New: Powdered alcohol for backpackers

Backpackers looking to lessen the load on their back already benefit from lightweight tents, sleeping bags and stoves — and dehydrated food. Just add water.

Now backcountry campers will be able to enjoy a little buzz by the campfire with powdered alcohol. Arizona-based Lipsmark recently received federal approval for its Palcohol products, which include vodka and rum and three cocktails — Cosmopolitan, Lemon Drop and Powderita.

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, a division of the U.S. Treasury, approved Palcohol sales in March. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had earlier determined it didn’t have any concerns about the product and noted that it doesn’t review distilled spirits products.

According to Montana Department of Revenue spokeswoman Molly Petersen, no bills have been introduced in the legislature seeking to prohibit the sale of powdered alcohol in Montana, but nobody has applied to the department for a permit to sell the product in Montana.

Directions call for mixing one 1-ounce Palcohol packet with 6 ounces of water. The result contains 10 percent alcohol by volume — about the same as a glass of wine. Packets would sell for $3.99 each.

Powdered alcohol has been produced in Europe and Japan, and concentrated beer is already available in the U.S.

About 37 states have taken steps to ban Palcohol since it received federal approval. Opponents to its sale are concerned about accidents or abuse — dissolving too much Palcohol in a small amount of water or snorting the powder.

Lipsmark owner Mark Phillips noted that cutting back on the amount of water would create “mush” and snorting “burns” and is unpleasant. Opponents noted that someone will end up snorting Palcohol, comparing it to children who snort Smarties.

The company is trying to secure patents for Palcohol and ramp up production in time for summer — the backpacking season.