1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of I 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: and there's Chuck and Jerry's here as well, and it's 4 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: the Three Green Fairies coming to bring you madness and delirium. Possibly. Yeah, 5 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: on Stuff you Should Know. I wish I wish Jerry 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: would put like some sort of twinkle effect in there 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: after I say stuff you should Know too, just a 8 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: nod to the fairy thing. Yeah, yeah, well you know 9 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: she's listening. She is, and she's furiously scribbling notes in 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,639 Speaker 1: my imagination, yes, only in your imagination. That's right. She's 11 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,480 Speaker 1: really stirring me. So yeah, that's right. Man, smells nice. 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: Um So, Chuck, I mentioned Green Fairies because that is 13 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: a nickname for what we're talking about today, which is 14 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: absentthe we've gathered here today to talk about this thing 15 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: called absent dearly beloved, that's right. Uh, that's right. And 16 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:08,960 Speaker 1: this was my pick in Olivia. I think this is 17 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: Olivia right, helped us that with this. I believe this 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: was a grabster pick, which Chuck, I'm glad you said that, 19 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: because this makes this week a grabster tri fedka is 20 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: it the grabster because it seems like one. I was 21 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: just talking recently on the show about how it's certain 22 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: topics fit certain writers, and this certainly fits Grabster. Not 23 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: that he's a big absent head, but oh, if he's anything, 24 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: he's a huge absence. But it just feels like an 25 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: ed thing. But for some reason, it was spaced like 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: Olivia spaces things. I'm almost positive that it was absent. 27 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,560 Speaker 1: I'm I'm pretty sure that it was. I mean, it 28 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: was the Grabster. No, I'm sorry, so it was Olivia. 29 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: You're right. Wow, he comes off like a grabst article, 30 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: for sure. It does. At any rate. This idea came 31 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: to me not too long ago, because I don't I 32 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: didn't definitely didn't see the movie again. But I saw 33 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: that scene from the Johnny Depp Jack the Ripper movie 34 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: that I can't remember the name of from Hell from Hell, 35 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: where Johnny Depp is in the bathtub and he is 36 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: uh may be because of that trial is going on 37 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: or something I don't know, um, and he does his 38 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: absinthe ritual, which includes uh, supersizing his the effects by 39 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: do you remember what he does? Uh? I've not seen 40 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: that one. Okay, it's okay, you know, it's fine. I 41 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: remember hearing that it was just fine. Yeah, it was 42 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,679 Speaker 1: good enough. But he does the and we'll talk a 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: little bit about the sort of ritual of how you 44 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: prepare absinthe. But one such ritual is to light sugar 45 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: on fire and let it drip through a slotted spoon 46 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: into the absinthe, which is not recommended for a number 47 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 1: of reasons obviously, uh not the which is alcohol and 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: fire mixing. Um. But what he does is he drops 49 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: uh laudan in. Is that what it is? I think? 50 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 1: So alcohol and opium mix together. Yeah, some sort of 51 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: opium from a dripper bottle, dropper bottle, and he drops 52 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: it on the sugar then lights that on fire. So oh, 53 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: that's a pretty hardcore. I guess that's the way they 54 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: did it back then. The other big movie moment that 55 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: I know of is in that bos Lerman uh Mulan 56 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: rouge where you and McGregor and John Leguizama and some 57 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: other pals all are all drinking absent and they see 58 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: the green ferry. Kylie Minogue, I forgot about that. Have 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: you seen the trailer for his Elvis movie coming out? No? Oh, 60 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: it looks so good. I can't wait. What a great 61 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: combination they all. I think the only one who could 62 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: do maybe a better Elvis bio pick is maybe David 63 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: Lynch and bos Lerman might have him, might have him 64 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: beaten fun It looks awesome, man and the guy they 65 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: got to do it just snails the body movements and 66 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:07,600 Speaker 1: like all the way up to the Vegas Elvis just 67 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: stone cold? Was it? Peter stars Guard? Is that you 68 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: think should play him? No? Okay, no, he's on my 69 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: mind because I I, um, we're going to talk about 70 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: Wormwood in a second, and I was like, man, wasn't 71 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: that like a series on on Netflix? And sure enough 72 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: it was with directed by Errol Morris. Oh I remember that? 73 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: Was it called Wormwood? Yeah? It was about the MK 74 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: Ultra program that. Yeah, it was really good. But uh yeah, 75 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: So anyway, um, okay, I think we've covered everything movie 76 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: wise right well so far. Okay. So the reason that 77 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: I brought up Wormwood is because it is this main 78 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: ingredient and absence. If you make absence, which, by the way, 79 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: if if you're not if you don't know what we're 80 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: talking about, absent is a type of liquor or liqueur. 81 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: I guess it's a it's usually made from a neutral 82 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: grain spirit. If you really want to get kind of authentic, 83 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: you would make it from grapes um, distilled grapes um, 84 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: and then you you kind of process it like you 85 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,279 Speaker 1: would if you were making gin. You take some botanicals, 86 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: distill it together, and then the resulting stuff that cools 87 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,599 Speaker 1: down after after you evaporated is absentthe and to make 88 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: absinthe you have to have three main ingredients distilled with 89 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:36,280 Speaker 1: the liquor um, fennel, annis and then wormwood. And wormwood 90 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: is the big tricky key to the whole thing that 91 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: has caused a lot of problems and misconceptions over the years. 92 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: That's right, a lot of myths there. Absinthe is obviously 93 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: known for its very bright green color before you have 94 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,359 Speaker 1: gone through your ritual, because it kind of changes the 95 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: color a little bit, but that comes from reinfusing after 96 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: it's distilled, reinfusing it with more of those ingredients. You 97 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: don't have to do that. There is such thing as 98 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: clear or white absinthe. But you know, if you really 99 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: want to have the absent experience, it's got to be green. Yeah, 100 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: why isn't this absinthe green? Take it away? Gar song? Right, 101 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: that's right. Nice ref um. That was very postmodern of you. 102 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so um that that that essential ingredient. Wormwood 103 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: has been known to humanity for thousands and thousands of years. Um. 104 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,640 Speaker 1: The earliest reference written reference to it comes from the 105 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,679 Speaker 1: Ebbers Papyrus, which um dates back to Oh I would 106 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: say something like about thirty five hundred years ago something 107 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: like that. It's possibly earlier than that. And that was 108 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: just the first written reference. So we already knew we 109 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: being humans, knew about wormwood long before that, and up 110 00:06:55,720 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: until the mid nineteenth century it was all is treated 111 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: as like basically a medicinal