Alcohol, as Homer Simpson famously said, is the cause of and solution to all of man’s problems. Humans have been quaffing back alcohol for thousands of years. It may even be at the root of civilisation – farming may have developed to provide the ingredients for brewing. Now the market for alcoholic drinks is more saturated than an alcoholic’s liver. To sell drinks need to stand out. Here are ten of the oddest alcoholic beverages available.

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10The World’s Most Expensive Beer

Brewdog is Scottish craft brewery that has a history of pushing the envelope of beers. In 2010 they produced a 55% alcohol beer called The End Of History. They had produced high alcohol beers before but this was the pinnacle of their research, hence the name. Not designed for swilling down by the pint it was suggested that buyers sip it in small amounts. At a price of £500-700 you would want to get the most out of it.

The range of prices is due to the unusual container for the bottle. Only 12 were made in the initial run and each was served in a bottle contained within either a squirrel or a stoat. The price of the bottle depended on the size of the stuffed animal which it came in. Those who missed out on the first batch were later able to pick up a bottle if they joined in a round of crowd-funding the brewery. Those who put up over $20,000 received a free bottle of End of History, still presented in a dead animal.^[1]

9Flavoured Vodkas

The joy of vodka is that it serves its function well; it gets you good and drunk. The shame is that it generally tastes of nothing but the searing sensation of alcohol. People have therefore done their best to disguise this by adding their own flavours to vodka. Some are simple fruit flavours but others are more unusual. Those with a sweet tooth will be able to find marshmallow, salted caramel, popcorn, or pretty much any sugary confection. Those looking for a savoury vodka will no doubt find their palates catered to too, no matter what they are craving.

The Alaska Distillery makes a vodka which has been incorporated into what has been called Alaska’s Signature Cocktail. They produce a Smoked Salmon flavour vodka which they say goes brilliantly with a Bloody Mary. Made with water from glacial ice they infuse the salmon into their vodka leaving it a mellow pink colour.

Another potential add to your Bloody Mary is bacon flavoured vodka. Bakon Vodka spent two years perfecting the flavour they add to their bacon vodka. For some reason. They must really have believed it would work.^[2]

8Fermented Mare’s Milk

For most of history drinking water has been a risky proposition. Contamination with human and animal waste made water a perfect way of contracting deadly diseases. Fermentation, and the alcohol it produces, was one of the best ways of killing bacteria. In the Asian steppes nomadic tribes produced a mildly alcoholic beverage from the mares which they rode.

Kumis, also known as Airag, is a Mongolian fermented mare’s milk. The milk is gathered in a large leather sack and mixed repeatedly for two days. This introduces oxygen into the milk and allows yeast and bacteria to grow. They convert some of the lactic acid to alcohol making the mixture about 2% alcohol. Their metabolism also produces carbon dioxide which slightly carbonates the milk. Another reason to ferment mare’s milk before drinking it is that the raw milk has a powerful laxative effect on humans.

Those looking for a more potent brew can try Arkhi. This is a distillation of Airag that brings it up to around 10% alcohol. The results of this process apparently have either a slightly rancid taste or goaty flavour, depending on the quality of the Arkhi.^[3]

7Snake Wine

Snake wine is just what it sounds like. Snakes, often venomous cobras, are placed in bottles with rice wine and left to marinade in the mix. The resulting snake wine is said to have health benefits from the venom dissolving in the alcohol according to practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Snake wine can be found throughout China and Southeast Asia.

To make the wine more palatable, or more medicinal, other items can be added to the mixture. Berries, herbs, spices, and geckos can all find their way into a bottle of snake wine. Tourists can buy bottles full of these to take home but the drink is mostly served in shot glasses free of any macabre body parts.

Often the snakes are forced into the bottles alive and drowned in rice wine. This unpleasant practice is not always effective. There have been reports of snakes surviving the process for months by entering a hibernation state, only to spring to life and bite the drinker.^[4]

6Gilpin Family Whisky

James Gilpin has turned his knowledge of the human body’s chemistry into an unusual alcoholic drink. He decided to raise awareness of diabetes by working with a natural by-product of Type II diabetes. Type II diabetics are unable to regulate the amount of sugar in their blood and so often have high blood sugar. This gets excreted in their urine. Gilpin took urine from elderly people with diabetes and turned it into a single malt whisky.

All fermentation is essentially the same in that sugar is converted to alcohol by yeasts. Gilpin filters the urine to remove the sugar and then uses that sugar to drive the fermentation process. Gilpin’s own grandmother has provided some of the raw materials for his project.

Unfortunately(?) the whisky will not be widely available but will serve to raise questions about whether we should be harvesting resources that would otherwise be flushed away.^[5]

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5Three Penis Wine

Traditional Chinese medicine strikes again. Alcohol is a good solvent for those molecules which do not dissolve well in water. Using alcohol then to extract efficacious chemicals is not so silly. In China to give men back their potency they go straight to the source. In traditional pharmacies you can buy wine which has had penises steeped in it. One particular wine ups the ante by containing the power of three penises at once.

