How to Make Herbal Liqueur

In this instructable I will teach you how to make something that tastes a lot like Absinthe.

Step 1: Gather Herbs & Vodka

What you will need:

Wormwood - 2 tsp
Star Anise - 2 tsp
Anise - 2 tsp
Cardamom - 1 tsp
Mint - Two Sprigs (1/2 tsp)
Dittany - One Sprig (1/4 tsp)
Sage - One Leaf
Marjoram - One Sprig (1/4 tsp)
100+ Proof Vodka - 750ml (150 Proof is ideal)

Tea bags - 2
Tea ball
1/2 gallon airtight container

Comments

[Habacuc]

I have three plants of absinthe in my garden, can i do something with that (an absinthe liqueur ?)

[H3xx]

You mind sharing how you grew absinthe? Sounds like a great trick. /sarcasm

I think you mean wormwood.

[T4_666]

Soaking herbs in high % alcohol or vodka is not going to result in anything close to the real thing, It has to be distilled.

In Canada and now the U.S.A. Absinthe is legal along with a lot of other European countries, u can even order shipments into the u.s. from places overseas no problem, but for whatever reason such shipments will be seized if being shipped to an Canadian address.

Never the less if u are interested in getting your hands on some Absinthe or for more info on it check out some of these sites.

---

Lots of good info on the history of Absinthe and Absinthe in general can be found at

http://www.oxygenee.com
http://www.feeverte.net
http://www.wormwoodsociety.org

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Online places to order Absinthe in Canada
http://www.absintheclassics.com/canada/index.html
http://www.okanaganspirits.com
http://www.premierwineandspirits.ca
And u can find some at the LCBO from time to time (check there site www.lcbo.com)

---

Some Online Places to order Absinthe in the U.S.A.
http://www.absintheclassics.com
http://www.absinthiana.com (also sell Absinthe accessories)
http://www.drinklucid.com (the 1`st absinthe to be made legal again in the u.s.)

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im sure there are a lot more sites out there for the u.s. market just Google it but i recommend reading up on the subject some 1`st for there are ALOT of bull crap brands and sellers out there too!.

BTW Don’t set your Absinthe on Fire!!... It may look cool but why would u want it to taste like burnt sugar and Burn off the Alcohol??

And Absinthe won’t make u trip ball`s... (see things Ect ect) the High alcohol content(any ware from 60% to 80%)of real Absinthe will however mess you up! LoL

And nice work on putting in the time to put together this Instructable! =o]

[notker]

I think he just wanted to make something which tastes similar like absinthe...
...but if you want real absinthe you have to buy "Habsburger"-Absinthe
here is a pic of it I don't know if you get it in the U.S.

pic: http://www.lecellier.nl/absinthe/absinthe-habsburg-green.jpg

And nice instructable =)

[notker]

I have to add this to my comment:

Habsburgerabsinthe
is from the E.U.
and so there are just max. 33mg thujon in one liter
and by so less thujon you will not see a green fairy

what the guy who wrote the instruction did is that he let the alcohol extract the thujon and other toxicstuff out of the sage, majoram and the wormwood

so i think his drink will make a great green fairy but magic weed is better i think than this thujon stuff

[rodr0069]

Totally agree with ya T4. Here are a few more

www.absintheonthenet.com (Good prices on accessories)
www.absintheonline.com (Ultra fast shipping on premium absinthe)
www.drinkupny.com (has a full line of legal absinthe)

[rodr0069]

Another I forgot to mention is www.maison-alandia.de/absinthe/index.php?ref=4

[ripper914]

www.eabsinthe.com www.absinth24.net these two have my vote, eabsinthe has quicker shipping, but absinth24 has a larger selection. also check aout www.alandia.de

[m1ndtr1p]