plant. That's right, Um, there 112 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: were you know, this is sort of one of the 113 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,679 Speaker 1: heydays of medicinal plant use. And you know, all kinds 114 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: of supposed cures ills being cured, uh, including but not 115 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: limited to, if you have stomach pains, if you want 116 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: to get your mensies going h Uh. They say it 117 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: could be hypnotic. They say it could give you a 118 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: pick me up if you were tired. Um, what else? Uh, 119 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: if it's an if it wasn't something you didn't want 120 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: to drink before then, Knowing that wormwood was used as 121 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: an insect repellent and an antiseptic for cleaning up a 122 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: bacteria ridden mouth might do the trick right. And also 123 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: one of the long standing um uses for it has 124 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: been as an antihelmetic, which means that it's a d 125 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: wormer And apparently when you ingest wormwood, it actually stuns 126 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: the worms that are attached to your gut lining enough 127 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: that they let go and you poop them out the 128 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: other end um, and it really does work. The modern 129 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 1: modern investigations of wormwood have verified it is an effective 130 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: d werm er um, and it also is an appetite 131 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: stimulant too, So um as we'll see, it became an 132 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: appartif which you drink before you eat, and that makes 133 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: a lot of sense, the little wormwood in it. But 134 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: in German there's a little there's a little tiny facts 135 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 1: here there in this episode. It's one of those which 136 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: I love. But in German wormwood is called the ver moot, 137 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: and that might sound familiar. Vermouth is a fortified wine 138 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,319 Speaker 1: that contains wormwood, among other things. Did you know that? 139 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 1: I did know that? Because I love vermouth, I do too, 140 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: I still didn't know what I also know that it's 141 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: Modern studies even show that it can aid digestion, which 142 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: gives credence to the old saying absinthe makes the farts 143 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: grow stronger. My goodness. So, first of all, I know 144 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: that that wasn't off the cuff. It's just not possible. 145 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: You want to hear something terrible, I've been I made 146 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: up that joke in my head years ago. Did you really? 147 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: And I've never had the opportunity to drop it. You're 148 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: you're in a chicken processing plant thinking that, and you're like, 149 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: I need to get a job where I'm really public 150 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 1: facing so I can share this one. Well, it's a 151 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: punch line. It's not a joke. I thought of that 152 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: punch line, and I've I've long tried to create a 153 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: joke that would just take hold and spread around the world. Uh, 154 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: but I just made a fun one. You just did 155 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: that just spread around the world like this boslerman Elvis 156 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: Biopick is about to let me ask you something though, 157 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: Have you ever had malart? Yes, which is it's just 158 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: such hipster ridiculousness, But yes I have, so, my lord, 159 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: for those of you listening, Uh, that pretty good descriptor. 160 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 1: I guess it's a liquor or a liqueur made from wormwood. 161 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,760 Speaker 1: It is very popular, almost exclusively in Chicago. Uh and 162 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: Jepson's malard and it's you know, it is a kind 163 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: of a hipster thing, like you get a PBR's All 164 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,839 Speaker 1: Boy and with the malard back at any hipster bar. 165 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: But that was something that uh at max Fun Con, 166 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: which is the podcast network Maximum Fun has this summer 167 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 1: retreat they do every year where John Hodgeman and I 168 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: do are pub tribute thing which is now ended. But uh, 169 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,959 Speaker 1: traditionally John would do the benediction, pass around bottles of 170 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,839 Speaker 1: malort and everyone would drink it. And that, my friend, 171 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: is a taste that will stay with you for hours. Yes, yeah, 172 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: because wormwood is a really really bitter tasting something. Um, 173 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: and it's actually so. Wormwood has a compound in it 174 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: called absinthe in, and absinthe itself is a Greek word 175 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: that means undrinkable. That's how it bitter it is. The 176 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: Polish apparently have a saying called bitter as wormwood, right, 177 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: and um, this stuff absentthe that gives wormwood it's bitter 178 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: taste is so bitter. Chuck that one ounce of absinthein, 179 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: if you could extract it from the wormwood and you 180 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: came up with just one ounce of it, if you 181 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: poured it into five hundred and twenty four gallons of water, 182 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,560 Speaker 1: mixed it up, and then offered someone a cup of 183 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,680 Speaker 1: that water, they would be able to detect the bitterness. Wow. Yeah, 184 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: I believe that wormwood oil. Um, well, we might as 185 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: well go ahead and get into this a little bit. Um. 186 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,199 Speaker 1: Wormwood oil has a substance in it about of which 187 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: this is a substance called food jone. And since time 188 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: and memoriam, when people had absinthe, they used to talk 189 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: about the fact that you would have hallution, uh, hallucinations 190 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: and seizures. So this is one of the big myths 191 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: that we're gonna bust is that's really not true. Uh, 192 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: that food jone can cause seizures. And we know why. 193 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: It's a it's a gabba inhibitor, and it's going to 194 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: block the receptors that lead to these convulsions. But there's 195 00:12:05,559 --> 00:12:09,079 Speaker 1: and and they've even done tests of of pre nineteen 196 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: tin absence recipes and found it's about the same amount 197 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: as today. And I saw one article that said it's 198 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: basically about enough food jone that you would find from 199 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:22,840 Speaker 1: sage in a box of stove top stuffing, which has 200 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: long been known to give you hallucinations and convulsions in 201 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: addition to being very delicious. Yeah, so there's just not 202 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,160 Speaker 1: enough in there, like it does food jone does come 203 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: from wwood oil, and it does cause seizures. But there's 204 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: just apparently trace amounts and it's even restricted by law 205 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: how much you can have in it, right, right, And 206 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: it's the same thing is like, um, if you ate 207 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: a kilogram of salt, it would affect you physiologically in 208 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: some terrible ways, like you would just have to drink 209 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: so much of it. Um. And then also because worm 210 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: was so bitter that even like the staunchest wax bearded 211 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: hipster in the country could probably not drink enough wormwood 212 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: to uh to bring on a convulsion or hallucinations. Now, 213 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: so that's just a big myth. The fact that, I mean, 214 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: we'll get into the history of it, which is pretty interesting. 