Tezhi Sanbian Jiu is a rice wine that to the unobservant would look much like any other. Its name however translates to Three Penis Liquor. Those willing to try it will get the supposed benefits of deer, seal, and dog penis in their shot glass. Unsurprisingly it is mostly men who seek the help of Three Penis Liquor. The drink is also said to have the power to heal the kidneys. Perhaps the makers have missed a marketing opportunity there to market it to women with kidney issues.^[6]

4Anty Gin

Nordic cuisine has undergone a renaissance in recent years. Noma in Copenhagen has been ranked the world’s best restaurant four times. Unafraid to be original, when Noma visited London they presented a dish which consisted of cabbage leaves and live ants.

The head chef of Noma, Rene Redzepi, has set up Nordic Food Lab, a non-profit organisation which investigates “food diversity and deliciousness.” Working with a gin distillery they have brought the flavour of ants to the masses. Each bottle of Anty Gin contains the essence of 62 wood ants which have been hand foraged. The ants were chosen for Noma’s menu and this gin because when under attack they produce a spray of chemicals to fend off predators. Many of these chemicals have aromas which the creators of this gin say add to the flavour.

Those wishing to try this heady mixture of insect excretions will need to pay £200 for a bottle.^[7]

3Sourtoe Cocktail

The Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Canada, offers patrons a unique opportunity. All you have to do is order a shot of spirit and pledge the Sourtoe oath. Then the bar will take your shot and place a real human toe into the glass. Then you take your shot and become a member of the Sourtoe Club. The club has only one rule “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips have gotta touch the toe.”

The legend of the toe is that it belonged to a booze runner during prohibition. Caught in a blizzard the runner developed gangrene in his toe which he hacked off with an axe and preserved in rum. Decades later the preserved toe was supposedly found. Quite how the decision was made to turn it into a cocktail is lost to history.

The current toe used in the cocktail is not that original one. Several toes have been accidentally swallowed by those taking the Sourtoe challenge. In 2013 one patron swallowed the toe on purpose, willingly paying the $500 fine for the loss of the key ingredient. Those who swallow the toe now will be hit with a $2500 charge. Luckily the hotel has managed to get other toes donated to it.^[8]

2 Poured Over Women’s Breasts

There is a certain type of person who will pay for any sort of contact with an attractive woman. For those wanting a little human contact in their spirits a German company has just the product. G Spirits sells bottles of alcohol that have been poured over a model’s breasts.

Buyers can get whisky, rum, and vodka which has had the G Spirit treatment. Each bottle comes with a certificate signed by the model that swears the alcohol has been run over their flesh. They will also receive a photograph of the model mid-soaking. The makers have created a glass basin to catch the alcohol and offers videos of the process. For around $200 the owners of G Spirits promise a first rate product and the “eroticism of a beautiful woman.” Whether this translates into a better flavour awaits a blind taste test.^[9]

1Beer Brewed from Human Yeast

Yeast is everywhere. If you are alive as you read this you have yeast all over you and inside you. Most of the time they do no harm and are actually vital parts of the ecology that exists on us. But as we have seen yeast are also a key part of brewery, they do the actual work of making alcohol. It seems that people have put these two facts together and are using yeast sourced from humans to make their drinks.

John Maier is the chief brewer at Rogue Brewery. When they wanted to develop a new strain of yeast for their beers they searched in all the usual places. Then someone joked that his beard, not shaved since 1978, might be playing host to some interesting yeasts. Taking 9 hairs they cultivated a yeast that was ideal for beer making that had been lurking in Maier’s beard. The yeast was probably a mix of a wild yeast strain and one normally used in the brewery. The beer was released in 2014 as Rogue Beard Beer.

In 2016 a crowd-funding page emerged for a Polish company looking to brew a beer using yeast sourced from a model’s private parts. Because yeast used in brewery is a different strain to that usually found in humans it seems unlikely to succeed. I’m sure it won’t stop people trying however.^[10]

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Drinking has always been one of America’s favorite pastimes. Bars, taverns, pubs, and the like have been around since the earliest parts of history. The intersection of various cultures throughout time has led to the exchange of various liquors and recipes all over the world.

This sharing of liquors has led to a cornucopia of craft cocktails and pieces of modern alcoholic artwork. Have you ever stopped to wonder just where your favorite drink comes from? If you are a history buff who loves alcohol, this list is for you.

10 Old Fashioned

For whiskey connoisseurs, this is the ultimate cocktail. A great-tasting, well-balanced cocktail that is essentially a celebration of whiskey on your palate. However, you may not know that this cocktail is not only rich in flavor but also rich in history.

The invention of this alcoholic masterpiece is credited to a barkeep named James E. Pepper in 1880. An article written in 2005 in the Louisville Courier-Journal indicates that Pepper invented the drink in Louisville. Then he took the concoction to New York City, specifically the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel bar, where it blossomed in popularity. This is credited as the birthplace of the old fashioned.

However, some detractors of this story point to a book written in 1862 by Jerry Thomas as proof that the recipe existed prior to 1880. Although Thomas’s Bartenders Guide: How To Mix Drinks does mention a similar cocktail, it uses gin in lieu of whiskey, thus changing the complexion of the drink.^[1]

While the origins of this craft cocktail can be debated, there is no question that it is one of the most popular bar drinks served to this day.

9 Daiquiri

Despite being widely considered “a chick drink,” the daiquiri surprisingly has a manly origin story. Cut to the 17th century when the British and the Spanish aggressively patrolled the seas, hunting pirates and trying desperately to expand their rule.

The sailors of the naval ships battled long journeys with bad weather and seasickness. To help cope with this, the sailors were allotted 3.8 liters (1 gal) of beer per day per man by law.

