London-based GABA Labs is working on a type of synthetic alcohol called ‘Alcarelle’ which reportedly provides the relaxing effects of alcohol without hangovers, balance deficiencies or any of its other negative side effects.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid, aka GABA, is a neurotransmitter that blocks certain signals in the brain, thus producing a calming effect. When alcohol reaches the brain, it binds to GABA receptors and produces the same effects, relaxing and calming people down. The problem with alcohol is that it also has other negative side effects, like hangover, movement difficulties, speaking and thinking problems, etc.  GABA Labs is currently working on a type of synthetic alcohol called Alcarelle that is supposed to provide all the positive effects of alcohol consumption, but none of the bad ones.

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A Spanish court ruled that an electrical company was wrong to fire one of its electricians for allegedly drinking more than three liters of beer on the job because it couldn’t prove he was drunk.

Drinking alcohol during work hours is usually frowned upon and can constitute grounds for dismissal, but according to a high court in Murcia, Spain, that is only true when the employer can prove without a shadow of a doubt that the accused was inebriated to the point where he could no longer fulfill his duty safely. The court recently ordered an electrical company to either reinstate the sacked worker or pay them 47,000 euros ($52,000) for failing to show that their drinking on the job left them inebriated, intoxicated or drunk”, or unable to do their job. The controversial ruling also mentioned that the company failed to consider the hot Murcian summer, which apparently justified beer consumption.

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Vets in Plymouth, UK, scrambled to save the life of an alcoholic labrador retriever that had become addicted to booze because its late owner kept leaving his drinks outside overnight.

Coco, a two-year-old Labrador cross, almost lost his life and spent a month in intensive care after becoming addicted to alcohol. Staff at the Woodside Animal Welfare Trust in Plymouth, Devon, rescued Coco and another dog after their owner passed away, but they had no idea about the problems the two canines had. It turned out that they were both alcohol addicts, having gotten hooked on booze over years of enjoying open bottles that their late owner left out in the yard before going to sleep. The addiction was so bad that the other dog passed away during the withdrawal period and Coco himself had to be sedated for four weeks.

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Argentina is known for a lot of things, from tango to its love of football, but you probably didn’t know that it’s also home to the world’s drunkest drivers.

Back in March of this year, Argentinian media reported that a young man in the town of Plottier, Neuquén province, had broken the world breathalyzer record, after scoring an unprecedented 5,79 grams of alcohol per liter of breath when tested by police, after crashing his car in a ditch. Despite suffering minor injuries to his face and arms because of the crash, he refused medical assistance and did not cooperate with the police. However, he would not get to brag about his unusual record for too long, because just last week, a fellow Argentinian broke it again.

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When it comes to “spicy” liquor, you’ll have a tough time finding something hotter than this crazy combination of overproof rum infused with the world’s hottest pepper, the Carolina Reaper.

The World’s Hottest Shot comes in a deceptively small and harmless-looking 45ml bottle that you can just pour in a shot glass and gulp in one go. But before you do that, you should know that this is no ordinary drink. Not only is the rum overproof (over 63% alcohol by volume), but it also has also been infused with Carolina Reaper peppers for at least three months. The result is a barely stomachable concoction that is almost guaranteed to make you gag, sweat and scream in agony as you wait for the fire inside you to stop burning.

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The Below Zero ice cream machine uses a unique technique to freeze alcohol, which allows you to turn beers, cocktails and even spirits into delicious soft-serve ice cream.

Getting drunk on ice cream used to be the stuff of dreams, but thanks to Will Rogers, inventor and owner of WDS Dessert Stations in Hinkley, Illinois, it has become a delicious reality. Rogers, who runs his own ice cream shop, was trying to create a highly-caffeinated espresso ice cream flavor when he realized he could use the same technique with alcoholic beverages. He started experimenting with various gums and stabilizers commonly used in the ice cream industry and eventually patented something called the NEA gel. It’s this magical concoction that allows the alcohol to freeze to a near solid inside the Below Zero ice cream machine.

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UK-based Anno Distillers recently launched what it calls the “world’s strongest gin”, a spirit so string that it comes with a small beaker for precise dosing, as well as clear mixing instructions.

With a 95% ABV, the Anno Extreme 95 gin is definitely not meant to be enjoyed straight up, not unless you want to feel what it’s like to set your mouth on fire. Instead, its creators recommend it served as a “light G&T,” using only 5ml of spirit, tonic water and a slice of grapefruit as garnish. To help you with those measurements, the new world’s strongest gin comes with a small measuring beaker.

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An American woman who had been removed from liver transplant waiting lists for trying to conceal an alcohol addiction recently became the first to be diagnosed with urinary auto-brewery syndrome, with alcohol being produced naturally in her bladder.

