Would you drink it?

[gekko]

So my sister recently sent me a "souvenir" from her trip to Vietnam. It's homemade whiskey. I'm a big fan of whiskey, and love nothing more than a fine Islay scotch, but I'm not so sure about this. Now, I would take a picture, but there's no reason since it looks exactly like this:

http://www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/real-cobra-scorpion-whiskey-1.jpg

Yes, that is a cobra holding a scorpion in its mouth. Two poisonous dead creatures inside a bottle of whiskey. Not quite sure the FDA approves.

So I'm curious, would you drink it? I thought the worm was disgusting...

[Bond]

I've never heard of this being done with whiskey before, but it's very common to see "snake wine" in China (and I would suppose Vietnam as well).

I'm sure it's safe to consume, but I never would.

Here's the wikipedia page on snake wine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_wine

[Typhoid]

I'd keep it.
That's an awesome souvenir to have.

[Vampyr]

Yeah, awesome souvenir.

Wouldn't drink it though. :)

It's got to be safe, though - it's soaking in alcohol. That will probably kill just about anything dangerous.

[Combine 017]

Thats pretty bad ass.
Id drink it.
I wonder how they fit those things in there?

btw, the scorpion in there is an Emperor Scorpion, not very poisonous.
So you just got to worry about the cobra. ;)

[thatmariolover]

I'd get drunk, and then I'd drink it.

[BreakABone]

As I told you last night, I would try it.

No one died from the website we found.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Chemistry wise the the alcohol should fuck the poison.

I don't know what kind of venom cobras have, but think it's a neuro-toxin. Either way think it should fuck it. The Alcohol should denature the snake venom. HOWEVER, I wouldn't drink it at all because that shit sounds nasty.

Actually had a discussion similar to this in Chemistry class one day. It was the only day chemistry class was awesome.

[Xantar]

Meh. In Vietnam they also drink liquor with the heart of a snake in it. That is to say, you swallow the liquor AND the heart. At the same time.

We Vietnamese consider that to be kind of a backwoods hick drink, though. I've never had it and neither has anyone else in my family.

Also, there's no practical health code in Vietnam. Oh there's probably a government agency that's supposed to be in charge of that kind of thing, but whatever power they have is gutted by corruption. I've seen restaurants keeping a block of ice on the ground next to the bathroom door and then chipping pieces off of it to put into drinks. You can be reasonably certain that something produced in the US won't be blatantly poisonous. You can't be so sure in Vietnam.

So no, I wouldn't drink it. For all you know, it might be methanol instead of ethanol.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Oh that reminds me I was reading about in China they mix like snake's blood with alcohol and serve it as a drink. I was highly disgusted.

[Angrist]

Dudes, you need to watch more Steve Irwin.

Snakes and scorpions aren't poisenous. They're venemous. Poison hurts you when you eat it, venom hurts you when it's injected in your flesh. Something like that.

Other than that... I guess I'd keep it. Probably prettier than it is tasty.

[Combine 017]

Dudes, you need to watch more Steve Irwin.

Snakes and scorpions aren't poisenous. They're venemous. Poison hurts you when you eat it, venom hurts you when it's injected in your flesh. Something like that.

Other than that... I guess I'd keep it. Probably prettier than it is tasty.

So your saying that if I drank a cup of snake venom id be completely fine?
Time to test this out myself.

[Angrist]

Well, I'm not too sure of that. But the venom might be digested...

[manasecret]

Interesting question: If you ingest venom, is it still "venomous", or is it now "poisonous" since it is not injected by the animal?

I'm no chemist, but I believe venom is essentially a poison. It's just usually injected by an animal, so it's venomous, not poisonous.

[Xantar]

Venoms are usually biological agents that get denatured by acid, so I guess it's plausible that your stomach would kill venom before it enters your bloodstream and does any damage. I wouldn't want to wager on your tongue coming out very well from the experience, though.

[manasecret]

gekko, question: Did your sister drink any of the same while there?

[KillerGremlin]

Interesting question: If you ingest venom, is it still "venomous", or is it now "poisonous" since it is not injected by the animal?

I'm no chemist, but I believe venom is essentially a poison. It's just usually injected by an animal, so it's venomous, not poisonous.

I'm not a bio major.....My understanding is that venom is a neurotoxin and when injected into your bloodstream it travels through your blood (it probably crosses the blood-brain barrier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood-brain_barrier) and causes neurological issues which effect your respiratory system, etc.

I assume just digesting something reduces the chance of the neurotoxin from crossing the blood-brain barrier. And my understanding is the alcohol breaks down the proteins that make the neurotoxin harmful to humans thereby eliminating any of the side effects.

Drink up and enjoy. :D

[KillerGremlin]

I'm just googling around on this topic and it looks like some snakes have both Neurotoxins and Hemotoxins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemotoxin
-destroy red blood cells
-prevent blood from clotting
-cause organs to shut down

Also, death by Hemotoxin is apparently slow and painful vs. death by Neurotoxin.

Damn nature, you scary!
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Also, some interesting facts.....
-Rattlesnakes are not immune to rattlesnake venom. I wonder (or would not be surprised) if the same is true to other species of snakes.

And again....my belief is that you can ingest most snake venom on the basis that digestion does not result in the venom going through you blood the same way. Numerous sites say you can eat rattlesnake without worrying about the venom. So soaking the thing in alcohol can only help as I am 99% sure the alcohol breaks down the proteins that make the venom a neurotoxin.


Do save the bottle though, in case you need to take it with you to the hospital. :p

[KillerGremlin]

Here is the definitive answer! So don't start eating poisonous shit because if you eat the wrong spider or something you will die!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_venom

Snake venom is highly modified saliva[citation needed] that is produced by special glands of certain species of snakes. The gland which secretes the zootoxin is a modification of the parotid salivary gland of other vertebrates, and is usually situated on each side of the head below and behind the eye, invested in a muscular sheath. It is provided with a large alveoli in which the venom is stored before being conveyed by a duct to the base of the channelled or tubular fang through which it is ejected. Snake venom is a combination of many different proteins and enzymes. Many of these proteins are harmless to humans, but some are toxins.

Note that snake venoms are generally not dangerous when ingested, and are therefore not technically poisons.[citation needed]

So snake venom is not a poison, but some snakes have toxins that could be harmful when ingested.

Anyway, I figure I can supplement my 3 tangenty posts with some fucked up shit!

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[gekko]

gekko, question: Did your sister drink any of the same while there?

Unknown. Haven't had a chance to talk to her since receiving the gift.

[Angrist]

Note that snake venoms are generally not dangerous when ingested, and are therefore not technically poisons.[citation needed]
Haha, for all you know, I put that on wikipedia. :)

[KillerGremlin]

Haha, for all you know, I put that on wikipedia. :)

I confess the source is not dynamite but all-in-all I think evidence is on gekko's side here...which is that if he did drink this concoction he would probably live to tell about it.

[KillerGremlin]

Did you end up drinking it?

[TheSlyMoogle]

Yeah did you? Inquiring minds want to know!

[gekko]

Nope! Sitting on the fridge.

[Bube]

Bah, what a boring ending.

You can't drink it any anymore, it's probably gone bad by now :p

[Angrist]

I was suddenly wondering, is every poison also a venom? Because if it's harmful when you eat it, it's probably harmful in any way it gets into your body.