Absinthe Huffing Ritual: Why to avoid it

Absinthe Huffing Ritual

Source: Shutterstock / Magnago

Absinthe Huffing Ritual: Most important facts

  • Traditionally, you prepare Absinthe with ice-cold water and a sugar cube, no fire.
  • A modern preparation ritual is the Absinthe Huffing Ritual, where you burn and inhale the vapors of flaming Absinthe.

Absinthe: Highly flammable

Today, we want to give you some more insights into existing Absinthe rituals. The traditional and recommended way of drinking Absinthe is to prepare it with ice-cold water and a sugar cube. This French way of drinking Absinthe is as well what we recommend. But other (modern) drinking rituals exist as well. Some of them include the use of fire, which is dangerous, because Absinthe is highly flammable. It has traditionally 68% alcohol by volume (136 proof).

The most popular one is the Absinthe fire ritual with a sugar cube and spoon, also known as the Czech ritual. It serves as a testament to the enduring allure of Absinthe and its intoxicating mystique. A similar dangerous ritual is the Absinthe Huffing Ritual. To state it upfront, we do not support this way of preparing Absinthe. The sole intent of this post is an educational purpose. If you want to know, why lighting Absinthe is stupid, please read our blog post about Flaming Absinthe.

Absinthe Huffing Ritual: How it works and why we do not like it

For this ritual, a small shot glass is needed. It has to be smaller than the paw of your hand in order for this method to work. You fill the glass with Absinthe and light it up. Now you need to put the glass upwards to your hand, which will extinguish the flame and make the glass stick to your hand (a vacuum is created). Then you take the shot glass off your hand, inhale the vapors and finally shoot the drink. Check out the following video, it shows the Czech Absinthe Huffing Ritual.

Why people sniff Absinthe

Partaking in the Absinthe Huffing Ritual is primarily about the effects of the spirit. It is believed to be enhanced through huffing or sniffing. People describe a rush of intoxication. It can induce a state of heightened awareness and creativity in some individuals. The ritualistic nature of the Absinthe Huffing Ritual further amplifies these effects, fostering a sense of ritualistic communion with the spirit.

Again, we want to highlight, that we do NOT recommend this way of preparing your Absinthe. One point is the fact that we don’t like to use fire with Absinthe at all. The other point is, that this ritual promotes the drug like character of the Green Fairy. But Absinthe is not a hallucinogenic drug. It is a spirit of history with a rich culture that should be appreciated.

What do you think of the Absinthe Huffing Ritual? Tell us in the comments down below or on our Facebook page.

Much Love,

Nico from the ALANDIA Team

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