215 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: But you know, it was all basically because people were 216 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: getting blasted on alcohol, right, so the but but like 217 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: you said, since time immemorial people have said, like this 218 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: wormwood stuff, it'll make you trip. That was enough to 219 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: attract some um artists, bohemians, writers poets um around the 220 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: turn of the last century, particularly in Paris, to the 221 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: idea of absinthe. We're not quite there yet, but once 222 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: we get there, bear in mind all of this is 223 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: wrong and made up, and it makes all it makes 224 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: an entire basically the Impressionist art movement really cringe e 225 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: that they were all just self deluded in thinking that 226 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: this this stuff was like causing them to hallucinate and 227 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: maybe get a little mad, and all this stuff it was. 228 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: It's really just kind of uncomfortable to look back on now, 229 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,079 Speaker 1: it really is. So Chuck, let's say we'd take a 230 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: break and then we'll come back and really kind of 231 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: dig into the history a little more. Let's get our 232 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:28,800 Speaker 1: shovels out and get ready. Stuff you should know, lash 233 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: sh stuffy should know. Okay, Chuck. So I mentioned earlier that, um, 234 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: you know, wormwood was long considered a medicinal plant. And 235 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: there's a story that goes that a doctor named Pierre 236 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: Ordinaire who was hiding out from the French Revolution just 237 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: across the border in Switzerland, uh in a town called Kuvey, Switzerland, 238 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: in particular, um that Dr Ordinaire was um looking for 239 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: a way to make worm would palatable to create a 240 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 1: medicinal lick, sir, and that that is how he ended 241 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: up coming up with absente. That's right, that's how the 242 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: story goes. Like you said earlier, if you want the 243 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: real authentic kind, use grape spirits, because distilled grapes is 244 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: how it started. Now it's just sort of you know, 245 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: a base um like a you know, any sort of uh, 246 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: distilled vodka type bass like white lightning. Why am I 247 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 1: tripping over all that? I don't know. It's almost like 248 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: I didn't want to say it or something. I know, 249 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: you really don't like that white lightning, do you know? 250 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 1: But back in the day it was distilled grape spirit 251 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: and it did have the worm would because that's what 252 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: he was trying to make palatable, and he did. It 253 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: appears at a bunch of botanicals to make it taste better. 254 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: You know that star and niece was probably in it. 255 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: Liquorice I see. Olivia also mentioned the finnel and the 256 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: hyssop and parsley, coriander, kim a meal and spinach, which 257 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: is quite a mixture. M hmm. When you take a 258 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: little sip of absinthe and your friend would be like 259 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: you've got a little spinach in your teeth. That is 260 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: a really strange sounding mixture. Especially parsley would throw the 261 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: whole thing off. You've ever had like a Green's drink, 262 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: like fresh juice, the moment they put parsley in, it 263 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: turns immediately south. It's horrible. It's horrific. Plea, leave parsley 264 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: out of everything drinkable. Okay, yeah, never. We we go 265 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: through periods where we're gonna we juice alli at at 266 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: the house, but I know we've never added parsley because 267 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: you're sensible salary. It's like, okay, you're getting a little 268 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: close to messing this up. But then once you had 269 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: the parsley is awful. It's it's punishment from that point on. 270 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:46,720 Speaker 1: So you want to leave the parsley out whether you're 271 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: making juice or absinthe Um, and you said one thing, Melissa, Um, 272 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: that's actually lemon ball. I saw as well, What did 273 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: I say, Melissa? That's another term for lemon ball. And 274 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like, it's not like you were incorrect 275 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: in saying Melissa did say Melissa? I thought you said 276 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: Melissa in there as well. Sorry it comes up later then, Okay, 277 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: he said, did I say, Melissa, am I driving you mad? 278 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: Like the green ferry? About one of one of us 279 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: is on absinthe right now. So, um, that whole story 280 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: about Dr Ordinair coming up with this chuck is um 281 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,359 Speaker 1: possibly wrong because at the end of the story, Dr 282 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,959 Speaker 1: Ordinair turns out to be this kind, benevolent man who 283 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: leaves his recipe for absinthe um to the Henryoade's sisters 284 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: who were his housekeepers, and they go on and start 285 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: making this stuff um and sell it to a guy 286 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: named Major Enri Danielle do bed Do bid um and 287 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 1: probably make a tidy sum from that. But some historians 288 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: have said no, actually, it looks like other people might 289 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:57,919 Speaker 1: have been making this stuff before him, including the henryode sisters, 290 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: so it's possible that Dr Ordinair actually stole this from them. Yeah. 291 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 1: And it was also a time where there was you know, 292 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: this was the golden age of medicinal elixirs, so who knows, 293 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: like everyone was experimenting with different recipes for stuff. And 294 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: I definitely think we can't say for sure that it 295 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: was Dr Pierre Ordinaire, but it is a great name. Um. 296 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: But at some somehow Dr major Dubia did come into 297 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: this recipe and started making absinthe, and he had a 298 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: daughter named Emily spelled like your wife's name. Yeah, And 299 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: Emily married another man, Henri Louis Peria Nude and Peria 300 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,120 Speaker 1: Nude Para Nude. Sorry I was adding an extra syllable 301 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: in the Para nude. Um was the son of another 302 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:55,080 Speaker 1: family that had been making absinthe, And so the Dubids 303 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: and the Para Nudes got together and became basically like 304 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,560 Speaker 1: an absentthe making dying is the along the Swiss French border. 305 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: That's right. And what was the last name in that 306 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: other family, Well, Para Nude finally changed their name to 307 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: Pernode p r an o D, which is a very 308 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: famous brand of liquorice flavored liqueur that was once absinthe 309 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:24,199 Speaker 1: that had the wormwood removed and became that's right, and 310 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 1: they're now a I believe there was a merger in 311 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: the mid seventies with another beverage brand and now they're 312 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: a huge sort of liquor company that owns I think 313 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: they owned Sea Grims, They own a couple of other vodkas. 