Beyond your wildest imagination, across oceans, and beyond borders, you can find concoctions of the craziest ingredients and earthly substances blended together to create something new. From around the world, here are 15 of the weirdest beverages in existence that may leave you screaming for more – or never again!
1. Gau Jal (Cow Urine Soda): This carbonated beverage is as simple as it sounds – a soft drink made from cow urine. This drink was created by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a sect of Hindu paramilitary nationalists that wanted to reestablish the most popular carbonated beverage from American Coca-Cola to Gau Jal
2. Ayahuasca: This beverage goes by several different names but has one common purpose – spiritual medicine. Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drink used as a healing agent and a natural pain killer for indigenous tribes in the Amazon.
3. Salmon-Flavored vodka: Uniquely Alaskan, this fish-flavored vodka was created by Alaskan Distillery back in 2010. Creating the beverage requires an unconventional process; the salmon is first smoked, skinned, and ground before it is placed into a large vat and mixed with concentrated ethanol. The result is a stewy brew that is later refined and distilled to produce Salmon-flavored vodka.
4. Ranch Dressing Soda: Lester’s Fixins soda from the United States is known for creating many unconventional flavors for its list of beverages, including its ranch dressing soda. The soda comes from the company founder’s obsession with ranch, but consumers have not been so obsessed with the drink itself; it is said to have a peculiar aftertaste combined with strange ranch aromas.
5. Habushu: This traditional form of Okinawa rice liquor makes our list of weirdest beverages because it is embellished with a resting viper lying at the bottom of the container. The alcohol is preserved long enough to dissolve the viper’s venom until it is ready for consumption.
6. Kumis: Consumed mainly in central Asia, Kumis is a tradition fermented milk drink. Mare’s milk is especially high in in sugar and allows fermentation to occur naturally. Even though this drink is not conventionally high is alcohol content, it is often distilled to be much more potent.
7. Sourtoe Cocktail: This cocktail is as unpleasant as it sounds – a combination of traditional whisky, flavored with the taste of a mummified toe. The tradition started upon the discovery of a Canadian rum smuggler’s toe. The drinking ritual was developed to prove you are a “true Yukoner.” Drinking the cocktail comes with one rule: “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but the lips must touch the toe.”
8. Placenta 10,000: Created in Japan as recently as 2008, Placenta 10,000 is a health drink derived from pig placenta. The production of this drink comes from the understanding that placenta has regenerative properties. The drink is said to taste like peaches, but will be sure to leave a lasting image in your brain!
9. Pizza Beer: From Mama Mia! Pizza parlor from Illinois, Pizza beer is your next favorite refreshment made with basil, oregano, tomato and garlic. High in carbonation with hints of dough and spices, Pizza beer leaves you with a lingering taste of pizza in your mouth with a garlic tomato after taste. This drink pairs perfectly well with, you guessed it – a slice of pizza!
10. Yak Tea Butter: From the 7th century, this beverage was originally known for its potency as “Bulletproof Tea” and is the national drink of Tibet. Yak Butter Tea, made from yak milk, is a drink consumed for its practicality; it provides nomadic people with warmth, energy, and heat during the colder months. In many homes, it is consumed as a delicacy reserved for special occasions because Yak Butter is expensive and hard to acquire when the climate is cold.
11. Seagull Wine: This drink needs little explanation for why it makes our list of weirdest beverages. Made by Inuit tribes from the North Pole, this simple drink is prepared by placing a deceased seagull into a bottle of water. The bottle is set in the direct sunlight to heat and ferment over time. The drink is not found in conventional grocery stores; it is only made and sold in the Arctic Circle.
12. Yogurito: A yogurt-based liqueur, Yogurito is a uniquely Japanese drink that is made in Holland and bottled in France. Yogurito is usually drunk straight or mixed with a citrus based juice. It is typically consumed by individuals who are health-conscious and are constantly active.
13. Pulque: We use often use agave as a sweetener substitute but in Mexico, agave is used to produce Pulque. Also known as agave wine, Pulque is an alcoholic drink made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. The drink was invented several hundred years ago in Mexico where it was considered sacred and reserved from upper-class citizens.
14. Snorkel Beer from Jester King Brewery: From the great state of Texas comes Snorkel beer. Brewed with alderwood smoked sea salt and oyster mushrooms, this beer is known for its earthy, fungal notes.
15. Dr. Brow’s Cel-Ray: From the heart of the Big Apple comes a celery-flavored soft drink from Dr. Brown’s drink line. The flavor is directly derived from celery seed extract and became popular in the 1930’s among New York’s Jewish community, dubbed “Jewish Champagne.”
Have a great drink idea (or something you think might make our list of weirdest beverages)? Flavorman can help you bring it to life. Give us a call at (502) 273-5214 or contact our team through this webform.
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