Portal:Liquor

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The Liquor Portal

Introduction

Liquor (/ˈlɪkər/ LIK-ər) or distilled beverages are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include spirit, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. 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).

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 United Kingdom. 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. (Full article...)

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Artisanal cachaça from Minas Gerais, Brazil

Cachaça (Portuguese pronunciation: [kaˈʃasɐ]) is a distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. Also known as pinga, caninha, and other names, it is the most popular spirit among distilled alcoholic beverages in Brazil. Outside Brazil, cachaça is used almost exclusively as an ingredient in tropical drinks, with the caipirinha being the most famous cocktail. In Brazil, caipirinha is often paired with the dish feijoada. (Full article...)

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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).

The family is of Russian-Jewish and Romanian-Jewish ancestry; the patriarch, Yechiel (Ekiel) Bronfman, was originally a tobacco farmer from Bessarabia. According to The New York Times staff reporter Nathaniel Popper, the Bronfman family is "perhaps the single largest force in the Jewish charitable world". (Full article...)

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Eva Ekeblad Jack Daniel James C. Crow Isaac Wolfe Bernheim Elijah Craig Roustam Tariko Hiram Walker Harry C. Hatch William Gooderham Sr. Lewis Rosenstiel John Philip Wiser John Walker (grocer) Samuel Bronfman Popcorn Sutton Dale DeGroff

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Pisco punch is an alcoholic beverage made famous by Duncan Nicol at the Bank Exchange Saloon at the end of the 19th century, in San Francisco, California. The Bank Exchange Saloon was located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Montgomery and Washington Streets, in the Montgomery Block building, where the Transamerica Pyramid now stands. (Full article...)
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Two mimosas

A mimosa cocktail consists of champagne (or other sparkling wine) and chilled citrus juice, usually orange juice. It is often served in a tall champagne flute at festive occasions such as brunch, weddings, or as part of business or first class service on some passenger railways and airlines. The mixing ratio varies. (Full article...)
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The paper plane is a whiskey-based cocktail created in 2008. In 2020 it was added to the International Bartenders Association's (IBA) list of official cocktails as a new era drink. (Full article...)
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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').

The drink dates to World War I, and an early form was created in 1915 at the New York Bar in Paris—later Harry's New York Bar—by barman Harry MacElhone. The combination was said to have such a kick that it felt like being shelled with the powerful French 75mm field gun. (Full article...)
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The Piña Colada (/ˌpiːnjə koʊˈlɑːdə, -nə-, -kə-/; Spanish: piña [ˈpiɲa], "pineapple", and colada [koˈlaða], "strained") is a cocktail made with rum, cream of coconut, and pineapple juice, usually served either blended or shaken with ice. It may be garnished with either a pineapple wedge, maraschino cherry, or both. The drink originated in Puerto Rico. (Full article...)
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A classic 2:1 Manhattan, made with a whisky, sweet vermouth, bitters and a cherry

A Manhattan is a cocktail made with whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters. While rye is the traditional whiskey of choice, other commonly used whiskies include Canadian whisky, bourbon, blended whiskey, and Tennessee whiskey. The cocktail is usually stirred with ice then strained into a chilled cocktail glass and garnished traditionally with a maraschino cherry. A Manhattan may also be served on the rocks in a lowball glass.

The whiskey-based Manhattan is one of five cocktails named for a New York City borough. It is closely related to the Brooklyn cocktail, which uses dry vermouth and Maraschino liqueur in place of the Manhattan's sweet vermouth, and Amer Picon in place of the Manhattan's angostura bitters. (Full article...)
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A Grasshopper is a sweet, mint-flavored, after-dinner alcoholic drink named for its green color, which comes from crème de menthe. Tujague's, a bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, claims its owner Philip Guichet invented the drink in 1918. The drink gained popularity during the 1950s and 1960s throughout the American South. (Full article...)
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Ramos gin fizz at a bar in New Orleans

A Ramos gin fizz (also known as a "Ramos fizz" or "New Orleans fizz") contains gin, lemon juice, lime juice, egg white, sugar, cream, orange flower water, and soda water. It is served in a large non-tapered 12-to-14-US-fluid-ounce (350 to 410 ml) Collins glass.

The orange flower water and egg significantly affect the flavor and texture of a Ramos, compared to a regular gin fizz. The key to making this egg cocktail is dissolving the sugar before adding ice; the sugar acts as an emulsifier, and it and the alcohol "cook" the egg white. (Full article...)
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A black Russian cocktail

The Black Russian is a cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur. It contains 50 ml vodka and 20 ml coffee liqueur, per IBA specified ingredients.

