One of the beauties of diversity is that we have and embrace different cultures and cuisines worldwide. As such, we have drinks for everyone! Whether you are a teetotaler and want something “polite,” or you don’t mind a little booze, whatever you want, you get.
While we all agree that there are sweet-tasting and bitter drinks, some are outright gross, to say the least. Here is a list of the most unusual drinks around the world. After reading this piece, you might discover that what you thought was weird isn’t halfway there.
1. The Vaportini
The vaportini is a drink of flavor-infused alcohol heated to up to 149 degrees Fahrenheit and drunk using a straw. Usually, when you take a drink, there are no unique ingredients and “hacks” to help bypass your body’s natural defenses against over-drinking.
However, this vaporized alcohol can do just that. You can inhale as much as you want through a straw that accompanies it when served. The drink is popular in the United States.
2. Fermented Mare Milk (Kumis)
This drink, whose main ingredient is fermented mare (female horse) milk, has been around since as early as 5 BC. Drinking this milk as it is is impossible, so the natives (people in central Asia) fertilized it, making it an alcoholic drink. The alcohol content is not as high; it’s similar to drinking standard beer.
If Kumis sounds like something you can try, the best place to take it is in the origin countries. They include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia. Its taste is more like yogurt, probably from the fermented mare milk.
3. Spirytus Rektyfikowany
The average price of a 500ml bottle of Spirytus Rektyfikowany is about $79. It is a high-proof polish pure spirit that constitutes potatoes and grains. With around 96% alcohol volume, it ranks among the world’s most alcoholic drinks.
What makes this drink unusual is its strong and fiery taste. It is hard to imagine that a person can drink this alcohol, but the Polish seem to have figured it out. Consuming it neat is not recommended– many foreigners have died trying it.
4. Panda Dung Tea
Weird as it may sound, there have been reports of panda dung tea selling for as much as $35,000 per round. Originally from the mountainous region of Sichuan, China, this beverage consists of panda dung, which the natives believe has massive health benefits.
Pandas only absorb a small percentage of the food they eat. This means that their dung consists of many unabsorbed nutrients, which the Chinese choose to capitalize on.
5. Waragi
Commonly found in the East African Nation of Uganda, Waragi is a cheap spirit sold in sachets. Its main ingredients include sugarcane, millet, cassava, and bananas. In some cases, nutmeg, cassia bark, and lime peels can also constitute the mixture (it’s the only gin in the world with such production).
Even though the drink is popular among the natives, it killed more than 18 people in Moroto District, Uganda. With that, anyone who tries it must do so cautiously.
6. Ayahuasca, Also Known as Yage
Sometimes known as yage or yaje, Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic drink consisting of the stem and bark of the tropical liana Banisteriopsis capi as its main ingredient. It was first created in the Amazon basin but quickly gained popularity in other parts of the world.
Those who take it say Ayahuasca helps clean the digestive system, removing parasites and toxins. However, for most people, it remains an essentially unusual drink.
7. Placenta 10,000 Mg
You have heard of jelly drinks, right? The placenta 10,000 is a great example. The drink, originally from Japan, consists of properties from pigs’ placenta. The natives believe the placenta has many health benefits, so they thought creating a drink from it would be brilliant.
If you are looking for a drink with cosmetic regenerative properties or have a problem with dieting, the Placenta 10,000 might be your perfect pick. It might be weird, but the fact that people are willing to spend upwards of $8 per drink shows that it’s legit.
8. Peyote Tea
Peyote is a famous spine-free cactus common with the ingenious American people. The fruit contains a psychotropic compound, mescaline, that, when ingested, can cause a “high.” Peyote tea, therefore, is a famous way of consuming this product.
The problem is the tea is very bitter. It’s hard to imagine that humans can consume such a beverage despite its intense visual experiences!
9. Feni
Over time, people have developed different flavors of ice cream, and feni is one of the more popular ones, especially in India. If you are wondering if this snack has any relationship with the famous Feni drink with a pungent smell, you are right; they are.
The Feni-flavored ice creams are not much better, either. There is a high chance that the pungent odor will the back of your throat immediately after you take it. This makes both the drink and the ice cream some of the weirdest in the world.
10. Snake Wine
Snake wine is famous in some Asian countries, such as China, and yes, it contains actual snake venom. In ancient times, people believed that specific snake venom had healing abilities. Even though the poison is usually neutralized by other ingredients in the drink, it doesn’t make it less weird.
11. Hoihoi Tatea
Hoihoi Tatea is probably the weirdest drink. It consists of apple juice but then flavored with horse semen. As expected, the tatea famous in New Zealand is unpopular with men, so retailers primarily target female clientele. Those who consume it joke that they become pregnant with horse-human hybrids.
