So... Vaping Alcohol Is A Thing And We Tried It
*sip sip*
Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed
There are a lot of insane ways to consume alcohol – but one of the wildest methods is probably the Vaportini.
That's right, VAPING. ALCOHOL. VAPING ALCOHOL.
The device costs $45 online and uses a simple candle flame to heat up whatever liquor you pour into it. You then use the straw to inhale the alcohol vapors from a glass orb.
Eventually you're just, you know, SIPPING BOOZY AIR OVER AN OPEN FLAME. What could possibly go wrong, right?!
Inventor Julie Palmer says she was inspired by a trip to Finland, where she saw the Nordic "tradition" of pouring vodka over hot coals in saunas. It seems like the kind of thing that's just plausible enough, so after a quick Google search yielded no results, I reached out to Kjell, a Norwegian friend. He confirmed that it was less of a tradition and more of "another weird way we sometimes handle alcohol. Others including sniffing glue, eating shoe polish, or drinking hair tonic."
Vaportini sent a couple our way, so we decided to give them a try. However, it's important to note that "vaping" alcohol can be dangerous and should only be done in very small amounts.
Dr. Kathryn Boiling at Mercy Medical Center in Maryland explained that the vapor isn't passed through the liver before it circulates throughout your body: "When alcohol is inhaled there is no first-pass metabolism so the full power of the drug, in this case alcohol, reaches the brain."
It's also hard for your body to get rid of alcohol consumed through vaporization. According to Boiling, “there is no mechanism to expel alcohol if too much is inhaled, unlike when drinking alcohol... [where] you vomit up what remains in the stomach, preventing more alcohol absorption.”
Jeff Barron / BuzzFeed