Giving Absinthe as a gift

[Snowdog]

I'm trying to find a birthday gift for a buddy who's interested in odd ball items, gizmos and gadgets, but just about has everything.  I've stumbled upon an item that many consider to be illegal and exotic, but indeed isn't (illegal, that is). 
I understand that owning a bottle of Absinthe isn't illegal in the US, only the manufacture and distillation being illicit.  If this proves to be true, would giving a bottle to a friend be in good taste with the knowledge it would serve as a shelf trophy, only to be looked and likely never drank?

From what little I know, I've read it looks like antifreeze, supposedly tastes similar to mouthwash and contains the purportedly hallucinogenic thujone (derived from wormwood) that was once believed to bring about temporary bouts of insanity (some believe Vincent Van Gogh lopped off his ear during an Absinthe-induced psychotic episode). 
However, it should make for a nice gift, eh?  Again, I don't expect him to drink it, but the vast majority of people who are knowledgeable about the beverage claim it's absolutely safe.

I enjoy being the type of person to give essentric gifts and Absinthe is about an exotic a spirit a person can give.  What say you?  Is this a tasteless gift or an interesting conversation piece?

[Vodka7]

It's green, and the wormwood levels are so low in the commercial brands made in most countries that you're basically just drinking a fancy 140proof mouthwash.  There are a couple companies that make nice pre-made gift sets--usually two glasses, an absinthe spoon, and a 750ml bottle.  (The spoon is more like a flat piece of metal with holes in it.  Modern absinthe isn't, but back in ye olden days it was so bitter most people could only drink it with sugar dropped in it.  Of course, sugar won't dissolve in something that's 70% alcohol or more, so you place the cube on the spoon and pour water over it.  This also does something to the absinthe (a fancy word beginning with C I think) that makes it cloudy and white.)  The flashy way to pour it is to drop the sugar in the glass, fish it out with the spoon, light it on fire, and then put the fire out with the water you pour over it.

As far as places to look, England (stay away from Hills!  It's trash!) and Spain are your best bets, but some of the former soviet countries and Belgium make excellent (and expensive) absinthes as well.

There's also a big underground movement of home producers of Absinthe in America.  (Stay away from the commercial knock off, Absente.)  Aside from being personally invited to a tasting, or producing your own and swapping it with others, you're not going to have much luck there (although it's the only way to get wormwood levels anywhere near approaching the originals.)

Anyway, I kind of digressed there.  As for the legality, no one goes to jail for it, but it can be seized at customs.  It does, however, make a nice talking point, especially displayed next to the glasses and the spoon.  All my other rambling aside, I think one of the gift packs is an excellent way to go.

[Cosmoline]

The "absinthe" legally for sale in the US is not the real stuff.  It lacks thujone, the active compound from wormwood that supposedly made the stuff so potent.  If you buy the green stuff in the US, you're just buying mouthwash as noted.  However, you can brew your own absinthe in many states and add your own wormwood.  But it cannot be sold.  As I understand it, thujone itself isn't illegal, it's just illegal to add it to liquor for sale. The real danger with absinthe is it has a nearly poisonous level of alcohol already, and if too much thujone is added that's ALSO a poison.  Making your own home brew absinthe is probably not the best idea unless you really know what you're doing! 

http://www.wormwood-absente.com/thujone.htm

I made my own jacked cider as a gift instead, by putting hard cider in the subzero cold and removing the ice.  It's one advantage of living in deep cold.  Now that I'm back in "warm" Anchorage it's not much of an option. 

[280plus]

I always thought the green stuff tasted like Nyquil.

[Snowdog]

The Absinthe I purchased was Staroplzenecky made in the Czech republic and contains, according to the website (British) I purchased from, contains 9mg/kg of Thujone (and is 140 proof).  

http://www.originalabsinthe.com/staroplzenecky-absinthe-p-39.html

Didn't want to spend a fortune and purchase the high shelf Absinthe, but this does appear to have the ingredient thujone, thus I would assume this is "legitimate" Absinthe... more so than mouthwash, anyways.  On the site, I saw some absinthe made with as little as 1.5mg/kg and as much as 100mg/kg, so this will still be on the light side, anyways.
I'd imagine with that alcohol content, few would be able to tell the difference anyway.  

