Earlier this year, Connecticut police officers apprehended a 50-year-old woman stopped at an intersection in New Canaan. She was sitting behind the wheel of the car with her eyes closed, which led a passerby to call and report the odd scene.

When officers arrived, they began speaking with the woman and noticed her speech was slurred and she couldn't answer basic questions, according to the Connecticut Post. Her breath smelled like vanilla, and per the police report, several bottles of vanilla extract were located in her car.

After failing to pass a sobriety test, the woman was taken into custody; she then refused to take a blood alcohol test and was held on $250 bond.

If you're scratching your head, allow me to teach you some science, which I myself did not know until today: Vanilla extract must contain 35 percent alcohol, per the Food and Drug Administration's guidelines, making it 70 proof. That's the same proof as Captain Morgan and slightly less than Jameson and Smirnoff.

McCormick's, a popular brand of vanilla extract, has 41 percent alcohol, or 82 proof. The alcohol usually burns off in the cooking process, but when you ingest it directly, the effects are similar to those of liquor. It's sometimes drunk like cough syrup due to its accessibility, especially among teenagers, a drug counselor told The Wayne Times. As for the Connecticut woman, she was released on a promise to return to court, NBC reports.