Food Theory: This TikTok Drink is the Best WORST Idea Ever! (BORG)

Wait... Star Trek isn't cool?

When I was in college my friends and I made my borg with caffeine-free kool aid because a very nice nurse on campus had told us the dangers of caffeine with alcohol I’m very happy that we were told this before something bad happened

The points about avoiding spiked or drugged drinks are actually really solid, I hadn't even considered that. If you just put like, kool aid or sports drink in with maybe a smidge of alcohol if you felt like it, that'd actually be just fine.

I actually really like how this turned out! The safety of carrying around your own drink and the bonus of not needing to drink the alcohol there to fit in, I like to think someone realized the benefits of normalizing the concept of the BORG and ran with it. Honestly though I think I'd be skipping on the caffeinated flavoring. There are other options.

As a college student who lives in an area with tons of fraternities, I’ve heard so many people talk about this. One of my friends said that if you didn’t make the Borg it will send you to the morgue, but if you bring your own you’re more likely to make it home.

Matpat is great at keeping his viewers safe and entertained while telling dad jokes in the process

You raise some very good points about the dangers that are present with borgs. I think a lot of it can be nullified by reaching out and teaching people proper safety of alcohol. The common "Borg" at my university typically contains about half a bottle of vodka, and while that is still a lot, it is noticibly less than an entire bottle, as well as the frequency of people finishing an entire gallon is low, and usually only seems to happen at long parties, or with pregames that lead into parties. Due to educational programs offered by our health prevention and advocacy center, they've also encouraged people to not use caffeine within them. While incidents due still happen with people getting overly intoxicated, from anecdotal experience, the issue of assault, while still present has gone down. Alcohol in a borg is still alcohol, and we must educate people to drink and treat it as such.

Thank you for talking about the spiked drink stats. I’m afraid to go to bars or parties when I’m 21 out of the fear that my drink will be spiked and I will be assaulted. Even bartenders have done that some times!

I was surprised by the amount of vodka in the recipe

honestly just using a non-caffinated drink mix and a smaller container would fix this entirely. im not exactly a partygoer but i can see the good intent behind it to keep yourself safe

This is better than what my college friends used to drink. It involved a few cans of red bull and blue Gatorade drink mix made with vodka and everclear instead of water. It was surprisingly drinkable considering you could probably run a car on it.

Concerning the strength of the drink: By the volumes listed in the video (rounded for simplicity), the ratio of water, booze, and mix is 50/20/30. Meanwhile, at home I'm mixing my rum & Coke at a ratio of 0/40/60 (no water for me, I actually want to taste the rum, thanks). Unless my math is super wrong, because my drink isn't watered down, that means by volume, BORG contains half as much alcohol as my rum & Coke. So either this drink is basically safe (if consumed over the course of several hours) or I'm nearly dying every time I drink. When drinking at home, I drink out of a Coke glass, which holds exactly 444ml (or one entire can of Guinness). I tend to drink two of these, which equals about 355ml of rum total (approximately the volume of a soda can). If I were to push it to four drinks, that's about 710ml, almost the whole bottle of rum, and more than a liter of Coke. This would definitely have me throwing up and probably going to the hospital if consumed within a couple hours. This brings me to the subject of high intensity drinking. Maybe I missed it in the video where it's explicitly stated, but is anyone actually drinking a whole gallon of this stuff in 2 hours? It seems more like the kind of thing you do to last you a whole night, which is exactly how I might use it at home for an 8-hour drunk-gaming session. I suppose it all comes down to pacing yourself and knowing your limits, or as it's often phrased: "please enjoy responsibly". Note: I recognize that BORG apparently uses vodka, and I drink rum. However, both have an ABV of 40%, which is all that matters for our purposes.

Unis student here who also works in a bar: I have had an entire bottle of vodka in one night before (with mixers, I'm not that stupid). Here are my drinking tips to stay safe 1- if you are at a party, never drink when you're alone. At least one person in your group HAS to stay sober. Make it fair by rotating 2- my personal recommendation is to only get drinks in bottles, like VK, WKD, Rekordilig, Budweiser etc. Don't get mixed drinks or drinks from taps (in my experience they are also cheaper) 3- if your drink is unattended for even a SECOND, that is no longer your drink. Abandon it or even better, dump it to prevent others from drinking a potentially spiked drink. 5- If five people enter the party, five people are leaving. If your friend is drunk, do not let them go to someone else's place for a hook up. Especially if that other person is sober. 6- if you don't see the drink being poured, do not drink it. If you feel uncomfortable with someone who bought you a drink, or you just don't want it, put it down discreetly or accidentally spill it. DO NOT do anything you are uncomfortable doing. Practice saying no. No does not stop predators sadly, but it can get someone else's attention 7- ALWAYS MAKE A SCENE if you feel unsafe. Make as much noise as you can, get all eyes on you if possible. It does not matter if you are embarrassing yourself. Your safety is more important. 8- (this one is just for convenience and can be more fun with the right people) drink at home with friends. Make your own foul cocktails in the safety of your own home. Worst case scenario, you throw up in your bedroom sink and have to spend an hour cleaning it the next morning. Have fun and stay safe!!!

I think the gallon size is to make sure you dont run out and can always say no to other peoples drink offers. You dont have to drink it all on the night. You could take it home & then bring it to the next party. It helps hide how little you've been drinking, particularly if you always start with one that is at most 3/4 full.

This is potentially a smart idea. And since you can adjust the BORG's recipe, you could potentially make it completely non-alcoholic.

Polish version of it is called "kociołek panoramixa" (Panoramix's cauldron in literal translation, apparently it gives you an unhuman powers, just like in the french comedy movie) Recipe includes: 500ml of vodka 4 cans of beer 750ml of sparkling wine 1l of energy drink 200ml of concentrated raspberry/cherry juice Mix it all together and it's done (can even be heated, but then it loses the sparkling effects) The point is to make it as cheap as possible, which usually makes it poisonous af. I'll never forget the headaches that happened day after consuming this potion in higher doses.😅 I reckon that this "borg" stuff is nothing when compared to Polish enchanted version, but it doesn't suprise me tbh😂

Love the fact matpat is pointing out the safety part of it. I can’t trust any drink that wasn’t made by me or can be left open

I actually love how refreshingly honest your point on the safe side of personal drinks at parties can be. The stats of spiked drinks in and out of college are absolutely terrifying, and the amount of mostly women that I know of that have been spiked and assaulted angers me to my core. Kids, if youre gonna borg, do it safe, either limit the alcohol level or remove the caffeine side of it before doing so.

My psych teacher spent an entire class period talking about the affects and differences on how how things like alcohol, caffeine, and certain drugs affect you and what happens when you mix them. She was one of my favorite teachers, conditioned us to taste lemons when we hear payphone by maroon 5 😂 don't worry, we supplied the lemons and all of us consented to forever associate lemons with a song

Seems like it’s perfectly fine in terms of drinks, as long as there’s no caffeine put in it. I’m glad that people are getting educated about being safe while doing this stuff. If someone wants to get drunk, they’re GONNA get drunk, so it’s better if they’re safe about it.