"Seminole Recipe" One ounce dried chopped wormwood One tablespoon uva-ursi leaves One tablespoon chopped calamus root One tablespoon fennel or anise seeds One half teaspoon coriander seeds One quarter teaspoon caraway seeds One pinch cardomon pods 750 ml. 151 rum "Seer's Formula" One ounce dried chopped wormwood One tablespoon fennel or anise seeds One tablespoon white sage One teaspoon spearmint One half teaspoon coriander seeds One quarter teaspoon caraway seeds One pinch cardomon pods 750 ml. 151 rum note: This is a new, improved recipe. We replaced angelica and hyssop with white sage and spearmint and came up with stronger, mellower absinthe. Original "Classic" Formula One ounce dried chopped wormwood One tablespoon fennel or anise seeds One tablespoon dried angelica root One teaspoon dried hyssop leaves One half teaspoon coriander seeds One quarter teaspoon caraway seeds One pinch cardomon pods 750 ml. 151 rum note: this is the traditional european formula, like Van Gogh drank.

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The directions are the same for all formulas. In a glass container add the wormwood to the 151. Set aside in the dark for four days (minimum--you get the majority of the thujone)) to ten days (maximum--all the thujone but a nasty, bitter taste). This will give you an authentic green-colored tincture (the green comes from the chlorophyll, and does not indicate the presence of the active ingredient, thujone). Only 151 rum gives a greenish hue (vodka will not). Then strain out the wormwood and add all the remining herbs and spices. Wait four more days, then strain these out and serve. Best drinken mixed with cold water half and half. Add a teaspoon of sugar if it too bitter. Other people prefer shots with a water chaser (have it ready). Or dribble a little in a tall glass with ice and sour mix or cranberry juice.

We no longer sell do-it-yourself absinthe kits.

Warning: absinthe tastes wicked enough as it is. A double dose of wormwood makes it almost undrinkable. If you are looking for a mind-bending experience I suggest you try salvia divinorum instead.

Note: Absinthe should never be made with wormwood essential oil.

More recipes for absinthe cocktails.

Updated August 2007.

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  Thujone is discussed elsewhere in the Absinthe Ring, but I think there may be more to the effects of absinthe than thujone, namely the highly-complex synergistic effect of a psychoactive cocktail. Other ingredients in the recipe have their own reputations. Angelica root is chewed as a drug in Lapland. Anise and fennel seed both contain potentially psychoactive anethole. Caraway seeds are reputed aphrodisiacs and the basis of the German liqueur kummel. Coriander is mentioned as an aphrodisiac in the Arabic One Thousand and One Nights, and is said to conjure up the devil when used in combination with fennel in the same text. Other recipes call for hops, a sedative and hypnotic, and calamus root, which contains psychoactive asarones, used as an inebriant by Native Americans. And then there is the hyssop, a nervine. White sage has the same spiritual and medicinal properties as angelica and also contains thujone. Spearmint has the same properties as hyssop. Add it all up, the sum is greater than the whole.

Astrologically, wormwood is ruled by Mars, and caraway, fennel, and licorice are ruled by Mercury (And you know those two are when they get together.)

Now the new "Seminole Recipe" contains two major potentiating ingredients from the Native American tradition. Uva-ursi (arctostaphylos uva-ursi), also known as kinnikinnik or Indian tobacco, was smoked and used as a herbal tea to purge the body of bad spirits. Western herbalists use it to cure kidneys stones and bladder infections, which are bad spirits in their own right. Calamus root (acorus calamus), also known as sweet flag and sweetroot, was chewed as an intoxicant by Native Americans, who also used it as a cure-all. It is mentioned as a medicinal in the Bible and is one of the herbs with the longest period of use on record. It was used for stomach disorders, as a perfume, as a love potion, and it has been used to flavor beer, bitters, liqueurs, and cordials.