While most people are familiar with the basic results of the brewers and vinters art, there are vintages from around the world that make one scratch ones head in wonder, and perhaps turn a little green. From the relatively benign Baijiu Sorghum Liquor to the face-curdling snake bile wine we're going to introduce you to 10 of the world's most unusual alcoholic beverages.
By far the most benign drink on this list, Baijiu is a strong alcholic beverage that is produced from sorghum, fermeneted in mud pits, and then transferred to large earthenware bottles for transport. The overall strength and a flavor noted as being like dirty gym socks makes it unpopular with those not raised on it.
Caraway, otherwise known as celery seeds, has a flavor that one doesn't necessarily think of a wonderful addition to their alcoholic imbibement. But in Sweden Akvavit Caraway wine is incredibly popular, but is a quick way to stop tourists from trying new beverages during their visit.
Heralded as the world's first culinary beer, this strange concoction was put together by a pair of enterprising brewers in Campton Township, IL. With their love of pizza knowing no bounds, Tom and Athena Seefurth researched all the strange alchemy necessary to create this increasingly popular 'culinary beer'. If you love pizza, and you love beer, this one's for you.
I don't think anyone could describe this as anything other than 'a terribly unfortunate idea'. This powerfully flavored sorghum liquor tastes exactly like 100 proof soy sauce. Yet it has such a high price tag that it is a well known choice for a bribe. "Those who buy Maotai don't drink it, those who drink it don't buy it." as the saying goes.
A little known fact about the urine of diabetics is that it's commonly full of unprocessed sugars as the result of the donor's condition. But it took someone as off beat as James Gilpin to take this odd fermentable and process it into a strong whiskey. More intended as an art and educational piece, it none the less is selling amongst daring connoisseurs.
Chicha is a popular drink in South and Central America produced from a frankly unusual type of fermentation process. Using saliva to catalize the breakdown of the starches in small balls of maize, this drink is only available in small batches. It's also believed to reduce blood pressure, but perhaps the cure is worse than the disease.
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