Dalgona 'Whiskey' is New Social Media Obsession as India Debates Selling of Alcohol During Lockdown

Weeks of lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in creativity, and trends on social media. One of the trends until last week was Dalgona coffee (read: Beaten coffee).

But with the pressure of lockdown, coffee seems to be a passé and there's a new trend: the Dalgona peg! Whiskey has replaced coffee in this new trend.

It's not a hard task to make it with these three simple steps: First, fill the glass halfway with water. Then, take a cloth to cover the mouth and make sure the centre of the fabric touches the water and then slowly pour the whiskey into it. Viola! there, the texture of it resembles completely to that of Dalgona coffee.

The trend comes at a time when there has been a surge in suicide cases across the nation due to the unavailability of alcohol. With the 21-day lockdown the government has only allowed the sale of essential commodities and there has been no mention of the sale of alcohol.

However, taking note of withdrawal symptoms of addicts, the Kerala government had earlier issued a notice to sell alcohol on a doctor's prescription. But the advisory was met with protest by authorities.

Recently, even the Mamata Banerjee-government in West Bengal has decided to allow the sale of alcohol and get them home delivered only through limited issued passes.

In another report, Karnataka CM Yediyurappa had also said he was planning to relax liquor sales after April 14 in a bid to increase state revenues.

According to another report in the Economic Times, several big liquor labels in India, such as Bacardi and Remy Martin, have been requesting the Centre to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in limited ways while making sure that social distancing norms are followed.

The Indian Spirits & Wine Association of India (ISWAI) – the body that represents the country’s biggest liquor companies and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) have emphasised that the ban of alcohol is only adding to the illicit trade of the liquor.

“Food is an essential commodity and alcohol is classified as food under the Food Safety & Standards Act of 2006. The black market is operating in the vacuum created by legal alcohol retail shops being closed, which is becoming an additional menace for the police force," said the ISWAI.

Meanwhile, India’s total cases due to Covid-19 reached 9,152 today with the death toll hitting 308, indicating a jump of 796 new cases and 35 deaths in 24 hours.