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the article doesn't dig deeply enough into why specifically absinthe triggered the panic — why not all anise drinks? What's specific about absinthe that's so ps

the article doesn't dig deeply enough into why specifically absinthe triggered the panic — why not all anise drinks? What's specific about absinthe that's so psychedelic? If anything, tequila has way more of an effect on poor judgment...

alephnerd 2y ago
> why specifically absinthe triggered the panic Classism and moral panic. In the 19th century, it was a poor man's liquor. Jean Lanfray's drunken murder suicide of his wife also played a massive role in that. This was also the era of a very active and prominent temperance movement, as women were often at the mercy of alcoholic husbands and had few options for legal recourse. You'll find similar temperance movements today in India, Thailand, Vietnam, and other developing countries. > If anything, tequila has way more of an effect on poor judgment Never understood that stereotype either. I love drinking Mezcal neat and that's basically aged and smokey Tequila (yes ik this is a massive simplification). The only poor judgement it induced was me spending a ridiculous amount on niche Mezcals plus the occasional trip to Oaxaca.
- vessenes 2y ago
  I'd typify Mezcal more as "basically old band-aids and burned tires". I'm not saying this isn't a complement. But "aged and smokey" might be an almost criminally inaccurate description of Mezcal to a lay-peson
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    Haha yea! Taste is definetly up to the beholder! I love smokey flavors (eg. Whiskey, Ribs, Tandoori) so Mezscal definetly scratches that itch. That said, I usually snack on veggies (Campari tomatoes, cucumbers), light meats (salami, smoked salmon), nuts, and bread while drinking - basically zakuski - while drinking so that probably helps.
kergonath 2y ago
> If anything, tequila has way more of an effect on poor judgment... Absinthe was around 70% abv. Much easier to overdose on alcohol than with 40-odd % tequila. It is although understood that there was a lot of adulterated absinthe around. And even in the presumably good stuff, the distillation techniques of the time left somewhat to be desired and the resulting drinks contained nasty chemicals (notably methanol). That said, I still think the moral panic was completely out of proportion and, as the article mentions, absinthe ended up being a convenient scapegoat. It is very similar to how gin was seen in England.
- hocuspocus 2y ago
  That, and the French wine lobby. Funnily enough 110 years later, Pernod-Ricard is the #2 spirits and liquors group in the world.
- schwartzworld 2y ago
  > resulting drinks contained nasty chemicals (notably methanol). This is a popular myth for two reasons: - you can’t make enough methanol to harm you through fermentation alone. Stories of methanol poisoning are more likely due to unscrupulous bootleggers adding it in. - you can’t separate methanol from ethanol using fractional distillation. There are things that do fraction out, like fusel oils. Methanol isn’t one of them. This means that the ratio of methanol to ethanol in the distilled drink will be pretty much the same as in the unfermented version. It is higher in ferments done with fruit skin, but not possible to actually harm yourself, especially in the presence of ethanol, which is used to treat methanol poisoning.
  - mtreis86 2y ago
    Got sources on your claims? All the sources for the second one, that I can find, say methanol and ethanol can be separated by fractional distillation, that it is isopropyl and ethanol that is troublesome due to their close boiling points. See for instance this patent https://patents.google.com/patent/US4013521A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US4013521A/en on purifying methanol
polotics 2y ago
There you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone

alephnerd 2y ago

> why specifically absinthe triggered the panic Classism and moral panic. In the 19th century, it was a poor man's liquor. Jean Lanfray's drunken murder suicide of his wife also played a massive role in that. This was also the era of a very active and prominent temperance movement, as women were often at the mercy of alcoholic husbands and had few options for legal recourse. You'll find similar temperance movements today in India, Thailand, Vietnam, and other developing countries. > If anything, tequila has way more of an effect on poor judgment Never understood that stereotype either. I love drinking Mezcal neat and that's basically aged and smokey Tequila (yes ik this is a massive simplification). The only poor judgement it induced was me spending a ridiculous amount on niche Mezcals plus the occasional trip to Oaxaca.

vessenes 2y ago
I'd typify Mezcal more as "basically old band-aids and burned tires". I'm not saying this isn't a complement. But "aged and smokey" might be an almost criminally inaccurate description of Mezcal to a lay-peson
- alephnerd 2y ago
  Haha yea! Taste is definetly up to the beholder! I love smokey flavors (eg. Whiskey, Ribs, Tandoori) so Mezscal definetly scratches that itch. That said, I usually snack on veggies (Campari tomatoes, cucumbers), light meats (salami, smoked salmon), nuts, and bread while drinking - basically zakuski - while drinking so that probably helps.

kergonath 2y ago

> If anything, tequila has way more of an effect on poor judgment... Absinthe was around 70% abv. Much easier to overdose on alcohol than with 40-odd % tequila. It is although understood that there was a lot of adulterated absinthe around. And even in the presumably good stuff, the distillation techniques of the time left somewhat to be desired and the resulting drinks contained nasty chemicals (notably methanol). That said, I still think the moral panic was completely out of proportion and, as the article mentions, absinthe ended up being a convenient scapegoat. It is very similar to how gin was seen in England.

hocuspocus 2y ago
That, and the French wine lobby. Funnily enough 110 years later, Pernod-Ricard is the #2 spirits and liquors group in the world.
schwartzworld 2y ago
> resulting drinks contained nasty chemicals (notably methanol). This is a popular myth for two reasons: - you can’t make enough methanol to harm you through fermentation alone. Stories of methanol poisoning are more likely due to unscrupulous bootleggers adding it in. - you can’t separate methanol from ethanol using fractional distillation. There are things that do fraction out, like fusel oils. Methanol isn’t one of them. This means that the ratio of methanol to ethanol in the distilled drink will be pretty much the same as in the unfermented version. It is higher in ferments done with fruit skin, but not possible to actually harm yourself, especially in the presence of ethanol, which is used to treat methanol poisoning.
- mtreis86 2y ago
  Got sources on your claims? All the sources for the second one, that I can find, say methanol and ethanol can be separated by fractional distillation, that it is isopropyl and ethanol that is troublesome due to their close boiling points. See for instance this patent https://patents.google.com/patent/US4013521A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US4013521A/en on purifying methanol

polotics 2y ago

There you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone