Liquor (/ˈlɪkər/LIK-ər) is an alcoholic drink produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include: spirit, distilled beverage, booze, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. The distillation process concentrates the liquid to increase its alcohol by volume. As liquors contain significantly more alcohol (ethanol) than other alcoholic drinks, they are considered "harder." In North America, the term hard liquor is sometimes used to distinguish distilled alcoholic drinks from non-distilled ones, whereas the term spirits is more commonly used in the UK. Some examples of liquors include vodka, rum, gin, and tequila. Liquors are often aged in barrels, such as for the production of brandy and whiskey, or are infused with flavorings to form flavored liquors, such as absinthe.
While the word liquor ordinarily refers to distilled alcoholic spirits rather than beverages produced by fermentation alone, it can sometimes be used more broadly to refer to any alcoholic beverage (or even non-alcoholic products of distillation or various other liquids). (Full article...)
The corpse reviver family of named cocktails are sometimes drunk as alcoholic hangover tongue-in-cheek "cures", of potency or characteristics to be able to revive even a dead person. Some corpse reviver cocktail recipes have been lost to time, but several variations commonly thought to be tied to the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel remain, especially those espoused by Harry Craddock that originally date back to at least 1930 and are still being made. Many "reviver" variations exist and the word is sometimes used as a generic moniker for any morning-after cocktail, also known as a "hair of the dog". (Full article...)
The earliest known in-print recipe for the Paradise Cocktail was written by Harry Craddock in 1930. This cocktail is prepared using gin, apricot brandy (apricot liqueur), and orange juice in a 2:1:1 ratio, with a splash of lemon juice. (Full article...)
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Freeze distillation is a misnomer, because it is not distillation but rather a process of enriching a solution by partially freezing it and removing frozen material that is poorer in the dissolved material than is the liquid portion left behind. Such enrichment parallels enrichment by true distillation, where the evaporated and re-condensed portion is richer than the liquid portion left behind.
Ethanol and liquid water are completely miscible, but ethanol is practically insoluble in water ice. That means almost pure water ice can be precipitated from a lean ethanol-water mixture by cooling it sufficiently. The precipitation of water ice from the mixture enriches ethanol in the remaining liquid phase. The two phases can then be separated by filtration or decanting. The temperature at which water ice starts to precipitate depends on the ethanol concentration. Consequently, at a given temperature and ethanol concentration, the freezing process will reach an equilibrium at a specific ratio of water ice and enriched ethanol solution with a specific ethanol concentration. The temperatures and mixing ratios of these phase equilibria can be read from the phase diagram of ethanol and water. The maximum enrichment of ethanol in the liquid phase is reached at the eutectic point of ethanol and water, approximately 92.4 weight-% ethanol at -123 °C. (Full article...)
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A glass of whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermentedgrainmash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Whisky is a strictly regulated spirit worldwide with many classes and types. The typical unifying characteristics of the different classes and types are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and aging in wooden barrels. (Full article...)
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The suffering bastard is the name for two different mixed drinks, one being more of a standard cocktail (essentially a gin-and-brandy buck with added Angostura bitters) associated with World War II and the other being more of an exotic drink associated with Tiki bars. As is the case with many cocktails, there are multiple recipe variations and historical origins have been argued and changed over time. Two of the earliest recipe versions have very different ingredients. One from bartender Joe Scialom (1942) calls for brandy and gin, while another from Tiki pioneer Victor J. Bergeron (AKA Trader Vic) primarily uses rum along with "secret ingredients" and is known for being garnished with a cucumber. (Full article...)
A liquor store is a retailbusiness that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence (in the UK and Ireland), off-sale (in parts of Canada and the US), bottle shop, bottle store (South Africa) or, colloquially, bottle-o (in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Canada), liquor store (in Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand) or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used. (Full article...)
This version of the Casino Cocktail first appears in 1909, in The Reminder (3rd edition) by Jacob A. Didier. (Full article...)
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Slivovitz from (clockwise) Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Serbia
Slivovitz is a fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) made from damson plums, often referred to as plum spirit (or plum brandy). Slivovitz is produced in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, both commercially and privately. Primary producers include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. In the Balkans, slivovitz is considered a kind of rakia. In Hungary it is considered a kind of pálinka, but in Romania and Moldova it is considered pălincă, similar to țuică. In Czechia, Slovakia, Galicia, and Carpathian-Ruthenia it is considered Pálenka. UNESCO put it in a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2022 on request of the country of geographic origin Serbia. (Full article...)
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An eau de vie (French for spirit, lit.'water of life') is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavor is typically very light.
