Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
We're doing something different this time: a special edition replaying the Liquipedia seminar we delivered live at Tales of the Cocktail 2026 in New Orleans, sponsored by Belvedere — forty-five increasingly unhinged questions about liquids, alcohol and drinking, answered (mostly correctly) in just under two hours. Jake Burger returns as the show's first repeat guest, joined by Mike Foster running the questions and Matt Pomeroy handling demonstrations, both from Belvedere. We test whether vacuum ice buckets actually chill wine faster than a plain ice bucket, work out why Bloody Marys taste better at 35,000 feet, and establish that you'd need roughly half a million licks — or five thousand people — to get drunk off other people's sweat. We go deep on water's age (some of it in your glass may predate the sun), whether climate change is quietly reshaping the world's great spirits regions, and why a Malaysian pen-tailed tree shrew is pound-for-pound a more accomplished drinker than Andre the Giant. There's a live blind taste test where Jake and Tris try to identify beer brands purely by the sound of the bottle opening, a full run-through of the maths behind why champagne towers waste hundreds of litres of fizz, and a proper history detour into the life and death of Mad Jack Mytton, the Regency-era MP who rode a bear into a dinner party and set fire to his own nightshirt to cure hiccups. We track down the world's most expensive liquid (spoiler: it's either horseshoe crab blood or deathstalker scorpion venom, depending how you count), debunk the myth that Ian Fleming actually drank his martinis at Dukes, and finally solve the mystery of why Jack Daniel's and Coke gets that strange white foam that no other whiskey and cola does.
A few sound and video issues in this episode due to the intoxicated state of the producer and cast. Hope you enjoy it though!
00:00:00 Intro — Liquipedia returns, live from Tales of the Cocktail 2026
00:01:53 Do vacuum ice buckets actually work? (live temperature test set up)
00:02:55 Why do Bloody Marys taste better on a plane?
00:07:09 What if liquids got denser as they cooled, like water doesn't?
00:08:38 How old is the water in your glass?
00:11:06 Do you really sweat out alcohol — and can you sweat yourself sober?
00:14:28 Could you get drunk licking sweaty drunk people?
00:16:13 What's the most disgusting drink in fiction?
00:17:39 What's the most disgusting real drink? (seagull wine, yak milk vodka, Malört)
00:24:07 Does blowing on hot tea or coffee actually cool it down?
00:26:46 How long to fill an Olympic pool with Scotland's malt whisky output?
00:28:41 Same question, but for soju
00:31:46 Will climate change reshape where the world's spirits get made?
00:37:58 What's the deal with the Shark Attack cocktail?
00:42:24 Why does coffee make you poop?
00:44:55 Did the Sazerac really switch from cognac to rye because of phylloxera?
00:49:24 Can you actually die of delirium tremens? The story of Mad Jack Mytton
00:53:51 The best way to stop ice melting — NASA's Apollo insulation trick
00:55:12 Are dry shakes pointless?
00:56:40 Does a classic champagne tower actually work?
01:00:14 Is there a way to build one that doesn't waste champagne?
01:01:49 Does squeezing the air out of a soda bottle stop it going flat?
01:03:57 Why does adding water change a whisky's aroma?
01:05:41 Where do champagne bottle sizes get their names?
01:06:57 How much whiskey is aging in American warehouses, and what's it worth?
01:09:13 Will rubbing Belvedere Dirty Brew Coffee Vodka on your head cure baldness?
01:11:19 Is there any way to beat a breathalyzer?
01:14:22 Pound for pound, does a drunk tree shrew out-drink Andre the Giant?
01:16:56 If drunk people slept in a dehumidified room, would the water be alcoholic?
01:18:58 What's the greatest fictional drink? The Vesper vs Back to the Future's Wake-Up Juice
01:22:57 Does the two-part pour actually matter for a pint of Guinness?
01:24:10 What's physically happening when a slammed beer bottle erupts?
01:25:11 Can you identify a beer brand just by the sound of it opening? Live blind test
01:29:41 What's the third driest liquid in the world?
01:30:49 Did Ian Fleming really drink his martinis at Dukes?
01:37:39 What would a $75 honorarium from the first Liquipedia in 2010 be worth today?
01:40:04 Why do champagne bubbles rise? (skipped — too complicated)
01:40:32 What's the world's most expensive liquid?
01:42:33 What's it actually like to drink "rocket fuel"? Soviet-era aircraft alcohol
01:44:52 Why does Jack Daniel's and Coke get that strange white foam?
01:47:10 Can gunpowder really test the strength of rum? (skipped)
01:47:35 What happens when insects get drunk?
01:48:06 Where in the world has the highest concentration of distilleries?
01:50:52 Who has visited the most distilleries in the world? Alfred Barnard's marathon
01:52:19 Why did restaurants lock up the Worcestershire sauce in the 19th century?
