Had a friend when we were young'uns, whose Dad made a concoction that the kids took every day in the wintertime. None were ever sick with a cold. Not sure if it's not something thing that may well be on the market now, under the label of 'Fireball'; never tasted that stuff.
He simply took a 5th of whiskey, drank a bit out of the bottle, then dumped in a whole bag of 'red hots' candy. It will dissolve quickly. They would get a teaspoonful every morning.
I don't think Danny ever came to school drunk.
Well, not until our senior year anyway. Then we all did, sometimes. Without the cold medicine being taken.