A Comprehensive Alcoholic Drinks List
Beer
Topping my alcoholic drinks list is none other than beer; why? Because I simply love it! Since soccer world cup is just round the corner, beer couldn't be lagging much behind. In fact, when the word beer is alone without the word 'belly' in its proximity, then it does makes one merry and woozy in all accounts. Calories in beer isn't a myth folks, therefore watch out those mugs and mugs of beer you might have while watching your favorite team sweat out on the grounds. Accredited as the oldest and the third most consumed drink of the world, beer is brewed up from cereal grains like malted barley, rice, wheat and maize. As any good thing, beer too has many varieties, depending on the local traditions which are drank across the world ardently. Skipping the short history of beer, let's just find out how many varieties of beer are there.
Types of Beer
Ale
Bitter
Stout
Lager
Wheat
Lambic
Whisky
Literally meaning 'water of life' in Gaelic, whisky is a pungently potent beverage. The original whisky was not for everybody, its raw brutal taste was enough to make the drunks in the streets of England squirm with distaste. Whisky became refined in taste only because of a serendipitous discovery when a cellar owner stumbled upon an old, forgotten bottle of whisky. To his delight, this whisky didn't 'go bad' but was much more easy on the palate. Hence, the modern whisky came into being. The origins of whisky is intertwined with the history of the distillation process, but not diving into that, let's see how is whisky made and particularly, what are the whiskey types. Whisky is made from fermenting grain mash, different varieties of whiskeys depend upon the type of grain used in the making. The grains commonly used in making whiskey is barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat and maize.
Types of Whisky
Scotch
Irish whisky
Canadian
Rye
Bourbon
Malt Whisky
Grain Whisky
Vatted Malt Whisky
Pure Pot Still Whisky
Blended Whisky
Tennessee Whisky
German Whisky
Irish Whisky
Japanese Whisky
Indian Whisky
Finnish Whisky
Canadian Whisky
Gin
Now coming to one of the most revered spirits - gin, it is obtained from juniper berries. Mostly used in cocktails along with vermouth (reference to Martini cocktails), gin is considered to have greased the wheels of the British Empire. If vodka enunciates 'From Russia With Love', then gin isn't far behind vocalizing the punch of alcohol with the dry and bumbling English-hood. The word gin is a short form of 'Genver' (a lowland cousin of gin), which is the Dutch word for juniper. Interestingly, the origins of gin and the phrase 'dutch courage' lies in the same source, the Dutch battle of Independence in the year 1580. In this battle against the Spaniards, the British battalions found bottles of gin to peak up their diminishing bravery, and the rest is history. Gin is broadly categorized in two: distilled gin and compound gin.
Types of Gin
London Dry Gin
Plymouth Gin
Korngenever
Slovenská Borovička
Kraški Brinjevec
Wine
From the tendrils of vine to the dusty, cold wine cellars in a basement, the wine journeys a long way in getting the fine taste which makes it an exquisite treat. Just like drinking, wine making too has a varied history, draped in both facts and conjecture. Instead of questing for the origins of wine, we rather focus on the different types of wines and how they come to be so appeasing to the palate which baffles both novices and connoisseurs likewise. One of the oldest alcohols in the world, wine is shrouded with biblical ancestry. To serve our purpose of understanding wine and its making better, let us learn what kind of grapes are used in preparing wine. There are basically two families of grapes which are used for this: Vitis vinifera and Vitis labrusca; and over 50, 000 types of grape varieties can be categorized in them. As we all very well know, wine is made by fermenting juice of hand-picked grapes and also, we have seen different wine types distinguishing them in terms of color. But basically wine can be classed into four different categories.
Natural Still Wines: Also known as table wine or light wine, it has an alcoholic content of less than 14% amongst the wine category. Red wine is fermented by using even the skin of the grapes, while white wine is derived from white or green grapes. When red grapes are partly fermented with skin, rosé wine or blush wine is obtained. Red wine is made from grape varieties like cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, zinfandel, sangiovese, etc. Similarly, colorlessness of white wine is attributed to grape varieties like chardonnay, semillon, sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio. Read more on different types of red wine.
Types of Table or Natural Still Wine
Apéritif
Vermouth
Dubonnet
Red Table Wine
White Table Wine
Rosè and Blush Wines
Dessert Wines
Social Wines
Meads
Sparkling Wines: Sparkling wines are those bubbling wines which contain around 12% of alcohol content and gives loads of froth upon opening the bottle. One famous example of a sparkling wine is champagne. Sparkling wine is made by undergoing two phases of fermentation, one with the ordinary kind of fermentation and the other fermentation is done by adding a tinge of sugar and yeast to the closed lidded bottle of wine. Read more on sparkling wine vs champagne.
Types of Sparkling Wines
Sparkling White Wines
Sparkling Pink Wines
Sparkling Red Wines
Fortified Wines: The main purpose of making fortified wine was to preserve it. The process of fortifying is done by mixing a small portion of a distilled beverage to a bottle of wine, resulting in dead yeasts and sweetened flavor. During the 16th and 17th century, wines were preserved through fortifying in long voyages of the ships and thus, these fortified wines were able to quench the ever thirsty sailors. Some popular fortified wines are port, sherry, madeira, marsala, and vermouth, etc.
Aromatic Wines: Sweet aroma of these wines are derived by adding scented herbs and spices to the fortified wines.
