It's all hype, really. It's just really fucking strong booze.

I'm drunk.

Did you have the stuff with proper wormwood?

I'm sure it is mainly just hype, but I actually enjoy a nice pastis every once in a while and the louching is kind of a fun ritual.

I drank that the other night.  I felt really warm.  I was wasted though when I did it and I think it led me to feeling drunk without having had anything to drink for the last couple of days.  Either is was the absinthe or I'm getting the flu.

I had that bottle I bought online like 6 years ago, and opened it for a *special* night a couple of months ago. I had the special sugar cubes and everything too, and made it louche pretty well. It was ok, did make my legs feel extra warm, but nothing special.

I don't want to make rash assumptions, but I'm willing to bet money that at least some of you are actually talking about the high-priced pastis that goes by the name of Absente. There's a picture of Van Gogh on the box. It tastes pretty good, but by all accounts it's not the real muscle-convulsant thujone-containing Absinthe that was sold to alcoholics in the good old food-safety-free impressionist days of the 1800s.

Ultimately you're having the last laugh, but to those that make a big deal about Absinthe it's a joke.

I guess that's what I had because it wasn't anything special

I have had Absente and didn't like it very much. 

I also have had some fancy French brand with a name I don't remember.  The flavor was a little better, but I would not go to the effort to get it again.

Apparently there's some Czech stuff on the market that is quite similar or identical to the original rediscovered Absinthe recipes but it is yellow and doesn't really louche so the experts assume that key ingredients from the recipes had been left out purposely by the distillers in order to protect the secret recipe. It's funny there's a whole culture of weirdo who are really really into the idea of absinthe and spend hundreds of dollars trying to recreate it exactly. So far I've never heard of anyone recreating the mythic visions and such, so I'm left thinking it's mainly just hype. Whatever differences there are between the stuff on the market now and the genuine pre-ban stuff that still exists is just the degree of toxicity. The only thing that still keeps me interested is the fun and games of the louching process. Yes I am a child.

We had the wormwood stuff, although I don't remember the brand. I have no idea how authentic it is, and honestly don't enjoy it enough to really care. We drink it once a year, on what would have been a friend of ours' birthday, in her memory.

It's a pretty simple test for whether or not you're going to enjoy absinthe or one of its knock-offs: Do you like Ouzo? If so you'll probably like absinthe.

Nope, not at all. Can't stomach sambuca either.

Lamers. Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder...

...or the mind go yonder?

...or the psyche wander?

Or maybe
Evidence of Absinthe is not the Absinthe of evidence...

Absinthe (Real Absinthe not the various knockoff or vodka mix brands) just became legal in the USSA in '07. While it's strong, it's acually supposed to be diluted to about 15-20% ABV. It's maybe a slightly different intoxication.

Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, have been much exaggerated.

just became legal in the USSA

Fucking Russmericans always get everything good.

Got a bottle of it in czech republic in 2004. I don't really remember what it tastes like (outside of awful) as I was already drunk and drank straight from the bottle.

Cretin.

When I bought the Absente stuff I drank it out of a 1/4 cup measuring cup because it was the only clean thing in the kitchen.

Perfectly normal, perfectly healthy behavior.

We were drinking it out of plastic cups. Classy!

Perfectly normal, perfectly healthy behavior.

I'd rather drink whiskey out of a skull.

And you know I would too. And have. And will again on Nov 7th. You should come. You can go for a ride in my new boat. And sleep it off behind Arby's again.

Done.  Though I am not going to go in with the intention of having anything to sleep off (even though that probably does not reflect reality).

The best nights are the ones where you end up having to sleep it off unexpectedly, so I'd say that's a good plan.

Let me know if you need directions.

The wormwood stuff is completely unlike alcohol IMO.

Plus the "normal" is pretty heavy duty.It can make baaaaaaaaaaddddddddddd shit happen.
I've known alcoholics in denial say it should be banned.

Fun tho...

The wormwood stuff is completely unlike alcohol IMO.

How so?

convulsions mainly i'd assume.

I dunno. Sounded more like youthful exaggeration.