The drink is made by pouring the vodka and coffee liqueur over ice cubes or cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass and stirring. The Black Russian is often garnished with a lemon slice and a Luxardo maraschino cherry on a stick. (Full article...)
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Bottles at a factory in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca

Mezcal (/mɛˈskæl/ , Latin American Spanish: [mesˈkal] ), sometimes spelled mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of agave.

Agaves or magueys are endemic to the Americas and found globally as ornamental plants. Native fermented drinks from maguey plant, such as pulque, existed before the arrival of the Spanish, but the origin of mezcal is tied to the introduction of Filipino-type stills to New Spain by Filipino migrants via the Manila galleons in the late 1500s and early 1600s. These stills were initially used to make vino de coco, but they were quickly adopted by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific coastal regions of Mexico and applied to the distillation of agave to make mezcal. (Full article...)
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The Americano is an IBA official cocktail composed of Campari, sweet vermouth, and for the sparkling version, club soda and garnished with a slice of lemon or an orange twist. (Full article...)
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Spicy Fifty

A Spicy Fifty is a cocktail containing vanilla-flavored vodka with elderflower cordial, lime juice, honey syrup, and red chili pepper. To prepare, the ingredients are added to a cocktail shaker and shaken with ice. The chili optionally can be muddled in the base of the shaker. More chili can be added to make it spicier. The drink is then double-strained into a chilled cocktail glass. A whole pepper is used as garnish sitting at the rim of the glass. The drinker should be cautioned against eating the pepper.

The Spicy Fifty cocktail was added to the list of IBA official cocktails in 2020 in the new era drink category. (Full article...)
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The Zombie is a Tiki cocktail made of fruit juices, liqueurs, and various rums. It first appeared in late 1934, invented by Donn Beach at his Hollywood Don the Beachcomber restaurant. It was popularized on the East coast soon afterwards at the 1939 New York World's Fair. (Full article...)
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Lemon drop

A lemon drop is a vodka-based cocktail that has a lemony, sweet and sour flavor, prepared using vodka, triple sec, and fresh lemon juice. It has been described as a variant of, or as "a take on", the vodka martini, but is in fact closer to a daisy or a white lady variant. It is typically prepared and served straight up – chilled with ice and strained.

The drink was invented sometime in the 1970s by Norman Jay Hobday, the founder and proprietor of Henry Africa's bar in San Francisco, California. Variations of the drink exist, such as blueberry and raspberry lemon drops, and some recipes that call for simple syrup. It is served at some bars and restaurants in the United States, and in such establishments in other areas of the world. (Full article...)
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A glass of dark rum

Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is often aged in barrels of oak. Rum originated in the Caribbean in the 17th century, but today it is produced in nearly every major sugar-producing region of the world.

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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Tommy's margarita as it is served at Tommy's

Tommy's margarita is a variant of the margarita cocktail that uses agave nectar instead of triple sec. It is recognized by the IBA as a new era drink. (Full article...)
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Traditional distillation of tsikoudia

Tsikoudia (Greek: τσικουδιά, romanized: tsikoudiá, literally "terebinth") is a traditional alcoholic beverage and pomace brandy from the Greek island of Crete. It contains 40% to 65% alcohol by volume (ABV). (Full article...)
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The aviation is a cocktail made with gin, maraschino liqueur, crème de violette and lemon juice. Some recipes omit the crème de violette. It is served straight up, in a cocktail glass. (Full article...)
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A Mary Pickford is a Prohibition Era cocktail made with white rum, fresh pineapple juice, grenadine, and Maraschino liqueur. It is served shaken and chilled, often with a Maraschino cherry. (Full article...)
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Rectified spirit made in Poland by Polmos

Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countries, denatured alcohol or denatured rectified spirit may commonly be available as "rectified spirit", because in some countries (though not necessarily the same) the retail sale of rectified alcohol in its non-denatured form is prohibited.

The purity of rectified spirit has a practical limit of 97.2% ABV (95.6% by mass) when produced using conventional distillation processes, as a mixture of ethanol and water becomes a minimum-boiling azeotrope at this concentration. However, rectified spirit is typically distilled in continuous multi-column stills at 96–96.5% ABV and diluted as necessary. Ethanol is a commonly used medical alcohol — spiritus fortis is a medical term for ethanol solutions with 95% ABV. (Full article...)
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Rakı, Türk Rakısı or Turkish Raki (/rɑːˈkiː/, Turkish pronunciation: [ɾaˈkɯ] ) is an alcoholic beverage made of twice-distilled grape pomace and flavored with aniseed. It is the national drink of Turkey. It is popular in Turkic countries and Caucasian countries as an apéritif. It is often served with seafood or meze. It is comparable to Balkan Rakia and several other anise-flavored liqueurs such as pastis, ouzo, sambuca, arak and aguardiente. The alcoholic content of raki must be at least 40% according to Turkish standard. The largest producer of raki is Diageo; Yeni Rakı is the largest brand.

In many East Mediterranean and Balkan countries, the term raki is widely used to describe similar distilled alcoholic beverages. This shared terminology dates back to the Ottoman Empire, where "raki" became a generic term for distilled spirits. During Ottoman rule, the word spread across the empire's territories. In many of these regions, the term raki or rakia is still used to describe grape-based pomace brandies or other spirits, often with regional variations in production methods and flavour profiles. For example, in Turkey, rakı is flavoured with anise and is distinctively served diluted with water, creating a milky-white appearance. Similarly, in the Balkans, rakija (or its liguistic variants such as ракия in Bulgarian, ракија in Serbian, and rakija in Croatian) is a general term for fruit-based brandies, with local variations like plum, pear, or apricot based liquors. (Full article...)
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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.

Simple variations on the gin fizz are
- Silver fizz – addition of egg white
- Golden fizz – addition of egg yolk
- Royal fizz – addition of whole egg
- Diamond fizz – sparkling wine instead of carbonated water, more commonly known as a "French 75".
- Green fizz – addition of a dash of green crème de menthe
(Full article...)

Did you know - load new batch

... 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?
... 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"?

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This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

The Black Cat Bar or Black Cat Café was a bar in San Francisco, California. It originally opened in 1906 and closed in 1921. The Black Cat re-opened in 1933 and operated for another 30 years. During its second run of operation, it was a hangout for Beats and bohemians but over time began attracting more and more of a gay clientele, and becoming a flashpoint for what was then known as the homophile movement, a precursor to the gay liberation movement that gained momentum in the 1960s.

The Black Cat was at the center of a legal fight that was one of the earliest court cases to establish legal protections for gay people in the United States. Despite this victory, continued pressure from law enforcement agencies eventually forced the bar's closure in 1964. (Full article...)

List of Good articles
Lemon drop (cocktail) The Glenlivet distillery Alcoholic beverages in Oregon Rum and Coke Stork Club 5-8 Club Caesar (cocktail) Gypsy Restaurant and Velvet Lounge Sip 'n Dip Lounge Lutz Tavern Christian views on alcohol Whiskey Rebellion

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Mezcal

Credit: AlejandroLinaresGarcia

A cantaro jar, made from barro negro pottery, used for serving mezcal

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The following are images from various liquor-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Map 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.
  Wine
  Beer
  Spirits
(from Liquor)
Image 2Mulled wine steeping (Swedish glögg) (from List of cocktails)
Image 3Abandoned 19th-century vodka distillery in Estonia (from Liquor)
Image 4Corpse reviver #2 (from List of cocktails)
Image 5A cosmopolitan (from List of cocktails)
Image 6A B-52 (from List of cocktails)
Image 7A row of alcoholic beverages – in this case, spirits – in a bar (from Liquor)
Image 8These flaming cocktails illustrate that some liquors will readily catch fire and burn. (from Liquor)
Image 9Viru Valge, an Estonian vodka (from Liquor)
Image 10Reservoir glass with naturally coloured verte absinthe and an absinthe spoon (from List of cocktails)
Image 11A pisco sour (from List of cocktails)
Image 12Distillation equipment used by the 3rd century alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis, from the Byzantine Greek manuscript Parisinus graecus 2327. (from Liquor)
Image 13A Queen Mary beer cocktail: beer, grenadine and maraschino cherries (from List of cocktails)
Image 14A grasshopper (from List of cocktails)
Image 15A Caipirinha with lime (from List of cocktails)
Image 16Some single-drink liquor bottles available in Germany (from Liquor)
Image 17A display of various liquors in a supermarket (from Liquor)
Image 18A piña colada (from List of cocktails)
Image 19A Ramos gin fizz (from List of cocktails)
Image 20A martini cocktail (from List of cocktails)
Image 21A Brandy Alexander being served (from List of cocktails)
Image 22An old whiskey still (from Liquor)
Image 23An illustration of brewing and distilling industry methods in England, 1858 (from Liquor)