An alcoholic beverage (also called an adult beverage, alcoholic drink, strong drink, or simply a drink) is a beverage containing alcohol. Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.
Many cultures have a distinct drinking culture, where alcoholic drinks are integrated into parties. Most countries have laws regulating the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages.[1] For example, some regulations may require the labeling of the percentage alcohol content (as ABV or proof) and the use of a warning label. Some countries ban the consumption of alcoholic drinks, but they are legal in most parts of the world. The temperance movement advocates against the consumption of alcoholic beverages.[2] The global alcoholic drink industry exceeded $1.5 trillion in 2017.[3] Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the world, and about 33% of all humans currently drink alcohol.[4] In 2015, among Americans, 86% of adults had consumed alcohol at some point, with 70% drinking it in the last year and 56% in the last month.[5] Several other animals are affected by alcohol similarly to humans and, once they consume it, will consume it again if given the opportunity, though humans are the only species known to produce alcoholic drinks intentionally.[6]
Alcohol is a depressant, which in low doses causes euphoria, reduces anxiety, and increases sociability. In higher doses, it causes drunkenness, stupor, unconsciousness, or death. Long-term use can lead to an alcohol use disorder, an increased risk of developing several types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and physical dependence.
Alcohol is classified as a carcinogen. According to the World Health Organization, any alcohol consumption may cause health problems.
History
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Main articles: History of alcoholic drinks and Drinking culture
Prehistory
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Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggests that intentionally fermented drinks existed at least as early as the Neolithic period.[7]
The oldest verifiable brewery has been found in a prehistoric burial site in a cave near Haifa in modern-day Israel. Researchers have found residue of 13,000-year-old beer that they think might have been used for ritual feasts to honor the dead. The traces of a wheat-and-barley-based alcohol were found in stone mortars carved into the cave floor.[8]
Ancient period
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Beer was likely brewed from barley as early as 13,000 years ago in the Middle East.[9] Pliny the Elder wrote about the golden age of winemaking in Rome, the 2nd century BCE (200–100 BCE), when vineyards were planted.[10]
Examination and analysis of ancient pottery jars from the neolithic village of Jiahu in the Henan province of northern China revealed residue left behind by the alcoholic drinks they had once contained. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, chemical analysis of the residue confirmed that a fermented drink made of grape and hawthorn fruit wine, honey mead and rice beer was being produced in 7000–5600 BC (McGovern et al., 2005; McGovern 2009).[11][12] The results of this analysis were published in December 2004.[13]
The earliest evidence of winemaking was dated at 6,000 to 5,800 BCE in Georgia in the South Caucasus.[14]
Celtic people were known to have been making types of alcoholic cider as early as 3000 BC.[15][16] and wine was consumed in Classical Greece at breakfast or at symposia, and in the 1st century BC.[17]
Medieval period
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Medieval Middle East
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Medieval Muslim chemists such as Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (Latin: Geber, ninth century) and Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (Latin: Rhazes, c. 865–925) experimented extensively with the distillation of various substances. The distillation of wine is attested in Arabic works attributed to al-Kindī (c. 801–873 CE) and to al-Fārābī (c. 872–950), and in the 28th book of al-Zahrāwī's (Latin: Abulcasis, 936–1013) Kitāb al-Taṣrīf (later translated into Latin as Liber servatoris).[18] 12th century: The process of distillation spread from the Middle East to Italy,[19] where distilled alcoholic drinks were recorded in the mid-12th century.[19]
Medieval Europe
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In Italy, the works of Taddeo Alderotti (1223–1296) describe a method for concentrating alcohol involving repeated fractional distillation through a water-cooled still.[20] By the early 14th century, distilled alcoholic drinks had spread throughout the European continent.[19] Distillation spread to Ireland and Scotland no later than the 15th century, as did the common European practice of distilling "aqua vitae", primarily for medicinal purposes.[21]
Early modern period
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in 1690, England passed "An Act for the Encouraging of the Distillation of Brandy and Spirits from Corn" [22] Alcoholic beverages played an important role in the Thirteen Colonies from their early days when drinking wine and beer at that time was safer than drinking water – which was usually taken from sources also used to dispose of sewage and garbage.[23] Drinking hard liquor was common occurrence in early nineteenth-century United States.[24]
The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax imposed on a domestic product by the newly formed federal government. Beer was difficult to transport and spoiled more easily than rum and whiskey.