[Antibubba]

A neighbor's parents brought back a bottle from Majorca filled with a green liquor.  We drank it, and it was perhaps the most heavenly drink I've ever had.  It's hard to describe; it was herbal, and sweet without being cloying.  Later, when I tried to order it, I found out it is considered absinthe, because one of the herbs distilled was wormwood.

[Cromlech]

It should be something that you give to your worst enemies, if it is the proper stuff.

 

[S. Williamson]

Tried Absente with some friends once as an expirament.  Best described as minty licorice.    Unimpressive, so (as stated before) stay away from it.

On a side note, has anyone ever tried Chartreuse?  I keep seeing it at my usual place and nobody has any idea of what it is, and I'm too cheap to drop $50 on something I'm might not like.

[Sindawe]

I always thought the green stuff tasted like Nyquil.

That would be Jagermeister.  Nector of the (Dark) Gods. 

The term you're looking for Vodka7 is colloid.

Never had Absinthe myself, but I'm not opposed to trying the real stuff. 

[280plus]

No no, I know the nasty Jager of which you speak, the green Absinthe I've had tasted JUST like Nyquil to me, that's the best description I can come up with. Jager tastes different albeit a LOT like cough medicine if you ask me.

[Snowdog]

I believe Absinthe typically contains anise, which would explain the licorice flavor that green Nyquil is loved for.
"Loved" being used facetiously, of course.   

[280plus]

It's one of those love / hate relationships you read about. 

[AJ Dual]

The reason Absinthe was banned in the first place was that as it grew popular in the late 1800's many unscrupulous makers did awful things to produce it on the cheap and people died.

Since even properly made Absinthe is an "acquired taste", these makers could get away, for awhile at least, using things like wood alcohol, and heavy metals to get the green color. Instead of trying to differentiate between the good and the bad, it was all banned.

Then in later years, people attracted to the cachet of Absinthe, and it's association with various, and often troubled/tragic artists and writers, did stupid things with wormwood trying to replicate the "effects", adding to the popular notion that Absinthe is more dangerous than other alcohols.

I've read some level-headded speculation that what made Absinthe "special" was not really the wormwood, since the ammount needed of the toxin to produce any effects is so close to the level at wich it was poisonous. Instead, they focused on all the other herbs in the recipie, and many have stimulant effects, similar to caffine or ephedra, and it's thought that the "lucid high" was simply that counteracting the alcohol buzz.

A couple of cauppichinos spiked with some Sambuca will get you that.

I read in a magazine, (Wired?, I forget...) there was some scientist in New Orleans who'd found an old bottle of high-quality Absinthe and ran it through a mass spectrometer to get all the components, and was reverse engineering the original recipies, and according to him, it was "quite different" than what's being sold as "genuine Absinthe" today, it actualy has several redeeming aspects to it's taste and odor, and the level of thujone from the wormwood was not significant enough to be toxic.

I don't know if Katrina wiped out his efforts or not.

[280plus]

I don't know what it was that was in the stuff we drank in Japan but just a little went a long way let me tell you. 3 shots would make me see double. 

Probably the alcohol level I'd imagine. We were told it contained opium and that's why it was banned. I never heard all the wormwood talk until only recently. My BIL and his wife brought some nippers back from Amsterdam just a few months ago and that's the story they were telling.

[Joe Demko]

I've purchased and consumed absinthe from Spain and the Czech Republic.  The milkiness when mixed with icewater is called a louche.  Not all brands of absinthe display it.  In any case, I never experienced any halucinations, though the dreams I had upon retiring following several glasses of absinthe were technicolor-bright and remembered clearly and vividly upon awakening...something that isn't the case for me when consuming other alcoholic beverages.
I drink my absinthe straight, without either water or sugar.  The only time I bother with that little ritual is when somebody who has seen it in a movie or read about it in an old novel wants to try it.
Go ahead and get your buddy a bottle.  It'll give him something to talk about.