- Borg, or "black out rage gallon" is the recent college drinking hack going viral on TikTok.
- It's a personal one-gallon milk container filled with water, alcohol, and drink enhancer of choice.
A college "hangover hack" called Borg is going viral on TikTok for being "harm-reducing."
Not to be confused with the pseudo-species of cyborgs spotted in the Star Trek universe, this Borg, or "black out rage gallon," is a personal one-gallon plastic container filled with part water, part hard liquor, and flavored with a drink enhancer of choice. Recipes for a 50/50 ratio using vodka are popular on TikTok.
Within two hours of posting, videos tagged #borg have gathered over 71.1 million views, while the most-viewed Borg TikTok has over 1.1 million likes.
Currently, the most-viewed Borg TikTok is a video by user @bellaaalonzo, who shares how she makes a Borg that "actually tastes good." The TikTok has garnered 1.9 million views and more than 1,500 comments.
"As an elder millennial this is genius. It's YOUR drink, no germs, nobody putting anything in, make it as strong or weak as you want. Gen Z has evolved," a top comment on the video reads.
@bellaaalonzo How to make a BORG that actually tastes good (heart attack in a jug) happy snow day! #snowday #darty #borg #celsiuslivefit #utaustin #atx ♬ original sound - uh
Some people are branding the trend a solution to drinking-related problems that have been ongoing at American college parties for decades. People on TikTok are saying that by using these containers, they can protect drinks from getting spiked, hydrate themselves by adding extra water and electrolytes, and help pace the speed at which the alcohol is consumed.
But experts have mixed reactions to this "hangover hack."
Some harm preventionists think the Borg might be an effective harm-reduction strategy
@erin.monroe_ Replying to @yodster42 #borg #genz #millennial #harmreduction #foryou ♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim
"Firstly, you get to decide what goes in (the Borg)," New York-based substance use preventionist Erin Monroe said on TikTok. She added that since the container is lidded, the risk of the drink being spiked is "significantly decreased."
TikTok creator Leigh Beez shares in her video that as a millennial who works with college students on harm reduction, learning about the Borg has made her feel the "most hopeful (she has) felt in a long time."
"I'm seeing great water ratios. I'm seeing great electrolytes added to keep people hydrated," Beez said.
But some health experts believe Borg can do more harm for college students
"Making claims about these as a form of harm reduction for drinking have absolutely zero evidence of any basis," David Jernigan, a professor in the department of health law, policy, and management at Boston University, told Boston 25 News. He also said the claim about keeping students hydrated is "not going to meaningfully reduce the risks of drinking."
Similarly, Dr. Gus Colangelo, an emergency medicine physician at Tufts Medical Center, believes the very nature of Borg is "uncontrolled drinking," according to Boston 25 News.
"If you take a fifth of vodka, which is about 16 shots, and pour that into a half a gallon of water with some electrolytes, it doesn't absolve the fact that you're still drinking 16 shots of vodka," Colangelo said.
Nevertheless, staying hydrated throughout a night of drinking is helpful, according to Samantha Cassetty, a plant-focused nutrition and wellness expert and the co-author of "Sugar Shock."
"Clearly, the best thing you can do to avoid a hangover is to drink responsibly in the first place," the nutritionist told Insider.
If alcohol drinkers want something besides water, Cassetty suggests going for electrolytes with low to no added sugar, or coconut water, as mixing sugar with alcohol can worsen the effects of a hangover.
Though there are many factors that lead to a hangover, staying hydrated is still a "helpful strategy to minimize the effects," Cassetty added.
Binge drinking is defined as "a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration to 0.08 percent or higher," according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. It's one of the most common yet deadliest types of excessive alcohol use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Frequently associated with problems such as unintentional injuries that result in death, violence, and sexually transmitted diseases, studies from the American Addiction Centers show that college students between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to binge drink than their non-college peers. The same source stated that every year 696,000 college students become victims of assault of another student who has been drinking.
So when choosing between a keg, punch bowl or Borg, staying safe needs to be top of mind.