In English-speaking countries, eau de vie refers to a distilled beverage made from fruit other than grapes. Similar terms may be local translations or may specify the fruit used to produce it. Although eau de vie is a French term, similar beverages are produced in other countries (e.g., German Schnaps, Greek ούζο, Turkish rakı, Balkan rakia, Romanian țuică, Czech and Slovak pálenka, Hungarian pálinka, and Sri Lankan coconut arrack). In French, however, eau de vie is a generic term for distilled spirits. The proper French term for fruit brandy is eau-de-vie de fruit, while eau-de-vie de vin means wine spirit (brandy), and several further categories of spirits (distilled from grape pomace, lees of wine, beer, cereals, etc.) are also legally defined as eau-de-vie in a similar fashion. Many eaux de vie made from fruits, wine, pomace, or rye have a protected designation of origin within the European Union. (Full article...)
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A glass and bottle of “Jiugui” (酒鬼) brand baijiu
Baijiu (Chinese: 白酒; pinyin: báijiǔ; lit. 'white (clear) liquor'), or shaojiu (烧酒/燒酒), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of qū for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavor profile.
Baijiu is a clear liquid usually distilled from fermented sorghum, although other grains may be used; some southeastern Chinese styles may employ rice and glutinous rice while other Chinese varieties may use wheat, barley, millet, or Job's tears (Chinese: 薏苡; pinyin: yìyǐ) in their mash bills. The qū starter culture used in the production of baijiu is usually made from pulverized wheat grain or steamed rice. (Full article...)
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A bee's knees cocktail made with gin, 1:1 honey syrup, and lemon juice
The cocktail first became popular among the youth of the college town of Córdoba, in the 1980s and—impulsed by an advertising campaign led by Fratelli Branca—its consumption grew in popularity during the following decades to become widespread throughout the country, surpassed only by that of beer and wine. It is now considered a cultural icon of Argentina and is especially associated with its home province of Córdoba, where the drink is most consumed. The popularity of fernet con coca is such that Argentina consumes more than 75% of all fernet produced globally. The cocktail can also be found in some of its bordering countries, such as Uruguay. (Full article...)
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A dark 'n' stormy is a highball cocktail made with dark rum (the "dark") and ginger beer (the "stormy") served over ice and garnished with a slice of lime. Lime juice and simple syrup are also frequently added. This drink is very similar to the Moscow mule except that the Dark 'n' Stormy has dark rum instead of vodka. The original Dark 'n' Stormy was made with Gosling Black Seal rum and Barritt's Ginger Beer, but after the partnership between the two failed and the companies parted ways, Gosling Brothers created its own ginger beer.
Rums are produced in various grades. Light rums are commonly used in cocktails, whereas "golden" and "dark" rums were typically consumed straight or neat, iced ("on the rocks"), or used for cooking, but are now commonly consumed with mixers. Premium rums are made to be consumed either straight or iced. (Full article...)
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Pálinka is a traditional fruit spirit (or fruit brandy) with origins in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary, known under several names. Protected as a geographical indication of the European Union, only fruit spirits mashed, distilled, matured and bottled in Hungary and similar apricot spirits from four provinces of Austria can be called "pálinka", while "Tótpálinka" refers to wheat-derived beverages. Törkölypálinka, a different product in the legal sense, is a similarly protected pomace spirit that is commonly included with pálinka. While pálinka may be made of any locally grown fruit, the most common ones are plums, apricots, apples, pears, and cherries.
The cosmopolitan is a member of the Gimlet family of cocktails. Though often presented far differently, the cosmopolitan also bears a likeness in composition to the kamikaze shooter. (Full article...)
... that Thomas Dickson Archibald, when speaking against increasing fines for violating liquor licenses, said "we need only go a step further and make the violation a hanging matter"?
... that to comply with a law that restricted liquor sales near churches, the Peninsula New York placed its cocktail lounge up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway?
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Caesar made with 2 shots of vodka, a pinch of horseradish, a little spicy with 5 dashes of tabasco, made muddy with about 10 dashes of Worcestershire, all over ice, and filled to the top of a celery salt and spice rimmed glass with Clamato juice.
A Caesar is a cocktail created and consumed primarily in Canada. It typically contains vodka, Clamato, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce, and is served with ice in a large, celery salt-rimmed glass, typically garnished with a stalk of celery and wedge of lime. What distinguishes it from a Bloody Mary is the inclusion of clam broth. The cocktail may also be contrasted with the Michelada, which has similar flavouring ingredients but uses beer instead of vodka. Festivals dedicated to the cocktail are held in many cities, with the largest in Calgary. The first liquor store dedicated to the Caesar opened on July 1 2023 in Calgary, Alberta. (Full article...)
Image 2Map of Europe with individual countries grouped by preferred type of alcoholic drink, based on recorded alcohol consumption per capita (age 15+) (in liters of pure alcohol) in 2016.
Image 3A whiskey sour, served in a coupe glass, is garnished with a spiral of lemon peel and two maraschino cherries on a cocktail pick, along with drops of bitters swirled into the foam (from egg white) atop the drink. (from Cocktail garnish)