Potcheen

Poitín (also known as Poteen or Potcheen) is an alcoholic beverage, traditionally distilled in Irish rural areas. Poitín was traditionally distilled in a small pot still and the term is a diminutive of the Irish word pota, meaning "pot". Traditionally distilled from malted barley grain or potatoes, it is one of the strongest alcoholic beverages in the world (renowned for its ability to get the drinker intoxicated the morning after drinking it by drinking water and thereby bringing the remaining ethanol back into solution), and for centuries was classified as illegal in Ireland. In 1997, the Irish Revenue Commissioners withdrew their opposition to poitín being sold in Ireland, though legal production for export has been allowed since 1989.