Modern period
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The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a coup d'état in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, its name derives from the illicit rum trade of early Sydney, over which the 'Rum Corps', as it became known, maintained a monopoly. During the first half of the 19th century, it was widely referred to in Australia as the Great Rebellion.[25] The alcohol monopoly system has a long history in various countries, often implemented to limit the availability and consumption of alcohol for public health and social welfare reasons.
The alcohol monopoly was created in the Swedish town of Falun in 1850, to prevent overconsumption and reduce the profit motive for sales of alcohol. It later went all over the country in 1905 when the Swedish parliament ordered all sales of vodka to be done via local alcohol monopolies.[26] In 1894, the Russian Empire established a state monopoly on vodka, which became a major source of revenue for the Russian government.
Later in the nineteenth century opposition to alcohol grew in the form of the temperance movement, in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Scandinavia and India, and it eventually led to national prohibitions in Canada (1918 to 1920), Norway (spirits only from 1919 to 1926), Finland (1919 to 1932), and the United States (1920 to 1933), as well as provincial prohibition in India (1948 to present).[27]
Fermented drinks
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Beer
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Schlenkerla Rauchbier, a traditional smoked beer, being poured from a cask into a beer glass
Main article: Beer
See also: Beer styles and List of beer styles
Beer is a beverage fermented from grain mash. It is typically made from barley or a blend of several grains and flavored with hops. Most beer is naturally carbonated as part of the fermentation process. If the fermented mash is distilled, then the drink becomes a spirit. Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world.[28]
Cider
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Main article: Cider
Cider or cyder (/ˈsaɪdər/ SY-dər) is a fermented alcoholic drink made from any fruit juice; apple juice (traditional and most common), peaches, pears ("Perry" cider) or other fruit. Cider alcohol content varies from 1.2% ABV to 8.5% or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, cider may be called "apple wine".[29]
Fermented water
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See also: Kilju
Fermented water is an ethanol-based water solution with approximately 15-17% ABV without sweet reserve. Fermented water is exclusively fermented with white sugar, yeast, and water. Fermented water is clarified after the fermentation to produce a colorless or off-white liquid with no discernible taste other than that of ethanol.
Mead
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Main article: Mead
Mead (/miːd/), also called hydromel, is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content of mead may range from as low as 3% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the drink's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. Mead can also be referred to as "honeywine."
Pulque
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Main article: Pulque
Pulque is the Mesoamerican fermented drink made from the "honey water" of maguey, Agave americana. Pulque can be distilled to produce tequila or Mezcal.[30]
Rice wine
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Main article: Rice wine
Rice wine is an alcoholic drink fermented and possibly distilled from rice, consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Sake, huangjiu, mijiu, and cheongju are popular examples of East Asian rice wine.
Wine
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Glasses of red and white wine
Main article: Wine
Wine is a fermented beverage most commonly produced from grapes. Wine involves a longer fermentation process than beer and often a long aging process (months or years), resulting in an alcohol content of 9%–16% ABV.
Sparkling wines such French Champagne, Catalan Cava or Italian Prosecco are also made from grapes, with a secondary fermentation.
Fruit wines are made from fruits other than grapes, such as plums, cherries, or apples.
Distilled beverages
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Main article: Liquor
Rum display in liquor store
Distilled beverages (also called liquors or spirit drinks) are alcoholic drinks produced by distilling (i.e., concentrating by distillation) ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables.[31] Unsweetened, distilled, alcoholic drinks that have an alcohol content of at least 20% ABV are called spirits.[32] For the most common distilled drinks, such as whisky (or whiskey) and vodka, the alcohol content is around 40%. The term hard liquor is used in North America to distinguish distilled drinks from undistilled ones (implicitly weaker). Brandy, gin, mezcal, rum, tequila, vodka, whisky (or wiskey), baijiu, shōchū and soju are examples of distilled drinks. Distilling concentrates the alcohol and eliminates some of the congeners. Freeze distillation concentrates ethanol along with methanol and fusel alcohols (fermentation by-products partially removed by distillation) in applejack.
