Remembering the Sidewalk Slammer, Caffeinated Chaos in a 40-Ounce Bottle

In early 2023, videos of college students wielding plastic jugs filled with vodka, water, and liquid flavoring began surfacing on various social media platforms. These concoctions, known as BORGs or “Black Out Rage Gallons,” caused quite a stir online, inciting both admiration and concern. Conceptually, BORGs are nothing new, despite what those enjoying them and sharing them online might feel.

For generations, young drinkers have taken whatever cheap booze they can get their hands on and found ways to make it more palatable. Most of the time, these ragtag cocktails don’t gain notoriety outside of the small social circles in which they were born. But for every million batches of forgettable jungle juice mixed up across the nation there comes a diabolical drink that develops some staying power. While Gen Z may have blessed us with the BORG, the youths of the early 2010s were turning heads and stomachs with the Sidewalk Slammer.

What Is a Sidewalk Slammer?

A Sidewalk Slammer is an equal parts blend of malt liquor and caffeinated malt beverage (like Sparks or Four Loko pre-formula change). The classic preparation calls for drinking roughly half a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor and then filling it back up with a can of the aforementioned caffeinated beverage. The result? A one-way ticket to inebriation and the hangover of a lifetime.

Since both Sparks and Four Loko had been stripped of their caffeine by 2011, it’s impossible to recreate the original Sidewalk Slammers of the late aughts, but the more modern blend still packs a serious punch. Four Loko’s alcohol content varies by state and flavor, but it typically hovers in the 8- to 14-percent-ABV range. If we consider that most malt liquors fall in the 6- to 8-percent-ABV range, a Sidewalk Slammer will clock in anywhere between 7 and 11 percent ABV. On top of that, the drink’s total volume can reach upwards of 60 fluid ounces — the rough equivalent to five standard cans of beer.

Who Invented the Sidewalk Slammer?

Like most “cocktails” of this ilk, the origins of the Sidewalk Slammer are murky at best. The earliest mention of the drink on the internet is a January 2008 post on Urban Dictionary that defines it as “When you drink half of a 40 and pour a Sparks into the 40 (Miller High Life is preferred) for optimal flavor. Taste great, gives good buzz. Cheap!” (sic). A later definition specifically calls for either Mickey’s or Olde English malt liquor and asserts that the drink originated in the Bay Area. Given that there’s no documented evidence to substantiate this claim, it’s likely just hearsay.

Other Urban Dictionary users have since contributed their own definitions of the Sidewalk Slammer, and although they vary in brand preferences, the general recipe remains consistent.

While its origins are unclear, several college-centric blogs and publications reported on the drink throughout the 2010s and early 2020s, citing it as a popular budget-friendly beverage among students and occasionally singing the praises of its flavor. One writer even claims that the concoction tastes “like a delicious summer shandy” when made with Four Loko’s lemonade-flavored expression.

Just like its history, the roots of the “Sidewalk Slammer” moniker remain a mystery as well. There’s a pro wrestling maneuver that was popularized in the mid-90s called “the Sidewalk Slam,” but how that relates to this concoction isn’t immediately clear. It’s just as likely that “Sidewalk Slammer” is a nod to the drink’s potency. If that’s the case, the name could simply be a play on the Alabama Slammer, a boozy, sugary disco-era drink containing Southern Comfort, Amaretto, sloe gin, and orange juice. Then again, if we take the name at pure face value, it could be an allusion to the fact that the drink can be enjoyed (slammed) on the go (a sidewalk).

Sugar, Booze, and a Little Novelty

Despite the unknowns surrounding the genesis of the Sidewalk Slammer, one thing’s for sure: The drink has maintained a cult following over the years. Social media platform TikTok is riddled with videos of people either drinking or explaining the Sidewalk Slammer, with some clips posted as recently as October 2024. There’s a Reddit thread in which people have shared their favorite Four Loko flavors to use in Sidewalk Slammers, and beer review site Untappd.com even has a page dedicated to the concoction.

Although other lethal, large-format drinks have taken over college campuses in recent years, it seems that the Sidewalk Slammer is here to stay as long as 40s and Four Lokos stay cheap and retain their respective novelty factors. Very few things in this world are guaranteed, but for now, the Sidewalk Slammer — quite literally — rages on.

*Image retrieved from Inti St. Clair via stock.adobe.com

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