When the 61-year-old unnamed woman showed up on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s liver transplant waiting list, she had already been kicked off other transplant lists for her alleged drinking problem several times, and it looked like the same was going to happen this time around. Multiple urine tests showed that there was ethanol in her urine, but the patient kept denying that she had a drinking problem. Right when they were about dismiss the woman once again, a deeper investigation showed that her urine had no ethyl glucuronide or ethyl sulfate – the metabolites of ethanol – which was weird for a person who had consumed alcohol.

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An international team of scientists studying the exclusion zone around Chernobyl recently unveiled a bottle of vodka made with water and cereal grown in the area around the abandoned nuclear power plant.

Called ‘Atomik’, this vodka is the first consumer product to have come out of the Chernobyl exclusion zone ever since the nuclear catastrophe that hit Ukraine in 1986. The grains used to make it were grown on a farm located withing the zone, and while analysis showed that they did some radioactive elements, the distillation process reportedly removed all impurities so the Atomik Vodka was found to contain the same radioactive compound as any other spirits drink – natural Carbon-14.

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Pura Still is being advertised as the first spiked water that doesn’t need bubbles to keep things interesting. It’s still, but definitely not flat as it has an alcohol content of 4.5% by volume.

Alcoholic drink brands have been hard at work trying to come up with new and enticing products for the growing number of health-conscious consumers who like to consume of bit of alcohol from time to time, but hate the calories associated with it. Pura Still is the bet of FIFCO USA, formerly North American Breweries, to capture this important part of the market. It doesn’t have the “annoying carbonated bubbles” that spiked seltzer products are known for, and contains only one gram of sugar and 90 calories. The company describes Pura Still as “the perfect way for consumers to enjoy themselves without straying from their healthy lifestyles”.

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Alcoholic ice-cream treats have been around for a while, but actually getting drunk, or even a bit tipsy on them is a challenge, because, well, they aren’t very alcoholic. Enter, Buzz Pop Cocktails, a range of gourmet Italian sorbets that pack that punch you’ve been looking for.

Buzz Pop Cocktails are made from fresh fruits and premium liquors, but what really sets them apart from other boozy frozen treats is the alcohol content. While most so-called alcoholic ice-creams have an alcohol content comparable to beer – around 4.5% ABV – Buzz Pop Cocktails are three times stronger, at 15% ABV, which means one is probably enough to get your head buzzing. They come in packs of eight, so you can get yourself hammered on ice-cream, although it will cost you.

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An Australian distiller has taken the concept of recycling to a whole new level by taking the spat-out wine at a wine tasting conference and turning it into a spirit aptly named Kissing a Stranger.

Peter Bignell, of Tasmanian Belgrove Distillery, was first struck by the idea at the Rootstock festival in Sydney, a gathering of winemakers from all over the world promoting sustainable practices in the winemaking industry. He was in a group tasting wines, and as per tradition in wine-tasting, the majority of it was spat out in a bucket. This practice enables tasters to experience a lot of different wines while avoiding drunkenness. Bignell, however, saw it as wasteful.

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A group of fraternity members in Bethesda, Maryland recently gave the phrase “drink the air” a literal meaning, after staging a monster party so fueled by alcohol that the air in the venue tested positive on a police breathalyzer.

Last month, Montgomery County police officers raided a home in an upscale neighborhood of Bethesda after receiving several complaints from neighbors, and broke up what must have been one hell of a party. Court documents show that the officers found insulated windows, plastic bags full of beer cans and liqueur bottles, and the floors sticky with spilled booze. The ambient air inside the suburban house was tested with at least one breathalyzer and registered a positive result of 0.1.

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“Praise the Lord and pass the libation” is the motto of an unorthodox church located near Johannesburg, South Africa. Gabola Church of International Ministries takes its name from the Tswana word for “drinking”, and it both allows and encourages members of the congregation to drink during service.

The African continent is home to lots of unconventional churches and colorful preachers who employ all kinds of outlandish rituals to attract parishioners. In the past we’ve written about ministers spraying congregates with “holy” bug spray, making them drink motor oil or talking to God on the phone. However, Johannesburg’s Gabola Church is apparently the first to choose alcohol as its main theme.

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If you’re looking for a special treat that captures the spirit of Halloween, how about a bottle of gin made from ingredients sourced from England’s most haunted village and cursed by a professional witch under a full moon?

Described as ‘wickedly delicious’, the limited-edition Evil Spirits Gin may just be the spookiest spirit ever created. Not only is it colored a poison-like green, but it’s made with apples and mint plucked from Pluckley, in Ashford, Kent, known as England’s most haunted village. It’s apparently home to no less than 12 ghosts, including Watercress Woman and the farmer Edward Brett.

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