Absinthe

When I was in law school one of my friends had a copy of this book (pictured--I'm pretty sure it was this one, anyway), which I read and enjoyed very much. Absinthe was a wormwood-based liquor which was banned in the US around the turn of the last century; its effects were reportedly more than alcoholic. Oscar Wilde "described the effects of absinthe as occurring in three stages, the first stage an ordinary alcoholic effect, the second engendering ‘monstrous and cruel things’, and the third stage engendering ‘wonderful and curious things.’"(Link).

This Wired article is about a New Orleans based scientist who has managed to figure out how to distill absinthe once again. The article is well-written and contains this important observation:

Americans drink to get drunk," observes Breaux (the scientist/distiller). "Whereas in France, getting drunk is just a consequence of sampling too much wine you really like."