The secret of absinthe revealed

KARLSRUHE, Germany, May 2 (UPI) -- German researchers put a cork in the musings over the psychedelic effects of absinthe, an alcoholic drink popular with 19th-century artists.

The green aperitif was popular throughout Europe and the United States until illness and violent episodes gave absinthe the reputation of being a dangerous drug. It was banned in France and parts of Europe from 1915 to 1988.

After more than a century of controversy centering on "thujone" as the mind-altering, even toxic, herbal essence causing absinthism, scientists say the real culprit is alcohol.

The researchers analyzed 13 samples of pre-1915, authentic absinthe -- including concentrations of pinocamphone, fenchone, methanol, higher alcohols, copper and antimony as well as thujone and found amounts of thujone similar to today's absinthe.

All things considered, "nothing besides ethanol was found in the absinthes that was able to explain the syndrome 'absinthism,'" the researchers said.

The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found the drink had a 140-proof wallop -- although consumed diluted with water, absinthe contained about 70 percent alcohol. Most gin, vodka, and whiskey contains 50 percent or less of alcohol and are 80- to 100-proof.