It is a cheap artifically coloured cold oil mix. It has no anise content and therefore no licorice flavour. Anise is the oil that creates the majority of the louche. It is not distilled.
To make real absinthe a bunch of herbs including grande wormwood, anise, fennel (and others) are macerated and then distilled.
Alcohol is a GABA
agonist. It stimulates the production of this neurotransmitter which causes drowsiness and sleep. Thujone is a GABA
antagonist. It prohibits alcohol from performing that part of it's function. Absinthe is therefore a type of 'speedball', it's chemical constituents at once promote the production of GABA and opens its receptors, while also closing those receptors off. This explains the 'green fairy' effect that absinthe has, as oppossed to just normal drunkenness.
Thujone is a naturally occuring terpeme in grande wormwood and I am sorry to say is prohibited by the FDA. Alcoholic beverages must be thujone-free pursuant to 21 CFR 172.510. In Europe the thujone levels are >35mg and sometimes even 100mg like
Century Absinthe. The high thujone natural artisnal absinthes are very expensive though.
Good brands are
Century Absinthe - 100mg thujone
Roquette 1797 - >30mg thujone (spicey)
Kubler (Euro release only) - a blanche (white) absinthe
The blanche is an absinthe that has not been subject to secondary maceration post distillation. It is not green, but clear.
As I already said absinthe is a kind of concentrate and should be enjoyed at a ratio of 1:4 or 1:5. This allows the drinker to enjoy the unique effect and also the herbal flavours which are held in suspesnion in the alcohol. Absinthe began life as a curative elixir and the alcohol was only a means of delivering and preserving the curative powers of the herbs.