314 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: They owned lots of stuff and you can see that 315 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: green pernol on any liquor store shelf, and you've probably 316 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: if you're not an aficionado, you've probably always wondered, is 317 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: that absinthe? Or what the heck is up with that 318 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: bright green stuff. Well, as we'll see, it was a 319 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: stand in for absinthe, which had become kind of popular 320 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: taste wise. Um, after it got banging. That's right, since absence, man, 321 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,960 Speaker 1: you're full of it today, you're just full of like it, 322 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: he splits in vinegar. I've never heard that term. I 323 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: just made it up. Okay, So, uh, we're still not 324 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,880 Speaker 1: at this point where absinthe has become an actual popular 325 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: drink really honestly. So Dubi Ed was like, I want 326 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: to buy this, but I think you're wasting it selling 327 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: it as a medicinal. I think people would actually like 328 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: to drink this, And he was right. But it wasn't 329 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 1: until it was used extensively as a medicinal with the 330 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: French army who were sent off to North Africa by 331 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,960 Speaker 1: Napoleon in the eighteen forties, I believe, and we're given 332 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: absinthe during their stay to fight off malaria. Um. The 333 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: absence became popular because those French soldiers came back and said, hey, 334 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 1: have you guys tried the absence stuff? Like they gave 335 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: it to his medicine. But we loved drinking it regardless, 336 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: And the French Army was popular enough of the time 337 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: that whatever was fashionable with them became fashionable with the 338 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: rest of France as well. That's right, So they bring 339 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: the taste of absinthe back. At first, it is expensive, 340 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,640 Speaker 1: and it is you know, basically people with money, sort 341 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: of the higher class that are drinking absinthe. And then 342 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:16,880 Speaker 1: even early on, because of its reputation as a hallucinogen, 343 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: artists were into it, trying to get inspiration for their 344 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: poems and paintings and things like that. And things change though, 345 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: starting in about the eighteen seventies when there was a insect, 346 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:39,120 Speaker 1: the Philo Rexerra, the rexa mhm by Losera. There we're 347 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: adding letters all over the place today. Uh so it's 348 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: the insect five loserra. It really in you know, France, 349 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: as everyone knows, is most famous for its wine growing, 350 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: and this devastated grapes in France and that was a 351 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: bad thing for the wine industry because that just meant obviously, 352 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: when something like that happens, wine is going to be 353 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: more expensive, and so absinthe came along and said, hey, 354 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: we can make this with anything. We don't need grapes, 355 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,200 Speaker 1: we can make it with cheaper stuff, and all of 356 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,359 Speaker 1: a sudden, absinthe is cheaper, and all of a sudden 357 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: that people drinking absinthe became just sort of the working 358 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 1: class because wine was so expensive. All of a sudden, yeah, 359 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: because the French said, we got to drink something. So 360 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 1: they replaced their wine, which is now ridiculously expensive, which 361 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,159 Speaker 1: with much, much, much cheaper absinthe. But the thing is, 362 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,120 Speaker 1: Chuck is absinthe is a spirit. Wine is not a spirit. 363 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: So you know, wine definitely contains alcohol, and you can 364 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: make wine with more or less you know, alcoholic content. 365 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: But one of the things about absinthe is it's one 366 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: of the highest proof liquors on the market. I didn't 367 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: know it's. It frequently hits sixty to seventy up to 368 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:55,280 Speaker 1: eight alcohol. So if you get a really um high 369 00:22:55,359 --> 00:23:00,160 Speaker 1: a b V or high proof absinthe and you are 370 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 1: yourself a glass of it, that is not alcohol. The 371 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: other is pure alcohol. So that's a really big switch. 372 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: That's a huge switch over from wine, drinking a couple 373 00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: of glasses of wine and dinner, and drinking a couple 374 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,200 Speaker 1: of glasses of absinthe at dinner. It's a big difference. Yeah, 375 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: I guess I should have asked, have you ever had absinthe, 376 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 1: like just real deal, straight up at some drink or 377 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,879 Speaker 1: not in cocktail, but it's absinthe? Yes, yeah, you mean, 378 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: got me a little bottle of St. George absinthe. I 379 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,439 Speaker 1: think they're out of San Francisco. Um yeah, yeah, they 380 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 1: make really good gin too, um uh and a little spoon, 381 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: a little slotted spoons. So I made this absinthe here 382 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: there a couple of times. It's fine, okay, home about Yeah, 383 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: all right, I've never had it. I meant to get 384 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: some and try this. I'm gonna try it after now 385 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,159 Speaker 1: that I know the whole deal and how to do it. 386 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: But I can already tell that it's not going to 387 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: be like something I'm gonna drink a lot of. No. 388 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,679 Speaker 1: I mean, it's tasty, you definitely want, and diluted with 389 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 1: water and sugar water in particular as we'll see. Um 390 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: and but it's neat that there's like a ritual to it. 391 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: It's fun to like kind of learn the ritual, make 392 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: the drink like that, you know, following these this kind 393 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: of ritualized, and then never do it again. Sure, and 394 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: then yeah, the problem is when you want like a 395 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: second one or something like that, it's like, oh, I 396 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: gotta go through this whole rigamarole again, you know. So 397 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: it's one of those things, you know. Uh, then you 398 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: just crack a beer when it is less beer. Yet 399 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: you don't drink beer anymore, do you? Oh? Yeah, sometimes, 400 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: Um yeah, I mean once in ace in a while. 401 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: It's not frequent or anything, but um uh last beer 402 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,159 Speaker 1: I had it was probably a few months ago. But 403 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,479 Speaker 1: they I don't drink it much anymore. I miss it. 404 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,200 Speaker 1: If you want a beer and you have a beer, 405 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:50,880 Speaker 1: it can be really satisfying under the right conditions, you know. Yeah. 406 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: And I think what I do with beer now is uh, 407 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: it used to just be beer, beer, beer, you know, 408 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: when you're younger or when I was younger. But now 409 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: I treat beer as like a treat that I have 410 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,199 Speaker 1: every once in a while and I'll have one, maybe two, 411 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: and that's it. And that kind of think back, like, man, 412 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,479 Speaker 1: how did I used to drink like a lot of this? 413 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: That's just a lot of liquid, yeah, a lot of bourbon, yeah, 414 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: a lot of like your pants falling down, I mean, 415 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: like a lot of weird stuff happens when you drink, 416 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: and a lot of beer. Yeah. So anyway back to 417 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: absinthe um, where are we? Okay, it is now the 418 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 1: working classes drinking it, they're loving it. And advertising what 419 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: we know is like modern advertising is just starting to 420 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: be a thing. And in France they went a few 421 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,520 Speaker 1: different directions, kind of like with I mean, look at 422 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,199 Speaker 1: any beer now and you can kind of say the 423 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,000 Speaker 1: same thing. Some of it was patriotic, like they would 424 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 1: adorn it in the French the colors of the French flag, um. 425 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,680 Speaker 1: Some of them were even called things like patriot uh. 426 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 1: And then they had the sexy ads with you know, 427 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:59,160 Speaker 1: sexy ladies drinking absinthe uh. And so that's like any 428 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: you know, that could be a Budweiser poster. But the 429 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: thing that they don't do on a Budweiser poster is 430 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: they also advertise it as a hygiene product. Right because again, 431 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: remember this whole thing started off as a medicinal liquor 432 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,400 Speaker 1: medicinal lick, sir, So they could still kind of lean 433 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,479 Speaker 1: on that because it was close enough in the recent 434 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: past that people recognized it as such. You know, got 435 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:31,400 Speaker 1: worms drink absinthe or got bad breaths drink absin imagine 436 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: switching it around in your mouths. Yeah, it's probably like 437 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: a mouthwatch, I guess a little bit. It's like um, 438 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,200 Speaker 1: you know that old timey liquorice flavored toothpaste. I imagine 439 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: to be like that. Yeah. Probably. So we should also 440 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: point out this is mainly in Europe. It never really 441 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: took off in the United States around this time, except 442 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 1: and of course French inspired New Orleans. It was pretty 443 00:26:56,119 --> 00:27:00,040 Speaker 1: popular there. Yeah, But like you said, in Europe it 444 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 1: was very popular, especially among artists, in particular Bohemian artists. 