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Wasn't synthetic alcohol part of the Star Trek mythos? It's been a long time since I've watched TNG but I seem to remember it was part of their world, at one po

Wasn't synthetic alcohol part of the Star Trek mythos? It's been a long time since I've watched TNG but I seem to remember it was part of their world, at one point I have a vague memory of someone handing Picard a bottle of 'real' alcohol and him being amazed- 'this is the real stuff??' he asks? Or something to that effect. Maybe that's what Guinan was always serving at the Enterprise 'bar', synthetic alcohol. (Does Data ingest it? Can he?)

Auracle 3y ago
Synthehol. It’s never really fully explained how it affects you other than you can kind of readily shake it off. There are plenty of instances in Star Trek of people drinking the real stuff though. Picard himself had a family winery. I’m guessing he was amazed at a bottle of Romulan Ale, which was illegal in the same way Cuban cigars were here.
- ben_w 3y ago
  In the show, Romulan Ale is also extremely strong; Worf nurses a hangover from it and says it "should be illegal" and LaForge replies "It is"; while in DS9 several of the human main cast infiltrated a Klingon event and had to take something to avoid dying from drinking so much Blood Wine. (That said, I don't know if it's been canonically stated Blood Wine is ethanol based, so future writers might just decide that's because Blood Wine is based on methanol rather than ethanol, and the ABV is unsurprising…)
deleted 3y ago
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thumbuddy 3y ago
So synthesized ethanol will be the same in every respect as purified naturally sourced ethanol except perhaps down to the balance of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen isotopes. But yes startrek was/awesome regardless.
- veilrap 3y ago
  I’m pretty sure “Synthol” in Star Trek is more of a synthetic alcohol alternative of unspecified chemical composition, rather than just synthetic alcohol.
  - thumbuddy 3y ago
    Ohhhh I see. Well in that case it'd be similar to the article I which case I am a doofus. Yes. Yes. Ignore me :)
StrictDabbler 3y ago
You might be half-remembering the TNG episode "Relics" in which Scotty is rescued from a Dyson sphere after seventy-five years in a transporter buffer. Scotty demands, and eventually obtains from Guinan, an actual bottle of Aldebaran whiskey. He has the holodeck recreate the bridge of the original Enterprise and drinks the whiskey there. Picard shows up, Scotty offers Picard the bottle, then at the last moment warns him that it's real alcohol. Picard responds "I know, who do you think gave it to Guinan?"

Auracle 3y ago

Synthehol. It’s never really fully explained how it affects you other than you can kind of readily shake it off. There are plenty of instances in Star Trek of people drinking the real stuff though. Picard himself had a family winery. I’m guessing he was amazed at a bottle of Romulan Ale, which was illegal in the same way Cuban cigars were here.

ben_w 3y ago
In the show, Romulan Ale is also extremely strong; Worf nurses a hangover from it and says it "should be illegal" and LaForge replies "It is"; while in DS9 several of the human main cast infiltrated a Klingon event and had to take something to avoid dying from drinking so much Blood Wine. (That said, I don't know if it's been canonically stated Blood Wine is ethanol based, so future writers might just decide that's because Blood Wine is based on methanol rather than ethanol, and the ABV is unsurprising…)

deleted 3y ago

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thumbuddy 3y ago

So synthesized ethanol will be the same in every respect as purified naturally sourced ethanol except perhaps down to the balance of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen isotopes. But yes startrek was/awesome regardless.

veilrap 3y ago
I’m pretty sure “Synthol” in Star Trek is more of a synthetic alcohol alternative of unspecified chemical composition, rather than just synthetic alcohol.
- thumbuddy 3y ago
  Ohhhh I see. Well in that case it'd be similar to the article I which case I am a doofus. Yes. Yes. Ignore me :)

StrictDabbler 3y ago

You might be half-remembering the TNG episode "Relics" in which Scotty is rescued from a Dyson sphere after seventy-five years in a transporter buffer. Scotty demands, and eventually obtains from Guinan, an actual bottle of Aldebaran whiskey. He has the holodeck recreate the bridge of the original Enterprise and drinks the whiskey there. Picard shows up, Scotty offers Picard the bottle, then at the last moment warns him that it's real alcohol. Picard responds "I know, who do you think gave it to Guinan?"