"but for whatever reason such shipments will be seized if being shipped to an Canadian address." Wrong, I live in Canada and have been buying high thujone content Absinthe regularly (2-3 bottles a month or so) for myself and my fiancee, from Europe for the last 4-5 years. Not a single one of my shipments has ever been seized... I even ordered a case (12 bottles) for my new year's party last December and even that went through without a hitch when it was clearly marked as being absinthe. "BTW Don’t set your Absinthe on Fire!!... It may look cool but why would u want it to taste like burnt sugar and Burn off the Alcohol??" If you know what you're doing, it won't taste "burnt", you don't light the sugar on fire until it becomes black, you only need the flame to caramelize (liquify) the sugar so it mixes with the absinthe better. Also, it'll take much more than 5-10 seconds to burn off the alcohol, especially when you're dealing with 150+ proof absinthe. The absinthe you buy in either Canada or the US are mostly watered down (~40% alcohol vol) compared to European versions (60 - 88% alcohol vol), not to mention their thujone content is very low (2-5mg per 750ml bottle) compared to what you get in Europe (10-100mg per 750ml bottle). Most absinthe made in Canada and the US aren't even made with real herbs, they're made with concentrated extracts or oils which can be very harmful to your liver. Lastly, is the taste and aroma of the absinthe, most absinthe that is sold in Canada or the US smells and tastes like alcohol, while traditional absinthe has a very different taste and aroma depending on which type, French absinthe has more of a licorice taste to it, Swiss absinthe is more of an herbal taste etc... But neither tastes like pure alcohol like the Canadian or US distilled absinthe does. If you're really serious about trying REAL absinthe, there are plenty of places to buy authentic (as in, made with the right blend of herbs, not extracts or oils), non watered down absinthe with high thujone content overseas... Although, they come at a price (~$100-$200 per 750ml bottle), but its well worth it in the end.

[Akoi Meexx]

At least someone knows what they're talking about in the comments when it comes to absinthe; honestly people do your homework. Excellent points, m1ndtr1p.

[sypher]

make a instructable, how to get real absinthe. cuz you just hijack'd this thread.

[troseph]

(removed by author or community request)

[Boss_Sauce]

Sorry, but that doesn't cover it-- this is neither absinthe nor "absinthe"-- this is how to make BITTERS.

The title should be "Making bitters with wormwood and other herbs"

To make real absinthe, follow the guides from the 19th Century:
http://feeverte.net/recipes.html

Calling this absinthe is like calling cake batter "cake."

[troseph]

Ok, now that I have my still setup and have acquired some mugwort, I'm making an instructable on how to make real Absinthe.

[gollem08]

Ok so that site gives good recipes, but for the distilled kind of absinthes, but absinthe doesn't need to be prepared by distillation, in fact (I am sure you know but I'll mention for others) the distilled type only started around the 1800 hundreds. So my question to you is do you know of any other place I may get my hands on a good non-distillation recipe, that produces a real, high thujone, absinthe? If so, and you are willing to share that knowledge, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you

[Boss_Sauce]

The term "absinthe" has meant a distilled beverage for over 150 years, and isn't some new semantic distinction-- this is pretty old terminology. "Absinthe" is also used to refer to the herb itself, but not to non-distilled beverages-- those would be properly termed "bitters." A non-distilled beverage would not qualify as absinthe, certainly not "real, high thujone absinthe," which doesn't make sense-- "real" absinthe never contained very much thujone anyway.

[troseph]

I'm sorry to hear you're displeased with the way this Instructable was presented.

[Boss_Sauce]

As am I sorry that you have not taken the opportunity to edit your misleading title and incorrect statements. Wait... you're not even putting wormwood in it?! Oh my....

[troseph]

I apologize for the trouble you're having reading my instructable. If you could please refer to step 3 http://www.instructables.com/id/SJVVCY2FHL878TH/ where I added the wormwood.

As for the title, I feel I will leave it. I call this "Absinthe" due to the original recipe I followed here: http://www.hbd.org/brewery/library/absfaq.html which calls this "absinthe". You could take this Instructable, replace the vodka with wine, then distill that, and have Absinthe, but not only is that more difficult, it is illegal which is a violation of Instructables TOS. I make no claim this is authentic Absinthe, but I stand by the title.

