{"id":7056,"date":"2004-11-05T07:50:45","date_gmt":"2004-11-05T14:50:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/11\/05\/the-green-fairy.html"},"modified":"2004-11-05T07:50:45","modified_gmt":"2004-11-05T14:50:45","slug":"the_green_fairy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/11\/05\/the_green_fairy.html","title":{"rendered":"The Green Fairy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Absinthe is making a comeback<\/a>. After a century of being illegal in most countries (including the US), due to a “Reefer Madness” reputation, Switzerland, the drink’s original home, is going to legalize its production again.<\/p>\n

For Swiss distillers like Mr. Bugnon, the goal is to produce top quality, high-octane, government-approved absinthe produced from Artemisia absinthium<\/em>, or wormwood, a plant native to the Val-de-Travers, the region in western Switzerland where the drink was invented.<\/p>\n

If all goes well the distillers hope to obtain an official governmental “appellation” declaring that the region produces the only real absinthe in the world. Legalization will help the Swiss cash in on the rising global market for absinthe, which can be bought easily, and often illegally, over the Internet. There are Internet sites offering absinthe recipes and sources for wormwood seed.<\/p>\n

In addition to prodigious amounts of alcohol, absinthe contains thujone, a toxic chemical found in wormwood that was used to treat stomach ailments as far back as ancient times but can cause tremors, hallucinations, paralysis and brain damage in large enough doses.<\/p>\n

Some countries never banned it, and others have recently legalized the sale of low-thujone absinthe, including including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Austria, Japan, Sweden, Italy, the Netherlands, and Britain (hmmmm).<\/p>\n

Of course, given the shadowy ambience surrounding absinthe, making it legal is removing some of its illicit panache. <\/p>\n

Not everyone in the Val-de-Travers is sanguine about legalization in Switzerland. For Pierre André Delachaux, a high school teacher and author of several books on absinthe, the move will destroy the mystique that came with the ban.<\/p>\n

“I want to preserve the myth that comes with keeping absinthe forbidden and clandestine,” said Mr. Delachaux, who is also the curator of a small museum in Môtiers with a special absinthe section.<\/p>\n

“The myth is the thrill of breaking the law and not getting caught,” he said. “The myth is offering as much money as you can and maybe still not finding what you’re looking for. Next year you’ll find absinthe in all the supermarkets.”<\/p>\n

(via Hit & Run<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Absinthe is making a comeback. After a century of being illegal in most countries (including the US), due to a “Reefer Madness” reputation, Switzerland, the drink’s original home, is going…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-drink"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12038,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/12\/05\/green_fairy.html","url_meta":{"origin":7056,"position":0},"title":"Green Fairy","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 5-Dec-07 10:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"The return of absinthe -- which, it turns out, is not nearly as dangerous as was once thought (or, at least, no more dangerous than any other booze)....","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/absinthe.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39992,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/11\/the-swiss-guns-and-crime.html","url_meta":{"origin":7056,"position":1},"title":"The Swiss,\u00a0Guns, and Crime","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 11-Dec-13 9:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"Nice take-down of the use by American gun enthusiasts of statistics about Switzerland, gun ownership, and the crime rate.The meme in question can be found here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.anonymousartofrevolution.com\/2012\/10\/switzerland-1-in-2-citizens-has-guns.html \u00a0You can find similar images and statistic blocks all around the Internet.(h\/t +Kee Hinckley)Reshared post from +Andrew Pam+Syrus Drake posted this privately in response\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47152,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/06\/fondue-is-faboo.html","url_meta":{"origin":7056,"position":2},"title":"Fondue is Faboo!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 6-Nov-14 6:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"We actually do fondue on occasion, and have an electric fondue pot to make it all the easier. Plus, of course, we also visit the local Melting Pot as well a few times a year.Reading listening about how fondue became a Thing was pretty darned interesting. Originally shared by +The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9142,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/10\/feeling_cross.html","url_meta":{"origin":7056,"position":3},"title":"Feeling cross","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 10-Feb-06 10:25am","format":false,"excerpt":"I am probably insufficiently sensitive to the matter, but I find it mildly annoying that the \"Red Cross\" is considered so controversial -- as a symbol -- in various parts...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51309,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/28\/rt-richiehmccaw-breaking-swiss-police-confirm-that-when-arrested-all-seven-fifa-officials-threw-themselves-on-the-ground-and-pretended-to-be-injured.html","url_meta":{"origin":7056,"position":4},"title":"RT @RichieHMcCaw BREAKING: Swiss Police confirm that, when arrested, all seven FIFA officials threw themselves on the ground and pretended to be injured.","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-May-15 8:32am","format":false,"excerpt":"RT @RichieHMcCaw BREAKING: Swiss Police confirm that, when arrested, all seven FIFA officials threw themselves on the ground and pretended to be injured. View on Twitter","rel":"","context":"In "~Tweets"","block_context":{"text":"~Tweets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/tweets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7958,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/07\/12\/cut_like_a_knif.html","url_meta":{"origin":7056,"position":5},"title":"Cut like a knife","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 12-Jul-05 2:37pm","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting article on the near-demise of the Swiss Army Knife market since 9\/11\/01 and the increase of airline security world-round. Over the past century, the Elsener family has transformed...","rel":"","context":"In "Homeland Security"","block_context":{"text":"Homeland Security","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/homeland-security"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}