Hangover free cocktails could be on their way

London-based drugs scientist David Nutt is developing a formula for synthetic alcohol that will deliver all the liberating effects of alcohol without the hangover.

As reported by The Times, if Nutt’s experiments with ‘Alcarelle’ prove fruitful he plans to roll out the product to hundreds of cocktail bars in the UK.

Nutt is currently seeking to raise £7 million in funding to fuel the project, which is currently undergoing safety checks to make sure it’s fit for human consumption.

Imperial College London professor Nutt has been working on the idea for a decade experimenting with over 80 substances that mimic the effects of alcohol on the brain.

He has narrowed the final recipe down to five compounds, which he plans to submit to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as a novel “food ingredient”.

“It’s never been done before. We’re ploughing a very new field,” Nutt told The Times.

“I’d like to give people alternatives. You can either have your Martini or Alcarelle, which will make you chatty but won’t give you a hangover and will leave you with much less in the way of health risks,” he added.

He believes his product could prove popular as it doesn’t lead to a build-up of acetaldehyde, the compound that causes hangovers when it’s broken down in the liver.

His timing may be good, as millennials drink less significantly less alcohol than their predecessors and have been ditching alcohol in favour of soft drinks.

In 2009 Nutt has to resign as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs days after he said that alcohol was more dangerous than Ecstasy and LSD. He previously spoke about his plans to replace fermented and distilled alcohol with synthetic alcohol back in 2016, when he had already patented 90 compounds used to produce Alcosynth – a synthetic alcohol that mimics the positive effects of alcohol.