Gargle Blaster: Difference between revisions

A drink so potent the whole room hushes when someone orders it. The bartender pales and asks, "Are you sure?", and then, after putting on a welding mask and asbestos gloves, takes the bottle out of a locked safe and pours it with tongs. When the stirring spoon is removed, [[Ate the Spoon|it's been melted away]], and the ice cubes jump out with a yelp when dropped into it. And that's just the beginning of the fun.

 

 

A common scene involves a character (often a [[Cloudcuckoolander]]) downing an entire [[Gargle Blaster]] and suffering ''no'' ill effects, causing everyone else in the room to be thoroughly confused. Someone else tries it, because obviously it must be weaker than it's supposed to be, and ends up with the usual effects.

 

 

Beware of anyone who has this as their [[Drink Order]].

 

Contrast with [[I Drank What]], when someone drinks something that's not supposed to be drunk ''at all.'' Compare/Contrast with [[Unsuspectingly Soused]], when someone drinks a [[Gargle Blaster]] ''without realizing it's alcoholic'', and [[A Tankard of Moose Urine]], when beer is just bad without excessive (or necessarily any) alcohol content.

 

== [[Advertising]] ==

** In Japanese, the ingredients list is a combination of folk "potency" (prehistoric Viagra) remedies.

* The ungodly "energy drink" seems to be a fairly common trope in anime, and even ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' uses it, going so far as to include it as an item with very unusual effects.

* The ''[[Ai Yori Aoshi (Manga)|Ai Yori Aoshi]]'' anime has a bottle of liquor that Tina brought from America. It ''glowed in the dark''. Taeko, the resident [[Meganekko]]--slash--[[Dojikko]] drank a cup straight, and everyone thought it was fine. As it turned out, Taeko is just really good at holding her liquor, and naturally, [[Hilarity Ensued]].

* The suicide sauce from ''[[Air Gear (Manga)|Air Gear]]''. From the ingredients we heard, we know it has ginger ale, coffee with milk, plum-flavored seaweed tea, chestnut juice, raw egg, spicy barbecue sauce (which, it should be noted, caused Kazu to freak out and say "He's gonna kill us dead!"), chipotle mayonnaise, oyster sauce, fish sauce, and habanaro pepper sauce. Then, upon losing a race, {{spoiler|Ikki was forced to gulp it down while wearing something that forced his mouth to stay open.}} '''Yuck'''...

== [[Films]] -- [[Animation]] ==

* There's whatever Honest John was drinking in ''[[An American Tail]]''. Seems to do nothing to him but get him drunk, but it does burn holes in the floorboards.

* On ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', Dr. Cockroach offers Susan's folks some "atomic gin fizz". It explodes as he's mixing it. Lord knows what would have happened to the poor soul who would ingest it.

* Cactus juice in ''[[Rango]]''. A fly drinks it and keels over... and then one of its eyes pops out. It also made Rango breathe fire (after ''eating'' a lit cigar).

 

* Quint gives Brody a glass of ''something'' he made himself in ''[[Jaws (Film)|Jaws]]''. Brody can't handle a sip of it without spitting it out, and tells Hooper not to drink it. Hooper downs it anyway, and merely coughs, so maybe Brody is just a lightweight.

* A very famous scene of French movie ''[[Les Tontons Flingueurs (Film)|Les Tontons Flingueurs]]'' revolves around the gangsters drinking some Gargle Blaster in a kitchen. (This whole scene was intended as a homage to [[Film Noir]] ''Key Largo''.) Some of the best parts, translated, can be found on the [[Gargle Blaster/Quotes|quotes page]].

* Another Disney flick, ''[[Snow Dogs]]'', features "soup", which is stored in a hip flask. When questioned about the quotation marks, the maker replies, "Well, there's soup ''in'' it."

* ''[[Revenge of the Nerds]]''. Another Alpha Beta brother asks Stan Gable to try a drink called simply "Fireball". He has one sip straight from the bottle and promptly [[Spit Take|spits it out all over]]. As it turns out, it has a ridiculously high proof, and Haystack later spits it through a lighter's flame and burns down the AB house.

