In articles at the LA Times and NY Times they discuss the new, legal absinth's entering the US. Long banned due to faulty research that said that the chemical thujone, which is in the key ingredient, wormwood, was a hallucinogen and toxic. The reality is that the thujone levels in absinthe are extremely low and under the FDAs maximum guidelines. Those Bell Époque artists and writers weren't hallucinating from the thujone. They were just drinking themselves to that point from the alcohol. There are several absinthe's that have currently passed FDA approval.
I personally hadn't had any absinthe until this past year when I tasted a few. They are similar to a good herby pastis with a high alcohol content and not sweet. They are usually served in the absinthe ritual where absinthe is poured into a special glass, a perforated spoon laid on top holding a sugar cube, and ice water drizzled down over the sugar melting it and watering down the absinthe. The drink goes a cloudy green from oils suspended in the cold mixture. Here is a link to a video showing the ritual and here is the Virtual Absinthe Library so you can learn more than would ever want to know about it. I think I may have a go at developing my own absinthe when I open my distillery this spring.
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