Powdered Alcohol Tentatively Approved; Cue Moral Panic and Good Times!

Bringing us one step closer to a
Jetsons-esque future, powdered alcohol is now, in fact, a
thing. But whether it’s a legal thing remains to be
seen.

Various media reported earlier this week
that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) had
approved seven varieties of “Palcohol,” powdered alcohol
packs that can be combined with water or other mixers to form
“instant cocktails.” The Palcohol website itself says “we are
excited by the approval of our powdered alcohol product,” and that
the TTB “approved it some time ago.”

Palcohol creator Mark
Phillips told Behrman Beverage Law that it took the
company nearly four years to get the TTB approval.

But a spokesman for the TTB
told the Associated Press that the approvals had been
issued in error.

Robert Lehrman, who runs the Behrman Beverage
Law site, said this oversight “does not ring true.” He
suggested to AP that the agency may be backtracking after the
approval was publicized and worried lawmakers started getting in
touch. 

In an update yesterday, Palcohol said it’s been in touch with
the TTB and “there seemed to be a discrepancy on our fill level,
how much powder is in the bag.” This doesn’t mean that Palcohol
isn’t approved, just that the labels aren’t (“we will re-submit
labels,” the company said).

If all goes according to plan, Palcohol expects its powdered
cocktails to hit the market this fall, in flavors such as Mojito
and “Powderita,” along with powdered vodka and rum. I, for one,
have no desire to actually try these newfangled libation
aberrations. But it should be fun to watch the moral panic that
ensues!