It goes without saying that it’s not a good idea to drink out of a bottle without knowing what’s inside.

Yet, Antiques Roadshow expert Andy McConnell took a bold (and pretty terrifying) leap of faith when drinking from a 180-year-old bottle. What was inside wasn’t anything he could have ever expected.

Here’s the trauma-inducing story of what happened to the expert on this BBC show.

Antiques Roadshow is all about appraising various artifacts

Created by BBC Television, Antiques Roadshow follows various collectors as they discover the value of their old artifacts and heirlooms with the help of expert appraisals from specialists.

From historic paintings passed down family lines to vintage items purchased at a thrift store and much more, the show is known for its interesting navigation of history and fine art.

Andy McConnell specializes in antique glass

McConnell, who joined the show in 2005, was their first glass expert. He became a specialized glass journalist and expert after starting at the age of 14 by buying and selling various types of glass.

It’s safe to say he added a unique glisten to the series.

McConnell examined a peculiar 180-year-old bottle in 2016

A man named John found a bottle in his house and brought it to McConnell to have it appraised. The glass expert assessed that the bottle dated back to the 1800s.

What struck McConnell the most was that liquid and other contents were still inside the bottle, which was exceedingly rare.

McConnell’s curiosity got the better of him

Perplexed by the bottle’s mysterious components, McConnell used a syringe to draw the ancient liquid into a glass. First, he stuck his finger in the liquid, and the onlooking audience applauded.

However, things took a turn when the glass expert guessed that the liquid was either port or red wine. Spoiler alert, it was neither.

It would be years before the liquid was revealed to the public

Nothing was revealed during the episode that McConnell drank the liquid. Three years later, British journalist Fiona Bruce reunited McConnell and John to unveil the truth. John mentioned for the first time that he’d first found the bottle buried upside down in his kitchen.

Bruce shared that after McConnell tried the liquid, their team took it to a University lab to identify it.

The result was nauseating

Before Bruce shared the lab results, McConnell laughed and said that trying the mystery liquid was too good of an opportunity to miss.

The results were in: the liquid consisted of urine, a little bit of alcohol, and one human hair along with rusty brass pins dated back to the 1840s.

If that made your stomach turn, you’re not alone.

But that’s sadly not all

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Since they did such a thorough test in the lab, Bruce could share one more special ingredient in the aged bottle’s liquid. She explained that their scans also discovered a crustacean called an Ostracod, also known as a seed shrimp. OK, now we think we’re all officially going to be sick!

These little shrimpies are often found as fossils but can also be found in aquatic habitats, apparently including old urine.

Bruce believes it was a “witches’ bottle”

Rather than being a bottle of aged wine someone just happened to leave behind, Bruce asserted that the bottle’s origin and intention had other-worldly goals. Going back to England and the US, people began creating witches’ bottles to protect themselves against witchcraft.

The idea was that people who had been cursed by a witch would fill the bottle with their hair, nail clippings or some sort of DNA, pins or nails, some wine, and sometimes other ingredients. Then, they’d bury the bottle in an inconspicuous part of the house in the hopes that the pins would pierce the evil presence, and the wine (or, in this case, urine) would drown it.

We don’t really know how the shrimp fits into this concoction, but we’re trying to forget it exists.

Never try this at home

We’re really hoping that this advice is obvious, but please do not try mystery liquid from an antique glass bottle, especially when you have no idea where it came from and what it was used for.

While McConnell is a glass expert, he didn’t know what was in that liquid and is fortunate that he was OK and didn’t have any dire consequences to face. If we ever got that curious, it would probably be best to send that liquid sample straight to the lab without the terrifying taste test.

Last Updated on October 17, 2024 by Sarah Kester