Deadly drinks
From flaming cocktails to clear water, DW looks at the chemistry of some popular drinks. Last year, a British teenager had to have her stomach removed after drinking a deadly cocktail in a bar.
Burning drinks
A flaming Sambuca is the most common tylpe of flaming beverage. It contains a small amount of flammable alcohol, which is lit before it is drunk. But despite being decorative, the flames could easily burn your lips if you do not wait to drink after the flame has been extinguished.
No smoke without fire
To create a "cauldron effect," liquid nitrogen, which boils at minus 196 degrees Celcius, is used in these types of cocktails. That's because liquid nitrogen can cause frostbite and damage tissue due to its low temperature. Last October, a a British teenager had to have her stomach removed after drinking two liquid nitrogen cocktails while celebrating her 18th birthday.
Jägerbomb
Jägermeister, a digestive, which tastes like cough syrup, contains 35 percent alcohol. Jägerbomb, which combines Jägermeister and energy drink Red Bull, create a dangerous concoction by mixing a stimulant and a depressant. By masking the effects of the alcohol, drinks like Jägerbomb encourage binge drinking because its people longer to realize that they are drunk.
Energy drinks
Red Bull, which is probably the world's leading energy drink, contains the same amount of caffeine as a in a cup of coffee, 18 percent of your total recommended sugar intake, and taurine - an organic acid for which excessive amounts are to be studied.
Hard Liquor
Distilled beverages, which are also called spirits, contain at least 20 percent alcohol. Bacardi 151 is a rum with about 75 percent alcohol - more than the 40 to 50 percent in whiskey. Countries where there is a preference for spirits like Scotland and Russia have more problems with alcoholism.
Most call it water, scientists H2O
None of us could avoid drinking or ingesting water even if we wanted to. In most western countries, the water is safe enough to drink, but for one billion people around the world, clean drinking water is a luxury. Safe drinking water could prevent 1.4 million children from dying from diarrhea every year, according to the World Health Organization.