Wormwood

Artemisia absinthium

Toxic

The bitter of absinthe — a powerful digestive bitter whose essential oil is a neurotoxin in excess.

Legal garden plant. Thujone content in absinthe and oils is capped by food law in the US and EU.

Handle as a poison-garden specimen. See Safety before any use.

Silvery, intensely bitter, beautiful. Traditional use is as a brief bitter for worms and cold digestion. Thujone in the oil can cause seizures. Culinary 'herbes' amounts and a short bitter tea are the historical food-medicine; recreational oils and homemade high-thujone spirits are how people get hurt.

Flavor

Silver, resinous, and punishingly bitter. A sip, not a cup.

Parts used

Aerial parts

In favor

Tiny doses are a true bitter
Moth-repellent dried bunches
Stunning silver foliage

Against

Seizures at high thujone dose
Pregnancy contraindication
Not a party drink ingredient to concentrate