The Bizarre Reason Snake Wine Can Bite You Back

Snake wine isn't the brand name of a boutique new wine, it's a drink often made by drowning a live snake in a bottle of rice wine. Snake wine is found primarily in Southern China and Southeast Asia (where you can also try snake pizza) and contains a venomous snake, usually a cobra or viper. The jar or container will have herbs and spices like ginseng and wolfberries added for flavor. The snake sits in the liquid (sometimes with other lizards, snakes, or scorpions) for months before it's ready to be drunk. 

The alcohol does break down the snake's deadly venom, so that's not the risk in drinking snake wine. Instead, the risk involves getting bitten by the snake after it awakens and jumps out of the jar. There are some documented cases of people getting bit by a snake months after the wine jar was capped. 

In 2022, a man got bitten by three snakes submerged in rice wine for a year. Another report from 2013 is of a woman being bitten after leaving her snake wine brew for three months. Even with the risk, people still seek out snake wine for its supposed medicinal properties. It's said to help treat rheumatoid arthritis, hair loss, and more.

Although surprising, it's not unnatural for a snake to "wake up" when the oxygen level rises after the jar opens. Snakes can survive long periods of dormancy where they require little oxygen. Homemade snake wine jars are not always airtight since the lids aren't mechanically tightened which could allow air to seep into the jar. Improperly filled wine containers could also have an air pocket between the lid and the liquid. When this happens, the snake appears to come back to life, though in reality it never drowned. 

There's a snake wine made with a cleaned and gutted snake which doesn't come with the same risks as the wine containing the accidentally live cobra or viper, though there are risks all the same. For example, improperly packaged snake wine may contain parasites. Wild snakes often carry parasites when they're alive, but these parasites can be fatal if they're ingested by humans. 

Snake wine is a tourist favorite, but trying to bring it back to the States could result in another "bite" when it's confiscated at customs. The wine must be consumed there, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulates all alcohol coming from outside the country. Furthermore, snake wine is made with endangered species. So, it's best to try the wine while on vacation in Vietnam or Southern China and leave it there.