spacev1986

we tried this so many times its not even funny... The lawyers wont allow it... its too much of a liability if they donate the toiletries and a tube of toothpaste does end up being something else.

That being said, i still cant figure out why we take liquids because they *might* be explosives, but then we throw them in a bin at the checkpoint near a long line of people. if they *might* be explosives, shouldnt they be handled as such?

InkUnderNails

The review at the link tries to describe it but it is really not easy. First, it is not at all like Everclear.

Have you ever been around a farm with a silo where corn silage is stored? There is a fermenting juice that drains from a silo. It has a sweet, slightly corn juice smell, like the smell of corn being cut off the cob from the garden before cooking. Which is odd, because that is not how it tastes, but the smell makes you think it will taste like that.

Imagine the taste of really good Bourbon without the charred oak.

It is sweet, but not sickly sweet. It is very smooth, just do not gulp it as the burn is noticeable.

It tastes a lot like the homemade tequila that I had on a cruise ship excursion, but I can't describe that either.

BTW, I drink mine neat, no ice, but I store it cold.

Jupiter's Ally

spacev1986 - Welcome to FT.

As I posted earlier... call the bomb squad, every single time.
This would expose the hysteria surrounding potential explosives since the local LEOs in the bomb squad will get ticked off pretty soon.

In a past life, I worked at a pharmaceutical research lab... one of our safety procedures was never to handle unknown liquids that have spilled. Who knew (at random) how dangerous / toxic the liquid was - liquids could be as benign as distilled water or lethal as some cyanide salts. If memory serves me right, the SOP mandated that we call facilities who would take care of the spill. Facilities typically showed up in full gear.

Considering the checkpoint clerks are tossing liquids into a bin indiscriminately, gosh knows what could happen if some of the liquids leaked and mixed.

Vidiot

Not to go farther off-topic, but this cocktail blogger thinks you described it very well. It's not like Everclear -- it's much lower proof (but still higher-proof than the more-commonly-found 80-proof whiskeys.) Still flavorful with the corn sweetness, but without all of the caramel-vanilla-pepper notes that you get from oak aging.

InkUnderNails

Hey, that's good. I wish I had said it.

I do know a shot and half is my limit. It's hard to find my glass for a refill after that.

My regular is a mid-shelf Wild Turkey 101.

RatherBeOnATrain

IMHO, a more cutting protest would be a contest to find the best method of disguising cupcakes as C4.

InkUnderNails

I flew home yesterday, and between my gate and the baggage claim was a gift shop in the secure area with a huge display of what looked like homemade cupcakes. Some were in six packs or four packs, but my favorite was a single in a clear clear plastic container right in the middle of the display.

They did not have any "TSA Approved" or "Safe for Travel" stickers, but I did wonder if they were giving our friends in blue a bit of a poke in the eye with their display. It was right out in the aisle where I had to walk around it a bit as I was walking near the wall anyway. There is no way they could have missed it on their roaming missions through the airport.

I wish now that I had stopped. I'll see if it is still there on Sunday when I fly yet again. I'll post photos.

Boggie Dog

If an item is so questionable that TSA will not allow it to move from the non-sterile side of the airport to the sterile side of the airport then that item should be treated as a threat.

Not doing so demonstrates clearly that no threat is thought by TSA to exist and the act is all part of TSA's Security Theater production.

chollie

Now you guys have made it sound so interesting (and tasty), I know I'll never get it past the checkpoint! Some screener will probably suggest that if I drink it and exhale on a lit match, I could cause serious damage.

4nsicdoc

The 14th of February sounds good. That gives us time to acquire the necessary items. You know, like flour, sugar, butter, jars, butyric acid to pack the cupcakes in so when the jar is opened - it will be, since no cupcake deserves to be wasted - immediate gagging and puking by all who smell it will ensue. Butyric Acid is not really dangerous, except to delicate senses, like smell. It does no permanent damage. It is a natural component in butter, parmesian cheese, and vomit and is used as a farm additive to promote plant growth. It's cheap and is available at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Indole-Butyric.../dp/B003XDMJNC. It really isn't much of an acid with a pKa of 4.82. It is what makes puke disgustingly stinky. It would make a cupcake-in-a- jar to remember. And remember, information does not equal advocacy.

themicah

Anybody in Rhode Island want to see how a local bakery's new TSA Compliant Cupcakes fare with the smurf squad?

janetdoe

Although it's not a pretentious designer cupcake, the Central Market in Plano has 6-packs of cupcakes with buttercream icing for $4. (It's not quite buttercream, IMO, but much less like shaving cream than the cupcakes at most grocery stores.)

Distilled water (thanks to carbon dioxide) is pH 5.5.
Coca-cola is pH ~2.5.
So it's 10x more acidic than distilled water and 100x less acidic than Coke. ^

But I think you would do better to get something like this. A pre-packaged prank spray (perhaps for the friend you were going to give the cupcake?) seems much less likely to get you on the no-fly-list than a CHEMICAL