Is Absinthe legal in Canada? and if so, is it easy to get?!
Is Absinthe legal in Canada? and if so, is it easy to get?
Answers:
First things first,
it's totally and completely false that absinthe causes hallucinations, it has been proven over and over again scientifically, either in surviving XIX century absinthe bottle either in todays modern brands of real absinthe.
Absinthe was banned because the early XX century wine producers, being threatened by the huge sales of absinthe lobbied together with religious conservative movements to forbid it under many false pretexts. Eventually, they did it. It was never banned in England, Spain and Portugal, in these two countries it is still produced today.
That hallucinogenic myth is being perpetuated by unscrupulous vendors (who make fortunes out of the ignorance of mainly american customers) and some manufacturers of a "thing" that is not absinthe. I'm talking about mainly czech producers who claim their "absinth" is "high on thujones".
Wormwood, arthemisia absintium, the plant, does in fact contain the mollecule thujone that despite looking similar to THC is not the same nor does it have the same effects. Before you had any hallucinations with thujone you would die first from it's toxicity since you had to ingest a massive ammount of it. The thing is that the very small ammounts of thujone in wormwood almost disappear completely through the process that any absinthe must suffer to be considered an absinthe: Distillation.
Further example of the ridiculousness of that myth, the aromatic plant used in some dishes, sage, has more thujone than wormwood, not enough to be toxic, of course.
So please, enjoy absinthe for what it really is: the most complex tasting drink made by Man, it can even be superior to the best red wines, and this because:
- ABSINTHE IS: Grape spirit distilled together with up to 9 different herbs, among them green anis (the main constituent), wormwood, petite wormwood, fennel, hyssop, melissa, angelica of the alps, star anis and sometimes coriander seeds. This process of slow distillation is very difficult and complex, it takes up to 18 hours of a carefully monitered distillation, a little too much temperature and it's ruined. That's why it can't be reproduced by amateurs. All spirits after distillation are clear as water, including whiskey and absinthe. Some absinthes are sold that way, others are coloured with natural herbs, so that green is simply clorophile, not some E-23758590...
-ABSINTHE IS NOT: cheap vodka with wormwood soaked in it, it would taste horrible because wormwood contains the second most bitter substance known to Man;
cheap grain alcohol artificially coloured and flavoured (the czech "absinths").
Final note, never, BUT NEVER burn a sugar cube over your absinthe, that's a fake, stupid commercial gimmick invented by the czechs in the 1990's, nobody ever drank absinthe that way in the XIX century. They drinked it this way:
- on a large, clear glass pour no more than two fingers of absinthe; then slowly, very slowly, drop by drop if you can pour ice cold water, no less than 2 parts of water to one of absinthe; you may notice your absinthe will become cloudy, opaque, it's a sign of it's authenticity. Now again very slowly and calmly, proceed with the tasting, absinthe is not to be stupidly gulped down like a shot, it must be appreciated with ease so that all the subtle flavours may toy with your pallate.
This said, it's legal in Canada but none of the brands available are real absinthe, stay away especially from the czech... The best way it to import it online, here are some choices: Un émile or Blanche/Verte de Fougerolles, good but more available absinthe; Kubler, La Clandestine (swiss), the Jades (the best of the best) or Duplais, more expensive but bear in mind a bottle lasts long.
Source(s):
Me. Absinthe Researcher and Drinker for 20 years.
Here's what Wikipedia had to say:
In Canada, liquor laws are the domain of the provincial governments. British Columbia has no limits on thujone content; Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia allow 10 mg/kg thujone; Québec allows 15 mg per kg (according to the SAQ); and all other provinces do not allow the sale of absinthe containing thujone (although, in Saskatchewan, one can purchase any liquor available in the world upon the purchase of a minimum of one case, usually 12 bottles x 750ml or 8 x 1L). The individual liquor boards must approve each product before it may be sold on shelves, and currently, only Hill's Absinth, Czech Absinth s.r.o., Elie-Arnaud Denoix, Pernod, Absente, Versinthe and, in limited release, La Fée Absinthe are approved. Other brands may appear in the future.
Yes, it's easy to get. You can order it in many bars; which I did and sadly it did nothing...
It was legalized about three years ago....some bars will serve it in the "traditional" manner; soak a sugar cube in it, light the cube, pour into glass and stir. However, its not as potent as it used to be.
It's legal depending on the province and I know you can buy it in Ontario. Otherwise it is legal to buy other versions such as pastis.