Lucid Absinthe – Busting the Ban on Absinthe

This past week I was lucky to be introduced to absinthe by the men who are responsible for lifting the near century-old ban on the drink. They are the men behind Viridian Spirits LLC, a company dedicated to absinthe.  Company founder, Jared Gurfein and their resident absinthe scholar and chemist, T.A. Breaux gave me a great history of the spirit and made a terrific presentation of their products. Lucid is the specific absinthe in question with the ban-proceedings.

Prior to this evening, this picture by Edgar Degas is pretty much the context I had of the spirit, and considering that the Viridian absinthes are all over 60% alcohol it begins to show how I was starting to feel by the end of the evening.

Here's the deal with absinthe. There is a by-product of distillation called thujon. This was the hallucinogenic substance which is the active ingredient of legend. Based on actual product testing which T.A. Breaux, among others has performed, and wikipedia verified, original bottles of absinthe had little-to-no actual thujone. Considering the alcoholic content and easy-to-drink nature of the product, the woman in the picture could simply be really cockeyed-drunk. This doesn't mean that there were no absinthes with actual amounts of thujone. Their conclusion is that  out of the range of products from that time frame, very few of them actually had either significant levels of the substance, or even any at all. Breaux explained that  properly distilled grand wormwood leaves all the thujone in the mash. It shouldn't even make it into the bottle. Lucid has no thujone.

Now when this was explained with a powerpoint deck, lists of ingredients, and personable lawyer, Jared Gurfein, what else could the Feds do? With no thujon, there was nothing illegal. They reversed the ban. Fair enough.

On to the fun part. Absinthe is neat in many ways.

There's a myth to it but more importantly it has a sort of ritual, complete with a special glass and spoon. Forget your pimp-cup, any truly addictive thing needs a spoon... even legal things, like the Slurpee with that straw-spoon... I digress.

The absinthe glass has a ball at the bottom that serves to measure the amount of the pour. You then place the perforated spoon across the glass, pop a sugar cube atop the spoon and drip water into the glass until it reaches the height of the cut marks in the crystal. You see a meniscus of alcohol form and thin out until it finally is virtually gone.

As the water mixes it disturbs the herbal essential oils in the absinthe and the green transparent liquid turns opalescent. The addition of water also amplifies the scent which is a wonderful anise, fennel, almost minty herbaceousness (spell check that word!).  I was a bit skeptical, not being a big fan of Ouzo or black licorice for that matter. However as I started sipping it I really did enjoy it. It's not a sluggable drink, sips really do the trick and are misleadingly refreshing... you can get really bombed on this stuff. The quality herbs have a distinct soft mouth-feel which seems very smooth and almost more pronounced on the sides of your tongue. Sipping absinthe straightaway was a very potent proposition and reminded me very much of grappa. Given that one of the absinthes had a neutral spirit made from grapes, I may have been thinking grappa going in. Lucid uses sugar beets as the alcohol source.

Skipping the sugar the second time, (and third... I liked it better without the sweetness) I tried the Nouvelle Orleans and La Clandestine. The latter is a swiss version that's very clear and not as herbal. The finishing herbs not only add flavor but the lend the green color. The Nouvelle Orleans is T.A.'s signature absinthe and was really wonderful. I tasted them before getting the skinny and it really has a noticeable richness. Having only tried this limited selection, it was hard to really gauge but I had an easier time identifying herbal flavors and since I was one drink in, everything started to get better.

The absinthe "drink" itself is the way to go. All it needs is water. With the classic cocktail making its rounds in town, the absinthe and water fits right in. Its potency is up there. The flavor is unique and complex. It is an arguably older drink than the sazerac but as it's not really a cocktail there should be no rivalry. It has a very wonderful unique quality and while it might not be for everyone, it's worth a taste before getting to the suggested mixers which use it. Here's a link to some ideas. I haven't tried any of them.

Next time I see it behind the bar I will definitely be ordering it again.

Comments

[Jared Gurfein]

Josh-

Many thanks for the writeup! Ted and I just wanted to point out one minor factual issue: Lucid does indeed contain thujone. It contains thujone in amounts that are identical to those found in the pre-ban absinthes. As you correctly pointed out, pre-ban absinthes, now heavily tested through modern means, never contained the amount of thujone once speculated. The amounts actually found in those high quality products in many cases were well within the U.S. limits, just like Lucid.

Sincerely,

Jared Gurfein & T.A. Breaux
Viridian Spirits LLC

[josh]

I misunderstood that. As far as the court case went then it was an insignificant amount? I guess the better question is what the status of thujone is as an ingredient?

