- Edited
Good find.
The first thing to be aware of is that are two major ways in which counterfeiters infiltrate the market. The first involves filling up empty bottles from genuine distributors with cheaper alternatives. The second involves making their own knock-off concoctions to put inside. Ethylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol, and methanol, are the chemicals most commonly substituted for “certified alcohol” ethanol, due to the similar inebriating effects, but unlike real alcohol, the debilitating side effects take hold abruptly and are much more severe.
These can include nausea, headaches, dizziness, and in some rare cases, permanent blindness, kidney and heart failure, and even death. A good rule of thumb is that if you encounter symptoms that you would normally associate with being hungover before you’ve even left the bar then it’s more than likely that you’ve been ingesting fake booze.
For this reason it’s good to know what to look for before sinking a potentially poisonous drink, a task easier said than done.