Lucid Absinthe
by admin on May.10, 2007, under absinthe
Will you look at that; An absinthe which has been approved for sale in the US. They're a bit coy about whether it actually contains thujone: “Lucid has been tested and it meets US and EU standards for content.” If I remember my FDA regs properly, any product intended for human consumption and made from wormwood has to be thujone free (well, not exactly–even in thujone free products there can be a measurable amount present), so I'm guessing the manufacturer is just trying not to scare off anyone that believes thujone to be important.
Encouraging rumblings have been heard from people that have had the opportunity to sample the product.
Regardless, this will be interesting to watch, since I've heard several people argue that there's no actual market for absinthe in the US, and the people who currently buy it only do so because it's illegal.
May 11th, 2007 on 12:45 AM
i'd buy it if it was legal. I know i can legally buy a bottle of Absinthe and have it sent to me from EU, it just can't be sold in the US, I think. though, i remember that bars in new orleans sold a product they called Absinthe, though i highly doubt it's actual Absinthe.
May 11th, 2007 on 1:08 AM
Oh, unless someone majorly fucked up along the way, this one will be and will remain legal. Product launch is this month, and they've already got approval for importation and distribution.
The legal status of importation for personal use is…interesting, to say the least. There's some legal info in my post here. Basically, though, it boils down to “you'll probably get away with it, and the penalties are minimal even if you do get caught”.
The bars are probably selling a pastis; I think the traditional one in the New Orleans area is Herbsaint, though if it said absinthe on the bottle it was probably Absente, which is marketed as “Absinthe Refined”.