DOSE:	7 glasses	oral	Alcohol
			Wormwood	(extract)
	1	smoked	Tobacco - Cigarettes

BODY WEIGHT:

240 lb

This experience was VERY similar to Absinthe, which I drank in Edinburgh, Scotland two years ago. I had found a recipe online for a vermouth recipe. Vermouth is commonly used in Manhattens and Martinis. It is a fortified aperitif wine. The trick is to soak herbs in a standard wine and to add some higher-proof alcohol to the wine.

I bought a bottle of 2-buck chuck Chardonnay and started adding some herbs. I found that it is easier to add liquid herbal extracts instead of straining the mix. I added about 3 medicine droppers full of liquid wormwood Artemisia Absinthium, 3 medicine droppers full of liquid wormwood Artemisia annuam, 3 dashes of bitter orange extract, 3 dashes of fee brothers old-fashioned bitters (Contains Gentian root, cloves, cinnamon, and other flavours), and some cloves and sage, which I later filtered. I then added about 4 ounces of Black rum to fortify the mixture. I let this sit for a couple weeks, then I strained it.

The point of this long process was to mask the normally wretched flavour of the wormwood. It worked. I ended up with a sweet, pleasant, white wine vermouth.

I proceeded to drink about seven manhattens on the rocks. I mixed them about half and half using my new vermouth and Kentucky Tavern Bourbon. I went outside for a cigarette and realized the trees were moving without wind. I decided in that moment that I was VERY glad to be alive. The sounds of the birds were intoxicating. I went back inside, and I closed my eyes. I found the sound of the television to be so artificial and scripted. It sounded inorganic and manufactured. I decided to listen to some Cocteau Twins and shut the lights off. The music was so clear and so beautiful.

I don't want my description to sound too euphoric, but I was experiencing the transcending effects of about 14 drinks without losing any control of thoughts or motor skills. It was literally hapiness in a bottle, and I couldn't taste the wormwood. I also woke with little or no hangover effects.

Exp Year: 2005	ExpID: 43519
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Sep 23, 2005	Views: 16,305
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Wormwood (50) : Combinations (3), Alone (16)