DOSE:

1 shot

oral

Absinthe

(liquid)

BODY WEIGHT:

125 lb

I first read about Absinthe a few years back in a European Travel Guide and had been curious about the drink ever since. However, most of the information I found concerning the availability and effects of absinthe has been vague and often contradictory. Some say they've found it in the states, others claim it can only be found in select and out of the way places in Europe.

Because of this, I was surprised and excited to find the drink available at a bar in London several weeks ago. The price was pretty high (around 6 pounds 50 a shot) and I was close to broke after three weeks in England, but I figured it might be my only chance to find the stuff for a long while so I ordered a glass. The menu had two choices, one type 50% alcohol and the other 70%. Wanting to get my money's worth, I ordered the 70%. I got a little nervous and skeptical when the waitress brought out the shot glass of greenish-clear liquid, but she assured me it was pure. Even so, I was a little dubious about getting ripped off or being sold fake stuff... It sounded just the thing a trendy bar might do to stupid American tourists, but my experience with the drink has me fairly positive that it was, indeed, real.

I was with a group of pretty straight kids, most of whom hadn't even heard of absinthe and were looking at me in this scared, disapproving way, but I tried to ignore them as I passed the shot under my nose. The smell was very pungent, kind of like black licorice with one Hell of a kick... I had no clue what to expect from it, but me and the girl next to me closed our eyes and took a big swallow. The stuff burned like fire going down my throat and my sinuses smarted pretty badly, like I'd just eaten a big spoonful of Wasabi. It didn't taste too bad, though, kind of like vodka with licorice in it. When the burning went away, I opened my eyes and smiled at the people across from me for a second and then it hit. I kind of slumped back in my seat and my head started spinning. For about ten seconds, it felt as if I was peaking on ecstasy, and I got pretty nauseous. Everything was suddenly very lucid and, well, altered somehow. The effect faded a lot then, and people started freaking out and asking me if I was going to puke. But I felt good, buzzed. The girl next to me had much the same experience, and we both agreed that it was intense, but interesting. For the next ten minutes, we took turns sipping the drink and getting intoxicated for the same ten second intervals.

At one point, I took a large drink and began to speak to the people across from me. However, as soon as I started talking, they screamed and pointed at me and laughed hysterically. Supposedly, my voice sounded like I was on helium, even though I couldn't detect a change. The girl who was sharing the absinthe laughed until she cried and my voice went back to normal after a minute or two. It was very strange, especially since I sounded totally normal to myself.

It was mostly downhill from there. I left the bar feeling slightly drunk, but mostly just lightheaded and disoriented. I developed a pretty bad headache in the next hour. I just wanted to go to bed and sleep and I found it hard to hold a conversation with anyone: my eyes wouldn't focus and I felt a bit like I do at the end of an ecstasy trip. Very strange.

In retrospect, I probably would have enjoyed the drink more if I'd shot it, but I didn't understand much about it and had no idea what to expect. Absinthe was enjoyable, although I think it is misunderstood quite a bit. I'd definitely try it again wherever I could find it, probably in larger quantities.

Exp Year: 2001	ExpID: 12401
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 21, 2005	Views: 15,950
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Absinthe (4) : First Times (2), Club / Bar (25)