Most of us will have memories of time spent with alcoholic beverages, be they good times or bad. Hec, some of us won’t even have any memories from our experiences of alcohol! This may be funny in some instances but the consumption of alcohol can have some truly tragic consequences. Alcoholic drinks have endured a topsy-turvy history: from the Prohibition Era in the USA to the prohibition in two Nordic countries – Norway and Finland during the early 20th century. Alcohol is of course banned in some religions too, such as Islam. Addiction to alcohol is easy to succumb to as well. Ernest Hemingway, George Best, Oliver Reed and Dean Martin are just some notorious alcoholics. The controversy surrounding alcohol has not prevented some pushing the boundaries though and concocting some unique alcoholic drinks. Here is a list of 8 of the most bizarre alcoholic drinks known.
1. Kumis
Image source - Wikipedia
Kumis is a popular drink in Central Asia, enjoyed by Turks, Bashkirs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Yakuts and Uzbeks, and even some Hungarian tribes. It is basically fermented mare’s milk giving it a very mild alcohol content – 2.5% to be precise. It has a long history having first been mentioned by Herodotus in the fifth century BC. Mongolians are the biggest consumers of this drink because 87.9% of inner Mongolians are lactose intolerant. During the fermentation process the lactose in the milk turns into ethanol (alcohol).
2. Bacon Vodka
Image source - Wikipedia
Bakon Vodka, as it is officially known as, is produced by Black Rock Spirits of Seattle and is indeed flavoured with bacon. The drink can’t be that bad because it won a silver medal this year in the Bevstar Award in the Wine and Spirits category, as well as another silver in the SIP Awards for Best Flavoured Vodka and a bronze SIP Award for Bottle Design. It’s described on their website as, “A superior quality potato vodka with a savory bacon flavor. It’s clean, crisp, and delicious. This is the only vodka you’ll ever want to use to make a Bloody Mary, and it’s a complementary element of both sweet and savory drinks.”
3. Mezcal
Image source - Wikipedia
A tequila from Mexico, what’s wrong with that? Well, the fact that this particular form of tequila has a worm in it! What initially began as a marketing gimmick in the 1940s the “worm” is actually the larval form of the moth Hypopta agavis that lives on the agave plant. If an actual worm is found inside the plant during processing then this is an indication that infestation has taken place, resulting in a lower quality product.
4. Snake Wine
Image source - Wikipedia
This alcoholic drink involves the infusion of a whole snake(s) in rice wine or grain alcohol. They may be an eye-sore to look at but in South East Asia they are considered to possess cures for a variety of ailments, including impotence, back and muscle pain and hair loss. It originated in China during the Western Zhou dynasty and can now be found in Vietnam and several other South East Asian countries.
5. Scorpion Vodka
Image source - travel.webshots
Skorpio Vodka, according to their website, is “produced 100% from single grain (wheat) and enriched with a real edible scorpion. The scorpions are a delicacy in several countries.” It goes on to explain that the scorpions are farm raised not from the wild and were fed on a controlled diet. Their venom was broken down in a special process and before the drinks are released the scorpions are analysed by the Chamber of Commerce of Pismo Beach, CA., USA rendering them safe for human consumption. Still…pretty gross though, huh?
6. Cannabis Flavoured Alcohol
Image source - dailymail
Banned from the UK now these cannabis flavoured alcoholic drinks are made by Spanish firm Beveland SA. Coming in the form of gin, vodka and absinthe Ultimate Brands Ltd in the UK agreed to stop importing them because marketing broke the Portman Group’s code for the naming, packaging and promotion of alcoholic drinks. Known as Perigan’s cannabis-flavoured gin, Iganoff cannabis-flavoured vodka and Rodnik’s cannabis-flavoured absinthe they each contained hemp.
7. Pizza Beer
Image source - it-is-funny
Pizza and beer are undoubtedly two of men’s favourite things. So Tom and Athena Seefurth had the genius idea of combining the two, thus resulting in “Mamma Mia! Pizz Beer”. The couple developed the beer themselves in their own home brewery “with a surplus of tomatoes, a bag of garlic & an idea that started early in the spring (2006)”.
8. Chocolate Donut Stout
Image source thesharkbook
Why not wash down the pizza beer with one that tastes of chocolate donuts for dessert? Chocolate flavoured beer is actually pretty common and although I personally have never tried it, it’s actually supposed to taste ok. Sapporo, the Japanese beer company, brewed its Chocolate Brewery with real Royce chocolates but the Shenadoah Brewing Co. have taken it one step further with chocolate donut stout!
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