Is 151 proof shot safe to drink straight?

Answer 1

Yeah it is but. Everclearis not! which is 95% alcohol

In what way safe? If you sip a very strong drink, your saliva will dilute it and you can wait until you feel it is safe to swallow. If you try to gulp a larger quantity, you will feel adverse effects such as burning sensation on your tongue and in your throat and quite likely a bout of hiccups when it hits the stomach. None of these effects is in itself, "unsafe". You may want to keep a guarded distance from open flames at the time, but the image of W.C. Fields breathing out over a candle and causing a flare after a shot of "goats' milk" is not going to happen. The main reason the alcohol industry has settled on 40% abv as the norm for most spirits is that this is a level most people can cope with drinking straight, in smallish quantities, with more pleasure than pain. Everclear BTW comes in at least two varieties. NY and CA both limit the strength of alcohol that can be sold in the state to 151 proof (75.5% abv), so Everclear bought in those two states will be 151 proof. Other states - CO, UT, RI to my certain knowledge - do not limit the strength and Everclear bought there will be 190 proof (95% abv). Austrian Stroh rum is another example which comes in at up to 160 proof (and is therefore not sold in NY or CA at that strength). Sure you can drink that stuff. You can drink either strength of Everclear as well. It will taste like firewater and won't do you any good, but is unlikely to do any lasting damage unless you do it a lot, especially a lot at one time.