Absinthe Thujone: Active ingredient and myths

Absinthe Thujone: Key takeaways

• Real absinthe contains thujone.
• The active ingredient thujone is found in the leaves of the wormwood plant.
• Thujone is toxic in high amounts, but you won't consume that much with a few glasses of absinthe.
• Back then, i.e., 100 years ago, absinthe did not contain more thujone than it does today.

Absinthe with Thujone: The most common myths

Today's topic of our blog post is frequently and sometimes very emotionally discussed in the absinthe community. We also continue to receive inquiries from customers asking which absinthe has the highest thujone content. So far, we have not gone into detail about the facts and myths surrounding absinthe & thujone. We would like to change that now to clear up misunderstandings. It is often claimed that absinthe was banned because it is harmful to health and that drinking absinthe drives people mad. It is argued that the active ingredient "thujone" is responsible for this. Furthermore, one often hears that absinthe from back then contained more thujone than the absinthe that can be bought today. It is also said that in the Czech Republic, you can still buy real absinthe with over 100 mg of thujone content. So, what's true about all these claims surrounding absinthe & thujone?

Thujone: What it really is

The active ingredient thujone gets its name from its presence in the Thuja tree, which is a cypress plant also known as the "tree of life." However, thujone can also be found in many other plants, for example, in white cedar wood, and also in many herbs that you find in your daily life in the kitchen. These herbs include oregano, sage, some juniper species, and of course, wormwood. A distinction is made between alpha and beta thujone. When referring to thujone content, it means the sum of α and β thujone.

Absinthe Thujone: What's true about the myth?

Thujone as a compound was only discovered after absinthe became popular in the mid-19th century. Dr. Valentin Magnan, who researched alcoholism as a disease, conducted tests with pure wormwood oil to prove absinthe as a harmful drink. For this purpose, he administered the oil to small animals (especially rats) to study the effect of the thujone contained in the oil. His experimental results gained great notoriety and ultimately led to the prohibition of absinthe. In his experiments, he had found that thujone could cause strokes. This danger occurred independently of alcohol. Based on this, he deduced that drinking absinthe was more dangerous due to the wormwood oil it contained than consuming other alcohol.

Absinthe is not always "Absinthe"

Just because absinthe contains wormwood oil does not mean that the drink is as dangerous as Dr. Magnan wanted people to believe. In his experiments, the scientist used pure wormwood oil, which he injected into rats. In his reports on the experimental results, he always spoke of "Absinthe". In French, however, "Absinthe" is also the term for the wormwood plant (artemisia absinthium). This created a (deliberately orchestrated?) misunderstanding. For Dr. Magnan referred to the absinthe plant (artemisia absinthium) in his wormwood oil experiments, but in the communication of the results, the drink (Absinthe) was equated with the plant artemisia absinthium. This is a gross error, because the drink "Absinthe" contains only between 10 - 35 mg of thujone per liter, which is a very small amount. Pure wormwood oil of the artemisia absinthium plant, on the other hand, contains many times more.

One can therefore say that even if absinthe contained 100 mg of thujone or more, one would not consume the same amount of thujone as in the experiments. In the experiments, pure wormwood oil was used, which is why the administered amount of thujone was in grams and not milligrams. In addition, the experiments were conducted on rats and not humans. Humans have a different metabolism than rats and are, of course, many times larger. The results were therefore by no means valid!

Absinthe Hallucinations? Dr. Magnan's thujone experiments

In addition to his animal experiments, Magnan also studied 250 alcoholics and found that those who drank absinthe experienced hallucinations. With today's knowledge of the drink, it can be said with certainty that these observations could not have been true and are due to clear ignorance. It is possible that the subjects actually suffered from delusions, but these are not to be equated with psychedelic hallucinations and are probably more attributable to the effects of alcoholism than to the active ingredient "thujone" in absinthe.

Furthermore, it is important to mention that Magnan was a staunch prohibitionist and advocated for the ban on alcohol. With his experiments, he wanted to prove that alcohol, and absinthe in particular, degenerated the French people. We can therefore assume that he hoped for, or even brought about, a certain result from his experiments and observations.

Modern research findings on thujone

After absinthe was banned, things quieted down around the spirit and its controversial active ingredient. However, in the 1970s, a British science magazine published an article comparing the molecular composition of thujone with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive substance in cannabis. The scientists found a molecular similarity and hypothesized that thujone could affect the brain to the same extent as THC. This hypothesis was not further verified, but it led to the persistent myth that thujone is a cannabinoid. The hypothesis about the connection between the effects of thujone and THC was refuted by later studies, but the original British article had created another misunderstanding...

Refuting the Thujone myth through scientific tests

In 2008, an article titled "Chemical Composition of Vintage Preban Absinthe with Special Reference to Thujone, Fenchone, Pinocamphone, Methanol, Copper, and Antimony Concentrations" appeared in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry." The study's goal was to investigate whether old absinthes actually contained more thujone than current varieties (i.e., more than 35 mg/l).

Thirteen samples of genuine absinthe from the pre-ban era (i.e., before 1915) were analyzed for parameters believed to contribute to the spirit's toxicity, including naturally occurring herbal essences (thujone, pinocamphone, fenchone), methanol, higher alcohols, copper, and antimony. The total thujone content of pre-ban absinthe ranged from 0.5 to 48.3 mg/L, with an average concentration of 25.4 (20.3 mg/L and a median value of 33.3 mg/L).

The authors conclude that the thujone concentration of pre-ban absinthe has been overestimated in the past. Analysis of post-ban (1915-1988) and modern commercial absinthes (2003-2006) showed that the thujone ranges of all absinthes are quite similar, refuting the assumption that there is a fundamental difference between pre-ban and modern absinthes produced according to historical recipes. Analyses of pinocamphone, fenchone, basic spirits, copper, and antimony were unremarkable. All in all, nothing was found in the absinthes except ethanol that could explain the "absinthism" syndrome.

Does thujone degrade over time?

In 2009, further study results were published. It concerned the half-life of thujone, i.e., the hypothesis that the thujone content might have degraded over the years was to be investigated. The article was titled "Long-Term Stability of Thujone, Fenchone, and Pinocamphone in Vintage Preban Absinthe." For the study, absinthes were irradiated with ultraviolet light for up to 200 hours. Absinthe stored in traditional green glass bottles and irradiated showed an unchanged composition. In samples stored in clear glass, the thujone content decreased by 18%, and discoloration occurred simultaneously.

These experiments point to the stability of thujone in old absinthes, as they were stored in green glass bottles. The preserved color of the examined pre-ban absinthes indicates that no significant light exposure occurred during the entire storage period, and thus is indirect evidence that no loss of terpenes occurred. The stability of absinthe was also proven by re-analyzing samples from 2001-2005, which showed no changes in thujone content until 2008. These study results support the results from the investigation in 2008. The evaluation of pre-ban absinthes with thujone contents from 0.5 to 48.3 mg/L was therefore valid. A significant loss of thujone over time cannot be assumed.

Is Thujone (and Absinthe) toxic or not?

Thujone, as previously noted, can be toxic in very high doses. But we emphasize here, the dose is crucial! One must consume a lot of thujone to experience this effect. For example, drinking liters of pure wormwood oil. This is not comparable to enjoying one or even several glasses of absinthe. Consuming too much sugar-free chewing gum can also cause diarrhea. But that doesn't mean most people have ever experienced this phenomenon. To put it simply: The drink absinthe is not toxic! However, we want to emphasize that absinthe should be consumed with caution due to its high alcohol content. Therefore, like any other high-proof alcohol, it should be enjoyed with care.

This is the effect of Absinthe with thujone

Now that we've written so much about what absinthe does not do, one might rightly ask what actually happens when drinking absinthe? We would like to answer this with two quotes first:

"A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world. What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?"
Oscar Wilde

“After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world."
Oscar Wilde

Absinthe thus acts differently from other spirits. After the first few glasses, mental and physical activation can set in. Some people report a more conscious perception of their surroundings; they feel the urge to converse and discuss things. Creativity can be stimulated, and one wants to live it out, however it manifests. People report being inspired by the drink for making music, writing, or painting. We personally feel the urge to do something. Simply remaining in the current status quo is perceived as unsatisfactory. In this sense, 1-2 glasses of absinthe with friends are a good start for a convivial and active evening. If you drink more than 3 glasses, the effect of the alcohol can overshadow the described experiences. You simply get drunk, with all its known (negative) effects.

If you want to try the effect of thujone, you can, for example, order the herbal bitter Thujon 33. With 40% alcohol, the small bottle has a deliberately lower alcohol content than traditional absinthe and a maximum thujone content of 33 mg thujone per liter.

More information about the effects of Absinthe...

If you would like to learn more about the effects of absinthe, we recommend our other information page: Absinthe Effect. There you will also find information about which absinthes we recommend for purchase if you are interested in the highest possible thujone content. We would like to thank you for your attention to absinthe & thujone and hope that our article has shed some light on the subject!

Green greetings from the world of absinthe,

Your ALANDIA Team