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Blowtorch-Drink.jpg

A blowtorch is an alcoholic cocktail invented by members of the 1928 Byrd Antarctic Expedition. The recipe calls for mixing lemon powder with grain alcohol and diluting the mixture with ice until it's drinkable.

Dr. F. Dana Coman, the expedition's physician, and the man with the keys to the liquor supply, took some of the grain alcohol and mixed it with the lemon powder and the crushed orange juice concentrate. The men dubbed this extremely potent drink a "blowtorch." Richard Byrd himself participated in the festivities and every couple of weeks, he would authorize a tub of blowtorches to be made up and a party held to help the men relax and unwind during the long winter.

Things got especially bad during one three-week midwinter drinking binge. Drinking contests broke out between the men, most notoriously between Danny Davies and Larry Gould, who got carried away and ordered everyone to "get cock-eyed drunk." The drinking and partying lasted until 4:00am in a "spectacular and riotous drunken orgy."

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