Important News For The Wormwood Society

[Gwydion Stone]

TL;DR Version:

• WS has done a lot in 12 years but we need to keep it up, because a lot of ignorance is still out there.
• New Task: teaching people that absinthe isn't a novelty, but is as legitimate as whisky and wine.
• We're adding Bar & Restaurant Absinthe Service Reviews, just like the absinthe reviews.
• Newsletter and integration of all WS online presence across all available social media. Discount codes for our CafePress store. Subscribe on our home page.
• Website material is being brought up to date; new materials will be added regularly.
• Absinthe Ambassador Certification Exam, primarily for working bartenders and servers, but open to anyone who takes absinthe personally and seriously.
• The Absinthe Festival hasn't been abandoned, just put on hold till we can do it right
• Legal Incorporation: we need to get seriously down to business, with 501( c )3.
• Membership and Fundraising, because none of this happens for free.
• Membership Subscriptions are back! Subscribe to help build WS, or buy a WS Logo t-shirt or hoodie here.

Long Version:

We're coming up on 12 years since WS was founded, and 9 years into absinthe's re-approval in the USA.
The hype, myths, and trendiness have subsided a bit, but reading current news items—not to mention their comments sections—will show that we still have work to do.

Over the last 12 years, the Wormwood Society has had a great deal of success in providing information that debunks the myths and falsehoods surrounding absinthe. Many more people are becoming aware of the true history and nature of absinthe, due in very large part to our—to your—efforts.

Still, the modern perception of absinthe as a novelty for the fringe consumer has been hard to erase.

The next phase of our mission should focus efforts on helping the public to take absinthe seriously as a spirits category, and for that we need a fresh and mainstream-friendly approach.

We need to not only teach people what absinthe culture was, but also show them what it might have become had it not been for the ninety-five-year interlude.

Some of the most brilliant and talented people connected with beverage alcohol still don't know how to think about, talk about, serve, or evaluate absinthe. Some avoid it altogether, creating a gap in their otherwise comprehensive knowledge.

We need to help the tastemakers and the movers and shakers in the Food & Beverage Industry to understand absinthe fully, and to take it as seriously as they take whisky and wine.

I've assembled a list of goals intended to address these and other needs. Some of them are things I've been wanting to do for a long time.

• A Monthly Newsletter
With general absinthe news coverage when it happens, WS-related news, new product reviews, and highlights of particularly interesting forum threads. You can sign up for it right here. (read below about why doing this right now is a good idea).

• Total Social Media Domination
Integrating all WS functions—newsletter, forums, FB page, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, wherever possible. (Pinterest won't allow integration with a FB Page yet, only with personal accounts)

• Site Materials Updates
I'll be re-writing and updating almost all of the older site material and adding new things written by myself and others on a regular basis. Writers, editors, and journalists with professional-level experience are certainly welcome to submit items. Bring your A-game when it comes to research, accuracy, and professionalism.

• Bar & Restaurant Absinthe Service Reviews
This is something I've wanted to do for years. The absinthe brand reviews have been an invaluable resource in guiding consumers' choices as well as giving producers valuable feedback. Now it's time to do the same for the venues, bartenders, and servers, by evaluating service and selection.

• Video Education Series
One small chunk at a time, addressing things like obscure and unexpected historical facts, types of absinthe, botanicals (types of wormwood, green anise vs. star anise) serving methods, field trips, and interviews.

• Absinthe Ambassador Certification Exam
Intended primarily for working bartenders and servers, but open to anyone who takes absinthe personally and seriously. We need more people doing real-world educational outreach and to represent us locally in an official capacity.

• The Absinthe Festival
Yes, this will happen at some point, coupled with an annual Absinthe Awards program.

• Legal Incorporation
Incorporating as a non-profit educational organization, followed by 501( c )3 application and bank account. Legally, we are currently an "Unincorporated Non-Profit Association" and only have a PayPal account.

