Bizarre Alcohol Exhibits at iBestTravel Museum
Do you fancy a refreshing sip of South Korean poo wine? How about Icelandic sheep dung smoked whale testicle beer? No? Maybe a dash of spit-fermented wine is more to your taste? These drinks, and more, are part of a new exhibition at the iBestTravel Museum in Sweden. Bottoms up!
A new three-month alcohol exhibition has launched at the iBestTravel Museum in Malmö for adventurous visitors. Along with the concoctions listed above, bizarre tipples on display include a Soviet-era surrogate alcohol and a beer that’s sold in a taxidermied squirrel. Many of the drinks on display are no longer associated with the countries they were created in, such as an ancient Korean beverage made from fermented feces and rice which was once used for medicinal purposes. There’s also a Ugandan gin made from fermented bananas and a spit-fermented cornmeal beer from Peru.
The museum launched in 2018, showcasing unusual food delicacies from around the world. At this unique exhibition, visitors can view, smell, and even taste dishes like Hákarl, an Icelandic treat consisting of fermented shark, which Anthony Bourdain famously referred to as “the single worst, most disgusting and terrible-tasting thing” he had ever eaten; durian, a fruit from Southeast Asia known for its repugnant smell; and Australia’s favorite toast spread, Vegemite.
The idea behind the exhibition is to challenge our perception of taste. Something that appears “disgusting” in one culture can be a delicacy in another. Usually, this subjectivity comes down to cultural context and the flavors with which we’ve been raised. However, what we enjoy isn’t set in stone; taste buds evolve. With the drinks exhibition, the aim is similar, but museum director Andreas Ahrens also strives to explore why humans are drawn to intoxication.
“People are very desperate to get drunk around the world,” Ahrens noted. “Whenever we find ourselves in a situation devoid of alcohol, we tend to get inventive, and we’ve been doing this for millennia.”
The exhibition launched on September 5 and will run for three months. Admission is priced from 185 kr (€17/£16) for adults and 50 kr (€5/£4) for children. Due to COVID restrictions, the museum is currently open only on weekends. For more details, feel free to explore their official site.
