The other day, I saw an article about absinthe being legalized in several states including Florida. Last Friday, I dropped by the local package store to see what was available. When I asked the woman at the counter if they had any absinthe, she pointed me to gift-set from a brand called Absente that was complete with glass and an absinthe spoon. She assured me it was the real thing but waited until after she had rung up my purchase to ask what the heck it was. It turns out that this brand uses a relative of wormwood to get around the thujone ban, and a lesser advertised fact would be the presence of food coloring to get the trademark green hue. It’s still pretty high proof and a lot less bitter than La Fée.
Bryn Schurman's blog
Formerly Tungsten Filament Group
According to the FDA, all alcoholic beverages must be thujone-free pursuant to 21 CFR 172.510. New brands of “absinthe” exist in the US using a chemotype of grand worwmood *Artemisia absinthium) and not southern wormwood like Absente.
In Europe there are absinthes with >35mg thujone under the amer classification and even some with 100mg thujone (eg Century Absinthe)
Thanks for the info. Is there much difference in flavor between absinthes made from southern and grand wormwood?