The problem was that many of these ships were patrolling the Caribbean (with Nassau being a known pirate hot spot) some 7,200 kilometers (4,500 mi) away. Stocking enough beer for a journey that long—let alone restocking it from so far away—posed a great logistical problem.

The solution came in the form of rum. It was decided that 473 milliliters (1 pt) of rum (which was widely available in the Caribbean) was a fair substitute. Unfortunately, the rum was much more potent and the soldiers’ productivity declined drastically because they were really drunk.

In 1740, Naval Admiral Edward “Old Grog” Vernon began diluting the liquor with water in lime juice to help his crew stay more sober. Those ingredients are the base of what became known as the daiquiri.^[2]

Technically, Jennings Cox is credited with the invention of the daiquiri. He ran out of gin while hosting guests and used rum as a substitute, calling it the daiquiri after the name of a beach on the island of Cuba. However, that’s far less cool than drunken pirate hunters.

8 Manhattan

Would you believe that this cocktail was invented at a party for Winston Churchill’s mother? Even though this was a popular rumor about the origin of the Manhattan, this theory holds little weight. Lady Randolph Churchill was back in England and already pregnant with Winston at the time this drink rose to prominence.^[3]

The Manhattan Club in New York still claims ownership of the original recipe (hence the name). But there are whispers of a man, simply called “Black,” who invented the drink while working at the Hoffman House in New York. While the exact details are up for debate, all experts agree that the Manhattan originated in New York.

7 Martini

The origins of this drink have more theories and plot twists than a James Bond movie. With multiple, unverifiable, competing origin stories, the rule of writing is that the coolest theory always wins out.

So here goes. A gold miner in Martinez, California, struck it rich in the early 1800s and naturally decided to hit the local bar to celebrate. He ordered champagne, but the bar didn’t have anything.

So he said, “Make me the fanciest concoction you can think of.” The bartender threw a few ingredients together in a glass, and the miner loved it. He asked the bartender to tell him what was in it. Then the miner traveled to San Francisco, asked for this drink at another bar, and taught the bartender there how to make it.

Originally known as the “Martinez Special,” the martini was born. Still around today, this alcoholic artistry has become a golden classic.^[4]

6 Margarita

The margarita is one popular drink that has three competing theories about its invention.

Margarita Sames was a rich girl from Dallas, Texas. She claimed that she invented the drink while vacationing in Acapulco with her friends in 1948. One of her friends, Tommy Hilton (of the same family that owns the Hilton Hotel chain), was so impressed by the drink that he put it on the hotel bar drink menus.

However, as Jose Cuervo was already an established tequila brand that actively endorsed the margarita starting in 1945, it is highly unlikely that Margarita invented her namesake drink. There are some who swear by this story, though. (Because rich people with power and influence would never lie, of course.)

Another claim is held by Danny Negrete. He supposedly made this cocktail as a wedding gift for his sister-in-law, who also happened to be named Margarita.

Finally, we have Mexican bartender Don Carlos Orozco who reportedly made this drink for the daughter of a German ambassador. She was also named Margarita. It is worth pointing out that there was a similar drink that became highly popular during Prohibition called the Daisy. Coincidentally, margarita is Spanish for “daisy.”^[5]

5 Moscow Mule

Just like the Manhattan is from Manhattan, the Moscow mule must be from Moscow, right?

Wrong.^[6]

Although the exact origin of the drink is unknown, the owners of the Los Angeles pub Cock ‘n’ Bull brought the drink to popularity in the 1940s. However, in an article published in 2007 in The Wall Street Journal, Wes Price, the head bartender for the Cock ‘n’ Bull, claims that he invented the recipe. Whatever the case, the Moscow mule jump-started the popularity of vodka within the US.

4 Sex On The Beach

The origins of this drink are ironclad. Its terrible name—along with alligators and hurricanes—can be tracked to one place: Florida. A bar called Confetti’s is credited with the invention.^[7]

Apparently, one of their bartenders made the fruity drink and thought, “What’s the most ridiculous, basic, noncreative name I can think of for this? Oh, hey look! There’s a couple having sex on the beach! I’ve got it! Sex on the Beach!”

Admittedly, we can’t be sure that’s exactly how it went down, but we are talking about Florida here. So it seems pretty accurate.

3 Cosmopolitan

The cosmo was actually a symbolic drink in the gay community in the 1970s when it was first introduced. The drink is credited to bartender Cheryl Cook, who worked in South Beach. As the story goes, a customer asked her to craft a drink that made him look sophisticated but was sweeter and less harsh than the traditional martini.^[8]

The cocktail crafted by Cook became known as the cosmopolitan. At the same time, John Caine, a bartender in Provincetown, had created a similar drink. Caine took the drink with him to San Francisco where it exploded in popularity in the gay social scene.

2 Whiskey Sour

Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders Guide: How To Mix Drinks contained a recipe for this legendary whiskey drink back in 1862. Unlike other cocktails that took a long time to rise to popularity, the whiskey sour has been popular from its birth all the way until . . . well . . . now.^[9]

Wisconsin newspaper Waukesha Plaindealer once published an article which referred to the whiskey sour as “a cardinal point in American drinking.” Sometimes, when you make a perfect drink, it stays perfect for over 100 years.

