This is due to Agriculture rules for importing food. Remember mad cow disease? Same reason you can’t bring fruit and veg into this (or any other) country. These rules protect the entire food chain.
Sorry. This matters.
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I’m going to have to gasp …agree with you there.
I’m sure there’s the possibility of misinformation in there, but still.
There are many things I CAN bring ( if I ever get to travel again), and a lot of things I can order from here.
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Good job on the absinthe, but too bad on the sausages 
It’s my understanding also, that some unpasteurized cheese products don’t make it through either @ewsflash.
Here is the list. https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/know-before-you-go/prohibited-and-restricted-items
Absinthe by the way is illegal so posting about it on social media is unwise.
Hi @Auspicious; absinthe is actually legal here, but it does have a lower level of wormwood than what you can buy in Europe, thus lower levels of the thujones and isothujones, which are the toxic chemicals in the plant. I’ve bought two different brands here in Wa, as well as visiting a bar here that serves it. New Orleans is a fun place to drink it. It hasn’t been legal however, before about 10-15 years ago. Have a nice weekend. 
- ETA: it is most likely legal state by state. I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t be able to buy it in Utah.
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I thought Absinthe was one of my son’s most prized scores from travel. I thought he got it in France, and he knows I’m a goody-two-shoes about such things, so I’m sure he wouldn’t buy it if it was illegal.
Maybe he didn’t, but I believe we saw this label for sale in France
!
Also port and limoncello.
(upload://xmnDorBp5kf1WFqkSMNRlKKKwlM.jpeg)
He lives in Turkey, and never drank it. I’m tempted, but I don’t dare. Hopefully he’ll come back some day.
ETA changed Pollyanna to goody-two-shoes because …I’m a goody-two-shoes!
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I agree and know that when you walk across the border from Mexico you can bring in avacados but not the seed. You pretty much need to eat them on the street but man they’re good.
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That’s a cool looking bottle for the Absinthe @shrinkrap. I used to have a bottle of that very same limoncello - gave the empty to DD1.
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It had a moment in New York, can’t remember whether it was pre- or post-Tiki Bar madness. Definitely before Amaro became the it-ingredient, though.
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I find the history and culture surrounding it quite fascinating, as well as all the specialized paraphernalia that goes along with @small_h. Interesting to hear about the NYC moment, too.
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For all our diversity, we do have something of a herd mentality. (Not to be confused with herd immunity, which we DO NOT HAVE.) During absinthe’s hot minute, a little bar opened up a few blocks from me that specialized in it, called White…something, I forget. Star, maybe?
And yep, they had an urn to drip the absinthe over a sugar cube and into your glass. It was a nice place to hang out, although I’m not that crazy about absinthe. I probably would like the high octane version more.
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@small_h - the higher octane one would probably enable you to see the Green Fairy! I saw her, but she was plastic with a little green light flashing on and off, floating in the dispenser, at the O Bar in the French Quarter of NOLA. She wasn’t there last time we went. 
Back to being OT, I can’t find Absinthe at the grocery stores here, but it’s readily available at specialty liquor stores. None here are run by the state. Oh, and I like A, but have to be in a certain mood for it.
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I remember walking on the concourse of Rome. Bay trees on the side . Stepped off and picked the leaves off a century or more old tree. Went through customs with them in my front pocket all the way home to the us . Made a pot of beans you could taste the history in .
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It is illegal to import into the US. There are some degraded varieties available here. See the official CBP link I posted above.
Thank you! I thought the link specified something about how the label looked and the percentage of a psychoactive ingredient. Some it seems a bit subject to interpretation, but I won’t be importing any.
ETA here it is;
“The absinthe content must be “thujone free” (that is, it must contain less than 10 parts per million of thujone); the term “absinthe” cannot be the brand name; the term “absinthe” cannot stand alone on the label; and the artwork and/or graphics cannot project images of hallucinogenic, psychotropic or mind-altering effects. Absinthe imported in violation of these regulations is subject to seizure.”
And from the company Lemercier that I believe made the bottle in the picture above ; “…That’s why we have decided to name our spirit with the brand « ABISINTHE » ®.”
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Footnotes on my footnotes. Bravo!
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They said it was a health issue. I think it was an “oh cool! Sausages for us!” issue
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You can buy it in AZ, so it was just a dumb thing for me.
I know that, Dave.
I usually make apoint of going to Costco during the Super Bowl for the same reason- freakishly uncrowded. The days before the Super Bowl are quite a different story, however.
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