QUOTE
Forget absinthe and the worm-in-the-bottle tequila, the drink that will light the fuse at any Christmas party is illicit salamander brandy.
Known to some as "randy brandy", the drink produces a powerful erotic effect that is indiscriminate in its target. After a few glasses anything in the natural world can become sexually attractive, apparently.
The X-factor in the cocktail is the poisonous mucus produced by a live salamander. As a result, production of the brandy has always been a clandestine affair.
The Slovenian tourist board certainly has not heard of it, but the secrecy of the brandy is half the fun.
I had to go through a chain of whispered contacts and endless hours in smoke-filled taverns in Skofja Loka, 25 miles north-west of Ljubljana, before finding the illegal aphrodisiac.
However, this witch's brew does not come with any government warnings, so you have only yourself to blame if you wake up stark-naked and hugging a pine tree, with a reptilian hangover and no memory of how you got there.
Known to some as "randy brandy", the drink produces a powerful erotic effect that is indiscriminate in its target. After a few glasses anything in the natural world can become sexually attractive, apparently.
The X-factor in the cocktail is the poisonous mucus produced by a live salamander. As a result, production of the brandy has always been a clandestine affair.
The Slovenian tourist board certainly has not heard of it, but the secrecy of the brandy is half the fun.
I had to go through a chain of whispered contacts and endless hours in smoke-filled taverns in Skofja Loka, 25 miles north-west of Ljubljana, before finding the illegal aphrodisiac.
However, this witch's brew does not come with any government warnings, so you have only yourself to blame if you wake up stark-naked and hugging a pine tree, with a reptilian hangover and no memory of how you got there.