Brandy
Another contender for the top slot in alcoholic drinks list is brandy. Originally known as burnt wine, brandy is the product of distilled wine made from fermented fruit. Arabic lores claim the rootage of brandy in the alchemists brews made in the heartland of Arabia in the 7th and 8th century. Needless to say, it didn't take much time for this fruity spirit to spread its roots to other parts of the world too. Brandy is considerably divided into three groupings based on the fruit used in its making. Grape brandy is made from grape juice, which is aged in the wooden casks. Wooden casks are used to mellow down the pungent taste of grape brandy, also flavors and aromas are added to increase its zest. Pomace brandy is another kind of brandy, which is extracted from pressed skin, stem and pulp of grapes. This kind of brandy is known for its raw taste which is acquired due to minimal aging process. The third kind of brandy is fruit brandy which is derived by distilling fruit wines other than grape wines.
Types of Grape Brandy
American Grape Brandy
Cognac
Armagnac
Brandy De Jerez
Pisco
South African Grape Brandy
Types of Fruit Brandy
Applejack
Buchu Brandy
Calvados
Damassine
Coconut Brandy
Eau-de-vie
German Schnaps
Kirschwasser
Kukumakranka Brandy
Palinka
Poire Williams (Williamine)
Rakia
Slivovice
Slivovitz
Šlivka
Šljivovica
Tuica
Types of Pomace Brandy
Italian Grappa
French Marc
Portuguese Aguardente Bagaceira
Serbian Komovica
Bulgarian Grozdova
Georgian Chacha
Hungarian Törkölypálinka
Cretan Tsikoudia
Cypriot Zivania
Spanish Orujo
Macedonian Komova
Vodka
Next in the line of alcoholic drinks list is vodka. No drinker would ever deny having tasted the bitterness of vodka. Have you ever wondered why vodka has been put on a pedestal? Its clear transparent appearance, similar to water was the reason for it to be named vodka, which is derived from the Russian word 'voda', meaning water. Vodka has a Scandinavian past, with Western Russia, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus, all claiming on its origin. Its popularity surged in the European countries because of one very important fact; it has a very high alcoholic content, which is why it does not tend to freeze even in chilling winters. For all those vodka lovers, this obscure fact would seem really interesting to know: the credit for making people across the world helplessly inebriated goes to the Russian soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars and hence, vodka soon came to be known as the prerogative of Russia. Vodka is made from sorghum, rye, corn, molasses, potatoes, wheat, etc. Summing up all about the vodka, there are different brands of vodka which come under the below mentioned types of vodka.
Types of Vodka
Wheat Vodka
Potato Vodka
Rye Vodka
Grains Vodka
Grape Vodka
Flavored Vodka
Liqueur
After vodka, we come to liqueurs in this alcoholic drinks list which is a sweet flavored alocohol seasoned with herbs, fruits, nuts, spices, flowers, creams, etc. A word in Latin, 'liquifacere', meaning 'to liquefy or dissolve' is said to be the origin of the liqueur. Some people believe liqueur and cordial are one and the same thing but that's not the case, cordials are especially concocted with fruit juices and used for medicinal purposes. Liqueur, on the other hand, use spirits like rum, whisky and brandy in the form of base. In pursuit of the elixir of life and more importantly, gold, the alchemists were able to create many other equally significant things such as liqueur. It is to the alchemists of the dark ages that the credit for brewing up this alcoholic drink goes to. Even though, the intellectuals of alchemy weren't able to cure mortality, but they sure did manage to make life a little more worth living by inventing elixir for pleasure, liqueur.
Types of Liqueur
Chocolate Liqueur
Coffee Liqueur
Crème Liqueur
Fruit Liqueur
Berry Liqueur
Flower Liqueur
Herbal Liqueur
Tequila
Now if you are still sober enough to finish this list of alcoholic drinks, then we have come to our second last stop, that is tequila. This heady strong drink gulping down the throat would give you an instant rush, making you soused in intoxication. So next time you are ready to get insolently drunk, some of these nuggets of knowledge regarding tequila may sober you up. Tequila was first made in the city of Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico. It is derived from the agave plant which is ingeniously grown in the Mexico. Therefore, Mexico wasted no time in declaring it as its national property.
Types of Tequila
Silver or Blanco-ged Tequila
Reposado
Anejo
Gold
Rum
Last but not least in this alcoholic drinks list is rum. Rum is produced by distilling sugarcane by-products like molasses and sugarcane juice. From India, China to West Indies, the origins of rum can be traced back to many countries. However, it's the naval voyagers and pirates who are known to have pioneered the way for rum binging. When talking about rum, it would be unacceptable to not mention the Bicardi revolution which rocked the world with just few ice cubes in the glass and of course, their own version of rum. When Cuba was under the clutches of USA, many Americans visited its shores, only to become slaves to rum which was synonymous to Bicardi in that country. From there on, rum and rum mixed drinks became eternalized. More on frozen rum drinks.
Types of Rum
Light Rum
Gold Rum
Spiced Rum
Dark Rum
Flavored Rum
Overproof Rum
Premium Rum
That's the end of the list containing different types of alcoholic drinks. So, after reading about all these drinks in my alcoholic drinks list, if some memories get triggered in your mind and you suddenly feel an urge to knock one back, and indulge in an orgy of drinking, nobody's stopping you. But just remember: "Don't drink and drive, you might hit a bump and spill your drink."
