One who has ever heard of absinthe might have been impressed by the legend about the effects it produces. It is believed that absinthe differs from any other alcoholic drink due to the so-called ‘secondary effects’, which include hallucinations, irregular eyesight sensitivity to light and colors, euphoria and a feeling of lucid inebriation.

Many find the issue of absinthe ‘secondary effects’ the most controversial one, since there is little evidence, which moreover lacks credence. The effect produced by a good absinthe can vary from person to person, but it is usually no more extraordinary than from drinking any other hard liquor: the drinker gets into the state of the “buzz”, senses pointed clarity of mind and vision. This condition ceases within 20 to 30 minutes and many drinkers report that they don’t experience anything out of the ordinary at all, but the regular effects the alcohol has.

However, some of its most famous users – artists and bohemians – claim to have had unusually real visions and sensations. Oscar Wilde, for instance, depicts the feeling of walking through a field of tulips when leaving a bar. He also divided the absinthe drinking into three stages: the first one is exactly like drinking any regular alcohol, at the second one people start seeing horrible scary things, and if they presume to carry on drinking the third stage begins and they see whatever they would like to see, all kinds of beautiful desirable things.

The possibility of the ‘secondary effects’ occurrence is commonly explained by the poor quality of the ingredients used to make the drink as well as inappropriate conditions of production. It is known that in old times cheap absinthe manufacturers sometimes used poisonous chemicals such as copper sulfate and antimony chloride to fabricate the spirit, which could explain the drinkers’ mysterious dreams.