445 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: And there was a real transition going on in the 446 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century early twenty, very very early twentieth century 447 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 1: um the aughts, as you call them, UM, where art 448 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: was getting a little more rebellious, a little less stuffy um. 449 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: And the old guard did not really like this very much. 450 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,080 Speaker 1: But the new Guards said they cared not um, and 451 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: one of the one of the things that they were 452 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: interested in was changing altering their perceptions. So they used opium. 453 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: They drank lots of booze. But there was this idea 454 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:43,919 Speaker 1: that um, in particular absenthe could change your perceptions of 455 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: the world and life and yourself in ways that nothing 456 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: else could. Again because of this super hallucinatory wormwood, that 457 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: if you drank too much, it might drive you mad. 458 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:57,199 Speaker 1: And so they adopted absence to kind of fuel this 459 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:02,719 Speaker 1: transition to a much more rebellious um like type of 460 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,280 Speaker 1: art or movement of art. Yeah, and I think, you know, 461 00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: I didn't quite get with you Mentalier about looking back 462 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 1: on it, it is kind of gross and embarrassing because 463 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 1: they were just getting plowed on liquor, is what was happening. 464 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: And you know, they were writing poems about it, and 465 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: they were painting paintings, you know about absinthe. Then you know, 466 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: Manet had one called the Absinthe Drinker, and it was 467 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,640 Speaker 1: a man. It was a portrait of a man named 468 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: Colordette who was just sort of a street drunk who 469 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,439 Speaker 1: was dressed up a little fancy. And that was a 470 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,160 Speaker 1: big scandal because you weren't supposed to paint portraits of 471 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,280 Speaker 1: people like that. And van Go drank a lot of 472 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: abs And then Picasso had a sculpture called the Glass 473 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,360 Speaker 1: of absinthe, and there were poems written about it in stories, 474 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: and it was just it was all it was all 475 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: fake when you look back, it was nothing but getting 476 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: plowed on liquor. Yes, exactly right. And um to give 477 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,360 Speaker 1: an example of how it's just kind of uncomfortable, it 478 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: can make you. Bode laire um who I always think 479 00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,600 Speaker 1: of with um, what was that bomb vivant that John 480 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: Lovitts played on SNL kind of a dandy, the one 481 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 1: I'm an actor. Maybe I just remember him invoking bodel Oh, Bodelaire, 482 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: And this is who he was talking about was Charles Baudelaire, 483 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,800 Speaker 1: who was a very influential poet of this time who 484 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: really liked getting wasted, and he in particular thought that 485 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,880 Speaker 1: getting wasted on absinthe was amazing because quote, neither wine 486 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: nor opium equals the poison welling up in your eyes. 487 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 1: That show me my poor soul, reversed my dreams, thronged 488 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:47,680 Speaker 1: drink at those green distorting pools absinthe, when really it 489 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: was just high proof licker. That was it. Everybody that 490 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:55,239 Speaker 1: was it? Yeah, he could have been said, I've been 491 00:29:55,280 --> 00:30:01,200 Speaker 1: about hunch punch exactly. You know, like college Freshman wrote 492 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: similar poems inspired by Jim Morrison and hunch Punch. Oh yeah, exactly. 493 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: Hunch Punch really does get on top of you pretty 494 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: quick too. That never had that stuff. If it's well made, 495 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: you don't even taste the incredible amount of high high hy. Yeah, 496 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: it's crazy. You're like, how is this being hidden? But 497 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 1: it does, I guess because it's a neutral spirit. But 498 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,160 Speaker 1: it's um wow, And for some reason it's all there's 499 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: always like an entire garbage can full of it. It's 500 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,880 Speaker 1: never like a small amount. Nobody ever makes like a 501 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: nice cocktail of hunch punch. Here and there there's a 502 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: garbage can. It's a very dangerous thing to do. Actually, 503 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: in retrospect, I have a theory about absence, and I 504 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,120 Speaker 1: haven't really seen anything about this, but I think the 505 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: mere fact that it was this bright, bright green just 506 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: I think if it would have been a clear or 507 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: brown liquor, it wouldn't have taken hold like it did. 508 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: I think there was something about that color that just 509 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: sort of entranced people. I think you're totally right, and 510 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: the point that shouldn't be mistaken is that in some way, 511 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: shape or form, absent, even if it was a mythological 512 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: concept when you really get right down to it did 513 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: fuel some really creative art at that time. I mean 514 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: we're talking about man A Dega van go All. These 515 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: guys were like fueled by absinthe. Like it really did 516 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: have a huge impression on the art world, even if 517 00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: they were kind of self deluded. Yeah. The Oscar Wild quote, 518 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: of course, you know every Oscar Wild quote is pretty great. 519 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: But he liked the stuff, and he said, after the 520 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: first class of absinthe, you see things as you wish 521 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:37,680 Speaker 1: they are, wish they were. After the second you see 522 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: them as they are not. Finally, you see things as 523 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: they really are, and that that is the most horrible 524 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 1: thing in the world, which just means you're plastered. Yeah. Um. 525 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,720 Speaker 1: Another one that we could not just not shout out 526 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: though was pretty much the the head cheese as far 527 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: as getting super plowed on absinthe goes, which is to 528 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: loose la trek, Henrida, to loose la trek. He loved 529 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: the stuff, very famous with pastel portraits, very famous. Um, 530 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: just kind of hard living, hard drinking French dude from 531 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: the era um. And he apparently loved absence so much 532 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: that he had a walking cane that he carried a 533 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: little like a couple of shots of absente poured into 534 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: hollowed out walking cane with him everywhere he went. That's 535 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: a nice party trick. So it was, Um, it was 536 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,560 Speaker 1: really something like everybody was really getting plowed on absence. 