What scares me is that it is now available in certain bars, clubs and restaurants and is being made into cocktails such as martinis, shooters and other “cocktail creations” (see the “How to Drink” and “Get Lucid” tabs at the Lucid website, http://drinklucid.com/). While the thujone content may be at legal, acceptable limits, Lucid is 62% alcohol* (124 proof) and is certainly open to alcohol abuse and addiction. I don’t think 20-somethings are going to know what it is they are opening themselves up to; in fact, I think that the myths surrounding absinthe are still alive and will draw the same type of people who have a propensity for drug abuse straight to absinthe like flies to…well, I’m not normally too delicate to say it, but you know the next word as well as I do.

Lucid’s label openly and properly disclaims all of the absinthe myths, but bar, restaurant and clubs patrons are not going to be reading the label. As the Science News article said, “In today’s absinthe, ‘the most toxic compound is the alcohol’.” However, absinthe liquor DOES appear to have a unique effect. Some people have described it as “mind opening.” The most commonly reported experience is a “clear-headed” feeling of inebriation — a form of “lucid drunkenness.” This secondary effect may be caused by the fact that some of the herbal compounds in the drink act as stimulants, while others act as sedatives, creating an overall lucid effect of awakening. I guess this is where the brand Lucid derived its trademark name. There is another brand available on the US market, Kübler, which I have yet to check out. Kübler appears to have been the brand to open the absinthe door to the US in May of 2007.

Faerie blessings

Kat

*By comparison, Everclear is a brand of grain alcohol (ethanol), available at concentrations of 95% alcohol (190 proof) and 75.5% (151 proof). By contrast, hard liquors such as rum and vodka generally contain only 40% alcohol (80 proof).

Probably not a bad choice! Until we find out about some freaky mold that only grows on the skin of red grapes that causes premature balding in women…yikes!

Kat

Catz