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 English
loanword "schnapps" is derived from the colloquial German word Schnaps[ʃnaps]ⓘ (plural: Schnäpse), which is used in reference to
spirit drinks.
The word Schnaps stems from
Low German and is related to the German term "schnappen", meaning "snap", which refers to the spirit usually being consumed in a quick slug from a small glass (i.e., a
shot glass). (Full article...)
The Bronfman family is a Canadian family, known for its extensive business holdings. It owes its initial fame to
Samuel Bronfman (1889-1971), the most influential
Canadian Jew of the mid-20th century, who made a fortune in the alcoholic
distilled beverage business during American
prohibition, including the sale of liquor through organized crime, through founding the
Seagram Company, and who later became president of the
Canadian Jewish Congress (1939-62).
Three bottles of eau de vie. The flavors are framboise (raspberry),
zinfandel grape, and cherry. 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...)
Image 2
Rakija, rakia, rachiu, rakı or rakiya (/ˈrɑːkiə,ˈræ-,rəˈkiːə/), is the collective term for fruit spirits (or
fruit brandy) popular in the
Balkans. The alcohol content of rakia is normally 40%
ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger (typically 50–80%). (Full article...)
Image 3
A Moscow mule is a
cocktail made with
vodka,
ginger beer and
lime juice, garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, and a sprig of mint. The drink, being a type of
buck, is sometimes called vodka buck. It is popularly served in a copper mug, which takes on the cold temperature of the liquid.
Some public health advisories recommend copper mugs with a protective coating (such as stainless steel) on the inside and the lip, to reduce the risk of
copper toxicity. (Full article...)
Image 4
Stinger cocktail served over ice in a rocks glass
A stinger is a duo
cocktail made by adding
crème de menthe to
brandy (although recipes vary). The cocktail's origins can be traced to the United States in the 1890s, and the beverage remained widely popular in America until the 1970s. It was seen as a drink of the
upper class, and has had a somewhat wide cultural impact. (Full article...)
A bottle of "O.P. Anderson", a Swedish akvavit. Akvavit or aquavit (/ˈɑːkwəviːt,-və-/; also akevitt in
Norwegian; aquavit in
English) is a distilled
spirit that is principally produced in
Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century. Akvavit is distilled from grain or potatoes and is flavoured with a variety of herbs. It is also popular in Northern Germany.
Akvavit gets its distinctive flavour from
spices and
herbs, and the dominant flavour must (according to the
European Union) come from a distillate of
caraway and/or
dill seed. It typically contains 40%
alcohol by volume, or 80
proof (U.S.). The EU has established a minimum of 37.5% ABV for akvavit to be named as such. (Full article...)
Image 8
The Rusty nail
A rusty nail is a
cocktail made by mixing
Scotch whisky with
Drambuie in a 1:1 to 2:1 ratio. A rusty nail is most commonly served
on the rocks in an
old-fashioned glass (a.k.a. a rocks glass), although it can also be served "
up" in a
stemmed glass. Its origin goes back to the 1937 British Industries Fair, but it did not become popular until the 1950s endorsement by New York's
Club 21 and its recognition by popular culture as the go-to cocktail of the
Rat Pack a decade later. (Full article...)
Cashew apples after plucking in
Chorão,
Goa. Feni (
Portuguese: fénnim, often misspelt as fenno or fenny) is a spiritous
liquor type originating in
Goa,
India. The two most popular types of feni are
cashew feni and
coconut feni. Depending on the ingredients; however, other varieties and newer blends are also sold by distilleries. The small-batch distillation of feni has a fundamental effect on its final character, which still retains some of the delicate aromatics, congeners, and flavour elements of the juice from which it is produced.
The word "feni" is derived from the
Sanskrit word फेनphena, in
Konkaniफेणfenn (
froth); thought to come from the bubbles that form when the liquor is shaken inside a bottle or poured into a glass. It is generally accepted that coconut feni was produced before it, and feni followed the same process until
distillation was introduced by Europeans. Coconut palms are abundant along the western coastline of the
Konkan region of India, whereas the cashew tree was an
exotic species of crops, imported by the
Portuguese in Goa and Bombay, from what was
colonial Brazil in
south America. There is ambiguity about when and who first produced a
fermented beverage of
cashew fruits, to make the
distilled spirit of feni. (Full article...)
