle article, a lawyer in DC managed to get the ban lifted. There is a stipulation on the approval however. It has to contain no more than 10 parts per million of the chemical thujone; whatever. St. George Spirits of Alameda has been granted approval to produce and to sell the drink. They’ll start selling on December 21st; in time for New Year’s Eve Party. They will only have 3,600 bottles available for sale; sold under the name of Absinthe Verte. They will compete against 3 other foreign-based absinthe distillers who have begun importing the drink to US.

If you want a kick-ass NYE party, you might want to add Absinthe to the line-up. I am not condoning drinking; especially not for something like Absinthe. I have always thought US is too up-tight to allow cool stuff like Absinthe to ever be legalized.  It’s great that it is finally available in US. It’s one of those “Not that I would, but it’s nice to know that I could”.

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