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High Thujone Absinthe


EthnoDan

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Hi all,

does anyone have any recipes they would like to share on how to make a high thujone absinthe as i am looking to make my own after i harvest. 


Highest thujone content possible is the goal, taste is the second priority.


Thanks

 

Dan

Edited by EthnoDan
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I have been doing a bit of brewing over the last few months and although I am not attempting absinth my brews have been sage rosemary and wormwood based instead of hopped and I am liking the difference from hoppy beer.

Anyway, from a vague recollection in my head, I may be wrong but my memory tells me that sage has a much higher thujone content than wormwood, so if thujone content is the goal, maybe sage rather than wormwood as the base.

Wormwood is way bitter, it is very easy to overdo it and be left with something quite undrinkable, much harder to do with sage, it gets a sweet tang that is hard to drink but is easier to down than the too strong bitter wormwood that cuts the tongue down the middle.

 

Try using Sage for the thujone and the other ingredients to adjust for taste when you have the strength you like under control, is what I would advise, but try lots of different things if you have the space and time, you might discover something outside of your expectations that works for you, I have had lots of flops but some great ones too, and those are the ones we do it for!

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Absinthe is easy to make (and delicious). NOt sure why its not more popular here because it is refreshing on  a hot summers arvo.
If you wanted to up the thujone you could soak the wormwood in the neutral overnight before cutting it down to 50%

A lot of the stuff about absinthe is propaganda from the wine industry.  At some point in time France (Europe as well?) had a a pest that decimated their wine crops. At the same time french soldiers were getting a little bit of medicinal absinthe in their ration packs.  Returning soldiers didnt have any wine so they started drinking absinthe, as did a lot of other people.  After a while the vintners developed a strain of grapes immune to the disease but everyone like the absinthe better. The wine industry set about starting a smear campaign against absinthe. This is where many of the myths of absinthe come from.  After the ban another drink was created which is pretty similar, its called Pastis. Its still pretty popular in the south of France and amongst french kids who want to get drunk for cheap. 

This is a tried and true recipe:

5L neutral @ 50%
135g star anise
60g chopped wormwood
8.3g crushed fennel seeds
1 stick cinnamon
6 cracked cardamom pods
2 pinches of white and black pepper
1 nutmeg, cracked
8 cloves

Just chuck all these herbs in a little pot still, chuck 100ml of heads and then collect about 2.4L. My final alcohol content was 78%.

This is an absinthe bleu so its clear instead of green. To make it green you'd soak some melissa and petit wormwood for a day.

 

 

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On 11/04/2020 at 5:01 PM, EthnoDan said:

Highest thujone content possible is the goal

 

A. absinthium contains a volatile oil of variable composition, with alpha- and beta-thujone as the major component, up to about 35%; sesquiterpene lactones (artabasin, absinthin, anabsinthin); azulenes; flavonoids; phenolic acids; lignans. Thujone is a toxic constituent which shows hallucinogenic and addictive activity .... It stimulates the brain; safe in small doses, toxic in excess. The azulenes are anti-inflammatory. The sesquiterpene lactones exhibit an antitumour effect and are insecticidal and anthelmintic. Essential oil from leaves—antibacterial, antifungal. The oil is toxic at 10 ml.

 

Source: Indian Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated Dictionary (2007)

 

The same source does not give a toxicity warning (or specify thujone percentage) either for Salvia officinalis, or for any other listed Artemisia species. Among A. vulgaris specimens, thujone percentage varied with altitude at which plants were grown (lower altitude = greater proportion of thujone etc.; higher altitude = greater proportion of terpenes). 

 

A ton of published studies on thujone to be found here: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/alpha_beta-Thujone#section=General-Manufacturing-Information -- including reference to (draft) public statement on its use in herbal products  https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/public-statement/draft-public-statement-use-herbal-medicinal-products-containing-thujone_en.pdf

 

Edited by fyzygy
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Among Salvia spp., thujone content is affected by (1) genetics; (2) sunlight; (3) leaf age; (4) flowering stage; (5) seasonal variation.  
S. pomifera (apple-bearing or Crete sage) has the highest thujone content (see below)
Excerpts from Sage: The Genus Salvia (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Industrial Profiles) Edited by Spiridon E. Kintzios. Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000.

 

S. officinalis is considered to have the highest essential oil yield among Salvia species, along with a higher total ketone content and a lower total alcohol content (Ivanic and Savin 1976, Newall et al., 1996). The major components of the essential oil of S. officinalis are α- and ß-thujones (35–50%, mainly a-) … Kustrak (1988) identified the following constituents in the essential oil (1.55% yield) of S. officinalis ssp. minorf.auriculata: α-pinene (5.5%), camphene (6.4%), limonene (2.4%), 1, 8- cineole (7.3%), α-thujonene (35.3%), ß-thujonene (5.6%), camphor (18.1%), linalyl acetate (1.7%), borneol (1.7%) and α-terpineol (5.9%). In another subspecies, ssp. angustifolia, Pace and Piccaglia (1995) identified 34 components, with the most abundant being ß-pinene (7%), 1, 8-cineole (8%), α-thujone (39%), ß-thujone (3%), camphor (2%), α-humulene (12.5%) and globulol (2%). 

