# Chinese Whiskey and SNAKES!?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465 "2002-07-05T07:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/21 "2013-06-29T22:04:21Z")
My understanding (although I can’t provide a cite) is that the real danger from "snake whiskey"is hepatitis, not venom. However, if you’re still interested, there are usually a few bottles available on ebay. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/22 "2013-06-29T23:07:48Z")
Do they make any alcohol with 11-year-old zombies mummified in them? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/23 "2013-06-30T02:16:35Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > I saw these alcohol (whiskey/whisky/wine/cognac is stretching the definition a bit) bottles with scorpions or snakes in, in Thailand and Vietnam. They looked pretty mean but I’m thinking they have no medicinal benefits whatsoever, I haven’t tried any but if they did the critters enclosed would surely be on an endangered species list. There are those who would disagree with me, but I think much of Chinese “medicine” has precious little medicinal benefit. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/24 "2013-06-30T06:04:17Z")
> [@thicksantorum](#): > > Venomous, not poisonous. **They do not mean the same thing.** You know what I mean. :rolleyes: **Bosda** , got a cite for that? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/25 "2013-06-30T06:13:59Z")
> [@thicksantorum](#): > > Venomous, not poisonous. **They do not mean the same thing.** We’ve been through this before. This is a bit of incorrect pedantry. Venomous is a subset of poisonous. It’s perfectly correct to refer to snakes as being poisonous; they are also venomous. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/26 "2013-06-30T11:10:09Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You know what I mean. :rolleyes: > > **Bosda** , got a cite for that? If this link to Google Books works, yes. > **[Drink](https://books.google.com/books?id=0FpnqTGxykIC&pg=PT298&lpg=PT298&dq=prohibition%2Bmeat%2B%2Bgin%2Bmoonshine&source=bl&ots=ycaZcew6Qm&sig=rIFEKy36vM3vKvbf9NOKJZucMyY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bBDQUcZulIj2BJW4gPgC)** > > A spirited look at the history of alcohol, from the dawn of civilization to the modern day Alcohol is a fundamental part of Western culture. We have been drinking as long as we have been human, and for better or worse, alcohol has shaped our... ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/27 "2013-07-01T02:45:12Z")
_shudder_ Thanks. Oh well. I guess at least you didn’t have to worry about going blind. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/28 "2013-07-02T06:18:13Z")
I first saw the stuff in Thailand, so of course I had to have a shot of it. Didn’t give me a boner or anything. In Vietnam, they had some sort of snake shop where they wrangled cobras, so I picked up a bottle with two green snakes and a cobra. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/29 "2013-07-03T02:25:50Z")
To paraphrase _Apocalypse Now_, " I don’t know how you feel about this whiskey, but if you’ll take a shot, you’ll never have to prove your courage in any other way." ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/30 "2013-07-03T03:37:39Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > so I picked up a bottle with two green snakes and a cobra. Would it be easier to use your hands? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/31 "2013-07-03T04:24:14Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Would it be easier to use your hands? Sure, but where’s the fun in that? [sup][sup]I’m picking up the mother fucking whiskey with the mother fucking snakes! [/sup][/sup] ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465/32 "2013-07-03T04:55:11Z")
> [@Recusant](#): > > From a volume standpoint, wouldn’t adding in a snake _decrease_ the potency, rather than add to it? By “supposedly increases “potency””, he means increase a man’s potency in the Viagra sense, not the booze’s potency in the booze sense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-whiskey-and-snakes/117465.md?page=1)