[Boss_Sauce]

A 14-year old summary of alt.drugs posts is not a source, in spite of Mr. Baggot titling it a "FAQ." Most of the information on that "FAQ" has been debunked as real absinthe has returned due to the dedication of historians and chemists and spirits connoisseurs.

Real information is not hard to find in the two current, accurate absinthe FAQ's:
http://www.feeverte.net/faq.html
http://www.wormwoodsociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=184&Itemid=13

I apologize for being persistent, but I have problems with willful ignorance. I'd be happy with a small adjustment to the Instructable, if you're open to a tiny suggestion-- the title would be correct it you'd just make it:

"How NOT to Make Absinthe

[troseph]

Terribly sorry for any mental anguish this simple how-to has caused you. I have had both real Absinthe and fake Absinthe, and this tastes more similar to the real thing than even the fakes you can buy, hence its "How to make "Absinthe"" not "How to Make Certified Authentic, Quadruple Distilled REAL Absinthe." Make some, try it, and if its not good, take this open source how-to and make a better one with your own words, original images, thoughts and results. Thats what's great about Instructables. Have fun!

[Boss_Sauce]

Absinthe is usually distilled once, actually. Clearly, you have not read any current information, preferring a debunked, 15-year old summary of alt.drugs posts. Putting something in quotes is not a negative qualifier. It sounds like we agree-- this is a fraud of an Instructable. To be clear: This process does not produce "something that closely resembles Absinthe." I'm not posting for you, troseph, but for people in the Instructables community who may land on this page hoping to find information about absinthe.

[troseph]

 I'm sorry you're having trouble with my Instructable. Please call this number if you are in need of help. 800.273-TALK There are people who you can talk to, and they really care to hear what you think. Please Boss, get help. We're worried. 

Love,
Mom & Dad

[AidanG]

Just in case it's not clear: Absinthe IS legal in the US. That Thujone is "poisonous" has been debunked - in order for it to be poisonous like it was once believed, you'd have to drink about 40 bottles of Absinthe in one sitting. You have more to fear from alcohol poisoning. This isn't anything like Absinthe - this is Bitters.

[troseph]

 wrong, just bought a bottle of Authentic Absinthe in the liquor store by my house and got completely sideways.

[AidanG]

How was that wrong? I didn't say anything about getting sideways, and you just proved me right that it's legal here.

[Bitszu]

You forgot the mugwort and vervain.

[hcold]

And Lemonbalm.

[codongolev]

which I assume is for dry lemons.

[FireCrazyAlchemist]

great instructable :D

[lego187]

did the alcohol fumes eat the rubber seal on your jar?

[lego187]

sounds fun! im gonna use ethanol and cut it with water to about 75% to get a more absinthe like kick and possibly some sort of organ failure lol

[mrmath]

Wasn't something like this already posted. And, by the way, this stuff is illegal in many countries. I know for sure it's illegal in my home country--The US. Your laws may vary.

[isoruswrex]

ill try and "be nice" but you should keep your opinions on morality and legality to yourself. Grown people do grown isht. And its not illegal in the us. Illegal like weed and or blow. It involved the FDA and allowing thujone to be included in food. So you couldnt sell it commercially. That and private citizens cant distill liquor

[mrmath]

First, I thought that I had posted a reply to this saying I was wrong. I see now that I didn't. I was wrong, it is legal in the US. Second, I wasn't expressing an opinion on morality or legality. I was expressing what I incorrectly thought was fact. I can say that pot is illegal in the US without anyone being able to tell my stand on the issue of legalizing it. There is a difference. So, to recap, I was wrong about saying it was illegal to make/sell this in the US. I needed to get my facts straight, and now they are. Pot and coke, however, are illegal in the US, but my saying that doesn't mean I agree or disagree with that particular law. It just means I'm aware of it.

[troseph]

hear hear!

[fungus amungus]

Absinthe is being made and sold in the US now. Our old office was a couple buildings away from one of the distilleries and I bought a bottle from them.

[EviLNinJa]

yea but the US 'legal' version uses southern wormwood. A much less potent strain or the plant.

[Patrik]

Yup - good stuff too! :-)

[fungus amungus]

link