 

Extraction of individual leaves of S. officinalis showed a decrease in the α-thujone content, with a corresponding increase in the relative amount of camphor, related to leaf age. At Least two chemotypes of S. officinalis exist, one with a low α-thujone content (4–8%) and another with a relatively high content (16–32%) (Boelens and Boelens 1997). 

 

In studies carried out by YanLi et al. (1996) sage (Salvia officinalis) and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) plants were grown in a greenhouse under different shade cloths, or without shade, giving light levels of 15%, 27%, 45% and 100% of full sunlight. The total essential oil concentration in sage was highest (0.38% FW) in the plants grown at 45 % of full sunlight, and at this light level, the oil had a higher content of (+)-thujone and a decreased accumulation of camphor as compared with essential oils from sage grown at other light levels. [Cf. thyme, in which full sunlight yielded higher oil concentrations]

 

Oils from flowering and non-flowering accessions had different compositions, with significantly higher levels of thujones, ß-caryophyllene and viridiflorol determined in flowering accessions. 

The sum of monoterpenes showed their peak value in spring, whereas the sum of thujones (especially α-thujone) and camphor were lowest in spring and highest in autumn-summer. 

 

plants from north and south Dalmatia have a similar compositional character (27% thujone, 30–33% camphor), while plant populations from central Dalmatia differ much (47% thujone, and less than 14% camphor). It was stated, based on the results, that many of the morphological characteristics, and especially the essential oil composition are under genetic control. 

 

The total thujone content is always high in S. pomifera, more than 58.7% of the total oil, whereas the highest amount of camphor (38.1%) has been recorded in S. officinalis oils. It should be noted that a total thujone content higher than 60.0% in a sage oil is rather rare and has been encountered only in a few S. officinalis oils (Lawrence 1979– 1995 and references therein; Boelens and Boelens 1997 and references therein). 

 

Salvia pomifera “Cretan sage”

Salvia pomifera, the applebearing sage, has a very peculiar growth and is common on some of the Greek islands. It has firm, fleshy protuberances which are about 2 cm thick and swell out from the branches of the plant. They are produced in the same manner as oak apples by the puncture of an insect of the Cynips genus. These excrescences are semi-transparent like jelly and are called Sage Apples, which is the name by which they are sold in the market. They are candied with sugar and made into a kind of sweetmeat and conserve which is highly regarded by the Greeks as a delicacy (also said to possess healing and salutary qualities). It has an agreeable and astringent flavour. This plant is considerably larger than the common garden sage and it has a flavour and more powerful smell, which is a cross between lavender and sage. It grows very abundantly to the size of a small shrub in Candia (Crete) and Syros. The leaves are collected annually, dried and used medicinally as an infusion. The Greeks are particular as to the time and manner in which they are collected, the date being May 1, before sunrise. The infusion produces profuse perspiration, languor, and even faintness if used to excess. There is a smaller Greek salvia in Greece, the Salvia candica, which does not have excrescences. 

 

https://book4you.org/book/849531/4699db?dsource=recommend

 

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Edited by fyzygy
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According to Table 4 (see below), by far the highest thujone content was found in A. genipi, A. petrosa, and A. umbelliformus, with only traces to be found in most other Artemisia spp. This book includes warnings against neurotoxicity (I didn’t bother to rehash most of these warnings here). 

 

Excerpts from Artemisia, edited Colin W. Wright. Medicinal and Aromatic Plants – Industrial Profiles. (Taylor & Francis, 2002).

 

Since absinthe liqueurs are prepared from Oleum Absinthii [Oil of Wormwood?] they contain considerable quantities of thujone, which in large doses is toxic, and can lead to chronic poisoning. The biological action of some Artemisia oils has been directly experienced by humans. Thujone, a typical monoterpene of some Artemisia species, causes chronic poisoning so that preparations of the liqueur absinthe from root extracts of A. absinthium are banned in several countries (Wagner 1977). In this plant the total thujone content (a-+ b-thujone derivatives) may reach concentrations up to 60% of the total oil, and for those reasons several attempts have been done to select for low thujone A. absinthium chemotypes (Lawrence 1992) 

 

