Modern Vespa

To late for me to be interested and it doesn't come without controversy. I would have loved to in my backpacking years.

"Bikers, hikers, campers and anyone else interested in the potential of carrying around lightweight, powdered alcohol that only needs a little water to become a cocktail now have reason to be excited about a new product called Palcohol - so long as it manages to make it through the final regulatory hurdles in the United States.

Powdered beer mixes are already in existence, but this ups the ante.

Palcohol is the creation of Mark Phillips and his Arizona-based company, Lipsmark, LLC, which was founded in 2012. Patents are pending on the product and the processes behind it, so few details are available on just exactly how it's made, but the Palcohol website answers the question "What's in it?" with:

"It varies per version but basically, alcohol [...] and in the cocktail versions, natural flavorings and Sucralose as a sweetener. The ingredients of each version are listed on the front of the package. Palcohol is gluten free."

The amount of alcohol in the mix isn't exactly clear, but the company says that adding five ounces of liquid to a packet of Palcohol would be "equal to a standard mixed drink."

Palcohol will be available in six varieties including "V which is powder made from premium vodka distilled four times," "R which is powder made from premium Puerto Rican rum," as well as four cocktail mixes to make an instant Cosmopolitan, Mojito, "Powderita" (similar to a Margarita), or Lemon Drop."

I haven't been a fan of alcoholic beverages in plastic containers for years, though. So I admit some bias. Besides, a flask isn't so big or heavy, to me it seems this is made for folks trying to bring it where it isn't allowed.

I will not, and have NEVER drunk alcohol (solvent) out of anything plastic. I'm with you Msully

A great idea! Anything to lighten the load on the scooter.

Ever since I first read about this stuff a couple of days ago, my "skeptic alarm" bells have been going off.

It's been 47 years since I had a chemistry class, but -- for the life of me -- I couldn't figure out how it is possible to make a powdered form of ethanol. You can't just evaporate booze because the alcohol itself is a liquid, and more volatile than water.

Finally found this likely explanation on Gizmodo:

"In nature, alcohol, aka ethanol, exists as a liquid, so how do you make it into a powder that's dry to the touch? We spoke to Sam Bompas, half of the food design and research team Bompas & Parr about what powdered alcohol might actually be. According to Bompas, the ethanol is probably "micro-encapsulated" in some kind of molecular container, kind of like a teeny gelcap. Or a mountain of them. "The alcohol molecules themselves will still be liquid, they are just enrobed in a microscopic shell," he told us.

This tiny shell is mixed with sugar and other powders, which you seal into Emergen-C-like packets that contain all the flavorings you'd expect for a particular cocktail. The process by which you micro-encapsulate is Palcohol's secret sauce so we don't know exactly how it's done. But according to Bompas, "this typically involves enrobing the liquid in fat molecules that can be dissolved in solution or through physical abrasion (it's a process used to give longer flavor release in chewing gum)."

In other words, when you add the encapsulated ethanol to water and stir it up, all the the alcohol gets released."

The danger of abuse by snorting appears to be significant to me.

that was the first thought that entered my mind too.

As a chemist this intrigues the heck out of me. Is it trapped in some sort of micro zeolite or just a big molecule that degrades in water. Either way, impressive.

Possibly with the straight vodka or rum packets but I bet that lemon drop powder would sting a bit.

No more so than taking shots of liquor, I would imagine.

I was thinking along the lines of Pop Rocks. Snorting sounds much more likely.

wait, this isn't more bath salts?

Man snorts powdered vodka. Eats own face.

give me a lolly

Could it be a process similar to spray drying?

That would be like drying gasoline or jet fuel. It doesn't dry, it goes away.

The micro encapsulation is used commonly in food products and pharmaceuticals. Some of the "container" materials are fat based which I would not expect to work for ETOH, but there are other materials such as silica gels and silica aerogels.

Years ago there were little vials of flavoring that when mixed with cheap vodka made "liquors." I had some of the imitation Drambuie and it was pretty awful. I think I gave it to somebody known to drink anything.

This is like the dancing dog. It dances poorly, but the remarkable thing is that it dances at all.

Maybe this aging thing isn't so bad. Never occurred to me. Then again, snorting anything never enticed me. Lots of acquaintances, but no personal experience. A rarity here.

It says it is 74% alcohol by vol. You snort that up your nose and you are going to have more than a little tickle sensation. More like a blow torch.

So, basically it's a tea bag for booze?
No thanks.

I was hoping a beer would be possible. Imagine 6 or 7 days out and filling yer cup with icy cold water and having a beer. Would be a wondrous thing. Dry martini, maybe.

I'm sure the responsible kids of today would never try snorting this junk.

I'm just wondering of you can make cookies out of it.

A whole new meaning for Cookie Monster.

We have this!

It is.

http://drinkingmadeeasy.com/beer/on-the-go-powdered-beer/

That looks awful.

First thing I thought of was Ethel alcohol, not the kind you drink
I was like, "why the hell do you need powered alcohol".
I LIKE IT!

Snorting or not but if it's anything like the freeze dried pork chops we had whilst hiking the Appalachian Trail i'll pass. I swear their still sitting in my stomach and i started hiking it back in the 70's.

Guess I'm really not understanding the point. Okay, you can encapsulate alcohol in small capsules. I get that, but the alcohol doesn't weigh less or take up less space because it is still there as the same liquid it was before. What is the advantage of "powdered" alcohol over just bringing a pocket flask? Who needs liquor that tastes bad, costs more, and takes up as much space as it always did (or more).

I agree.

It might decrease the weight and volume by half or a bit more (considering the "proof" of most booze), but that would hardly be worth the disadvantages.

It has 10-12% alcohol per packet.

I read up a little on this, and I think I understand the product, and even the rationalization for its existence.

Most distilled spirits are distilled to a very high proof level in manufacture and then diluted down to the level at which it is marketed. For most liquors it is distilled to 80% +/- (160 proof) then diluted down to 40% (the 80 proof you see on the bottle.) When you make a mixed drink the alcohol comes down a lot, say 15%. So a 5 oz margarita has about .75 oz of pure alcohol. So if you could use nearly pure alcohol (they say 74% v/v) which was in turn sequestered in dry micro balloons like dust, and then mix the dust with freeze dried flavored, sugar, color, etc. you might have a dehydrated drink. You could then add 5 oz of water to this spoonful of dry powder and Shazam! you have a drink, flavor, alcohol, and all.

OK, I see the how, and because the package would be little larger or heavier than a tea bag, I see the why. My only caveat is , "Is it any good." While we will have to wait for the taste test, I suspect that it will be terrible. The whiskeys and other liquors we are used to are very complex and sophisticated packages of flavor, and we have spent years refining our senses to appreciate them (well I have.) I reiterate my dancing dog. I think these things are going to be, "Wow, look at the dried alcohol! Wow, it tastes like reconstituted cat piss!"

Ripple Pagan Pink.

It doesn't have to taste good.

I think the whole lot is a bit goofy. But I will admit I would have tried a few on several trips. Now? No single malt so it'll never happen here.

I suspect they might taste like the packaged cocktails my grandfather was so fond of in the 70's. Blech!