New York- The machine that turns alcohol into a breathable mist created quite a buzz - just not for the people using it.The debut of the Alcohol Without Liquid (AWOL) machine in a Chelsea bar last month fizzled when nervous promoters used fruit juice instead of booze. Now, the first metropolitan-area bar to actually buy the $3,700 contraption wants its money back.
"You can't get drunk," said Steve Baskinger, owner of Bask's Bar and Grill in West Paterson, N.J. "You don't get anything from it.
"It takes 20 minutes to inhale a quarter of a shot."
The machine pumps pressurized oxygen through a hose over a small amount of liquor in a canister held by the customer, who sucks up the vapor.
Kevin Morse, president of Spirit Partners of Greensboro, N.C., which markets the machine in the U.S., acknowledged that users don't get as drunk with AWOL as with imbibing.
