Why Whiskey Is Healthier Than Any Other Drink

There’s infection-causing bacteria living in the ice in your drink, and the only surefire way to kill it is with whiskey. Not vodka, and not some other spirit or mixer. Just whiskey.

A study recently published in the medical journal Springer examined the types of bacteria that can survive in ice. The bad news is that 31 species of bacteria were found in bar ice—including infectious Pseudomonas (can cause skin and lung infections), Staphylococcus (responsible for Staph infections), Bacillus (guilty for food poisoning symptoms) and Acinetobacter (can cause pneumonia and meningitis).

With that in mind, the researchers tested just how resilient the bacteria is by putting infected ice in common drinks. Freezing temperatures didn’t kill them. Vodka didn’t kill any of them either. Coca-Cola killed Bacillus and Pseudomonas, and tonic killed all but Acinetobacter. Whiskey, however, killed them all.

The study, “Presence of pathogenic bacteria in ice cubes and evaluation of their survival in different systems,” is the type of reading material that can really turn a person off of Vodka Martinis.

Granted, drinking the bacteria won’t make you sick in the vast majority of cases. You’ve been consuming these little guys your entire cocktail-drinking life. But why not live life on the safe side, especially when the safe side tastes so good?