ESO official softdrink

reazea

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Tea's fine though I prefer coffee (very strong and very black). Absinthe.... is there now a non-lethal version?

For years. The main problem 100 years ago wasn't the thujone from the wormwood, but the cheap alcohol they used. I still wouldn't drink too much of it, though, and it should be reasonably diluted (traditionally 1 third absinthe, 2 thirds cold water).

I’ve always wanted to try this. I think I remember some bar in the metro area here has it.

Over the counter Absinthe, in the USA and Europe, is not deadly or dangerous. The only way to get enough thujone in it to make it potentially dangerous and hallucinogenic is to distill your own, which is a very long and involved process that requires a home distillery. (the Artemisia absithium plant, or common wormwood, is a noxious weed in many parts of Europe and the USA, so it's easy to find)

If you like the taste of anise (black licorice) then you'll likely enjoy absinthe. It's perfectly safe. The mythology around the drink is just that, mythology. A lot of drinkers like the ritual of mixing it and telling themselves that dancing with the green fairy is adventurous, when in reality it's just getting tipsy on a high alcohol content beverage. As stated by the quoted poster, you don't drink absinthe straight. You dilute it with cold water and add sugar or it's pretty unbearable to stomach.

I think the definition of a soft drink varies by your country and your thinking and that there is no official definition that's consistent from country to country. Even a decaffeinated drink with tons of sugar is going to make your heart race and jack you up, whether it's carbonated or not.

fizl101

reazea wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Tea's fine though I prefer coffee (very strong and very black). Absinthe.... is there now a non-lethal version?

For years. The main problem 100 years ago wasn't the thujone from the wormwood, but the cheap alcohol they used. I still wouldn't drink too much of it, though, and it should be reasonably diluted (traditionally 1 third absinthe, 2 thirds cold water).

I’ve always wanted to try this. I think I remember some bar in the metro area here has it.

Over the counter Absinthe, in the USA and Europe, is not deadly or dangerous. The only way to get enough thujone in it to make it potentially dangerous and hallucinogenic is to distill your own, which is a very long and involved process that requires a home distillery.

If you like the taste of anise (black licorice) then you'll likely enjoy absinthe. It's perfectly safe. The mythology around the drink is just that, mythology. A lot of drinkers like the ritual of mixing it and telling themselves that dancing with the green fairy is adventurous, when in reality it's just getting tipsy on a high alcohol content beverage. As stated by the quoted poster, you don't drink absinthe straight. You dilute it with cold water and add sugar or it's pretty unbearable to stomach.

I think the definition of a soft drink varies by your country and your thinking and that there is no official definition that's consistent from country to country. Even a decaffeinated drink with tons of sugar is going to make your heart race and jack you up, whether it's carbonated or not.

If they do another run of it you need to get some Skooma

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/64767/skooma-absinthe

reazea

fizl101 wrote: »

reazea wrote: »

katanagirl1 wrote: »

Syldras wrote: »

TaSheen wrote: »

Tea's fine though I prefer coffee (very strong and very black). Absinthe.... is there now a non-lethal version?

For years. The main problem 100 years ago wasn't the thujone from the wormwood, but the cheap alcohol they used. I still wouldn't drink too much of it, though, and it should be reasonably diluted (traditionally 1 third absinthe, 2 thirds cold water).

I’ve always wanted to try this. I think I remember some bar in the metro area here has it.

Over the counter Absinthe, in the USA and Europe, is not deadly or dangerous. The only way to get enough thujone in it to make it potentially dangerous and hallucinogenic is to distill your own, which is a very long and involved process that requires a home distillery.

If you like the taste of anise (black licorice) then you'll likely enjoy absinthe. It's perfectly safe. The mythology around the drink is just that, mythology. A lot of drinkers like the ritual of mixing it and telling themselves that dancing with the green fairy is adventurous, when in reality it's just getting tipsy on a high alcohol content beverage. As stated by the quoted poster, you don't drink absinthe straight. You dilute it with cold water and add sugar or it's pretty unbearable to stomach.

