>USA absinthe is nothing like the real thing - it is more like drinking Pernod. In Switzerland, where Absinthe originates, the thujone level is 100x (?) what you get in the u.s.
Sorry, but this is not close to being correct. Thujone is largely left behind by the distillation process as it's a heavy compound. Tests of decades-old pre-ban absinthes gave the same results. Modern tests by GC-MS (required by the Feds for US absinthe approval) prove the same thing. The idea of heavy thujone content is largely a marketing tactic, used to hype some Euro absinthes. The quality of US absinthes is very high. There are some one hundred of them distilled in the USA, and many are based on traditional French recipes from the 1800s.
Sorry, but this is not close to being correct. Thujone is largely left behind by the distillation process as it's a heavy compound. Tests of decades-old pre-ban absinthes gave the same results. Modern tests by GC-MS (required by the Feds for US absinthe approval) prove the same thing. The idea of heavy thujone content is largely a marketing tactic, used to hype some Euro absinthes. The quality of US absinthes is very high. There are some one hundred of them distilled in the USA, and many are based on traditional French recipes from the 1800s.
Source: I distill absinthe.
List of USA absinthes: http://realabsinthe.blogspot.com/2008/07/list-of-absinthes-a...
TTB Circular regarding absinthe: http://www.ttb.gov/industry_circulars/archives/2007/07-05.ht...