Antiques Roadshow expert drinks urine live on air – thinking it was vintage port

Antiques Roadshow expert is left stunned after discovering what he thought was 150-year-old port when he tasted it was actually urine and brass pins

  • Andy McConnell was handed mysterious bottle during an episode in Cornwall 
  • After tasting liquid he concluded that it was probably vintage port or red wine
  • But several years later was shocked to find out what bottle actually contained 

An Antiques Roadshow tasted what he thought was a 150-year-old bottle of port – only to discover it was actually full of urine, several brass pins and one human hair.

Glass expert Andy McConnell was handed the mysterious bottle during an episode in Trelissick, Cornwall, after a local found it buried in the threshold of their house.

The excited specialist used a syringe to extract the contents and move it into a glass while remarking ‘it’s very brown’. He then used a finger to taste some.

Glass expert Andy McConnell was handed the mysterious bottle during an episode in Trelissick, Cornwall, after a local found it buried in the threshold of their house. He used a syringe to taste some 

After grimacing, the expert told the audience: ‘I think it’s port – port or red wine… or it’s full of rusty old nails and that’s rust!’

Following the recording in 2016, scientists at Loughborough University used an x-ray to check the contents.

Host Fiona Bruce then revealed the results of their survey during a recent show. 

She said: ‘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.’

Later, during an episode this year, Fiona Bruce revealed what the bottle actually contained

Later, during an episode this year, Fiona Bruce revealed what the bottle actually contained 

Bruce said: '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'

Bruce said: ‘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’

Bruce then revealed the object was actually a witches’ bottle – which had been buried by the front door of the house to guard against evil spirits.

Adding that it also contained a type of cockle called and ostracod, she continued: ‘So what this was not a bottle of port or wine but a witches’ bottle.

‘So buried in the threshold of the house as a talisman against witchcraft, against curses, against misfortune coming into the home. So you glad you tried it?’

Andy McConnell was unrepentant and insisted: ‘It was too much of a good opportunity to miss!’

Antiques Roadshow is broadcast on Sundays at 8pm on BBC One. 

The host revealed the object was actually a witches' bottle - which had been buried by the front door of the house to guard against evil spirits

The host revealed the object was actually a witches’ bottle – which had been buried by the front door of the house to guard against evil spirits

But Andy McConnell was unrepentant and insisted: 'It was too much of a good opportunity to miss!'

But Andy McConnell was unrepentant and insisted: ‘It was too much of a good opportunity to miss!’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk