Published 11:54 17 Jun 2024 GMT+1
Grim moment Antiques Roadshow expert drinks from 180-year-old bottle before finding out what was inside
Expert Andy McConnell believed he was drinking a vintage port
Brenna Cooper


An Antiques Roadshow expert tasted a mysterious liquid from a 180-year-old bottle before discovering what it was.
It seems like a pretty normal rule to never drink from a bottle without first knowing what the liquid is.
However this doesn't seem to apply to the experts on BBC One's Antiques Roadshow, who spend their time marvelling at the weird and wonderful artefacts found in the long-forgotten corners of people's attics.
Now you may be wondering what antique could possibly require you to drink it? Well I present to you, Andy McConnell drinking from a 180-year-old port bottle in 2016.
The bottle was brought in for inspection by a man named John, who had found it in his house.
Keen to know more about the bottle, he brought it to Andy for inspection - who was delighted by the find.
Andy explained that the bottle was dated to the 1800s, adding that it was super rare to find a bottle with its contents 'still inside'.
Now most of might shudder at the thought of drinking 180-year-old liquid, however Andy was very quick to use a syringe to extract some of the contents.
"It's very brown," Andy said as he examined the liquid in a glass.
He then dipped his finger in the liquid while the crowd gathered around laughed nervously, before guessing the drink was either port or red wine.

Andy McConnell drank from a 180-year-old port bottle in 2016. (BBC)
"I think it's port... port or red wine... or it's full of rusty old nails and that's rust," he added.
Unfortunately for Andy, Fiona Bruce would later reveal the substance was... urine.
That's right, somebody drank urine that was nearly 200 years old on Antiques Roadshow.
Fiona brought Andy and John back together three years on from the original video, where John revealed he'd discovered the bottle buried upside down in the threshold of his kitchen.
"It was too good of an opportunity to miss," Andy declared to Fiona, who then revealed the bottle had been sent off to Loughborough University for further testing.

Andy was red-faced after learning he'd drank urine. (BBC)
"Now, you thought it might have been port or wine," Fiona began, before trailing off.
"That would've been nice... inside were these brass pins, all of these dating from the late 1840s, and the liquid - urine, a tiny bit of alcohol and one human hair.
"And a mysterious little creature called an ostracod, which is like a little cockle."
"Yummy," Andy replied.
Fiona then went on to explain that it was a 'witches bottle' created as a talisman to protect against 'witchcraft, against curses, against misfortune coming into the home'.
Let this be a lesson to never drink ominous looking bottles you find buried into the structure of your house.
Featured Image Credit: BBC
Slightly OT