[Jared Gurfein]

Good question! The U.S., like several other countries, has set a limit on thujone of 10 parts per million (Thujone is not an ingredient so much as a by-product of the Grande Wormwood used to create proper absinthe). Lucid and every other absinthe sold in the U.S. is supposed to meet that requirement. As Ted can attest, many of the finest pre-ban absinthes that have been recently tested also had thujone content below 10 ppm. Thus, an absinthe that has within 10 ppm of thujone is still 100% authentic and true to the original while simultaneously meeting the U.S. regulatory requirements.

The effort we undertook with the government was much more focussed on the label and the word 'absinthe' itself than the amount of thujone or any other ingredient.

-Jared

[Mr_Bumble]

No ban was lifted, this is incorrect, Josh. It was Yves Kubler (and not Mr Gurfein, sorry Jared) who was responsible for introducing absinthe under the "thujone free" designation in the USA. Kubler and a Texan lawyer did this in conjunction with the Swiss Embassy in Washington. The product was basically designed around existing laws. I also have read that absinthe in the US cannot call itslef absinthe, but only as part of a fanciful name like "absinthe whatever"

Also, Ted's reports that make these claims about old thujone levels being the same as that allowed by the FDA are the subject of much controversy. I quote below taken from a discussion about the report and it's findings:

"The CVUA Karlsruhe received no external funding. D.N.-M. and T.A.B. own companies dealing with absinthe; however, no competing financial or other interest that might be affected by publication of the results contained in this study is declared"

1. Who are the CUVA Karlsruhe?
2. Who are D. N-M and T.A.B

The answer to 1. is an obscure veterinary & testing lab in Germany.

The answer to 2. is David Nathan- Maister and Ted Breaux. The former is an absinthe ecommerce baron and the latter is the manufacturer of Lucid Absinthe.

No competing interest? Let us look at Lucid's website:

"The resulting amount of thujone in Lucid is also comparable to many pre-ban absinthes. Lucid is completely authentic in every detail"

So I would suggest that given this demonstratable interest by at least one of the authors that this "science" is most likely a piece of self serving propoganda connected to commercial interests.

According to the FDA, alcoholic beverages like Lucid must be thujone-free pursuant to 21 CFR 172.510. This means <10ppm thujone.

Professor W. Arnold University of Kansas November 12, 2007 Boston Herald:

"Perhaps to raise the titillation for the current product, and to increase sales, they now claim that the “old absinthe” also had very little thujone in it! Supposedly the current drink has very little of several other terpenoids that were part of “old absinthe” because the current producers have missed the importance of (or intentionally avoided) “steam distillation” which was key to the manufacture of “old absinthe.” Steam distillation greatly affects the composition of the batchwise distillate. Any analogy to fractional distillation (as in whisky) is totally inappropriate with regard to 19th century absinthe manufacture. The toxicity of thujone, or any other toxic compound, depends upon both the amount and the time. How much and how long. There is ample evidence to indicate that high doses of thujone, camphor, fenchone (and related compounds) over a short time evoke convulsions and hallucinations in experimental animals. To the best of my knowledge there are no published studies on the long-term effect of 9 ppm thujone. It has been shown that thujone, pinene, and camphor, as well as alcohol itself, are all porphyrogenic" Sat Jun 21, 06:02:00 AM

Not sure what to make of all this, but it looks all rather murky....like the louche in a glass of absinthe perhaps :-)

[J. Taylor]

Mr. Bumble has bumbled his facts badly. Lucid absinthe was the first genuine absinthe to receive a permit for U.S. distribution (March 5, 2007). Kubler did not receive a COLA until two months later, and that was for a 45% ABV product that never appeared in the U.S. at all. Kubler's 53% ABV U.S. offering wasn't approved until August, 2007. It's all public record, but Mr. Bumble couldn't get any of it right.

The U.S. has no formal definition for absinthe, and therefore descriptive names are required. Mr. Bumble is unaware of such things because he isn't a U.S. resident.

Oh no, Mr. Bumble bumbled his facts again. Dr. Lachenmeier is an esteemed researcher, food chemist, and forensic toxicologist who is commissioned by the German government, and is highly respected in the E.U. All of 20 seconds was required to reveal that he has numerous publications and citations, while Mr. Bumble has nothing.

And finally, it's well known that the 'Professor Arnold' Mr. Bumble references formed his opinions over 20 years ago, without testing so much as one sample of vintage absinthe or distilling anything at all. It's just another set of speculations and guesstimations that went down in flames thanks to modern analytical research.

