Powdered Alcohol? Not Quite Yet…

You’ve all heard the joke about powdered water (“Just add water and stir”). But did you know that someone has actually managed to create a powdered alcohol product? It’s called Palcohol. Just add it to water and presto, you have an alcoholic beverage.

Last week it was reported that the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau had approved Palcohol. In truth, the bureau’s only role is to approve the packaging and labeling of alcoholic products. The choice of whether or not to allow the sale of alcoholic products is up to the individual states. After the story broke and people began expressing their opinions about the product, the bureau said that its approval of the product packaging had been “issued in error”. Final packaging approval is on hold for now. And whether any states will eventually approve Palcohol for sale is anybody’s guess.

Folks have come up with all sorts of imaginative ideas (both and good and bad) for how powdered alcohol could be used or abused. Not everyone is convinced that this product should ever reach store shelves. What do you think? Would you use it, and if so, how?