Reflection in a mug of beer
Is difficult. I do drink, but much much more moderately than, say, this summer. Vesak and Poya are also holidays, so one presumes to have a beer with friends. Alas, under Mahinda’s Maththa Thitha, Sri Lanka goes legally dry for a long while on Vesak. Of course, more than 50% of alcohol consumption here is homebrewed Kasippu, but the statement is made for politics sake. This is just the way it is, but there are a few ways to get around the temporary prohibition. There is, of course, Kasippu which is constantly available if you know where to go. Which I don’t. Then there is ones own liquor cabinets, as in Pakistan or Bangladesh. This I do not have, but I have raided my parents pretty thoroughly if only to supply a suddenly dry birthday party and trip (sorry, will replace). Then there are hotels which have mini-bars and often show Fashion TV to boot. Finally, there are a few places which pay off the cops and will always serve.
Most of the options go without mentioning. Stocking one’s liquor beforehand just requires planning. On the night before Poya the liquor store is packed with Johnnie’s holding fifths of arrack. Most houses have a bottle of scotch or something. What the prohibition really cuts down on is light alcohol – like beer or wine. No one is going to stock such low quantities, so perhaps people get more wasted on hard stuff.
Hotels are another option. They won’t serve you, but you can raid the mini-bar. I was once in Negombo and we drank all the beer in two rooms. Then we called room service and said the mini-bars were empty. They dutifully refilled it. There are places that will serve, mostly sketchy beachside joints. There’s a place in Mount Lavinia you should know, as well as one in Hikkaduwa. Those are places that regularly pay off the cops and do as they place.
So, all in all, you can have your day off work and drink it too.
I remember being told that Kasippu actually contains all sorts of toxic impurities, including methylated spirits? Among poorer people anyway, it is common practice to consume methylated spirits that leads to complications such as blindness etc. So anyone thinking of consuming such liquids, please be careful.
I’m back. Just marking attendance.
Even contains rusted nails, battery acid, and urine. :) Contents may vary according to manufacturer.
depending on where you get it, it’s not that bad. If its made by someone you know it’s probably mainly fermented fruit. The stuff sold in plastic bags is usually adulterated, but I don’t think a drink will make you go blind
Ok. I wasn’t sure. I remember my parents telling me that poorer people in Sri Lanka who couldn’t afford alcohol (ethanol), drink stuff which contains methylated spirits (methanol). Actually aboriginal communities in australia do the same. The following explains the action of methylated spirits.
“Despite its poisonous nature, methylated spirit is sometimes drunk, alone, or mixed with other substances, by alcoholics who have become destitute. As such, there is an argument that the methanol or other poisonous component should be removed because it can cause death and blindness. It is also common to add a vomiting (emetic) agent, which serves a similar purpose without the fatal side-effects. Likewise, denatonium adds a bitter taste but is non-fatal.
It is not the methanol itself that is toxic, but the accumulation of its metabolites, formaldehyde and formic acid. Because the metabolic pathways for ethanol and methanol share a common enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, ethanol can be used to treat methanol poisoning by blocking the enzyme until the body can excrete enough methanol through the lungs and skin. (In a documented case, a shipworker poisoned while cleaning out a methanol tank was successfully treated with administration of a good portion of the liquor in the ship’s “medicine chest.)”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylated_spirits
There must be high class kassipu which hopefully doesn’t have this.
You can try and make some sort of fermented drink, with a mixture of fruit juice and yeast. I don’t think it would be potent though. I have tried it with apple juice after learning the equation for fermentation to produce ethanol when I was in school.
I suppose, after you make the fermented stuff, you need equipment to distil it to increase it’s potency. Which would be quite a process I asume.