Homeless in Vancouver: How to make powdered alcohol

News about the American company planning to bring powdered alcohol to U.S. store shelves in the fall isn’t so good.

Time magazine and others are reporting that Palcohol’s federal approval for the sale of powdered alcohol in the U.S. has been withdrawn—that it was granted in error.

Palcohol’s Website is sticking by its April 21 statement that the product is still approved—it was just the company’s labels that weren’t.

In fact, media reports do seem to be referring to the rejection of labeling as though it was synonymous with rejection of the sale of powdered alcohol itself.

But does it really matter? Either way we won’t be getting Palcohol in Canada.

If we want powdered alcohol—and I think we do—we won’t get it by relying on our American cousins…we’ll have to make it ourselves!

How hard could it be?

Making dried fire water sounds complicated

Yesterday, while the rest of us were running around snorting with glee at the prospect of powdered booze you could drink by the line, the folks over at Popular Science were looking at the problem of creating powdered alcohol…scientifically.

Palcohol wasn’t saying how they made their powdered alcohol but it wasn’t going to to be like making salt—you couldn’t just evaporate the water to leave behind the alcohol (the alcohol would evaporate before the water).

Informed guessers felt the liquid alcohol would have to be somehow encapsulated in micro-quantities. That made it sound like powdered alcohol represented some kind of breakthrough in nanotechnology.

Either that or really fancy cornstarch!

That was easy…too easy

On Popular Science's website, Paul Adams wrote that he didn’t know how Palcohol did it but he explained how he could make powdered alcohol at home using a specially modified starch—a maltodextrin made from tapioca and sold under the brand name N-Zorbit M.

Thanks in part to molecular gastronomy, the stuff is easy to buy online from suppliers like Modernist Pantry or WillPowder.

In the right ratio, N-Zorbit M powder can fully soak up the alcohol and still remain powdery.

For an example, Adams suggested drizzling 30 grams of high-proof (150- to 190-proof) alcohol into a mixing bowl containing 100 grams of N-Zorbit M while whisking steadily. You can then either sift it though a fine sieve or just use a blender to begin with.

Done properly, he says, you end up with strong soluble alcohol.

He also answers another burning question I had when he warns you should very be careful. The powder is highly flammable. Don’t get it anywhere near an open flame!

Stanley Q. Woodvine is a homeless resident of Vancouver who has worked in the past as an illustrator, graphic designer, and writer. 

Comments

2 Comments

randall sisk

May 8, 2014 at 9:33pm

There hasn't been any factual statements in support of banning palcohol. I not only see no reason to ban it, it is more beneficial than its liquid counterpart. Storage and shipping among other things.

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robert ar

Aug 4, 2014 at 6:07pm

I assume you mean 30 grams of alcohol 190 proof to 100 grams of powder. A 100 grams of zorbit will fill a one pound ziploc bag. 30 grams of 190proof alcohol is close to 1floz. That ratio means i gotta eat almost a qp of the mix to get a shot of booze? Somebody enlighten me.

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