1 Mint Julep

Originally, the mint julep was rumored to be consumed for its medicinal properties. Farmers would drink them in the morning, much like people now drink coffee, for the extra boost to get them going. The mint julep also became the official drink of the Kentucky Derby in 1938.

The word “julep” is of Persian heritage. It is derived from the word gulab, which is a Persian sweetened rose water much like the syrup used to make the minty fresh beverage we know today. In Arabic, gulab is known as julab, which became julapium when translated into Latin.^[10]

Since julapium syrup was used to make the drink, it worked its way into the name to form what we know today as the “mint julep.” The fact that the liquor of choice for these drinks is bourbon explains the Southern popularity and the prominence that the mint julep has in connection with the world-famous Kentucky Derby.

Eric is a 29-year=old restaurant consultant residing in Maine.

Disney World is well-known as a food lover’s dream, with delicious snacks ranging from turkey legs and specialty cupcakes to Mickey ice cream bars and the famous Dole Whip. But Disney has its fair share of more interesting options.

Adventurous foodies may not find this list too crazy. But to an average theme park guest expecting burgers and corn dogs, seeing foods and drinks that vary from the exotic to the bizarre can be quite a surprise.

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10 Octopus

At first glance, octopus may not seem like it has a place inside a theme park. But Disney is not just about burgers and fries, y’all! There are hundreds of restaurants inside and outside the parks and plenty of high-end options where this seafood delicacy fits right in.

Asian versions of this dish include takoyaki (octopus fritters) at Morimoto Asia Street Food in Disney Springs and charred octopus at Tiffins Restaurant in Animal Kingdom Park in the Asia Pavilion. It also gets a Spanish spin at Toledo inside Coronado Springs Resort and a Mediterranean twist (octopus a la plancha) at Citricos Restaurant inside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.^[1]

There’s even a giant octopus hanging from the ceiling inside T-REX Restaurant at Disney Springs, but that one isn’t edible.

9 Grasshoppers

Believe it or not, there are two different places you can find grasshoppers on the menu at Disney World. Grasshoppers are a popular snack in many parts of the world due to their high protein and availability, and a couple of Disney restaurants haven’t shied away from incorporating them into menus.

Frontera Cocina in Disney Springs offers a seasonal menu where you can sometimes find roasted grasshoppers served as a snack alongside their drink menu. This restaurant has also showcased chili lime grasshoppers as a crunchy topping for their guacamole in the past.

If you head over to La Cava del Tequila (known for their ever-changing and exotic menu) in Epcot’s Mexico Pavilion, you can sometimes find grasshopper rim salt on some of their drinks. In 2016, they served grasshopper rim salt alongside other buggy varieties including black ant rim salt and mezcal worm rim salt.^[2]

Currently, it looks like there are no bugs on any Disney World menus, but we hope to see them pop up again soon.

8 Beverly Soda

Created by The Coca-Cola Company, Beverly is a carbonated soft drink launched in 1969 as a nonalcoholic aperitif for the Italian market. Beverly is an intensely bitter soda that Americans love to hate. (It sort of tastes like biting into the rind of a grapefruit.)

Although it was discontinued in 2009, Beverly can still be found in a few locations around the world, including at least one spot inside Disney World. Beverly used to be available in Club Cool, a small store near the front of Epcot that showcased Coca-Cola products. Club Cool was closed in 2019, although Disney has said that it will be reopened later “in a new capacity” (whatever that means) and a new location.

The other place you can try Beverly is at the Coca-Cola Store Rooftop Beverage Bar in Disney Springs. There, you can get Beverly’s Revenge, which includes Hendrick’s Gin, blackberry liqueur, cherry syrup, mint sprig, and orange slices to tone down the bitterness of the soda. It actually turns into a delicious drink that anyone would love.^[3]

7 Bone Marrow

To people who haven’t tried it, bone marrow may sound mega gross, but it tastes phenomenal when it’s prepared well. Its smooth, silky texture is loved by many foodies. If you can get past how weird it sounds, this dish can be quite a treat.

You can find it at a few higher-end locations at Disney World. The first is at Takumi-Tei, the newest restaurant in Epcot’s Japan Pavilion. Roasted bone marrow is part of their dinner menu and is served as an appetizer with braised Wagyu short rib, yuzu kosho, and wasabi shiso bavaroise warishita.^[4]

Head over to Yachtsman Steakhouse located inside Disney’s Yacht Club Resort to find bone marrow two ways: as a side dish to the 28-oz. prime porterhouse for two and as a “menu enhancement” served with seasonal jam and toasted green onion brioche.

6 Blue And Green Milk

Many Star Wars fans have been obsessed with blue milk ever since they first saw Luke Skywalker help himself to a glass in Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope. When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opened in Disney World in 2019, they gave fans the chance to truly immerse themselves in the experience by opening the Milk Stand.

Guests can purchase blue milk, which is a blend of coconut and rice milk with fruity notes, or green milk, which also combines coconut and rice milk but adds a citrus and tropical flavor profile. Disney fans are torn on how good this stuff actually is, but blue milk seems to be the favorite between the two.^[5]

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5 Sushi Donut

Disney finally did it. They made a sushi donut.

It debuted at the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts and showed up again at the 2020 festival, which proves its popularity with the fans. The sushi donut is just what it sounds like: donut-shaped sushi featuring salmon, tuna, shrimp, cucumber, and sesame seed over a decorated plate of wasabi aioli, sriracha, and eel sauce.^[6]

It’s an Americanized, fun, kinda weird version of the Japanese dish we all love.

