What Does Rick Usually Drink In Rick And Morty?

Hard boozing has always had an iconic, borderline magical place in the lives of popular culture cool guys, with universally beloved characters bringing their specific brands of gutrot to the cinematic table. Jack Sparrow swills rum, the Dude sips White Russians, and Rick Sanchez drinks... well, whatever's available. Season 2 of Rick & Morty saw him downing half a beaker of genetic monstrosity antifreeze. He's not picky.

But the guy is on the road a lot, and you can't always count on a place to have vials of toxic chemicals laying around for guests to enjoy. That's why the Rick of Dimension C-137 always carries his trusty flask — it's seen in almost every episode, filling in the gap between character affectation and chemical pacifier for the smartest man in the universe. For years now, fans have wondered about the contents of the super scientist's accoutrement, speculating that Sanchez has been downing everything from rocket fuel to intelligence-boosting Megaseed juice to a concoction that keeps him from turning back into Morty.

Finally, we may have a definitive answer, a way to point to Rick and say "I'll have what he's having." Thanks to a Reddit AMA with series co-creator Dan Harmon, we now know that Rick's flask is filled with something more wonderful, more magical, than science fiction nerds could ever dream of.

"I tend to assume vodka," showrunner Dan Harmon told a curious fan when asked what Rick has been drinking all this time. That's right — the multiverse's greatest mind is a straight vodka man. Sometimes the simplest answers make the most sense.

Never one not to overthink a character's flaws, Harmon continued, "I know it seems unlikely that Rick wouldn't use sci-fi tech to somehow augment whatever he drinks but I think in rick's mind part of the 'addiction' to the flask of good old fashioned booze is that it anchors his identity, and I think he knows that if he augmented the booze or the flask, then why not just whip up a very rudimentary nanobiotic alcohol dispenser in his body or inject himself with a plasma component that just amounts to always having a certain blood alcohol level, and I think the reason he doesn't do that is because he's a little afraid he'll lose sight of who he is."

If that feels like an uncomfortably specific rationalization for the behavior of a fictional character, there's an argument to be made that you're on to something. In 2014, Harmon told Vice that his podcast/live show Harmontown was his opportunity to put a spotlight on himself, a self-described "fat guy drinking vodka until he blacks out."