Party In The New Year With Absinthe

Well this is a way to ring in the new year. Smoking is banned in most public places around Illinois but a certain alchoholic beverage is now legal to drink in Illinois. Why don't we take a look at this story from Channel 2...

It's an excotic drink that reportedly drove some great artists insane -- and now it's legal in Chicago. As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, absinthe is an alcoholic beverage that packs a legendary punch.

Absinthe – the strange, fiery drink favored by Vincent Van Gogh and Edgar Allan Poe, the liquid said by some to bring on visions is now legal in this country. That's good news for Sam's Liquor stores in Chicago this season and it's selling very well.

"As Americans, we don't like to be denied things and now this is one of the things we now have available to us," said Sam's spirits director David Soto.

Distilled from Wormwood, this suddenly legal absinthe is a little less potent than its European cousin, but it still packs a 62 percent alcohol wallop.

The drink, which creates bizarre green clouds when missed with sugar and water, may still be the stuff dreams are made of. Some Michigan students plan to ring in the New Year with it.

"We've heard stories about absinthe, the gren fairy, all that stuff," said Student Chad Sutton. "Thought we'd try it."

Few bars are serving it yet, but Connoisseur, on the near West Side is planning to.

"We aim to bring it in and pour specialty cocktails from our martini cart using sugar cubes and all fruits and herbs," said Connoisseur employee Juliana Angel.

This beverage was banned in the United States since 1912.

Now don't get on a rampage about banning absinthe on the account of some artists who have suffered from its effects. Especially Vincent Van Gogh who may have already had his issues before I took a drink. From Wikipedia...

Though it was vilified, no evidence shows it to be any more dangerous or psychoactive than ordinary alcohol. A modern absinthe revival began in the 1990s, as countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale. As of August 2007 over 100 brands in a dozen countries are produced.