The main ingredient in absinthe is high proof grain alcohol. Generally traditional use dictated nothing weaker than 100 proof clear grain. Jack the ripper did NOT drink absinthe before killing his victims. The johnny depp movie was ficticious. The real jack the ripper was a fairly renowned artist (in his later years) named william siekert, he was a German born Englishman with mutilated genitalia due to two childhood surgeries to correct fissures in his penis....he penetrated his victims with his knife rather than his member. Read Patricia Cornwall's book "Portriat of a Killer"...they just recently "solved" the mystery thanks in part to her findings. But back to the subject. Absinthe is still today wrapped up in controversy regarding its psychoactivity. Most traditional absinthe tinctures had such high alcohol contents that their users would die from alcohol poisoning before feeling the effects of thujone (the active substance [and yes, a neurotoxin at large levels] found in the Wormwood plant)... Thujone has been shown to have a pyschoactivity in doses ironically just below its LD50.. which means to trip even half decently on thujone you'd have to be prepared to poison your body quite a lot. Other main ingredients varied and depended on the maker's tastes, but most varieties included varying levels of anise seed for flavoring (what's used..or used to be used...to flavor black licorice). I grow my own wormwood plants and have made several varieties of absinthe over the years. I've also pourchased "real" absinthe overseas..and no, absinthe isn't completely illegal in the US, true, its a felony to manufacture it within the borders, but it can easily be ordered from websites throughout the world which will gladly ship within the US ...just be prepared to pay out your asshole for weak, green food coloring ladened vodka..because thats all they make these days in europe, or anywhere for that matter...no company besides a handful of private coops makes any absinthe better than half decent. to be put simply..its overrated...people who don't understand it and its effects would easily be moved to convince themselves they were tripping...but they dont seem to understand that its a very common and easy occurance to have a psychosomatic "placebo" type effect with a substance like this, especially since to get to that point trhey've had to ingest copious amounts of high grade alcohol. If you get absinthe, keep in mind that it isn't a shot that you just jigger down...you're supposed to use an absinthe spoon (small teaspoon with holes or teeth). dip the spoon in water, then dip the spoon in granulated sugar...now pour the absinthe over this spoon into a shot glass and if its half decent, the thujone will oxidise and turn the absinthe into a milky white color..NOT green...some prefer repeating this method twice, once with absinthe poured over the spoon, then again with a half or quarter amount of water poured over to put a damper on the bite of the wormwood... to sum things up..unless you have access to decent cuttings of a wormwood plant, or have a friend who wants to give you free absinthe, i suggest you screw paying double, triple, and upwards for grain alcohol that has nothing more than some poor quality, dried old herbs with food coloring...