Hmm, copper not exactly healthy is it...?

Err I hate to tell you this ( Assuming you live in the UK ) but 90% of plumbing/water delivery within your house is copper pipes.
Plastic pipes is becoming more popular but plastic isn't brilliant either. What would be perfect is glass... that's near on impossible and would be horribly expensive.

Nope, not UK; but you got a point there.

Copper's fine to use. Copper saucepans are very expensive and generally regarded as the best as they are better at conducting heat than cheap ones.

Well, after doing some reading on the topic, I'm not so sure it's exactly a health booster .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_toxicity

The copper pipes is the reason why you should not use warm water from the tap for food or drinking. Warm water will dissolve copper ions more effective than cold water. If you use cold water, it has probably not been in contact with the pipes long enough to become a hazard.

The booze going into it will probably harm you more. If it was mine, it wouldn't be in contact with the copper for very bloody long anyways.

l2chemistry. Ethanol will reduce copper oxide to...elemental copper. It will not dissolve copper in any way. Pour vodka = no problem.

Nice gift for an alcoholic

Yup, there is a correlation between copper and Alzheimer's disease, amongst other things. Also, in joining the bases on, I wonder if t his was soldered or brased as these methods, along with the fluxes they use aren't exactly safe. At the very least, the copper will oxidize and look pretty nasty in a fairly short time.