And in case anyone cared, "Mr. Bumble" is one of many pseudonyms for the same Czech national who trolls the blogs and perpetrates the same false and misleading information over and over again, in the hopes that someone will listen.

Those who are interested in absinthe can find reliable information from these credible sources:

www.wormwoodsociety.org
www.feeverte.net
www.thujone.info

[Mr_Bumble]

"I was lucky to be introduced to absinthe by the men who are responsible for lifting the near century-old ban on the drink"

The Swiss Amabassador, Robert Lehrman, and Yves Kubler?

"When did the whole process begin?
Kubler of Switzerland set out to legalize quality absinthe in the US in 2003, a short time after working to change the Constitution in Switzerland to once again permit the legal manufacture and sale of absinthe there"

Source: Oxygenee.

1. No ban was lifted
2. Kubler are responsible for this product being available in conjunction with the good offices of the Swiss Embassy.

Why then are Viridian claiming that that they got the ban lifted? They may have been the first product to market, but I understand, from what I read at the time, that they were fast tracked on account of the product being absolutely thujone free and not 0-10ppm thujone.

Who supplied the old pre-ban bottles that were tested at CUVA? Do you know?

PS. Keep it civil, you do yourself no favours with your sarcastic rude tone. Manners maketh man. Just out of interest why do you decorate Professor Arnold with quotation marks? I note that Lachenmeier is not afforded the same "distinction".

[Jacob]

A U.S. government circular clarifies that anything equal to or less than 10 ppm is interpreted as ZERO for any finished food or beverage. 10ppm or less means it is effectively, absolutely, "thujone-free" in the eyes of the government. As Gurfein indicated, labeling was the real issue due to the government's misguided perception of absinthe, not content.

Your other question is answered thoroughly in the study in question. The only reason why anyone would ask such a question is because they have not read the study, or are unable to comprehend it. The fact is that vintage absinthes and modern distillations according to published 19th century texts have been analyzed, repeatedly, by different credible researchers, in different published studies, and the results ALL arrive at the same inescapable conclusion.

[Mr_Bumble]

I did read the report. Can you remind me who supplied those bottles though? Was it Ted Breaux (the guy behind Lucid) and David Nathan-Maister (an absinthe dealer)? According to ETSG the report did not take into account the suggestion that thujone may have broken down. Actually the by-products of this process are known (Otmar Froehlich, Takayuki Shibamoto) Tests should be done for the presence of these, and not schoolroom style tests with ultra voilet lamps.

"Tant que l'on aura pas stocké une absinthe un siècle pour vérifier, on ne saura pas si la thuyone reste stable dans l'absinthe ou non" Marie-Claude Delahaye du Musée de l'absinthe d'Auvers sur Oise.

There is a new report floating about now I understand, which has not been given much attention, which now claim that thujone is a miracle element and remains stable in the bottle! There are those that claim that this is totally absurd. Who are the authors of this new report ...step forward Ted Breaux and David Nathan-Maister.

Do you understand why, when the earlier report claims "no competing financial or other interest" when there obviously is, people are sceptical. Given the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulation at 21 CFR 172.510 these reports are rather timely and convenient for those involved in absinthe commerce, no?

Lucid (Ted Breaux) says:

"The resulting amount of thujone in Lucid is also comparable to many pre-ban absinthes. Lucid is completely authentic in every detail"

This report allows this "made for America" product to make these claims. So there is the "interest"

Back to Professor Arnold, Biochemist at University of Kansas (not involved in absinthe commerce):

"But the biggest controversy surrounding the liquor--once dubbed "one of the worst enemies of man"--is about not its resurgence but rather its authenticity. Enthusiasts claim the thujone-free brands, which contain less than 10 parts per million (p.p.m.) of the chemical, are made with the same relatively small amounts of thujone as the old brews. But scientists wrote in the British Medical Journal that absinthe bottled before 1900 packed up to 260 p.p.m. of thujone--which may not sound like much, but consider that only 15 parts per billion of lead in drinking water is enough to scare regulators. "They are playing pretend," study co-author Wilfred Arnold says of the liquor's new cheerleaders. "It is nothing like the old stuff."

Time Magazine

"They are playing pretend" - clear enough, isn't it?

[Conny]

As Ted can attest, many of the finest pre-ban absinthes that have been recently tested also had thujone content below 10 ppm. Some relating details http://www.rapidsloth.com was found on this

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