Today we have just got news that a young lady drank a cocktail which contained liquid nitrogen. It is beyond belief that anyone could prepare such a drink and then sell it to someone for consumption. Liquid nitrogen is an extremely dangerous substance. Nitrogen is not poisonous but in liquid form it can do enormous damage to your skin if not handled properly. In this case the young lady's stomach was frost bitten to the extent that her stomach had to be removed to save her life.
Whatever was the bar thinking about?
If this is a new trend just to get kicks then it is extremely dangerous. You have to be highly trained to use this substance. This is not the sort of training you get on a one day Bar and Health and Safety course. You need to know what you are doing. Before selling drinks like this you really need to use your Brain cells. If you run a bar you should soberly look at the facts. Please do not exploit young people's desire for kicks.
When someone is in your cocktail bar, wine bar or pub you are to a certain extent responsible for their safety. It is easy for someone who is drunk or just happily joining in the fun to make an error and in this case it was almost a fatal one.
Boiling Point
Liquid Nitrogen boils at -196 degrees celcius and this is exceptionally cold. Even dry ice, which is frozen carbon di-oxide, sublimates from a solid to a gas at - 78 degrees celcius: and it is very dangerous as well. I was once served a dessert at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, which was fuming from dry ice. I made sure that all the ice had disappeared before I went anywhere near it. It looks good but is frost bite worth it?
With liquid nitrogen the dangers are of several magnitudes higher.
Food programmes
Lots of food programmes on television show chefs using liquid nitrogen in the kitchen. Presumably the likes of a Michelin starred chef knows what he or she is doing. Your average barman in Lancaster probably does not. Perhaps the food programmes should give stronger health warnings. In general, I am not in favour of a nanny state but in this case I am. Serving liquid nitrogen with a cocktail should be banned.
Who is responsible for your safety?
Ultimately you are responsible for your own safety. You cannot guarantee that a bar owner or your friends will look after you. It may be trendy to drink alcopops and slammers but think of your liver. These days you cannot drink and drive; so if you are the driver please look after your friends.
If you are determined to drink lots then stick to beer and eat something before you go out.
If you are drinking lots of wine snack on food whilst you are drinking. The Spanish, Italians and French do this; it helps to fill you up so you do not want to drink so much and it helps to slow down the absorption of alcohol. Alcopops are dangerous not because they are particularly strong in alcohol but because they are sweet and easy to drink.
If you must participate in drinking games, it is best to stick to beer as you will probably throw up before you can poison yourself with alcohol. Drinking slammers, as part of a drinking game, is stupid and dangerous. It may be fun to participate in drinking games when you are young but think of your future.
I am not in favour of the "I told you so" attitude; the young lady who lost her stomach probably just wanted to enter into the fun of things. She should remain blameless. However, there is a lesson to be learnt from this. Even alcohol on its own can be dangerous but combined with liquid nitrogen it could be fatal; so please do touch cocktails like this.
Cool drinks
It may not be cool to drink a chilled glass of Chablis rather than a fuming cocktail but it shows that you have got some class.
Websites
Try these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_ice
http://chemistry.about.com/od/moleculescompounds/a/liquidnitrogen.htm
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