Hooch
Definition
Illicit, unregulated country liquor. Indian regional names include haatch, desi tharra, and santhi. Typically distilled from molasses, jaggery, or fermented fruit, with methanol added either accidentally (poor still control) or deliberately (to raise apparent strength).
- Regional names
- Haatch, desi tharra, santhi
- Base materials
- Molasses, jaggery, fermented fruit
- Key hazard
- Methanol contamination
- Contamination cause
- Poor still control or deliberate addition
Common questions
Why does methanol end up in hooch, and how does deliberate addition differ from accidental?+
Accidental methanol arises from uncontrolled fermentation and poor fractional distillation that fails to separate methanol from ethanol, while deliberate addition is done to cheaply raise the apparent alcoholic strength of a weak batch.
How does a mass poisoning outbreak from hooch typically get investigated?+
Toxicology confirms methanol in victims' blood and in seized liquor samples, while epidemiological tracing of the supply chain and still location aims to identify the source batch and the point of contamination or adulteration.
Related terms
- Chromotropic Acid Test
- Confirmatory colour test for formaldehyde (and hence indirectly for methanol). Chromotropic acid (4,5-dihydroxy-2,7-naphthalenedisulphonic acid) plus concentrated sulphuric acid plus formaldehyde gives an...
- Denatonium Benzoate
- Bittering agent (Bitrex), one of the bitterest known compounds, detectable by taste at the parts-per-billion level. Added at very low concentrations to...
- Denaturant
- A chemical added to industrial ethanol to make it unfit for human consumption (and therefore exempt from beverage-alcohol excise). Indian Standards list...
- Fomepizole
- 4-methylpyrazole. A competitive inhibitor of alcohol dehydrogenase used as the first-line antidote for methanol poisoning. Ethanol (oral or IV) is the older,...
- Formic Acid
- HCOOH. The toxic terminal metabolite of methanol, produced after alcohol dehydrogenase converts methanol to formaldehyde and aldehyde dehydrogenase oxidises formaldehyde to formate....
- Headspace GC-FID
- Gas chromatography with flame-ionisation detection run on the vapour above a sealed sample. The standard forensic method for methanol and ethanol in...
- Methanol
- Methyl alcohol, CH3OH. Boiling point 64.7°C. Found in wood spirit, windshield-washer fluid, and as a deliberate adulterant in illicit liquor. Toxic via...