4 Bobotie

Bobotie is a South African dish made with spiced minced meat and topped with an egg mixture. Generally speaking, it’s not too crazy of a dish. But Disney World guests tend to go for very tame (cough, cough, BLAND, cough) food, so this dish can be a little much for some people.

Luckily, Disney has plenty of representations of foods from around the world and bobotie can be found at several locations. Boma in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge serves it as part of the restaurant’s rotating entree menu, Sanaa (also in Animal Kingdom Lodge) offers it on their breakfast menu as bobotie pie, and Tusker House Restaurant in Animal Kingdom Park has it on their breakfast buffet menu.

The Mara in Animal Kingdom Lodge even has a plant-based breakfast bobotie made with plant-based eggs and sausage.^[7]

3 Oxtail

Oxtail is the culinary description for the tail of an ox. Usually slow-cooked and served in stews, oxtail is part of many traditional dishes in countries like Italy, Russia, West Africa, and France.

You can find oxtail in three different restaurants in Disney World.

The first is Monsieur Paul in Epcot’s France Pavilion. There, it is served as a broth with braised beef, vegetables, and black winter truffles covered in puff pastry. The second is at Boma inside Animal Kingdom Lodge where you can try a traditional Ghanian oxtail stew. The third (also in Animal Kingdom Lodge) is at Sanaa and is offered as an African oxtail umngqusho.^[8]

2 Fuzzy Tauntaun

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge introduced some of the weirdest drinks Disney World has ever seen. Although there are plenty of strange options to choose from on the planet of Batuu, Oga’s Cantina has the most incredible atmosphere and the most outrageous drinks to boot.^[9]

Perhaps one of the strangest things you’ll ever put in your mouth is the Fuzzy Tauntaun. This alcoholic drink is made up of Ciroc Peach Vodka, Bols Peach Schnapps, Simply Orange with Tangerine, pure cane sugar, and “Buzz Button Tingling” Foam.

The foam really sets this drink apart as it has a numbing effect that will leave you wondering what is happening inside your mouth. A natural painkiller derived from a special Szechuan flower (what Disney calls “Buzz Button”) is mixed into the foam to create this wild effect. Don’t worry, it wears off after a few seconds!

1 Dried Baby Crabs

Topping the list for outright uniqueness, these dried baby crabs are definitely not something you see every day in the United States. At Epcot’s Japan Pavilion, you can find these at the back of the Mitsukoshi Department Store with other popular Japanese snacks like Pocky and dried squid.

These are actually small crabs that have been dried, salted, and seasoned for your enjoyment. They’re crispy and don’t taste too bad, but we’re not replacing our potato chips with these anytime soon.^[10]

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About The Author: Anne Taylor is a freelance writer and theme park blogger. She loves to talk about all things Disney and Universal Studios, and her helpful articles can be found on tayloredtripsblog.com. You can also find her on Instagram at @tayloredtripsblog.

Have you ever considered how weird it is that humans have created a multi-billion dollar industry out of finely sliced, deep fried potatoes that often don’t taste like potato? The potato chip, and many other mass produced foodstuffs, can be whatever you want them to be nowadays; anyone who prefers ‘plain’, ‘vanilla’, ‘original’ or ‘ready salted’ as their flavour of choice are often seen as the single most boring person in the world. But when you have flavour options like those included in this list, maybe being boring isn’t such a bad thing after all…

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10 Lay’s Cappuccino Flavoured Potato Chips

One of the annoying things about sipping on this frothy Italian coffee is you’ll often get a milky moustache flecked with cocoa when you place your cup back on the saucer. Now, thanks to the geniuses at Frito-Lay’s, you never have to look like a milky-faced idiot ever again! You can just eat your cappuccino. In potato form.

Or, at least, you could have done, had the American public lost their minds and voted to make it Frito-Lay’s newest regular flavour. This gross-sounding flavour was one of 4 prospective new tastes the company offered for a public vote (along with mango salsa, cheddar bacon mac ‘n’ cheese and—the eventual winner—wasabi ginger). The cappuccino chips were universally hated, garnering terrible reviews from food writers and coffee aficionados alike (even though the milk-froth-art on the packet was expertly poured by a barista from fancy Chicago coffee shop Wormhole).^[1]

9 Beefdrinker Teriyaki Beef Jerky Flavoured Soda

You may have heard of using a sugary soda in making beef jerky, so why not a soda that tastes of beef jerky?Teriyaki beef, so from Japan, apparently. Made in America.

Described as ‘surprisingly sweet’ (Jesus wept, that makes it worse), this soda is clearly a novelty item aimed at the type of person who loves pranking their friends. But, given the popularity of a hot beef-flavoured beverage called ‘Bovril’ amongst older soccer fans on the cold terraces of football stadiums in England, maybe the guys and gals at Beefdrinker could explore that market? Could we see them as the shirt sponsors for Manchester United some day? Probably not, Chevrolet could probably outbid them. For now.^[2]

8 Grey Candy Canes

For those who aren’t content to let their drunken relatives ruin Christmas, novelty confectioners Archie Mcphee make a line of oddly-flavoured candy canes. One flavour guaranteed to make for an interesting culinary experience at the Xmas table? Clams—muddy shellfish flavour. That’ll do it.