I think the definition of a soft drink varies by your country and your thinking and that there is no official definition that's consistent from country to country. Even a decaffeinated drink with tons of sugar is going to make your heart race and jack you up, whether it's carbonated or not.

If they do another run of it you need to get some Skooma

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/64767/skooma-absinthe

Oh nice! I missed that. Thanks for the link. That would have been fun to try.

Syldras

fizl101 wrote: »

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/64767/skooma-absinthe

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Merchandise:Skooma_Absinthe

"Official description: No liquid has such a dark and rebellious history as does Absinthe. It's the only legal liquid close to Tamriel's narcotic drink Skooma. Unlike the fabled green version, we wanted to explore the history and the little-known Rouge Absinthe. This 18th-century recipe once enjoyed by royalty disappeared until now."

What a marketing drivel...

I_killed_Vivec

I alternated cider and absinthe* on New Year's Eve 1999. No hallucinations but everything was distinctly sparkly.

But I'm afraid I was very, very drunk at the time

* Proper absinthe too, 70%abv, bought special for the event. None of the commercial stuff you get at 40%.

Syldras

I_killed_Vivec wrote: »

Proper absinthe too, 70%abv, bought special for the event. None of the commercial stuff you get at 40%.

They don't have to be strong to be good. There are traditional distilleries like Lemercier Frères from Fougerolles, France, who produce high quality "lighter" absinthes around 45% (although you're right that traditionally, it had been around 70%, which makes sense considering the expected dilution).

And of course, tastes differ. There are even absinthes without anise nowadays, although personally, I don't care for them. It's exactly the bitter + herbal + licorice thing that I like about absinthe.

Which makes it even funnier, btw, that the "Skooma" merchandice absinthe certainly doesn't taste like skooma (according to lore: sugar + deadly nightshade) at all. There's real world mandrake liqueur (mandrake should probably taste similar to deadly nightshade), a traditional (and of course legal) product from Spain:
https://nightowlexpress.hk/cdn/shop/products/111319-liqueur-baztan-navarra-mandr_gora-ordoki-100cl-800x1200_1024x1024.jpg
And it's horribly fruity and sweet. That's how I would imagine Skooma. Nothing like the herbal, sometimes slightly sharp, bitterness of absinthe.

Danikat

IMO Absinthe is often over-rated. It's a decent spirit, if you like the aniseed flavour (I do), but some people act like it's this special near-mythical drink that's way beyond anything other alcoholic drinks, or even some drugs, can do and it's not. It's just another spirit. A strong one yes (unless you buy the terrible versions) but still just a spirit.

Personally I prefer Sambucca, it's also aniseed flavoured but slightly sweeter than Absinthe usually is and also cheaper and easier to prepare.

BTW people used to think any alcohol could make you hallucinate. Famously shown in the original, animated, version of Dumbo where drinking a bucket of water with about 1/2 a bottle of champagne in it makes Dumbo hallucinate pink elephants. It's now thought that any hallucinations were either part of delirium tremens (which is actually alcohol withdrawl) or simply drunk people talking nonsense so other people around them assumed they were hallucinating.

Syldras

Danikat wrote: »

Personally I prefer Sambucca, it's also aniseed flavoured but slightly sweeter than Absinthe usually is and also cheaper and easier to prepare.

Too sweet for me, personally. And I do like the preparation of absinthe. I find it relaxing, just like brewing tea or even having a real tea ceremony (although that indeed is time consuming, so it's more for special occasions).

I wonder when that whole mystification started, btw. There was originally nothing mystical or "dark" about absinthe, after all. It was a late afternoon drink, people drank it in cafés.

Danikat wrote: »

BTW people used to think any alcohol could make you hallucinate. Famously shown in the original, animated, version of Dumbo where drinking a bucket of water with about 1/2 a bottle of champagne in it makes Dumbo hallucinate pink elephants.

It's interesting actually. In my language, people talk about "seeing white mice".