Any absinthe drinkers out there?

Had some in Greece once. ONCE. Got a little , then felt a little !

I only had absinthe once, in a very shady basement pub when I visited Prague. I had some very disturbing daydreams involving David Caruso and decided that perhaps absinthe was not for me.

...that's just the best thing ever.

Total ABSINTHEnce woul probably be best if David Caruso shows up in your dreams....

never tried it, but I'd love to have an absinthe kit. maybe get around to trying some if it ever becomes legal.

I bought some when we lived in Ga. I had to try it because when I was in my early 20s my parents had a liquor store (which I wound up taking over),and I remember asking about it. My mother said that because it was made from Worm Wood it was bad to drink,not to mention Illegal in Ct. It was a pretty good drink, though, I wouldn't want to drink it every day. And I did my best to slowley pour cold water over a cube of sugar to try and get it as close to the original method. The good news is ....i'm still alive.

Have 3 bottles of Absinthe I picked up in Europe over the years; have imbibed maybe a fourth of one bottle, using the classical method of pouring over a sugar cube. Not to my taste to be honest. Will stick with Scotch Whisky, Bourbons........................and Drambuie after a meal with a pipe.

Sambuca, yes. Absinthe, NO. They don't call it the Green Fairy for nothing.

Sambuca with an ice cold German lager is one of my top 3 combos. However I find that combo does not pair well with a bowl of tobac in my opinion. Old Ab got me one time while in Europe. The Greeen Fairy hit me like a Mack truck. Never again. Same thing with Turkish Raki. On the outside it could be compared to Sambuca, then the industrial kerosine aftertaste kicks in.
is the Absinthe currently available in the US close to the original?

Wayde's question is a bit challenging, but here's my stab at it. Since 2007, absinthe products in the US may legally contain grande wormwood. The species used must have minimal thujone content, on the same level as the EU restrictions. There are also certain other restrictions, a little petty in my opinion, mostly involving naming and art.

In terms of "original" absinthe, it's hard to say, because there were so many individual products that spanned the spectrum from high-quality to downright adulterated. I am skeptical that thujone levels, even in 19th century absinthe, would be sufficient to create any psychoactive effects, and I'm not aware of any significant flavoring effect that such a small quantity of thujone possesses, so I would posit that a bottle of US absinthe would be comparable to a fine or demi-fine Swiss or French absinthe from a century ago. Also, since the restrictions are comparable to the EU's, it's easy enough to get imported absinthe. I just bought of a bottle of Lucid from France at the local state-run liquor store a few days ago, for example.