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Justeserm t1_j6atwqp wrote

Reply to comment by hikeonpast in eli5: Why does cheap alcohol taste worse than nicer alcohol? by Chase_The_Dream

Has anyone tried marketing a pure 100% ethanol drink?

I personally drink Everclear, and it's 190 proof, or 95% ABV. From what I can tell alcohol with water forms an azeotrope and has a lower boiling point than alcohol without. I would suspect that when alcohol is distilled some flavors may come with the water that evaporates with it.

I was thinking about trying to distill my own "dry" alcohol. If you add certain dried salts that form hydrates I think you can "soak up" the extra water and be left with basically pure ethanol, except for some of those other things you mentioned.

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jrp55262 t1_j6b17xm wrote

Are you drinking Everclear straight? Got your liver transplant lined up already?

The thing about the azeotrope mixture at 95% ABV is that at that point alcohol and water have exactly the same vapor point. You could distill that stuff 100 times and not get any higher alcohol concentration. There are various tricks that are used to push past this barrier, but they either require exotic equipment (vacuum swing distillation) or can leave undesired residues (benzene addition)

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Justeserm t1_j6bgeat wrote

God, no. I like drinking it because it has like no taste and I only have to use a little.

From what I read, acetone can be dried by baking Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate?) to dry it and then adding acetone. I think then it's supposed to be frozen and the acetone can be poured off the top. I was thinking of trying it with ethanol, but using a natural salt that forms a hydrate and (hopefully) isn't a laxative, not that it should dissolve.

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[deleted] t1_j6cqa21 wrote

Starch works. Tapioca pearls are used industrially to produce dry ethanol for vehicle fuel.

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Scottzilla90 t1_j6bfgru wrote

Ethanol above 70% actually damages proteins and cell membranes.. use with caution

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cunninglinguist32557 t1_j6bhu3p wrote

An ex of mine chugged everclear from the bottle because he thought it was vodka, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone that fucked up.

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D0ugF0rcett t1_j6bzq6u wrote

>An ex of mine chugged everclear from the bottle

Oh boy

>because he thought it was vodka,

Oh boy

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Gabzop t1_j6cfc4n wrote

Me and my buddies used to put warheads or skittles in a bottle and drink it because we were fucking stupid.

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jashxn t1_j6cfcn0 wrote

Whenever I get a package of plain M&Ms, I make it my duty to continue the strength and robustness of the candy as a species. To this end, I hold M&M duels. Taking two candies between my thumb and forefinger, I apply pressure, squeezing them together until one of them cracks and splinters. That is the “loser,” and I eat the inferior one immediately. The winner gets to go another round. I have found that, in general, the brown and red M&Ms are tougher, and the newer blue ones are genetically inferior. I have hypothesized that the blue M&Ms as a race cannot survive long in the intense theater of competition that is the modern candy and snack-food world. Occasionally I will get a mutation, a candy that is misshapen, or pointier, or flatter than the rest. Almost invariably this proves to be a weakness, but on very rare occasions it gives the candy extra strength. In this way, the species continues to adapt to its environment. When I reach the end of the pack, I am left with one M&M, the strongest of the herd. Since it would make no sense to eat this one as well, I pack it neatly in an envelope and send it to M&M Mars, A Division of Mars, Inc., Hackettstown, NJ 17840-1503 U.S.A., along with a 3×5 card reading, “Please use this M&M for breeding purposes.” This week they wrote back to thank me, and sent me a coupon for a free 1/2 pound bag of plain M&Ms. I consider this “grant money.” I have set aside the weekend for a grand tournament. From a field of hundreds, we will discover the True Champion. There can be only one.

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Tyraels_Might t1_j6d58q9 wrote

Yooooo. It's been years! Finding this again feels like meeting an old friend.

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