Powdered Alcohol

There's a new product being sold on the internet and it's creating quite a stir in Europe. A German company called subyou (http://www.subyou.de/) has managed to manufacture Alcohol (the drinking variety) in powdered format (see pic) which it sells over the internet. This is how they make it:

The powder contains approximately 30% alcohol by dry weight, and is said to maintain a high degree of the original flavor of the alcohol solution. It is available in such flavors as brandy, rum, whiskey, red wine, white win, and vodka. -- According to the manufacturer, the powder is produced in the following way. A solution of water and alcohol is mixed with maltodextrin and then spray-dried at relatively low temperatures. Each molecule of alcohol is encapsulated by dextrin during the spray-drying process and the smaller water molecules are allowed to pass through the surface and evaporate. There is about a 5% loss of alcohol on the surface of each droplet.

It's of course very popular with teenagers who are under the legal drinking age. It packs quite a wallop according to consumer protection officials in Germany, the powder inside contains alcohol, and a lot of it -- about 4.8 percent by volume. That is the equivalent of one to one-and-a-half glasses of liquor.

According to Deutsche Welle:

The powder was first sold over the Internet, and word spread quickly among teenage circles that those under 18 could order off the Internet without fear of being asked for proof of age.

As teenagers in North America are extremely computer literate and wired, I expect the word to travel sooner than later.