DIY Absinthe

I had a mad idea about making wine from wormwood, and distilling it.  But a wee bit of googling revealed that absinthe is actually made by mascerating the wormwood and other herbs in alcohol, and the distilling it again, and then mascerating more herbs.  (Never mind absinthe, and miss out the distillation bit, just making tinctures from cheap vodka and any number and combination of herbs sounds like a lot of fun).  


A wikipedia article seems to suggest that the thujon levels of James-Joyce-in-Paris era absinthe were not necessarily that high.   (I remember reading somewhere a theory that Joyce got some of his inspiration for Finnegans Wake through absinthe enhanced dream recall).  This study  (the abstract anyway, I'd like to see the whole study and see what the "other mood state dimensions examined"are; I do miss my Athens account this weather), shows an effect on attention.  I once smoked sage, which also contains thujon, without any noticeable effect.  


I pinched this wonderful picture from here, which is a very interesting article, GABA GABA hey. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leech or flatworm? Ants and Swiss Chard

Image
For the 2nd time in a week or so, (1st time regarding dwarf beans ), I'm following Alys Fowler's advice, this time with regard to Swiss chard .  Long story short, after midsummer plants which often bolt if planted in spring will resist the impulse to do so, probably because of shortening days; (I say shortening, but in Glasgow, in July, we're still getting 18 hours of daylight).   I got a packet of Bright Lights , at a good price, (another reason to wait until July before sowing, lots of bargains, I've noticed). But where to sow them? Most of the 2nd bed is under a tarpaulin, but it wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole bed, so the last 5ft or so went under a sheet of plastic, (in the background of the photo in this post, here .) Transparent plastic was a foolish idea, weeds were growing underneath it, so I covered most of it with sheets of metal from the old shed. I decided to leave the tarp, but use the area beneath the plastic for the chard. Who-ah there...
Read more

Busy; tomatoes.

Image
Everything's well, but I'm working to a deadline on something. All will be revealed. Meanwhile, here's a verse: "Tomatoes, tomatoes," said my uncle Jim, When somebody threw a tomato at him. "Tomatoes don't hurt," said Jim, with a grin, "But that fucker did 'cos it came in a tin."
Read more

How many pallets can you fit in the back of a Fiat 500?

Image
At least 1. Maybe I could have got 3 altogether, at a pinch. Also 200+ gorse seeds, which have begun to look in danger of damping off, so I'm thinking they'll be better off at the allotment in the fresh air. I'm worried about slugs, snails and woodpigeons, though, so I put them in a wheelbarrow, covered with a net. Also this morning, planted a row of beetroot detroit.
Read more