Nope. It was called the green fairy because of its green color. It also seems like the reputed hallucinogenic effects of absinthe are probably more myth than fact. My experience with absinthe is that it provided a very alert state of drunkeness, i.e. I was very uninhibited, but also very clear headed.

Absinthe is a strong liqueur distilled with herbs like anise, licorice, hyssop, veronica, fennel, lemon balm, angelica and wormwood. The resulting liquor has an extremely high alcohol content. It’s traditionally served with ice water and a cube of sugar to help take the bitter edge from the Absinthe and turn the liquid milky greenish-white. In France Absinthe is known as “La Fée Verte“, or The Green Fairy, which is a reference to its often dazzling green colour which varies depending on the brand. The color comes from the chlorophyll content of the herbs used in the distillation process. Wormwood, thought to be the “active” ingredient, had been used medicinally since the Middle Ages. Although considered a lethal poison if taken in high doses, by the end of the 18th century people were using small amounts to get high despite its extreme bitter taste. A Frenchman, Dr Ordinaire, mixed the Wormwood with other herbs and alcohol into a liqueur with a licorice flavour and Absinthe was born. Absinthe quickly found popularity with the Bohemian and Artisian set in Paris and New Orleans, but by the turn of the century many heavy drinkers had developed “Absinthism” – a form of alcoholism with a tendancy towards madness and suicide. Absinthe became seen as a toxic drug and so was outlawed in the Western World. It is now considered the ban had more to do with the market being flooded with cheap, poor quality and toxic Absinthe with high levels of Wormwood. Another well known alcohol, Vermouth, the prime ingredient in Martinis, gets its name from Wormwood, but the concentrations we’re talking about here are tiny enough to ensure no hallucinatory tomfoolery. When properly distilled Absinthe has some secondary effects over and above the alcoholic effect, which at more than 60% proof can be significant itself. The combination of herbs, rather than the Wormwood alone, is what gives one a heightened clarity of mind, a warming effect and buzzing feeling. Whilst Absinthe is a highly potent liqueur, not all Absintheurs (lovers of the spirit of the green fairy) cut off their ears like Vincent Van Gogh. The liqueur has been the rig du jour of many celebrated artists and writers like Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Manet and Earnest Hemmingway who wrote For Whom The Bell Tolls under the green fairy’s influence. http://www.freshread.com/archives/2005/04/

It is probable that a herbal amalgam of anise, fennel and wormwood are responsible for the "Green Fairy" effect. Both anise and fennel contain anthenole ,the chemical precursor for paramethoxyamphetamine, and wormwood is a rich source of thujone. Thujone's effect on the brain's GABA receptors is reported to cause a form of chemical short circuit. (www.sciencenews.org/articles/20000401/fob4.asp) The controversy is particularly strong in relation to Czech absinth, which is high in thujone, due to the steeping process used. http://czechabsinthe.wordpress.com/2007/04/03/thujone-in-absinthe/ The European Union currently regulates thujone levels in absinthe. Thujone is the reason that absinthe is banned in the United States of America - products sold there contain no wormwood.

No faries

Only if mixed with "Creme de Menthe"..lol

yeah and blue elephants! LOL!!!

Definitely!

no, no fairies. but if you drink le tourment vert absinthe, it tastes like winterfresh gum...whcih is bomb.

It does if your Ewan McGregor and the others from the opera you're helping write.

No ith.