537 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: Remember a lot of working class French people replaced their 538 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: morning afternoon and evening glasses of wine with morning afternoon 539 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:44,720 Speaker 1: and evening glasses of liquor absinthe instead, and this was 540 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,840 Speaker 1: starting to like make a lot of people worried. Um, 541 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: there was a temperance movement in eighteen seventy two, beginning 542 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy two in France, and it was not 543 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 1: gaining traction, and then absinthe really started to come along 544 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,120 Speaker 1: and a target began to emerge. And Chuck, I say 545 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: that we take a uh break and then come back 546 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 1: and talk about how the ban on absinthe began. Let's 547 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 1: do it. Stuff you should know, lawsham shure stuff you 548 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: should know, all right, So you teased that. Uh, the 549 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: temperance movement in France didn't take at first because simmas France, 550 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, the French should love to drink lots of 551 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: wine and other things. God God bless him, but absinthe 552 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:50,520 Speaker 1: is started to grow in popularity, and they rode in 553 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: and said, all right, here's our chance. This stuff is 554 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: is the devil's juice, and we can really have a 555 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: way in here if we target absent as a thing. 556 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: And then wine makers, which is sort of weird, got 557 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: involved in the temperance movement in a way when they said, yeah, 558 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:11,840 Speaker 1: absentthe is terrible and it's not like cognac, which is 559 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: you know, it was just really sort of high falutin 560 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:19,800 Speaker 1: alcohol made from uh, distilled grapes. Um. But this stuff 561 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,520 Speaker 1: is really bad stuff. It's cheap and it's it's it's petty, 562 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:25,520 Speaker 1: and it's for the lower class. So we're going to 563 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: join up in the temperance movement ourselves to help get 564 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: rid of it. Yeah, and it worked really really well. 565 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 1: I mean they had a common enemy, absence. And then 566 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,479 Speaker 1: what was really kind of helped alonger helped the entire 567 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: thing along. We're a couple of things. One was a 568 00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: psychiatrist named Valentine Magnart Magna in Magna And sorry, I 569 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 1: printed this undraft setting so I can't see very well. Um, 570 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:55,840 Speaker 1: but even and we'll come back to magna and slash 571 00:34:55,880 --> 00:35:00,399 Speaker 1: magnart in a second. Um. But what what really kind 572 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:05,319 Speaker 1: of shocked the nation's and in fact the world's conscience 573 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: about just letting absinthe flow freely was um jehan le 574 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: phrase murder of his entire family Um while he was 575 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,359 Speaker 1: about as drunk as a human being can be, right, 576 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: but not so much on absinthe, which is the irony here. 577 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:25,240 Speaker 1: This was in nineteen o five, and as the story 578 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:29,440 Speaker 1: goes in court, they say he drank five liters of wine, 579 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:34,120 Speaker 1: six classes of cognac to crim demense, just you know, 580 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,759 Speaker 1: because a coffee with brandy, I guess to sober up, 581 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 1: and then but two ounces of absinthe, gets in a 582 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 1: fight with his wife, his pregnant wife murders her with 583 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,280 Speaker 1: a gun and his two and three year old daughters 584 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,960 Speaker 1: amazingly horrible domestic comicide case. Then tried to kill himself, 585 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:59,800 Speaker 1: survived it and was basically spared the death penalty. But 586 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,360 Speaker 1: because they said he was in the throes of absinthe 587 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,920 Speaker 1: madness and it worked. Yeah, there was a psyche, a 588 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:09,759 Speaker 1: different psychologist from Switzerland named Albert Albert Albert Mayhem, and 589 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:12,200 Speaker 1: uh he said no, this man was was in the 590 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,480 Speaker 1: grips of this absinthe madness, even though he just had 591 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,799 Speaker 1: two ounces of absent throughout the whole day. But the 592 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 1: fact that he had had absinthe and absinthe had this reputation, 593 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 1: he was able to seize on it. And so that 594 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:28,759 Speaker 1: that really caught the attention of everybody that if you 595 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:33,160 Speaker 1: drank absinthe it could drive you to murder your own family. 596 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: That really made a lot of people reconsider it. And 597 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:41,399 Speaker 1: then either um, like before this, well full thirty years 598 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:46,360 Speaker 1: before this, there was a um a psychiatrists in France 599 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:51,920 Speaker 1: named Magnan Valentine Magnan and he I guess was part 600 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,719 Speaker 1: of the temperance movement as well. Um and he had 601 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: conducted some studies where he got his hands on wormwood 602 00:36:57,719 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: and just basically kept giving wormwood or two dogs until 603 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: they'd finally start having convulsions and seizures. And then he 604 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,120 Speaker 1: published a study saying wormwood I will give you convulsions 605 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:11,799 Speaker 1: and seizures. Doesn't really matter how much wormwood oil you drink. 606 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:15,399 Speaker 1: Just the fact that wormwood oil was in absinthe made 607 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: it questionable, made it dangerous. And so these two things 608 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: Magnan's pretty much made up study and Jean Le phrase 609 00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 1: horrific crime came together to give that strange bedfellow um 610 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:33,320 Speaker 1: joint movement between the temperance people and the wine industry 611 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,480 Speaker 1: a huge target on the back of absinthe. And they 612 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,879 Speaker 1: went after absinthe full bore. And it did not take 613 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,759 Speaker 1: very long after Jean Le phrase crime for absence to 614 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 1: start to get banned around the world. Yeah, I mean 615 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:47,879 Speaker 1: that had they made up a name for it, even 616 00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:52,120 Speaker 1: it's called absinthe is um instead of alcoholism. And I 617 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 1: think the murder was in He, by the way, appears 618 00:37:55,600 --> 00:37:57,880 Speaker 1: died by suicide just a few days after he was 619 00:37:57,880 --> 00:37:59,920 Speaker 1: put in jail. Just to put a button on that, 620 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,920 Speaker 1: but that was in nineteen oh five. Switzerland bandit in 621 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: nineteen o eight. Uh, the US bandit in nineteen twelve. 622 00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:11,839 Speaker 1: France finally gave in in nineteen fifteen, and then that 623 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: is when in nineteen twenty we mentioned that Pernou started 624 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,000 Speaker 1: making pernol a nie which is now just known as 625 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:24,680 Speaker 1: perno as that substitute for absent in nineteen twenty. Right, 626 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,400 Speaker 1: So there's a band and a lot of different countries, 627 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:30,960 Speaker 1: not all countries. Apparently the UK never banned it, but 628 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 1: I read that it was partially because they were just 629 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:39,680 Speaker 1: ignoring things that have to do with French tastes for real. Um. 630 00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:43,400 Speaker 1: The UH the checks never never banned it. So you 631 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 1: could go to Prague, which was also a center of 632 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: like artsy intellectual um Bohemian vibes. In fact, I think 633 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:54,520 Speaker 1: Bohemia actually is in that area. UM, so they would 634 00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,759 Speaker 1: definitely have an original claim to that UM. But for 635 00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: the most part, if you wanted to get absinthe, it 636 00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:04,160 Speaker 1: was very, very difficult, and because it could drive you mad, 637 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:06,720 Speaker 1: it can make you kill your family. And you mentioned 638 00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:10,640 Speaker 1: it a second ago. Absinthe is um this UH syndrome, 639 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:17,600 Speaker 1: which was the collection of maladies everything from m hallucination, sleeplessness, tremors, convulsions, 640 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:23,759 Speaker 1: madness from drinking absinthe. And in retrospect historians say this 641 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:27,719 Speaker 1: didn't exist. Like what this