• Membership and Fundraising Drives
The progress I'm proposing will cost actual money. WS has historically had a dubious relationship with commercialism, but we need to make the shift to professionalism if we expect to make a further impact on what is essentially a commercial world: that of the beverage alcohol industry.

With the recent site upgrade, recurring subscription options have returned. You can choose to support WS via monthly subscriptions here,
or show your absinthe cred by sporting a WS Logo t-shirt or hoodie. We'll be offering discount codes on WS gear from our CafePress store exclusively to newsletter subscribers. A limited-time discount code on all merchandise will be included in the first newsletter, hopefully out next month. After that, every month will include a code for a new deep-discounted item.

Stay informed! Go to the tab above to subscribe to the newsletter. Be an active participant in the Absinthe Renaissance, already in progress.

Cheers!
~ Gwydion

[Derrick]

You are amazing...keep up the great work!

[TheLoucheyMonster!]

:groupwave reversed:

 

[Absomphe]

[JosephLabrecque]

This all sounds great!

[Brian Robinson]

This is gonna be fun.

[Joe Legate]

Sounds great!

[Evan Camomile]

I'm super excited to see this.

Let me know how and where I can help.

[Songcatcher]

This place is a great resource, glad to be a member here!

[Jetzster]

The WS will live on for years and years to come Gwydion!

[drosstogold]

Sounds like an excellent plan Happy New Year!!

[yasbean]

Sounds like I came at just the right time!

[Gwydion Stone]

Yep, things are starting to pick up.

[Marlow]

Glad to see you are still at it...keep up the good work.

[KaiserFrazer67]

I hope things are starting to pick up:

 

I'd just posted a pic to my Facebook page of a bottle of Lucid, a Lucid glass with an ounce of the product in the bottom, an absinthe spoon atop the glass with a sugar cube on it, and a bottle of spring water, with no more of a comment than "Ready to louche up a great tasting and relaxing drink! For more info about absinthe (especially busting the myths about it), please visit The Wormwood Society's website and Facebook page:" and then provided the link.

 

I had gotten a couple positive comments, but then one idiot posted: "Just don't murder your neighbors..."

 

After waiting to cool off for a few minutes after seeing that, I then replied: "And this is why I provided the link above. There's been so much idiotic mythology regarding absinthe, it's proving almost impossible to fight. This is what the WS does: provide factual historic and scientific information in an effort to dispel the myths. The only drug in absinthe is alcohol. Please visit The Wormwood Society's website and get educated. Here's a direct link to their FAQ:" and provided a link to the WS FAQ page.

 

The ignorance and stupidity dies pretty hard, folks. We have a LOOOONG way to go. Let's all keep up the good work.

[fingerpickinblue]

I'm of the belief that half the people who make those kind of remarks are just having fun with it. To some, I'm sure it's a whole lot more satisfying to be edgy, controversial, and provocative than it is to be realistic. I just went through one of those kind of conversations last night. I've never done it, but I'm thinking that the next time I'm asked for info with the leading question that has to do with hallucinations and madness I just might reply "And that's why the agencies responsible for these things re-approved it for sale in the US. They figured we didn't have enough mayhem!" Of course I wouldn't stop there, but it might get their attention and make them realize just how ridiculous that entire idea is.

[Gwydion Stone]

Thanks for the evangelism, Tom; we do still have a long way to go. It's not only a matter of dispelling myths, but of combatting the active spread of them. So many internet "journalists" just do a quick skim and then fill in the blanks with their imagination, as if it just doesn't matter. After all, absinthe is just a weird anomaly, a novelty, and who cares what we write about it, right?

 

And in virtually every comment section some idiot is required to write "absinthe makes the heart grow fonder", as if they're being clever and original. Every time I see it my teeth want to turn around in my skull and bite my brain.

[fingerpickinblue]

"Original thought is like original sin: Both happened before you were born to people you could not have possibly met."

 

- Fran Lebowitz