Posted on 02/24/2023 12:18:13 PM PST by algore
The borg — "blackout rage gallon" — has become the drink of choice on college campuses across the country.
Made with half water, half vodka, a caffeinated flavor enhancer and a dash of powdered electrolytes, the drink has been hailed by many students on TikTok as a hangover-proof party staple.
Binge drinking, which involves consuming an excessive amount of alcohol over a short period of time, remains a widespread issue that many college administrators have struggled to control. But as borgs go viral, some harm reduction advocates — who don't condone binge drinking — have said the trend may actually mitigate the dangers of college drinking culture.
“When it comes to substance use prevention, harm reduction recognizes that people are going to make their own decisions when it comes to alcohol and other drugs,” Erin Monroe, a creator who is credentialed in substance use prevention in New York, told NBC News in a message. "But there are strategies we can use to reduce some of the risk."
When making borgs, drinkers get “complete control” over what they’re drinking, and can pace themselves appropriately, Monroe said. She described borgs as “really solid harm reduction,”
One of the earliest TikTok videos about the borg dates back to March 2020. The drink, which became more common in the wake of social distancing and other Covid prevention measures, is especially popular for tailgates and outdoor parties.
"after covid the whole 'communal drink' thing kinda went out the window for us," one TikTok commenter said on a video about the drink. "borgs came out of necessity."
College students began posting more about the drinks last year, just as their spring semesters were wrapping up. It gained popularity throughout the fall semester as students posted tutorials and videos showing off their jugs, which are personalized to the drinker's taste.
In a video posted in October, for example, one TikTok user made a borg with a bottle of Skyy vodka and Kool-Aid. Another TikTok user made a snow day borg with MiO, a packet of Liquid IV and a can of the sparkling energy drink Celsius.
Borgs are topped off by labeling the jug with a punny name. Showing off borg names like “Soulja Borg” and “Our Borg and Savior” has become its own TikTok trend.
Other clever borg names include “Brown v. the Borg of Education,” “SpongeBorg” and “Borgingham Palace.”
It sounds more like you are going to have a lot of wide-awake drunks who need to take a dump.
Not good in a house with a limited number of johnny-flushers.
That’s what we had, too. Is it just me, or do college kids seem to binge drink more than we did back in the day? It doesn’t seem like raising the age to 21 helped very much. In my mind, it has hurt more than it has helped.
And we liked it!
Most interesting!
Sounds weak. Skip the water and go with everclear.
“half vodka”
Damn, today’s kids are way too rich. We had Everclear back in ‘69-’73. I can’t remember what we cut it with...it’s all a blur. At least I THINK we cut it with Coke or Pepsi or something.
We threw big blocks of dry ice into our trash cans for great special effects.
“We called it purple passion in my college years and it was made with grain alcohol and grape juice”
Down there in North Cackalacky purple passion was known as either passion juice or Purple Jesus. Cans of differing fruit juices, Everclear, canned fruit, mixed in an ice chest cooler. A real Hawaiian Punch... drank outside by bonfires.
I made margaritas this past holiday season with sugar free lemon flavored electrolyte drink mix trying to stay vaguely keto.
It was quite good and did seem to eliminate after effects. My adult children were shocked as they tend to forget that the ‘rents are human.
When I went off to college I had no idea that alcohol existed. Never anything like that mentioned through the whole term. It had never entered my mind that anyone I knew would drink such a thing.
We did too.
IMHO:
All FReepers should abstain from posting anything whatsoever pertaining to TIKTOK feeds.
Every post drives clicks. Some of you clicked. You know you did, including OP.
It has to start somewhere, sometime.
Cease posting TIKTOK garbage and clicking on them at home; it feeds the monster.
Do they all play Tennis?
I have never gone to the tiktok site.
This was posted and linked to NBC news
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