200-year-old booze salvaged from shipwreck

A 200-year-old stone water bottle salvaged from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Baltic Sea is believed to contain either vodka or gin.

A 200-year-old shipwrecked seltzer bottle contains alcohol Credit: National Maritime Museum, Gdańsk

The “well-preserved” and sealed bottle was discovered in June by researchers exploring the F-53-31 shipwreck in Gdańsk Bay near the Polish coast.

It was sent for testing to the J.S. Hamilton chemical laboratory in Gydia, Poland, to determine whether it contained original Selters water, but preliminary results show the liquid is in fact an alcohol distillate of 14% abv, thought to be either vodka or gin – possibly genever – diluted with water.

Selters is a manufacturer of high-quality carbonated water that was discovered more than 1,000 years ago in the Taunus Mountains in Germany and is one of the oldest types of mineral water in Europe.

According to reports by CBS News, archaeologists involved told Poland’s Ministry of Science and Science Education that the liquid is safe to drink.

“This means it would not cause poisoning,” said Tomasz Bednarz, an underwater archaeologist at the National Maritime Museum who is leading the research on the shipwreck. “Apparently, however, it does not smell particularly good.”

“The bottle dates back to the period of 1806-1830 and has been recovered during the works on the F53.31 shipwreck, or the so-called Glazik.”

The Selters water bottle is believed to have been manufactured in Ranschbach, Germany, a town located approximately 25 miles from the Selters springs.

Nowadays, Selters is sold as a luxury mineral water.