We're doing something different this time: a special edition replaying the Liquipedia seminar we delivered live at Tales of the Cocktail 2026 in New Orleans, sponsored by Belvedere — forty-five increasingly unhinged questions about liquids, alcohol and drinking, answered (mostly correctly) in just under two hours. Jake Burger returns as the show's first repeat guest, joined by Mike Foster running the questions and Matt Pomeroy handling demonstrations, both from Belvedere. We test whether vacuum ice buckets actually chill wine faster than a plain ice bucket, work out why Bloody Marys taste better at 35,000 feet, and establish that you'd need roughly half a million licks — or five thousand people — to get drunk off other people's sweat. We go deep on water's age (some of it in your glass may predate the sun), whether climate change is quietly reshaping the world's great spirits regions, and why a Malaysian pen-tailed tree shrew is pound-for-pound a more accomplished drinker than Andre the Giant. There's a live blind taste test where Jake and Tris try to identify beer brands purely by the sound of the bottle opening, a full run-through of the maths behind why champagne towers waste hundreds of litres of fizz, and a proper history detour into the life and death of Mad Jack Mytton, the Regency-era MP who rode a bear into a dinner party and set fire to his own nightshirt to cure hiccups. We track down the world's most expensive liquid (spoiler: it's either horseshoe crab blood or deathstalker scorpion venom, depending how you count), debunk the myth that Ian Fleming actually drank his martinis at Dukes, and finally solve the mystery of why Jack Daniel's and Coke gets that strange white foam that no other whiskey and cola does.
A few sound and video issues in this episode due to the intoxicated state of the producer and cast. Hope you enjoy it though!
00:00:00 Intro — Liquipedia returns, live from Tales of the Cocktail 2026
00:01:53 Do vacuum ice buckets actually work? (live temperature test set up)
00:02:55 Why do Bloody Marys taste better on a plane?
00:07:09 What if liquids got denser as they cooled, like water doesn't?
00:08:38 How old is the water in your glass?
00:11:06 Do you really sweat out alcohol — and can you sweat yourself sober?
00:14:28 Could you get drunk licking sweaty drunk people?
00:16:13 What's the most disgusting drink in fiction?
00:17:39 What's the most disgusting real drink? (seagull wine, yak milk vodka, Malört)
00:24:07 Does blowing on hot tea or coffee actually cool it down?
00:26:46 How long to fill an Olympic pool with Scotland's malt whisky output?
00:28:41 Same question, but for soju
00:31:46 Will climate change reshape where the world's spirits get made?
00:37:58 What's the deal with the Shark Attack cocktail?
00:42:24 Why does coffee make you poop?
00:44:55 Did the Sazerac really switch from cognac to rye because of phylloxera?
00:49:24 Can you actually die of delirium tremens? The story of Mad Jack Mytton
00:53:51 The best way to stop ice melting — NASA's Apollo insulation trick
00:55:12 Are dry shakes pointless?
00:56:40 Does a classic champagne tower actually work?
01:00:14 Is there a way to build one that doesn't waste champagne?
01:01:49 Does squeezing the air out of a soda bottle stop it going flat?
01:03:57 Why does adding water change a whisky's aroma?
01:05:41 Where do champagne bottle sizes get their names?
01:06:57 How much whiskey is aging in American warehouses, and what's it worth?
01:09:13 Will rubbing Belvedere Dirty Brew Coffee Vodka on your head cure baldness?
01:11:19 Is there any way to beat a breathalyzer?
01:14:22 Pound for pound, does a drunk tree shrew out-drink Andre the Giant?
01:16:56 If drunk people slept in a dehumidified room, would the water be alcoholic?
01:18:58 What's the greatest fictional drink? The Vesper vs Back to the Future's Wake-Up Juice
01:22:57 Does the two-part pour actually matter for a pint of Guinness?
01:24:10 What's physically happening when a slammed beer bottle erupts?
01:25:11 Can you identify a beer brand just by the sound of it opening? Live blind test
01:29:41 What's the third driest liquid in the world?
01:30:49 Did Ian Fleming really drink his martinis at Dukes?
01:37:39 What would a $75 honorarium from the first Liquipedia in 2010 be worth today?
01:40:04 Why do champagne bubbles rise? (skipped — too complicated)
01:40:32 What's the world's most expensive liquid?
01:42:33 What's it actually like to drink "rocket fuel"? Soviet-era aircraft alcohol
01:44:52 Why does Jack Daniel's and Coke get that strange white foam?
01:47:10 Can gunpowder really test the strength of rum? (skipped)
01:47:35 What happens when insects get drunk?
01:48:06 Where in the world has the highest concentration of distilleries?
01:50:52 Who has visited the most distilleries in the world? Alfred Barnard's marathon
01:52:19 Why did restaurants lock up the Worcestershire sauce in the 19th century?
