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When I was a child, my grandfather, a"h, would specifically use whiskey (usually Slivovitz) for Havdallah. Then he would spill some of it onto a plate and douse the candle into the whiskey and watch the dancing flames burn off the alcohol.
I've seen a few people doing this same things since then. Is this a written minhag? Or is this nothing more than just "fun" for kids (and, perhaps, adults, too?)
The idea isn't to 'burn the alcohol', but to extinguish the flame in the wine (or whatever was used for the kos of Havdala).
גם נוהגין לשפוך על השלחן מן יין הנשאר בכוס אחר שתיית המבדיל ומכבין בו הנר כדי שיהא נראה לכל שלא הודלק נר זה אלא למצוה לנר של הבדלה לברך עליו (שו״ע הרב, רצו:ה בשם הלבוש)
We extinguish the candle in the spilt wine (one should allow the wine to overflow when pouring the Kos, as a siman bracha), to show that the candle was lit specifically for the mitzvah.
