You know 190-proof Everclear by reputation. The bartender’s equivalent of jet fuel, this high-octane neutral grain spirit is more than twice the strength of standard vodka, and is illegal in 11 states. How strange, then, that this storied party propellant has become a tool against the pandemic. With the household sanitizer shelves plucked clean, and $7.99 bottles of Purell at one point going for more than $100 on eBay, Everclear represented an ideal D.I.Y. germ-killing alternative, particularly when even standard rubbing alcohol, a key ingredient in many hand sanitizer recipes, was also hard to find.

Source: New York Times July 09, 2020 09:00 UTC