But that was way back in 2018, surely they’ve released more sane flavours since this crime against the festive season? A quick peruse of their website will soon disabuse you of this notion. Ketchup, shiitake mushroom and, for the health conscious, kale-flavoured candy canes are now available for purchase. Here’s hoping a readers aren’t so malevolent as to buy these for 2021s ‘Secret Santa’…^[3]

7 Cadbury’s Vegemite Flavoured Chocolate Bar

Vegemite (and its northern hemisphere cousin Marmite, which is essentially the same thing—both are made from yeast extract) really splits opinion—for some, it is a dark, salty, gooey savoury treat to spread on toast or in a sandwich. Others think it tastes like a shoe. An old, dirty shoe. How could such a product become even more contentious, given this well-established split in public opinion? Shove the stuff inside a beloved chocolate bar, of course.

Cadbury chocolate is perhaps the best-loved chocolate brand in the world (sorry Hershey fans, the rest of the world isn’t all that fussed, whereas Cadbury has fans all over the world). Fans of Vegemite AND Cadbury must have lost their shit when, back in 2015, the two brands combined to release the limited edition Cadbury Dairy Milk with a Vegemite caramel centre. Haters of the tangy savoury spread would have been equally up in arms. How could their favourite chocolate bar sully itself? Marketing-wise, this was wise marketing; the company reported a big increase in brand engagement over the limited period. People were once again discussing Cadbury, even if it was to damn them to the fiery pits of hell for ruining their tasty treats.^[4]

6 Mustard Flavoured Ice Cream

Heston Blumenthal is one of the world’s foremost chefs. He is famous for pushing the boundaries of gastronomic invention with his innovative dishes served at his 3-Michelin-Starred restaurant, The Fat Duck in Bray, England. Now, eating snail porridge or parsnip cereal is par for the course in such a fancy restaurant. But mass-produced in a popular supermarket chain? You better believe it.

Created to accompany savoury dishes like soups or alongside charcuterie, Heston Blumenthal’s creation aims to bring some fine-dining flair to the home cooking scene. Or capitalise on the pretentious love of big names and novelty.

Although, hot dog vendors could use this as inspiration in finally breaking into the frozen dessert market that’s so jealously guarded by those dastardly ice cream truckers.^[5]

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5 Lay’s Cucumber Flavoured Potato Chips

Could there be a plainer option that ‘salted’ in the potato chip world? Turns out there is. Cucumber-flavour. China’s other potato chip flavour offerings are a mixed bag. Flavours like ‘Beef Noodle’ and ‘Roasted Chicken Wing’ sound pretty good. ‘Grilled Squid’ and ‘Blueberry'(!), not so much. But at least these are actual flavours, as in, additions to the chip that’ll taste of something. Apart from a mild grassy note above the potato, one cannot imagine that a cucumber potato chip would taste of anything, really.

Next up for Lay’s China: Natural Spring Water Flavoured chips.^[6]

4 Scotch and Cigar Flavoured Cupcakes

This entry is tinged with a touch of sadness. New York bakery ‘Prohibition’ was a site for foodie pilgrimage for 8 years, drawing in lovers of cupcakes, growing in popularity, winning awards and even releasing a cookbook. Having grown a loyal following even before they opened the bakery, selling their range of innovatively flavoured desserts at the Hester Street Fair, patrons would queue around the block to purchase their special and limited edition baked goods. One reoccurring favourite, however, sounds gross.

The ‘Scotch and Cigar’ cupcake was only available in store and limited to one per customer. It was also age-restricted—the frosting was made with Laphroaig scotch whiskey (which is a ‘peaty’ malt that tastes a little bit like hot mud—an acquired taste, to say the least). But the boozy frosting wasn’t the weird thing here. The cake itself was flavoured with molasses, black pepper and infused with actual tobacco. If you’ve ever sipped a pint of beer that someone has ‘accidently’ dropped a cigarette butt in, this won’t appeal to you.

This sole gross-sounding cupcake aside, the rest of the products they offered sounded delicious. Sadly, the bakery has since closed forever. Co-owner Leslie Feinberg stated that “…the dessert scene was moving in a direction that I wasn’t interested in”. Fair enough, but like many other recently-shuttered small independent businesses in the Big Apple, it’s sad to see them go.^[7]

3 Refreshing Ramune Soda

What better way to cool off on a hot day than chugging an ice cold soda from a beautifully sculpted glass bottle? A soda that tastes of curry powder.

Ramune have been making carbonated beverages for the Japanese public since 1884, when a Scottish pharmacist named Alexander Cameron Sim introduced the people of Kobe to lemonade (‘ramune’ is the Japanese pronunciation of ‘lemonade’).

They’ve had some pretty wild flavours over the years—’cream stew’, ‘kimchi’ and ‘chilli oil’ being some of the grossest. But no other flavour sounds more opposed to the original idea of a fresh, thirst-quenching lemonade than ‘curry soda’.^[8]

2 Just A Normal Beer From Iceland

Started in 2012, Brugghus Steðja has a decent range of delightful-sounding beers, made with pure Icelandic water that is sourced from their very own family-owned spring (some of the best, purest water on the planet, apparently). Then you have the whale testicle beer—oh, so whale balls aren’t gross enough for you? What about whale balls smoked in sheep crap? That’s what the brewery uses in brewing one of their most popular ales…. as you could probably guess, animal rights activists were outraged by this.