Shah, (1996) describes the genus Artemisia as one of the largest and most difficult taxa to understand under an ethnobotanical point of view. The medicinal use of Artemisia spp. was introduced into the Indian Himalayas by different cultural and ethnic groups who entered this region in the past coming from Mediterranean and Arabian regions. Artemisia nilagarica (C.B. Clarke) Pamp. (syn. A. vulgaris sensu H0ok.f.) is the most common species found in earlier Indian literature. It was used as a decoction and infusion for the relief of nervous and spasmodic afflictions by Himalayan people. The plant was used also for magical purposes; it was traditionally kept at front doors and under pillows to discourage evil spirits and ghosts, and the aerial parts were used in festivals for worshipping or offered to the local divinity (Shah 1996 and references therein). The essential oil is also finding its place in the indigenous perfumery industry. The use of Artemisia as incense has perhaps evolved in this region, and it is still used for this purpose by placing the immature leaves and inflorescences as dried material on burning charcoal in a special bowl. The preference of the immature plant parts over the mature ones is probably due to the higher content of thujone and 1,8-cineole, whose psychoactive properties could help people to forget severe cold conditions and the other hardships of the region (Shah and Thakur 1992).

 

Davanone is the main compound of A. thuscula collected in the Canary islands (Bellomaria et al., 1993), whereas b-thujone and chamazulene are the main constituents of A. arborescens essential oils of Italian origin (Biondi et al., 1993). 1,s- Cineole, terpinen-4-01 and camphor were the main components of A. vulgaris oil, whereas thujone was the main constituent of A. verlotiorum (Carnat et al., 1985). Limonene was found in high percentages in A. frigida, A. santolinifolia, A. adamsi and A. pamirica, whereas P-pinene was the main compound of A. macrocephala and A. sphaerocephala (Satar 1986). Artemisia afrd oil was characteristic because of the presence of the monoterpenes a- and b-thujone, followed by 1,8-cineole, camphor and a-pinene (Graven et al., 1992). 

 

The cluster analysis of essential oils from the data matrix of Table 4 allowed us to devise a first group of species composed of A. genipi, A. umbelliformis and A. petrosa, which were statistically linked because of the high percentage of a-thujone and the low b-thujone levels. 

 

Artemisia absinthium L., wormwood, is a very aromatic herbaceous plant, common in the Mediterranean area, in Europe, Asia and North Africa (Bruneton 1995). The crude drug, Herba Absinthii, consisting of the dried leaves and blooming tops of the plant, is imported from the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Hungary and Poland (Wichtl 1989). It has a characteristic, penetrant aromatic odour. Its taste is aromatic and intensely bitter. 

 

The principal medicinal use of wormwood is as a bitter tonic, diaphoretic, anthelmintic, antibacterial, antipyretic, emmenagogue and even schizonticide, but without clinical data to support this (Tyler 1993, 1994, Bruneton 1995). The plant is furthermore used to stimulate the appetite and to flavour some alcoholic beverages, including vermouth. The plant is also applied in perfume industry. The plant's essential oil and bitter principles underlie its medicinal and commercial significance. Essential oil contents between 0.2 and 1.5% in the crude drug have been reported in the literature (Wichtl 1989). The time of harvesting is very important for the quality of the drug (Steineggerand Hansel 1992).The maximal essential oil content is found just before blooming. More than 90 compounds have been identified in the oil (Nin et al., 1995). The essential oil mainly consists of the monoterpene ketones a- and b-thujone (= (-)-thujone and (+)-thujone, respectively) and the corresponding alcohol thujol (Fig. 1). These so-called "thujones" may comprise as much as 35% of the total oil (Bruneton 1995). Furthermore, trans-sabinyl acetate, cis-epoxycymeneand chrysanthenyl acetate can be abundant, depending of the origin of the plant material. 

 

The [A. absinthium?] essential oil, having a very strong odour and acrid taste, is described as neurotoxic due to the high thujone content (Miller et al., 1981) and its use is proscribed in most countries (Tyler et al., 1981). The structure of thujone (Fig. 2) has been compared to that of tetrahydrocannabinol (del Castillo et al., 1975) and it has been postulated that thujone and tetrahydrocannabinol interact with a common receptor in the central nervous system (Martindale, 1982). In addition, Tosi et al. (1991) have reported that A. absinthium may contain potentially toxic levels of photoactive di- and ter-thiophenes. 

 

https://book4you.org/book/837174/3e56a0?dsource=recommend

 

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Edited by fyzygy
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a long time ago, a farmer, heard my morning cough, and prepared me a salvia officinalis tea.

she used a lot of herb, and it produced some strange sensations. if i remember correctly, a feeling of being removed from, reality, bright dot's of light, and seeing the world more in sepia only.

it lasted for a few hours, and i would not repeat, this experience...

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On 12/02/2022 at 9:00 AM, withdrawl clinic said:

a long time ago, a farmer, heard my morning cough, and prepared me a salvia officinalis tea.

she used a lot of herb, and it produced some strange sensations. if i remember correctly, a feeling of being removed from, reality, bright dot's of light, and seeing the world more in sepia only.

it lasted for a few hours, and i would not repeat, this experience...

 

And did it fix your cough  ?

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