Image 12
French 75 is a
cocktail made from
gin,
champagne, lemon juice, and sugar. It is also called a 75 Cocktail, or in French simply a Soixante Quinze (Seventy Five).
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...)
In
Crete, tsikoudia is a
pomace brandy that is sometimes called rakı. It is used to make rakomelo, which is flavoured with honey and
cinnamon. Rakomelo is served warm during winter months. Cretan raki does not contain anise, so it is not to be confused with the Turkish version. (Full article...)
The cocktail originated in the early 20th century in Cuba, after the country won independence in the
Spanish–American War. It subsequently became popular across Cuba, the United States, and other countries. Its simple recipe and inexpensive, ubiquitous ingredients have made it one of the world's most-popular alcoholic drinks. Drink critics often consider the drink mediocre, but it has been noted for its historical significance. (Full article...)
Image 17
The Martinez is a classic cocktail that is widely regarded as the direct precursor to the
Martini. It serves as the basis for many modern cocktails, and several different versions of the original exist. These are generally distinguished by the accompaniment of either
Maraschino or
Curacao, as well as differences in gin or bitters. (Full article...)
Image 18
A glass of apricot pálinka
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.
A gin fizz is the best-known cocktail in the fizz family. A gin fizz contains gin, lemon juice, and sugar, which are shaken with ice, poured into a tumbler and topped with carbonated water. The drink is similar to a
Tom Collins, with a possible distinction being a Tom Collins historically used "
Old Tom gin" (a slightly sweeter precursor to
London Dry Gin), whereas the kind of gin historically used in a gin fizz is unknown.
The cocktail, named for the crust of sugar on the rim, was invented by Joseph Santini, a bartender in New Orleans at his bar, Jewel of the South. (Full article...)
Image 22
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...)
In a broader sense, the term brandy also denotes liquors obtained from the distillation of
pomace (yielding
pomace brandy), or mash or wine of any other fruit (
fruit brandy). These products are also called eau de vie (literally "water of life" in
French). (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 WNJU, a Spanish-language television station serving
New York City, was the first in the United States to air a hard-liquor advertisement?
... 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?
This is a
Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
The facade of the 5-8 Club
The 5-8 Club Tavern & Grill is a restaurant in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1928 as a
speakeasy, the eatery is one of two Minneapolis establishments that claim to have invented the
Juicy Lucy cheeseburger in the 1950s, the other being
Matt's Bar. The 5-8 Club also serves its Saucy Sally burger and other dishes including
fried cheese curds and onion straws. The restaurant, which has been featured on several
Travel Channel TV series, has three additional locations in Minnesota. (Full article...)
Image 11Map 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 5A 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)
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A piña colada (from List of cocktails)
An illustration of brewing and distilling industry methods in England, 1858 (from Liquor)
A cosmopolitan (from List of cocktails)
A mojito served in Slovakia (from List of cocktails)
A pisco sour (from List of cocktails)
Some single-drink liquor bottles available in Germany (from Liquor)
A Ramos gin fizz (from List of cocktails)
Map 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.WineBeerSpirits(from Liquor)
A grasshopper (from List of cocktails)
These flaming cocktails illustrate that some liquors will readily catch fire and burn. (from Liquor)
Mulled wine steeping (Swedish glögg) (from List of cocktails)
A B-52 (from List of cocktails)
A martini is a classic gin-based cocktail. (from List of cocktails)
Distillation equipment used by the 3rd century alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis, from the Byzantine Greek manuscript Parisinus graecus 2327. (from Liquor)
A display of various liquors in a supermarket (from Liquor)
A martini cocktail (from List of cocktails).jpg)
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Raspberry (from Cocktail garnish)
Cocktail olive (from Cocktail garnish)
Lime twist (from Cocktail garnish)
A 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)
Shrimp (from Cocktail garnish)
Lemon slice (from Cocktail garnish)
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