Despite the backlash seemingly not effecting the brewery’s sales, the fact that smoked whale testicles are banned in most EU countries certainly did. How could one of their most popular beers find its way abroad, raking in some of those sweet euros for the small brewery? Well, in a stroke of genius (madness?) they decided to use sheep shit-smoked rams balls in their ‘Steðji Hrútur’ export beer instead. Much better.^[9]

1 Fancy Gumballs

Nobody feels fancy when chewing gum. In fact, people are often looked down upon for such behaviour. Now, thanks to those geniuses of novelty foodstuffs at Archie Mcphee (they’ve done it again!) you can now be the fanciest person in the room and chew gum. In fact, you’ll be fancy because of the gum! What flavour could they possibly be? Champagne? Black truffle? Afternoon Tea?

Wrong. These are foie gras flavoured, you peasant.

French delicacy foie gras is made by force-feeding ducks (historically speaking, it would be geese, but ducks are more common now) until they get an engorged, fatty liver. The liver is then consumed like a pate.

If the idea of force-fed duck/goose liver-flavoured gumballs weirds you out, don’t worry—you’re normal. Still, if you want to be a real aristocrat, why not give these a go? Either that, or you could get some veal-flavoured vape liquid…^[10]

10 Most Horrifying Things Ever Discovered In Fast Food

About The Author: CJ Phillips is a storyteller, actor and writer living in rural West Wales. He is a little obsessed with lists.

A human can only live for about three days without access to water. We need to drink or we’re doomed. And while our ancient ancestors probably managed just fine with water and the odd squirt of fruit juice, we evolved to enjoy a far more diverse palate. You might even say we’re spoiled for choice when it comes to beverages these days. For evidence, just take a look at all the drinks people will consume on purpose… amazingly, without even being forced to do so. 

10. End of History

The average alcohol percentage in a beer that you’ll find in the United States is about 4.5%. There are some stronger beers out there, but that is pretty standard. The Scottish Brewery known as Brewdog came up with a beer called the End of History that boasts a 55% alcohol content. And interestingly enough, that’s not why it’s interesting. The beer is actually packaged inside squirrels.

Each bottle of limited run beer was inside of a taxidermied squirrel. The company initially released 12 in the UK, and then 10 more bottles were released for Americans.The price per bottle in the United States was $20,000. Technically that wasn’t the price of the beer itself; rather, if you invested $20,000 in their business you would get one of the 10 extremely rare bottles.

9. Pruno

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and that idea was clearly hard at work when pruno was invented. Pruno, otherwise known as prison wine, is what you get when you’re desperate for a buzz but your ingredients and facilities are extremely limited.

Since all that is really needed to create alcohol is some kind of sugary base that can ferment, prisoners were able to develop ways to create alcohol behind bars in secret. The resulting concoction is known as pruno, and it’s one of the most vile drinks ever created.

Ingredients are very limited in prison, which means pruno is often made of things like fruit cocktail, sugar cubes, and ketchup. Everything is mixed together in a ziplock bag and hidden where the prison guards can’t find it. The fermentation process could take a few weeks and you’ll have to find some way to warm your mixture up, strain out all the chunks, and then enjoy the potentially lethal byproducts. The resulting mixture can contain all manner of dangerous bacteria including botulism, not to mention there’s no way to know just how alcoholic the brew might be so it could be dangerously potent as well.

8. Sourtoe Cocktail

If you’re going to list culinary taboos, you can jump right to the head of the line by mentioning cannibalism. There are few things people are willing to  entertain less than the idea of consuming the body parts of another human being. And yet despite that, the sourtoe cocktail is still a thing.

Arguably the most infamous drink in all of Canada, you can find the sourtoe cocktail in Dawson City, Yukon. The name isn’t particularly metaphorical. There’s a real human toe in a shot of whiskey that you can drink.

According to legend, Louie and Otto Linken were running booze back in the 1920s when they got caught in a blizzard. Louie ended up getting his foot stuck in a stream or a puddle when he stepped through some ice and by the time he got home again his foot was frozen. Worst of all was the big toe, which had thoroughly succumbed to frostbite.

In an effort to prevent any more damage, Otto cut his brother’s toe off with an axe. And, as one does, he dropped the newly severed digit into a bottle of booze. Fast forward about 50 years and a man by the name of Captain Dick Stevenson found the bottle, complete with toe, in a cabin.

Stevenson decided to create a little contest where you could gain entry into the Sourtoe Cocktail Club if you had the drink with the toe in it. The only rule is that the toe had to touch your lips. And word is that about 100,000 people have actually done this over the years. 

In the year 2013, one guy actually swallowed the toe. And he wasn’t even the first one. The Downtown Hotel, where the drink is served, has gone through 15 toes so far. Captain Stevenson even willed his own toes to the hotel so that when he dies the tradition will live on. Currently, the bar has 12 toes that they rotate through circulation so they can keep them clean, whatever that might mean.

7. Spirytus Stawski 

Straight out of Poland comes Spirytus Stawski, a 190-proof spirit that is 96% alcohol. That makes it the single strongest drinkable alcohol in the world. To put that in perspective, vodka is generally around 40% alcohol. Rubbing alcohol is often 70% alcohol. Even the infamous Everclear is 95% alcohol. Spirytus Stawski one-upped them with that extra percentage to ensure maximum danger.

