“This could be what is going on in the last drop,” he mused. Others may get pushed into clusters and not be as available for detection, of course.” Think about when you open up a spirit by adding a few drops of water-a reduction in alcohol strength allows more volatiles (of some kinds) to leave solution sequestration and volatilize. “I often get diacetyl (a fermentation by-product that smells buttery) in some samples, only with the last drop,” he said, “so there is something to this. He was talking about the flavors and aromas being stronger-or changing-at the end. But I soon realized that Spedding wasn’t talking about the alcohol level being stronger. “There has been a lot of research about the strength of alcohol and the forcing into solution of congeners as clusters-depending on that alcohol concentration,” he began, and I knew I was in trouble. I asked him if the last drop of a drink could be stronger. He tests the alcohol level of drinks all day long. Gary Spedding, the head of Brewing and Distilling Analytical Services, LLC in Lexington, Kentucky. I’ve experienced that with a cup of sweet tea, in which the last drink was heavily sugared, but always figured that the last sip of a mixed drink was the weakest, what with the dilution of ice melt.īut part of the fun of this job is the latitude to ask serious scientists silly questions. There’s a folk myth, a party tale, a bit of bar lore that the last sip of a drink is the strongest one. That neatly brings me to the last drink that was the inspiration for this story: the last sip of a cocktail. Ideally, the game is secondary to conversation or watching sports, so it’s not just a big glass of beer flying around a table. As the boot circles the table, each player goes through some kind of tapping and knocking ritual, takes a drink, goes through the ritual again (usually in reverse order), and then passes the glass on. There are various house rules, but the basics of the game are simple. If you’ve never seen them, there are two-liter glasses in the shape of boots. It’s involves Jenga-like strategy and poker-like people-reading skills. I do still play drinking games-even at 60. There’s a lot to the last drink, so let’s start with the fun one. There are lots of other last drinks: Your last drink of the night the last pour from a treasured bottle the last sip of a cocktail or a beer or a dram of whiskey and that last swallow before keeling over in a college drinking game. And for the record, I’m not talking about what you have to drink on your deathbed. It’s not as singular a concept as you might at first imagine. Have you ever thought about your last drink?
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