Bootleg overseas

[nicko]

Hi All,

Please excuse me if this is the wrong forum but I'm seeking some information as to whether there's an easy test ( apart from the the headaches!) for bootleg spirits,.
I've recently moved to Bali where this is rife , even the good bars buy black market alcohol, and last night I got a throbbing headache from an Absolut vodka I thought didn't quite taste right ! ( put it down to the local schweppes tonic)

There have been methanol horror stories in the region..so apart from the taste and smell , which could be difficult without a home distillers palate or something to compare it to..is there anything else ?!.. a chemical test to detect traces of methanol maybe?

Thanks for you time if anyone can or is willing to help.

Cheers!

[Prairiepiss]

Nothing that you or I could afford to carry around with us. Other then trying to burn it in a spoon. You would want a nice blue flame. A yellow flame is a red flag. But that still is not a great test.

My only suggestion is to stick with drinks you are very familiar with. If they smell and or taste different or off. Turn it down. Or carry a flask of known good drink. And order a coke. Mix your own. Or just don't drink alcohol.

[nicko]

Thanks

[rad14701]

As Prariepiss mentioned, there is no way to know what is in the spirits unless you purchase a sealed bottle from a liquor store... Even here in the US it takes an extensive investigation and lab testing to prove any wrongdoing... In fact it's easier to nail a bar through bookkeeping than lab work and most bars get busted for taxes than any other reason... Taxes, too many police calls due to fighting, or underage drinking, are the main reasons bars around here get shut down...

A buddy of mine recently went through back to back issues that I helped him through... He got hit with a tax audit and then got sued by a patron who ended up in a fight and got cut with a broken bottle, caught on video surveillance... Both incidents ending up costing virtually the same amount of money (thousands) before all was said and done... It wasn't so much a matter of guilt or innocence as it was legal fees... And it should be noted that even though it took less than 3 seconds for bouncers to separate the two girls fighting, from the time they made initial contact, the legal fees were substantial (almost $10,000) in defending against the legal suit... Double that and you know approximately how much he spent in one year in unexpected legal fees for just those two incidents... But I digress...

Posted at while nicko was replying...