Just Say No...

We all know that vodka is made from potatoes and tequila from agave. Wine comes from grapes and beer from wheat. You can use fruits and herbs, and really, the sky is the limit... or is it? Here are five alcohols that may very well be the limit:

Chica is a South American drink. You grind maize, chew it until it is thoroughly moisturized, and then ferment the results with warm water for several days. (Yum?)

Baby Mouse Wine is a traditional Chinese health drink made by drowning baby mice in rice moonshine and fermenting it for a year. It supposedly cures anything you can possibly imagine. (Really?)

Snake Wine hails from Vietnam. An entire venomous snake is added to a bottle of ethanol. The venom is denatured by the ethanol...but then more snakes and even a turtle is added. Do a shot in order to cure hair loss and farsightedness. (Or not?)

Pulque is a viscous alcohol derived from fermented sap of certain varieties of agave. It dates back to ancient Mexico, and looks like milk but tastes of sour yeast. Once consumed for sacred purposes, its use has continued over the centuries, although it faces competition from beer. (Wonder why?)

Seagull Wine is an Eskimo invention. Take a dead seagull, put it in a bottle with water, seal it and leave it in the sun to ferment. (How do you get a seagull in a bottle?)

So, next time you start to complain about Jagermeister or Ouzo, just remember that it could be so much worse.