* In the Tol Galen LARP/tabletop system (played only in the channel islands and filled to the brim with references) there are a few of these, the best established being Goblin Krakk (named for puns and the ballistic missile warhead from warhammer 40k) which is made from adding white powdered substances to berry juices and fermenting in however you can, it causes literal brain rot. Most recent addition to this list is called Surt (after the norse fire giant destined to ingulf the world) that was invented by accident when Blackwatch (a mercenary company with a hideously complex corporate structure that borders on SCP foundation levels of protocol) sent the recipe for its existing gargle-blaster called Reaver (Brewed up by the poison department as a beverage strong enough to hide the taste of the hideously powerful combat drugs Blackwatch constantly trials on its forces, named after the Firefly characters that also inhabit our system as the virus) to its "Alternative power sources" division, roughly translated as the people who want to build weapons that make magic obsolete. The name for Surt is derived from the fact that the recipie was created on the containment site of an Utsuho expy and related materials contaminated the first batch. When the first bottle was opened the artificial atmosphere ignited and almost lead to a major containment breech. To cut a long story short, there is a drink in our system with the same properties as a thermobaric weapon.

* ''[[Changeling: The Lost (Tabletop Game)|Changeling: the Lost]]'' has the Brewer Kith of the Wizened Seeming -- basically, changelings who were put to work mixing reality-bending concoctions for the enjoyment of the [[The Fair Folk|True Fae]]. These were the guys who made the cider that knocked out Rip Van Winkle, and it shows -- their Kith blessing is the ability to spend a point of Glamour and turn any liquid into an alcoholic concoction. Even at the lowest levels of their power, it's still possible (through very lucky rolls) to create a drink that can knock a man unconscious in one gulp.

* The D20 Guide to Alcohol (a third-party AD&D book), has an entire section composing largely of these. One of note is Minotaur Malt Liquor, a beer that can literally put hair on your chest, and horns on your head. Get smashed off the stuff and fail your save? Congratulations, you'll be a minotaur by this time next month.

* The [[GURPS]] Dungeon Fantasy supplement Taverns contains special drinks that are either [[Booze Based Buff]], or this. For example, drinking the Vorpal Brew will cause one point of damage to you unless you already have alcohol in your system, and [[Punny Name|Wight Wine]] will give you a level of Fearfulness for a random amount of hours.

*** Which makes Masaki Andoh's reaction of completely passing out even more hilarious, seeing as how he and Heero [[Hikaru Midorikawa|share a seiyuu.]] ''Divine Wars'' follows up on this for more hilarity: {{spoiler|After using a Cyflash to take out the Divine Crusaders' enemy forces at Aidoneous Island, he is exhausted due to how Cybuster's attacks work (long story). Since Cybuster is still needed, Shiro and Kuro produce a bottle of Kusuha's health drink; Masaki immediately recovers in order to ''avoid the health drink''.}}

** Even aliens who happen to be stone-cold badasses are not necessarily immune; {{spoiler|Ingram}} had a few moments of what must have amounted to an alien version of "oh god oh god I'm gonna die".

** Lamia Loveless, an ''android'', is incapacitated by the drink. Her first assumption is that they found out she was a spy and tried to poison her. Actually, she suspected as much before drinking it, but was absolutely ''positive'' afterwards.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has you construct several of these on various quests. How potent they truly are really depends on what level the quest is, although the quest giver will always act like it's the strongest stuff out there. "Dragonbreath Chili" is one of the few foodstuffs in the game that can directly damage your enemies after you eat it.

** One similar, but not quite the same, ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' scenario, "Show Biz Bugs", has Daffy, tired of being consistently one-upped by Bugs in a vaudeville act, pull together the most incredible drink ever; ingredients include nitroglycerin, gasoline, and gunpowder, and topped off with uranium 238. He drinks it down, jumps up and down to shake, then drops in a match.... After the ensuing explosion, an impressed Bugs tells Daffy that the audience wants more, to which Daffy's ghost replies "I know, but I can only do it once!"

*** This is a recycled gag from an earlier cartoon: a Porky Pig cartoon titled "Curtain Razor". Porky is screening prospects for a talent agency, and a [[Running Gag]] involves one character constantly barging in to talk about a "super-colossal" act. When he finally gets to perform the act, he undergoes pretty much the same act (including the devil costume), and while the ingredients may not be exactly the same, the match and result are identical. Porky is stunned in amazement for the first and only time in the cartoon. Then, the ghost of the character walks back in and, like Daffy, says, "I can only do it once."