Fortified wine is wine, such as port or sherry, to which a distilled beverage (usually brandy) has been added.[33] Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is wine that has had a spirit added to it. Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed, including port, sherry, madeira, marsala, commandaria, and the aromatized wine vermouth.[34]
Rectified spirit
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Main article: Rectified spirit
Rectified spirit, also called "neutral grain spirit", is alcohol which has been purified by means of "rectification" (i.e. repeated distillation). The term neutral refers to the spirit's lack of flavor that would have been present if the mash ingredients had been distilled to a lower level of alcoholic purity. Rectified spirit also lacks any flavoring added to it after distillation (as is done, for example, with gin). Other kinds of spirits, such as whiskey, (or whisky) are distilled to a lower alcohol percentage to preserve the flavor of the mash.
Rectified spirit is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that may contain as much as 95% ABV. It is often used for medicinal purposes. It may be a grain spirit, or it may be made from other plants. It is used in mixed drinks, liqueurs, and tinctures, and also as a household solvent.
Congeners
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See also: Congener (beverages), Wine chemistry, and Hangover
In the alcoholic drinks industry, congeners are substances produced during fermentation. These substances include small amounts of chemicals such as occasionally desired alcohols, like propanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol, as well as compounds that are never desired such as acetone, acetaldehyde and glycols. Congeners are responsible for most of the taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic drinks and contribute to the taste of non-distilled drinks.[35] It has been suggested that these substances contribute to the symptoms of a hangover.[36] Tannins are congeners found in wine in the presence of phenolic compounds. Wine tannins add bitterness, have a drying sensation, taste herbaceous, and are often described as astringent. Wine tannins add balance, complexity, structure and make a wine last longer, so they play an important role in the aging of wine.[37]
Amount of use
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Main article: List of countries by alcohol consumption per capita
Alcohol consumption per person in 2016. Consumption of alcohol is measured in liters of pure alcohol per person aged 15 or older.[38]
A liquor store in the United States. Global sales of alcoholic beverages exceeded $1.5 trillion in 2017.[3]
The average number of people who drink as of 2016 was 39% for males and 25% for females (2.4 billion people in total).[4] Females on average drink 0.7 drinks per day while males drink 1.7 drinks per day.[4] The rates of drinking varies significantly in different areas of the world.[4]
Age-standardised prevalence of current drinking for females (A) and males (B) in 2016, in 195 locations[4]
Average standard drinks (10 g of pure ethanol per serving) consumed per day, age-standardised, for females (A) and males (B) in 2016, in 195 locations[4]
Uses
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For psychoactive use and health consequences, see Alcohol (drug) § Uses.
Alcohol-related crimes
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Police use a road roller to destroy bottles of illegal alcohol confiscated in Serpong, out of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 13, 2018.
Main article: Alcohol-related crime
Alcohol is used in rum-running, the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law.
Wine fraud relates to the commercial aspects of wine. The most prevalent type of fraud is one where wines are adulterated, usually with the addition of cheaper products (e.g. juices) and sometimes with harmful chemicals and sweeteners (compensating for color or flavor).
Moonshine is illegal to produce and sell in most countries.
A straw purchaser may receive money or recompense from the underage person in exchange for purchasing the alcohol on their behalf.
Alcohol has been used as a currency for transactional sex in South Africa, and Uganda.[39][40][41]
Pruno also known as prison hooch or prison wine, is a term used in the United States to describe an improvised alcoholic beverage. It is variously made from apples, oranges, fruit cocktail, fruit juices, hard candy, sugar, high fructose syrup, and possibly other ingredients, including crumbled bread.[42]
Activities
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Drinking games
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Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drin