TikTok swears by ‘Blackout Rage Gallons’ called borgs. But college trend worries some
It’s hard to imagine that a large mixed drink concoction coined the “Blackout Rage Gallon” (Or “borg”) would have any benefits, but college students on TikTok stand by them.
That doesn’t mean the house party fad doesn’t have risks, though.
Let’s distill the anecdotal positives and the clear dangers of the viral “borg:”
Build Your Own Borg
Borgs have been around for decades but have soared in popularity on college campuses and among young people recently. As a side effect, it’s now viral on social platforms such as TikTok, where students are sharing their borg concoctions and offering “tips” with other party-goers on how to make their own borg.
Borgs are, traditionally, mixed in a plastic gallon container and consist of part water, part hard liquor (often tequila or vodka,) water flavoring like Mio, occasionally a splash of soda and a dose of electrolyte powder to keep the drinker hydrated late into the night.
Depending on how much liquor someone puts into a borg, it could very well live up to its name and make you black out — which lends to the dangers of drinking such heavy amounts in one night.
To put the sheer volume of a borg into perspective: A single shot of liquor is 1.5 ounces. A gallon holds 128 ounces of liquid. If a person were to make a traditional borg and pour out half a gallon of water and add anywhere from one-fourth to a half gallon of liquor into their drink, that could be (in an extreme borg case) up to 64 ounces of liquor.
“Drinking too much and too quickly can lead to significant impairments in motor coordination, decision-making, impulse control, and other functions, increasing the risk of harm,” according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “Continuing to drink despite clear signs of significant impairments can result in an alcohol overdose.”
Alcohol poisoning can include mental confusion, loss of consciousness, vomiting, seizures, trouble breathing, slow heart rate and no gag reflex — and young people are more vulnerable, according to the institute.
College students are advised to avoid binge drinking and fill up with water between drinks, according to EDU Med. Students are also encouraged to watch their drinks, not guzzle their beverage, know where it comes from, never mix alcohol with drugs and always know how to get home after a night out.
While it may seem contradictory, some borg-enthusiasts argue that the concoction is helping them stay safe rather than posing a risk during parties.
A harm reduction strategy
Some alcoholic preventionists support the idea of borgs on TikTok instead of chastising users for their jugs.
“You get complete control over this,” one preventionist Erin Moore saidin a TikTok. “That means even if you don’t want to put liquor in, you don’t have to.”
Moore’s second defense was one that many partygoers found comfort in when it comes to the borg — it has a lid.
“As long as you’re keeping the lid on when you’re not actively consuming it, the risk of somebody putting something in here that you don’t know about is significantly decreased,” Moore said.
Some post-college viewers who have seen borg videos on TikTok commented on their college party experiences with jungle juice and other unsanitary mass alcohol watering holes that dozens of people would drink from during parties.
“Truthfully I’m shocked millennials and GenX didn’t start a plague from communal drinks,” one person commented.
“This seems so much better than the questionable drinks I had in college,” another viewer said.
Others shared that it helped take the peer pressure off of them to drink certain drinks offered at parties — and one woman shared that she just carries a gallon full of pink lemonade and no one questions it. Many viewers thought the idea of adding liquid IV was a nice touch.
“All the water and the liquid IV is genius,” one person commented on a borg video. “The future is in good hands.”
But no amount of water in a borg can dissolve the risks of drinking too much at once, or too often. One in six U.S. adults binge drink, “with 25% doing so at least weekly,” which can lead to serious health complications, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
For more resources on preventing binge drinking and alcohol complications, visit the CDC prevention page.
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 4:16 PM with the headline "TikTok swears by ‘Blackout Rage Gallons’ called borgs. But college trend worries some."