** Another episode features the Forget-Me-Shot, a concoction of Jägermeister, sloe gin, triple sec, ''quadruple'' sec, gunk from a dog's eye, "Absolut Pickle", the red stripe from Aquafresh toothpaste, and the venom of the Louisiana loboto-moth, stirred with a home pregnancy test (until it gets a positive response). The drink is so powerful it erases the previous 24 hours off of the drinker's memory.

** And there's the episode where Bart and Milhouse are in the Flanders house unsupervised, and they discover Ned's [[Beatles]] collection; they each down a can of 40-year-old Beatles-themed novelty soft drink, and Bart's causes him to briefly hallucinate about Milhouse as John Lennon.

** In the season two episode "Flight as a Feather", The Mask foils a suicide bombing attempt by the Mayor's stripper ex-girlfriend ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) by pulling off her strategically-placed suicide belts, mixing them into a blender, and drinking the mixture (but not before distracting Kellaway and Doyle by flashing Cookie's naked body in front of them).

* In the ''[[Buzzy The Crow]]'' cartoon, ''Cat-Choo'', Buzzy makes a concoction of mustard, black pepper, hot sauce, and other spicy foods for a "remedy" for Katnip's cold. When Buzzy finishes stirring it, the spoon has completely melted. After drinking it, Katnip's tail shoots out fireworks like a cannon.

* The [[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]] cartoon "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse" has Tom spiking his saucer of milk with various toxins so as to get rid of Jerry through poisoning when he steals a sip. But it turns Jerry into a hulking brute who thrashes Tom within an inch of his nine lives--temporarily. After it metabolizes, Jerry reverts to his cute small self and has to run for another drink. Jerry is consigned to making up a new batch but he doesn't get a chance to drink it, Tom steals it, downs it all--and he shrinks to flea size.

** Another T&J cartoon, Chuck Jones' "Is There A Doctor In The Mouse" has Jerry concocting a formula, which when he drinks it, gives him super speed.

{{quote| "You idiot! Captain Morgan is a racist! ''HE HATES MEXICANS!''"}}

* The "Bear Fight," which is a Jager Bomb followed immediately by an Irish Car Bomb. So called because after drinking one, it feels like there are bears fighting in your stomach

** Three shots of vodka;

** Two shots of absinthe;

** Liquor from Shaoxing, usually used for cooking, tends to taste like a cross between burning hair, soy sauce, and sorrow.

* Rocket Fuel: In a large bucket, combine half a liter of Everclear, about an equal portion of food grade dry ice, and a can of frozen juice concentrate of some kind; stir the mixture until the dry ice evaporates out, then serve it with a ladle. The dry ice makes it so cold, the alcohol freezes into a slush, so you don't even taste it until it thaws out, which you won't if you just shoot it. Perfect example of "you don't even realize you're getting drunk".

** Since it's a mixture of all the available sodas, some of which (like most lemon-limes and some root beers) don't contain any caffeine at all, it would actually be ''less'' caffeinated than a plain cola or Mountain Dew.

* Science-Fiction conventions and Ren Faires often make and bring homemade Gargle Blasters, creating real-world equivalents to their fictional counterparts that will knock the unsuspecting just as flat as the fictional ones. See the Troper Tales page for examples.

* The Cement Mixer, an actual cocktail from the 1980s. 1 shot of Bailey's Irish Cream with 1 shot of Lemon juice. Taken at the same time. The lemon juice will curdle the Bailey's in your mouth, making it stick to your teeth like sugary cement. And people used to pay bartenders to serve them this...

* A mixture of 3 parts Samogan (traditional bootleg vodka, far stronger because it's often badly distilled, so badly that it can still contains fusel oil), 2 parts ''cask strength'' Scotch whisky, 1 measure of the strongest available schnapps, shaken with a cut-open chili pepper, poured, then served with pepper sprinkled in it (the pepper binds the oil in the samogan and carries it to the bottom of the glass). This drink is known as a Strike...as in 3 and you're out.

* A restaurant in Quebec City called (the French translation of) "The Goblin's Tankard" serves a drink made of equal parts whiskey and sourpuss, adding tabasco and then heating. For those that think this is too girly, there's the "Holy Grail", which ups the ante on the alcohol content, adds strips of habanero pepper, and is served in a glass whose rim is bordered in paprika. Few people have resisted it.

* Chinese Herbal Tea, like most of Guangdong's delicacies which be rather foul tasting to the untrained tongue. Its bitterness will make you wonder if you are drinking sewer water or something similar.

[[Category:Food Tropes]]

[[Category:Gargle Blaster]]