On Apr 3, 2:33*pm, Dave Smith > wrote:
> htn963 wrote:
> >>> Absinthe is legal in a lot of places now, including the US. My son and
> >>> his friends used to order it by mail from the Czech Republic moe than 10
> >>> years ago.
> >> What made it so harmful and a banned substance? * *All I have ever
> >> learned is that it made you crazy. * *Most liquor does that to lots of
> >> people!!
>
> > I've tried it recently and found it's got quite a kick -- more so than
> > any other liquors of comparable alcohol content -- even when mixed
> > with water and a cube of sugar (the traditional way to drink it). *The
> > buzz it produces is different (hard to describe) from the buzz of
> > other drinks. *It may be that Thujone combines with the regular
> > alcohol to create some synergistic effects.
>
> > But it tastes like licorice (a flavor I detest) so I'm in no danger of
> > becoming addicted to it.
>
> I don't find the anise taste overpowering, and I don't mind a drink or
> two of absinthe or pastis once in a while. I usually find that it numbs
> my taste buds.
>
> I confess to previously being naive about the potency of Pernod. I had a
> bottle that I had been been using in small amounts to flambe shrimp.
> One hot summer I decided to try it as a drink. It went down well. I had
> another and another, and maybe a few more. I should have known that
> anything that could be used for a flambe would be potent. It snuck up on
> me with a powerful kick.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

OK, FWIW, I took my morter & pestle and crushed up some anise seed and
added it to some Stoli vodka to steep until Monday when I'll need the
"pernod". We'll see what happens.

I did call our best gourmet shop in town and they didn't have small
bottled of pernod OR ouzo, so I was resigned to doing this instead.

Fingers crossed,
Kris