Ha ha! Even the slightest bit of research would have prepared you for that!

Wormwood is readily available at the herbalists, and also grows like a weed in the right places (certain city wastelands spring to mind - although somewhere a bit cleaner would clearly be preferably), so pinching it from botanical gardens is wholly unnecessary.

Even wormwood tea is shockingly bitter. Fortunately for my line of interest, I have a very high tolerance for bitter flavours. I once made a pot of extra strong wormwood tea with about 4 tablespoons of the dried herb infused in 1L of freshly boiled water. Within the hour, things started to look a bit strange.

Being something of an unrepentant fool at the time, it seemed like a good moment to try out some synthetic cannabinoid blend which had appeared in my proximity. This led to an almost instantaneous, paralysing attack of paranoia as, in my head, the creators of the cannabinoid blend cackled evilly at my stupid misfortune for having tried the stuff - and this for what seemed like an eternity. In reality, it was a little under two hours.

It felt as though the effects of the syn.can.blend were somewhat intensified by the wormwood although, given that I had absolutely no desire to try that hideous stuff (the syn.can.blend) ever again, it's impossible to say. I'd happily drink a few cups of strong wormwood tea again but even I have to put a drop or two of honey in it.

Absinthe proper has the advantage of being a distillate which leaves behind the intense bitterness. I do love absinthe, except that these days I hardly ever drink alcohol. It's something to do with the cactus...