person was describing was excessive 642 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:30,239 Speaker 1: alcohol use, like all this stuff you can get from 643 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:33,239 Speaker 1: drinking way too much high proof alcohol, which is what 644 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:36,000 Speaker 1: they were doing. So in addition to like just this 645 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:39,720 Speaker 1: kind of moral panic about it making you kill your family, 646 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 1: there was an accompanying made up syndrome to to give 647 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,840 Speaker 1: like a veneer of science to the moral panic as well, 648 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,480 Speaker 1: and it was so effective Chuck that absinthe was banned 649 00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:54,440 Speaker 1: for over a hundred years in places. Yeah, I mean 650 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:58,960 Speaker 1: it took the liquor industry and distilleries basically beating the 651 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: drum saying, you know, we want to make absent, we 652 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:05,920 Speaker 1: want to make this probably highly marketable. Super hopped up 653 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:10,080 Speaker 1: liquor again and they said all right. The EU started 654 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,239 Speaker 1: lifting the band in the in the late eighties and 655 00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:16,439 Speaker 1: eight Uh. France, it was sort of in a gray 656 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 1: area basically, but they finally removed the law against it 657 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:26,399 Speaker 1: in I believe the US was two thousand seven when 658 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:29,920 Speaker 1: the a T the Alcohol, Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau 659 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,200 Speaker 1: said all right, well, here's what you can do. You 660 00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:36,960 Speaker 1: can distill this liquor. You can call it absinthe, but 661 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 1: it can't it's gotta be through jone free. It's got 662 00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 1: to have less than ten parts per million. And uh, 663 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 1: if it's coming across the border, if you're importing it, 664 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: you can't import something labeled absinthe or any bottle that 665 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: you know, shows like people tripping or any kind of 666 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:57,880 Speaker 1: hallucinogenic effects on the bottle, right, which just underscores the 667 00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:03,640 Speaker 1: government's preoccupation with control link citizens perception of reality really 668 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:07,839 Speaker 1: strange if you step back and think about it. You know, so, Um, 669 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,440 Speaker 1: you can get absinthe here today. In Switzerland they have 670 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,160 Speaker 1: one of those. Man, I can't remember what it's called, 671 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,600 Speaker 1: but where you know, in Champagne there's rules about what 672 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:21,160 Speaker 1: qualifies a champagne and anything that don't follow those h 673 00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 1: something about appellation I can't remember, but um, Switzerland has 674 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,239 Speaker 1: something like that. And Couvey is kind of I saw 675 00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:31,000 Speaker 1: it described as the spiritual home of absinthe. UM, so 676 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,400 Speaker 1: you can get it. Uh. It's widely available today and 677 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:38,000 Speaker 1: there's some really good craft distillers making absinthe all around 678 00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:40,239 Speaker 1: the world. And if you do get your hands on 679 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:42,319 Speaker 1: it and you do say like I want to try this, 680 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 1: there is a pretty interesting ritual involved. Um and absinthe 681 00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:52,000 Speaker 1: is typically drunk, at least with water and sugar, and 682 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:54,560 Speaker 1: the way that you combine those two things with absinthe 683 00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:56,960 Speaker 1: is kind of where the rituals start to kick in. 684 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: That's right. Uh. And firstly, you should look for abs 685 00:42:00,000 --> 00:42:04,520 Speaker 1: sinth that is not made green with some artificial coloring. 686 00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:07,520 Speaker 1: You don't want that. You want something that's like genuinely 687 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:13,480 Speaker 1: colored from the post distillation process of infusion. So once 688 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:15,959 Speaker 1: you've got your hands on some good absinthe, uh, there's 689 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:17,960 Speaker 1: different ways you can do it. There are cool little 690 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:21,000 Speaker 1: things that look good on your bar. I've seen some. 691 00:42:21,120 --> 00:42:24,000 Speaker 1: They look sort of like these clear vases with a 692 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:27,080 Speaker 1: a little spout on one side. But you don't even 693 00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:29,560 Speaker 1: need all that stuff. Really, you just all you really 694 00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:31,760 Speaker 1: have to do is poor and you don't even need sugar. 695 00:42:32,480 --> 00:42:35,160 Speaker 1: I think sugar helps the taste. But if you want 696 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:39,239 Speaker 1: to uh, what is it pronounced the luch, that's what 697 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:41,880 Speaker 1: I think, l o U c h E. If you 698 00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:44,880 Speaker 1: want to create the luch, which is this sort of 699 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:48,080 Speaker 1: cloudy effect in your absinthe, all you really have to 700 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:51,839 Speaker 1: do is dribble ice cold water in your absinthe. So 701 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:54,000 Speaker 1: you know, you pour just a little bit. You don't 702 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,640 Speaker 1: need much, like an ounce, maybe two ounces if you're 703 00:42:56,640 --> 00:42:59,000 Speaker 1: really going for it, and then you want to mix 704 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:02,480 Speaker 1: about four parts ice cold water, just dribble it in 705 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,000 Speaker 1: the little flat spoon on top. If you want to 706 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,560 Speaker 1: get into the ritual, it can be a little fancier, 707 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,560 Speaker 1: but I saw people online that literally just sort of 708 00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:13,319 Speaker 1: held a glass of ice cold water high above their 709 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:16,600 Speaker 1: absent glass and just sort of dribble the water in. Yeah, 710 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:19,080 Speaker 1: those drippers that are really cool. They look like a 711 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,080 Speaker 1: virus almost like three or four legged virus that sits 712 00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:26,680 Speaker 1: atop your glass, and then there's a tray beneath it 713 00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:28,400 Speaker 1: that you put the sugar cuban and then you just 714 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:30,800 Speaker 1: pour the four or five ounces of cold water into 715 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,799 Speaker 1: the reservoir above the tray over the glass, and it 716 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,000 Speaker 1: drips it onto the sugar at a steady rate, which 717 00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:40,439 Speaker 1: drips the sugar water into the glass of absinthe below. Um. 718 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:43,440 Speaker 1: And they're very, very pretty for the most part, like 719 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:48,719 Speaker 1: that bellop hoc Perry look um, and it's yeah, it's 720 00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:51,279 Speaker 1: really cool. It's like I could see how people get 721 00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:54,120 Speaker 1: into this kind of thing too. But that loose chuck. 722 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,240 Speaker 1: There's a really cool legend about it. So the luci 723 00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,520 Speaker 1: is created when the water dissolve some parts of the 724 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,560 Speaker 1: alcohol but not some of the oil based plant stuff, 725 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:05,560 Speaker 1: and rather than just separating like oil and water, it 726 00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:08,520 Speaker 1: separates out enough to just kind of create this vapor cloud. 