The vacated Sunday-morning streets of Soulard reveal what gets left behind in the wake of Mardi Gras celebrations: beads, beer cans and BORGs, Gen Z’s latest way to day drink.
This year, college-aged party-people descended on Saturday’s parade equipped with gallon-sized plastic water jugs filled with liquids the colors of the rainbow. A BORG, or “Black Out Rage Gallon” is essentially a transportable, diluted jungle juice. It requires the purchase of a gallon-sized water jug, of which the owner pours out half the water and fills the remaining volume with booze — typically vodka — along with their choice of flavored drink mix or juice, and electrolytes.
The BORG is a personal project. After curating a unique formula of liquids, the owner christens the jug with a name. Pun-lovers go crazy for this one. One young Mardi Gras reveler posed for the RFT with her jug titled “Borg Sexual.” Another sported a jug saying “Born to Borg.”
The idea behind these modern flasks is rooted in efficiency and, p
erhaps surprisingly, safety. For day-drinking events, the borg combines the two essentials: lots of water and lots of alcohol — which explains their popularity at state-school tailgates. They are most often individual possessions, or shared by close friends, which may help reduce the transfer of germs and guard against the sadly still quite common “spiked punch.” Plus, their DIY nature allows the owner to be certain of the amount of alcohol they want to consume. They then add their choice of electrolyte — perhaps the classic Pedialyte or the trendy Liquid IV — to sustain them during the day’s festivities and hopefully prevent the notorious post-Mardi hangover.
The BORG owes its mass-popularity to TikTok. The trend took off during the time of social distancing and greater concern for germs, but has resurged during tailgate season and mass day-drinking events. “The Most Expensive Borg Ever” went viral on TikTok during last year’s leadup to Mardi Gras weekend, with ingredients including a wellness shot and sea moss. Total costs for the BORG came to $500, and total views are 113k and counting.
But while water in BORGs may dilute the harsh taste of hard liquor, it does little to mitigate the dangers of binge drinking. Last year, 46 students from University of Massachusetts Amherst were hospitalized after a day of borg-drinking. One recent college graduate tells the RFT she “has never been drunker than when [she] BORGed.” No matter the amount of water or electrolytes, any gallon-sized alcoholic drink encourages unsafe levels of alcohol servings. The water and milder taste may mask the dangerous level of alcohol in some BORGs: around 17 shots of vodka in a half-gallon. According to Dr. Amy Hilmer of SSM Health, this smashes binge-drinking limits. She told Fox-2 she can get behind less germs and more water, but wants young people to be aware of their limits.
The BORG may go into hibernation for a few weeks, but be on the lookout for gallon-sized green monsters as St. Patrick’s Day draws near.
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