There’s a company in the UK called Black Cow that makes vodka from the whey left over from cheese making.
Okay okay: upon reflection, there are lots of weird alcohols you can make. For example, I found an article where some guy was hospitalized after indulging in a little too much 2-methyl-2-butanol.
Does the worm in tequila count?
It’s worse than you thought.
Why alcohol made from insects could be the next big trend for the drinks industry
The article also has a big graphic explaining why you should eat crickets.
Mr. Google also informs me that rice wine made with click beetles is popular in Vietnam, and is rumored to have properties similar to viagra.
While the worm is technically a moth larva, and moths are insects, I’m still going to have to vote no on this one. The tequila is made from the agave plant, and while it’s easy to see how an agave moth larva might occasionally end up in the mix, the “worm” isn’t part of the fermentation process and doesn’t add any taste to the tequila.
If the worm actually had an effect on the taste, then I think you’d have a convincing argument that it’s an active ingredient in the mix. But it doesn’t.
When I lived in California on a dairy farm back when I was younger. The men would take large buckets up under the alfalfa with cheese cloth tied around the base of said bucket to filter the liquid that came off the alfalfa and got drunk from it. I thought gee they must have really been desperate to get messed up. I mean the smell alone was so sickening. But, I was told this by several of the men who worked there.
Welcome to the straight Dope message board! This is a fine place to talk about weird booze.
Yes, you can make alcohol from milk, especially with the the sans milkfat whey. I’ve made blaand myself, basically whey + sugar + yeast. I wouldn’t say it was good, but better than I’d expect, just rather sour so maybe some backsweetening would help. I still have some, I tried the first bottle after at least 6 months aging but more can help.
You can make distilled hard alcohol too. Besides the commercial milk vodka mentioned above, I caught this video awhile back of arkhi, a “vodka” made from milk in Mongolia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BBzjbVw6Q4