A hack for changing the taste and effect of vodka with a Brita water filter is blowing up on TikTok. Experts say it works, but the trend could be harmful to young viewers.

• Videos about pouring vodka through a Brita filter to make it taste better are going viral on TikTok.
• A science expert said removing the impurities can alter the taste and minimize hangover symptoms.

TikTokers are gaining hundreds of thousands of views with videos in which they put vodka through a Brita water filter in order to make it "taste better."

TikToker Elliott Norris, who goes by @callmebelly and has 1.2 million followers, posted a video to his account on September 17 in which he and fellow TikToker Louis Levanti tasted the vodka before and after it was put through the filter.

On the second taste, Norris appears shocked and says, "It tastes like nothing," while Levanti adds, "Oh wow. It tasted like water."

The video received nearly six million views, and sparked various comments expressing surprise, and questioning whether the vodka would have the same alcohol content after being filtered and whether one would still feel the effects.

Filtering vodka does work to remove impurities, which can alter the taste

Norris posted a follow-up video confirming that both he and Levanti became intoxicated from the filtered vodka. According to Brita, the company's filters work by cutting "chlorine taste and odor" as well as reducing "other contaminants." It won't, however, change the percentage of alcohol content in the liquor.

More expensive, high-end vodka brands tend to distill their vodka more times compared to cheaper brands, making them taste better generally, according to Thrillist. Putting vodka through a filter could have a similar effect on taste.

Dr Kit Chapman, a science writer who has a master's degree in pharmacy and was previously the editor of Chemistry World, told Insider that the Brita filter removes impurities, which "make it taste a little better," but it won't turn cheap or low-grade alcohol into a "premium product."

Chapman also said that filtering alcohol can mean a less severe hangover. "That's thanks to removing the congeners, which you find more of in drinks like red wine. Although the biggest factor in that still remains the amount of alcohol you consume," he said.

Alcohol-based social-media challenges could have a negative effect on children, a researcher found

It's not just Norris' video about the hack that's gone viral. TikTok user @han.walls received 1.5 million views on her video saying she wanted to try it because she hates the taste of alcohol. Though she does not explicitly say in the video that it worked, she appears shocked when she drinks her filtered vodka before saying, "I'm screwed."

TikTok user @aileenchristineee also posted a similar video, which received nearly 700,000 views. It showed the creator and her boyfriend looking confused by the taste of the filtered vodka. Christine concluded the video by saying, "If you don't like alcohol, buy a Brita filter."

Many users commented underneath Christine's video to say that they "had to try it," and suggested they would no longer be drinking vodka without first filtering it.

Dr Megan Moreno, professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin who researches how technology can affect the health of adolescents, warned that the trend could potentially encourage young people to drink.

She told Insider that research she conducted in 2014 found that "adolescents who are exposed to media representations of drinking, particularly when that representation presents drinking as expected or positive, can increase adolescents' intentions to drink."

She added, "An additional element of risk of these representations being on TikTok videos is that it truly provides a how-to of mimicking the behaviors."

Moreno believes the framing of the hack as a "challenge" could make the behavior particularly appealing to teens.

The practice of using a water filter for vodka pre-dates TikTok. The TV show "MythBusters" debunked it in a 2006 episode, while articles by Epicurious in 2015, Thrillist in 2016, and Food And Wine in 2017 all evaluated the effectiveness of the hack.

For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.