727 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,640 Speaker 1: And there's a legend, I don't know if it's true 728 00:44:11,760 --> 00:44:15,000 Speaker 1: or not that at the Pernode Distillery Um there was 729 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:18,080 Speaker 1: a lightning strike that threatened to blow up. I guess 730 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:20,760 Speaker 1: created a fire that threatened to blow blow up thousands 731 00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,040 Speaker 1: of barrels of absinthe, So the workers were dumping it 732 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:26,080 Speaker 1: out as fast as they could into the nearby river, 733 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:30,720 Speaker 1: the Dubes River, and um, there was a local theory 734 00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:35,280 Speaker 1: that the Dubes River fed another river through an underground channel, 735 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,279 Speaker 1: and when the other river showed a lush a couple 736 00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:41,240 Speaker 1: of days later, that confirmed that theory, which is pretty 737 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,880 Speaker 1: neat although not necessarily a fully documented story. It's a 738 00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:47,320 Speaker 1: good story though. Yeah, and the lucio is cool looking, 739 00:44:47,360 --> 00:44:50,080 Speaker 1: like admittedly it's you know what you start out if 740 00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:51,719 Speaker 1: you've never seen it, what you start out with with 741 00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,759 Speaker 1: absinthe is uh, sort of a see through green, very 742 00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:58,960 Speaker 1: bright green thing. And the lush, once it gets cloudy, 743 00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:02,360 Speaker 1: it ends up looking kind of almost like, uh, lime juice, 744 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,200 Speaker 1: sort of a cloudy lime juicy look. And again it's 745 00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:11,359 Speaker 1: it's mostly water. Uh. And you know there is that 746 00:45:11,480 --> 00:45:14,879 Speaker 1: fire method where you light the sugar cuban fire uh 747 00:45:14,920 --> 00:45:18,240 Speaker 1: and then extinguish it with cold water after it drips 748 00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:20,840 Speaker 1: down and melts into the thing. But I saw that 749 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:22,799 Speaker 1: a this was not a good idea for a lot 750 00:45:22,880 --> 00:45:25,920 Speaker 1: of reasons because the danger of fire. If you're in 751 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:27,919 Speaker 1: a bright room, you might not see that light blue 752 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:31,399 Speaker 1: flame and go to drink something that's still on fire. Uh, 753 00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,880 Speaker 1: and that it's really uh it's usually or historically was 754 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,879 Speaker 1: a way to disguise like really bad absent. Then if 755 00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:40,399 Speaker 1: you have good absinthe then it's not something you need 756 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:44,000 Speaker 1: to do at all. The best thing, in my opinion, 757 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:45,799 Speaker 1: that you can do with your absence is use it 758 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:47,520 Speaker 1: to rinse a glass that you're about to make a 759 00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,919 Speaker 1: sazarek in. Yeah, I've heard of that. Oh man, it's good. 760 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:54,000 Speaker 1: A good sazarek is, Oh my gosh, I like a sazarek. 761 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:57,520 Speaker 1: I'd never I don't think I saw. I've seen one 762 00:45:57,560 --> 00:45:59,880 Speaker 1: being made at like a bar. It has come to 763 00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:02,000 Speaker 1: me at the table. So I don't know if they've 764 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:04,840 Speaker 1: done that or not. They most definitely have if they 765 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:08,120 Speaker 1: if they're making anything approaching an accurate sas reck, I 766 00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:10,520 Speaker 1: guarantee they have for sure. Like you just put just 767 00:46:10,560 --> 00:46:13,120 Speaker 1: a little bit in, like a quarter ounce or less 768 00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,520 Speaker 1: of absence and then you turn the glass kind of 769 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: on its side and twisted around in a circle on 770 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,239 Speaker 1: its axis. Yeah, I guess with yaw control. Maybe I'm 771 00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,719 Speaker 1: not sure, and um, now your your glass is ready 772 00:46:25,760 --> 00:46:27,680 Speaker 1: to have the sas rec poured in. Or if you 773 00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:30,000 Speaker 1: really want to get fancy, they sell little atomizers like 774 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:34,480 Speaker 1: those perfume atomizers that you can put absinthe in and 775 00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:37,160 Speaker 1: just spray it on the inside of your glass and 776 00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,480 Speaker 1: it should stick to the sides. Yeah, that's when I 777 00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:42,719 Speaker 1: get a You know, I love my martinis, but I 778 00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,480 Speaker 1: like a martini with a little vermouth in there. Not much. 779 00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:47,640 Speaker 1: I like them dry, but I do like a little 780 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:51,279 Speaker 1: actual vermouth in there. And uh, it annoys me when 781 00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:53,560 Speaker 1: asked for a dry martini when they just put their 782 00:46:53,640 --> 00:46:57,160 Speaker 1: vermouth in, swish it around, then dump it out. I'm 783 00:46:57,160 --> 00:46:59,520 Speaker 1: always like, come on, just just a little bit, put 784 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:03,439 Speaker 1: it like a bone dry martini, or or they don't 785 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:07,080 Speaker 1: even like the thought of vermouth isn't even an option. 786 00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:10,480 Speaker 1: It's just straight up gin. I'm like, Martini, it's supposed 787 00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:12,279 Speaker 1: to have a little vermouth in there. Yeah, you might 788 00:47:12,280 --> 00:47:14,640 Speaker 1: as well say, can I have three ounces of gin? Please? 789 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,239 Speaker 1: Yea cold gin. That's basically what I have with a 790 00:47:17,239 --> 00:47:22,000 Speaker 1: little brine. Yeah, So you got anything else about absinthe? 791 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:24,759 Speaker 1: Nothing else? There are plenty of cocktails out there that 792 00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:26,719 Speaker 1: have a little absent in there if you're into that. 793 00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:29,080 Speaker 1: But I'm gonna give it a try. I'm gonna see 794 00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:30,960 Speaker 1: what it's all about. Some have a lot of them. 795 00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:36,200 Speaker 1: I saw the Necromancer. It's equal parts um, absinthe, lilas blanc, 796 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,919 Speaker 1: Saint Germain and lemon juice with a dash of gin. 797 00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:44,120 Speaker 1: Saint Germaine is green, right, No, it's a kind of 798 00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:48,439 Speaker 1: a goldish color. It's elder flower liqueur. Okay, it's not cream. 799 00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:50,920 Speaker 1: You're thinking of art truce. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking of, 800 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:56,480 Speaker 1: which is another difficult thing to find recipes for. Actually, yeah, 801 00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:58,040 Speaker 1: I've got some of that stuff on my bar now 802 00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:02,600 Speaker 1: and it remains largely touched into digging. I think that's 803 00:48:02,600 --> 00:48:07,919 Speaker 1: another one that sorted out as a botanical medicinal remedy too. Yeah, 804 00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:12,759 Speaker 1: well that's it for botanical medicinal remedies. Everybody, in particular absinthe. 805 00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:14,480 Speaker 1: And if you want to know more about absent, then 806 00:48:14,640 --> 00:48:17,080 Speaker 1: just check it out. See what you think you should 807 00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:19,120 Speaker 1: be over twenty one though, you know, just c o A. 808 00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:21,600 Speaker 1: And since I said just c o A, it's time 809 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:26,480 Speaker 1: for listener mail. Yeah, and don't do the fire method. 810 00:48:26,600 --> 00:48:29,600 Speaker 1: Just don't do it, agreed, No need. All right, this 811 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:32,480 Speaker 1: is a Simpsons reference that we missed. I always love these, 812 00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:36,520 Speaker 1: and this is from Lauren, Andrew and Homer. Believe it 813 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:39,680 Speaker 1: or not, Hey, guys, just listen to the wonderful episode 814 00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:42,360 Speaker 1: on postmodernism. So forgive me. This has already been pointed 815 00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:44,480 Speaker 1: out to you, but I couldn't believe that no one, 816 00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:48,200 Speaker 1: especially Josh, made any reference to the classic Simpsons episode 817 00:48:48,480 --> 00:48:52,440 Speaker 1: Homer the Mo in which Moe transforms the tavern into 818 00:48:52,440 --> 00:48:58,759 Speaker 1: a swanky club called m Right. Do you remember that one? Yeah, 819 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:01,720 Speaker 1: there's a great scene where Homer and the other longtime 820 00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:05,640 Speaker 1: patrons are questioning Mo about some eyeball art on the wall, 821 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,279 Speaker 1: and after some attempt to get the guys to understand 822 00:49:08,680 --> 00:49:12,640 Speaker 1: it is poem, he finally describes it as being we 823 00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:16,760 Speaker 1: had for the sake of weird and they all get it. Uh. 824 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,920 Speaker 1: This definition has been what I think of when I 825 00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:22,279 Speaker 1: think of postmodern art for my entire adult life. So 826 00:49:22,360 --> 00:49:25,880 Speaker 1: I thought i'd share again from Lauren, Andrew and Homer. 827 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:30,879 Speaker 1: Prince's actual name pretty great. Thank you for that. Thank 828 00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:33,200 Speaker 1: you for waking us over the coals from missing that one. 829 00:49:33,239 --> 00:49:36,239 Speaker 1: But is pretty obvious and we should have thought about it, 830 00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:39,880 Speaker 1: I didn't kind of king. Yeah, I guess so still 831 00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:44,400 Speaker 1: hurts so bad. But if you want to make us 832 00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:46,080 Speaker 1: hurt so bad, you can get in touch with us 833 00:49:46,120 --> 00:49:50,239 Speaker 1: like Lauren Homer and uh and Andrew and if you 834 00:49:50,239 --> 00:49:51,600 Speaker 1: want to make it hurt so good to get in 835 00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:57,120 Speaker 1: touch with John Mellencamp. It's my last joke that wasn't 836 00:49:57,120 --> 00:50:02,920 Speaker 1: a joke. You can send us an email to stuff 837 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:08,920 Speaker 1: podcast at i heart radio dot com. Stuff you Should 838 00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:11,359 Speaker 1: Know is a production of I heart Radio. For more 839 00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:14,200 Speaker 1: podcasts my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 840 00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:17,320 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 841 00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:20,200 Speaker 1: H