Offworld Beverages

Have you ever noticed how one of the big "advances" of alien civilizations in sci-fi is powerful beverages that "really do it to you"? Romulan ale, Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters, etc.? I mean, we on earth already have readily available liquid concoctions that can make you blind, that can cause you to halucinate, or that can knock you unconscious instantly. Just how much room is there for new avenues of perfection in chemically altered states of mind?