[Sca-cooks] Re: Wormwood

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

>>>The important phrase here is "in sufficient quantities"...you
are far more likely to get alcohol poisoning than to fully
appreciate the chemical value!

Au contraire.   I have made absinthe from as old a recipe
as I could find (about 1730) and played with it somewhat
including a high concentraction of angelica and wormwood
steeped for many months in PGA.  I hate it, but several folks
have tried it and liked it who normally consume PGA based
"punch" at events.  They were of the opinion that it was much
more potent than straight PGA.  While this is scarcely a valid
test, Scientific American in 1984 (I think) had a lengthy article
and pronounced it a very potent hallucinogenic drug and
extemely addictive. They provided extensive chemical analysis
of the way the drug works.  The amount necessary for addiction
was realatively small and was quite dangerous in producing
severe and permanent neurological damage.

Akim Yaroslavich
No glory comes without pain"