You can buy Spirytus Stawski any number of places online, but most of them will point out in the description that this should only be used as a base for other drinks and it is highly recommended that you never drink the stuff straight, for obvious reasons. A 750ml bottle will set you back under $20.

6. Chicha

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Peru you may run across a drink known as chicha. Chicha is made from corn, and so far everything sounds okay. You can make whiskey from corn. Bourbon has a long history thanks to corn. You can even brew vodka from corn rather than potatoes, if you’re so inclined. So far so good, right?

Where chicha gets a little weird is in the preparation. If you are drinking true, traditional chicha then the fermentation process requires that the corn be chewed and then spit out. The old-timey method for making it involved several women sitting around a bucket, chewing up the corn, and then spitting it into that bucket. The saliva, along with a few other ingredients, would activate the fermentation process and eventually it would become alcoholic. There’s no real way to make that sound any better that it is, and it’s definitely an acquired taste. Weirdly enough, it’s still made this way in some parts of Peru and if you buy it from a street vendor you may not know if you’re getting the traditional kind, or a less saliva-filled brew.

5. Baby Mice Wine

In most parts of the world if you were to find a mouse in your drink you would probably have a well-justified freak out and send the drink right back. Well, that wouldn’t be the case if you ordered what’s been called a traditional Chinese health tonic that is colloquially known as baby mice wine.

Apparently these little mice are taken just after birth when their eyes aren’t even open yet and then jammed into a bottle of rice wine. They ferment along with the wine for a solid year, after which time it is said that the brew is able to treat medical conditions like liver disease and asthma. It also apparently tastes something like gasoline, which doesn’t seem unreasonable since it’s just rice wine with the rotting corpses of vermin inside of it. And yes, if you’re wondering, you are expected to actually eat the little mice afterward as well.

4. Kumis

Theoretically, drinking milk is kind of weird if you stop to give it much thought, at least if you’re drinking the milk of a cow or some other kind of livestock. (Really, though… who was the first person to look at a cow’s udder and think, “I’m gonna go suck on that”?)

But, since we have been doing it for centuries and it’s pretty commonplace, we’re used to it. The dairy industry is massive and even if you’re not drinking milk, there’s a good chance you’re enjoying things like butter, yogurt, or ice cream. All of that stuff tends to have one thing in common, in that it’s made from purified, non-alcoholic milk.

If you were to travel around the globe to Kazakhstan you would find a beverage known as kumis, which is made from the milk of horses. Now to a western palate the idea of horse milk probably sounds a little bit weird, but it really shouldn’t if we are okay with drinking milk from cows. However, kumis takes it one step further by fermenting the milk to make it alcoholic. According to reviews it tastes like champagne and sour cream mixed together. That’s one heck of a cocktail. 

Kumis has been made for thousands of years in Central Asia and apparently it’s something that both Genghis Khan and babies enjoyed drinking. You know you’re a hardcore baby when you’re drinking alcoholic horse milk on the Central Asian steppes.

The mare’s milk has a high sugar content naturally, so if you churn it the way you would churn butter it will thicken up and acidify to produce an alcoholic kind of carbonation. And as weird as this might sound, it’s actually preferable to drinking non-alcoholic mare’s milk. The milk, in its natural state, has so much lactose that it’s essentially a high-performing laxative.

3. Poop Wine

There’s no good backstory to this entry. There’s no clever reason why this thing exists. There’s just the knowledge that for some reason, at some point in time, someone fermented actual human poop into a drink and then intentionally drank it. That’s the story of poop wine.

Made from Korean rice wine mixed with the feces of a human child, the drink called Ttongsul has 9% alcohol and is 100% terrible. The concoction is apparently for medicinal use and was said to be able to heal traumatic injuries like bruises, cuts, and even broken bones.

Very few people have heard of the drink even in Korea, but there are one or two who still know the recipe and are willing to make it if you are so inclined to hunt it down. It should go without saying that there is no way this drink is good, or even tolerable.

2. Smoker’s Cough Cocktail

A lot of bars are willing to go out of their way to create signature cocktails that nobody else has on the menu. Sometimes these will be simple mixtures that maybe just have a unique name even though they are available in other locations by different names. But sometimes they are just over the top recipes that mix together ingredients that have no business being in the same place at the same time. That’s likely the story behind one of the most repellent looking and tasting cocktails ever made, the Smoker’s Cough.

The name itself is off-putting, and when you take a look at it you understand why it’s called what it’s called. There are only two ingredients in this cocktail making it deceptively simple but the two ingredients that you need are mayonnaise and Jagermeister. Even without tasting that you can try to imagine those two flavors and textures together in your mouth. If the idea was to mimic the sensation of acrid phlegm, then the person who created the cocktail is actually fairly clever and did a good job.

1. Semen Cocktails

This unsettling entry brings with it an entire recipe book.  The number of people on Amazon.com who reviewed the book and described it as a gag gift may or may not be aware of the added pun in their language choice. Regardless, there is apparently some kind of market out there for drinks that are made with semen. Some of the less than impressed reviews pointed out that most of the recipes in the book are just average everyday cocktails with the secret ingredient added in for no particular reason.

While this truly sounds like a gimmick if nothing else, it’s worth knowing that New Zealand is home to the Green Man Pub in the city of Wellington. Their claim to fame is a beer that  was created from stag semen. Why did this concoction even exist? Probably just to get some press for creating something utterly baffling.