268085 Tue Apr 11 14:52:23 -0700 2006 6 26 International 0 1412820 I have a friend going to London and a few of the major cities in Italy. Is there any chance of her easily finding me some Absinthe to bring back to the US? I don't want to make her go out of her way, but thought it would be a very interesting thing to have. She keeps asking what I want, and coffee/wine seems so boring. If the answer is yes, what are the best brands and approximate cost for your average bottle? What is an average bottle, 750ml? TIA! Tue Apr 11 14:52:23 -0700 2006 0 nooodles 1 1412824 It may surprise some people, but Absinthe has never been illegal in Englsnd. I would suspect, with the current interest in the stuff, that it is available somewhere in London, although I have no hard evidence. Tue Apr 11 16:16:01 -0700 2006 1412820 0 Maurice Naughton 2 1412828 It's available in Italy. I saw it in my local alcohol/dry goods store in Bologna when I was living there. Can't recommend brands/prices, etc. Enjoy your trip. Tue Apr 11 16:43:24 -0700 2006 1412824 0 Gooseberry 3 1412881 Absinthe is readily available in London. I have purchased it a couple of times in Harrods and they have different sizes (they have some smaller sampling sizes). It is not inexpensive, but I cannot recall the cost. It is not legal in the U.S. They won't lock you up if they discover it in your bags when returning to the U.S., but they could confiscate it. Fri Apr 14 09:56:06 -0700 2006 1412828 0 vlfrance 1 1412839 Absinthe is sold in London at the following clubs: Pharmacy, Met and Detroit. Tue Apr 11 23:52:43 -0700 2006 1412820 0 scott 1 1412846 A good friend of mine from Czech Republic brought me a bottle this week. The brand is King of Spirits and it has a picture of Van Gogh on the bottle. A 750 ml bottle was 1500 Czech crowns or about $65 U.S. This bottle contains 10 mg of thujon per kg (the psychoactive ingredient) as opposed to the Gold version which contains 10 times the amount of thujon. On-line, the product goes for $200 US including freight. Not sure if you can find this outside of CZ but should be worth a try. Wed Apr 12 11:24:55 -0700 2006 1412820 0 Capecodguy 1 1412861 For those absinthe lovers, see The New Yorker, March 13 edition. There's a long article about a chemist at the Combier distillery in Saumur who is trying to reverse-engineer absinthe, precisely as it was made a hundred years ago. Wed Apr 12 19:27:41 -0700 2006 1412820 0 bjrocky