Synthehol: Star Trek's Sci-Fi Take on Alcohol, Explained (2024)

The original Star Trek series was an anomaly on television in the late 1960s, both for its inclusivity and the way it excluded a common vice of the day. By the time the franchise returned for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry's fictional view of humanity continued to evolve and improve, often in ways he himself couldn't. Perhaps this is why, starting with The Next Generation, the characters no longer drank alcohol but instead drank something called synthehol. What exactly is this sci-fi booze and how it works are ill-defined, at best.

Conceptually, synthehol is easy to understand. Rather than drinking real alcohol, Starfleet officers can drink this new substance which balances the pleasurable effects of getting a buzz on. However, in case of the odd all-hands Red Alert, synthehol does not have the deleterious effects real alcohol has. In the 1960s, the single biggest advertisers at the time were tobacco companies. The regulation of advertising the addictive, cancer-causing vice was still in its infancy. Despite this (and being a smoker himself), Gene Roddenberry forbade the use of tobacco among Starfleet officers. By virtue of running for 15 years longer than Star Trek: The Original Series, the second-wave of Star Trek featured significantly more time spent drinking among the crew. However, thanks to synthehol, the heroes of The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager never had to worry about being too hammered for duty.

Which Star Trek Captains Capture the Spirit of Jim Kirk and William Shatner?

Star Trek: TOS Featured Drinking, but Not as Much as Audiences Expect

In the mid-20th century, cultural values in the United States were quite different than even in the late 1980s when Star Trek came back to TV. In the first, failed pilot for Star Trek, one of the first scenes features Captain Pike and Dr. Boyce sharing martinis in the former's quarters. Boyce offers the drink saying the captain can tell his "bartender" things he might keep from the ship's Chief Medical Officer.

Yet, once Captain Kirk took command, the characters on the USS Enterprise shared drinks less often than most characters on TV, then or in modern times. Still, there was plenty of drinking involved. The famous Season 2 episode of The Original Series, "The Trouble with Tribbles," features drinking and a good, old-fashioned bar fight against Starfleet and Klingons. However, the crew didn't get wasted and get into fights with each other. Usually, conflict between the crew could be attributed to some kind of space-sickness or alien impersonator.

Just as they didn't smoke, Starfleet officers never really got publicly drunk in the The Original Series era. After the tumultuous production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Roddenberry arguably tried to create the world he wished he worked on in The Next Generation. This is possibly why he insisted on "The Roddenberry Box," the edict that Starfleet officers in the 24th Century moved beyond petty conflicts and flaws. The Next Generation's heroes didn't do drugs, break the law nor would they get too drunk to perform their duties in a pinch. Thus, synthehol was created.

The Star Wars Franchise Is In Its 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Era

How Synthehol Works in the Star Trek Universe from The Next Generation Onward

While synthehol is a creation of The Next Generation development process, it's never been explicitly stated it didn't exist in the 23rd Century. In fact, The Next Generation's crew didn't really commiserate over drinks until Season 2, when Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan joined the cast. She campaigned for the role, having loved The Original Series as a kid. This coincided with the addition of a new set for Season 2, which became Ten Forward, the crew lounge on the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D.

There everyone from the crew on the lower decks to Captain Picard himself would drown their sorrows and get advice from Guinan. They just wouldn't get hopelessly wasted. Of course, while synthehol was de rigueur for Starfleet vessels, the real stuff wasn't contraband. At least, beyond the illegal drinks like Romulan Ale. Visitors to the Enterprise-D -- including The Original Series veteran Montgomery Scott -- were able to get their hands on the "real" stuff from time-to-time. He was able to tell the difference between synthetic Scotch and the real thing from taste alone. Similarly, when Picard went to visit his brother at the family vineyard, Robert said snythehol had ruined his taste for wine.

Danilo Odell, the descendant of 22nd-Century Irish space explorers, was also able to get the ship replicator to make him real alcohol, but he wasn't a Starfleet officer. On both Deep Space Nine and Voyager, the synthehol and alcohol debate was live and well. Quark kept a stock of the real stuff at his bar, though his primarily Starfleet clientele made him "the synthehol king." Also, Commander Chakotay hid several bottles of the (presumably fermented) Antarian cider in the cargo bay of the ship. There was real alcohol around, Starfleet officers just usually didn't drink it.

This Star Trek Show Helps Highlight Design Legends

Why Star Trek Bothered With Synthehol In Its Stories

While much of the creation of the 24th Century has been covered in detail, from books to the William Shatner-directed documentary Chaos on the Bridge, the creation of synthehol is mostly a mystery. In fact, all that's really said about it comes from the issue of Star Trek: Communicator dedicated to the end of Deep Space Nine. Producers said that Gene Roddenberry decided synthehol was invented by the Ferengi, yet this is never explicitly stated in canon.

Interestingly, a 2006 Live Science article reveals a psychopharmacologist named David Nutt wrote a paper suggesting the booze substitute could be created with today's technology. Ultimately, synthehol exists to counter an incongruity with Starfleet and real-world militaries. Drinking in uniform or while on duty is a strict no-go, and on a starship, officers are always on duty.

Thus, if everyone is getting it in at Ten Forward when the Romulans or the Borg attack, no crewmember will be too impaired to do their job. In modern series, specifically Star Trek: Picard and Lower Decks, synthehol is only mentioned when characters are confirming the booze in question is real. The balance of how synthehol emulates the euphoric effects of drinking with the ability to "shake off" impairment is one of those sci-fi mysteries best left vaguer than not.