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...)
In mid-2005, SWC's spirits business was acquired by the United Breweries Group (UB Group) and its breweries and beer business was acquired by SABMiller. On 1 April 2008, Shaw Wallace was merged with United Spirits Ltd, a subsidiary of the UB Group. (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).
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...)
The September 1878 issue of the London magazine Fun listed the recipe as follows: (Full article...)
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A Brandy Alexander is a brandy-based dessert cocktail consisting of cognac, crème de cacao, and cream, that became popular during the early 20th century. It is a variation of an earlier, gin-based cocktail called simply an Alexander. The cocktail known as Alexander today may contain gin or brandy. Ice cream can be added for a "frozen Brandy Alexander". (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...)
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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...)
The Russian spring punch was created in London, England by Dick Bradsell in the 1980s. He claims not to remember which bar he was working at at the time, but tells the story of how he created the recipe for personal friends wishing to hold a cocktail party while minimizing the amount of money they had to spend on alcohol. Participants were provided with the vodka, cassis, sugar syrup and lemon juice, and were asked to bring their own sparkling wine. It is named for the Russian vodka, and the Tom Collins, which is a spring drink. (Full article...)
The illegal is an IBA official cocktail. The illegal cocktail is named after the mezcal brand "Ilegal Mezcal," which is one of its key ingredients. Mezcal is a type of Mexican distilled spirit made from agave plants, similar to tequila but with a distinct smoky flavor. (Full article...)
Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored spirit produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative to orujo, a pomace brandy that was being imported from Spain. It had the advantages of being produced from abundant domestically grown fruit and reducing the volume of alcoholic beverages transported to remote locations. (Full article...)
Since the 1890s, standard vodkas have been 40% alcohol by volume (ABV) (80 U.S. proof). The European Union has established a minimum alcohol content of 37.5% for vodka. Vodka in the United States must have a minimum alcohol content of 40%. (Full article...)
The pomace ferments for about six weeks in a tightly sealed barrel, and is then distilled. It is similar to tsipouro from mainland Greece, and is part of a family of Mediterranean grape-based distilled spirits, including Ottoman rakı, Albanian: rakia, Spanish: orujo, Italian: grappa, French: marc, Georgian:chacha, Portuguese: bagaceira, Bulgarian: ракия, romanized:rakiya, Macedonian: ракија, romanized:rakija, Serbo-Croatian: rakija / ракија (in Istria: grappa), Romanian: tescovină, Hungarian: törköly. However, unlike the above spirits which are typically double-distilled and often include additional spices such as anise, tsikoudia undergoes a single distillation process. This method preserves more of the original grape flavor without the addition of flavorings, resulting in a lower alcohol content and a distinct flavor profile compared to its counterparts. (Full article...)
The Sazerac is a local variation of a cognac or whiskey cocktail originally from New Orleans, named for the Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand of cognac brandy that served as its original main ingredient. The drink is most traditionally a combination of cognac or rye whiskey, absinthe, Peychaud's Bitters, and sugar, although bourbon whiskey is sometimes substituted for the rye and Herbsaint is sometimes substituted for the absinthe. Some claim it is the oldest known American cocktail, with origins in antebellumNew Orleans, although drink historian David Wondrich is among those who dispute this, and American instances of published usage of the word cocktail to describe a mixture of spirits, bitters, and sugar can be traced to the dawn of the 19th century. (Full article...)
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, like Uruguay. (Full article...)
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A Hemingway Special or Hemingway Daiquiri and its component ingredients
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...)
The Bloody Mary was invented in the 1920s or 1930s. There are various theories as to the origin of the drink and its name. It has many variants, most notably the red snapper (also called Bloody Margaret), Bloody Maria (made with tequila blanco), and the Virgin Mary. (Full article...)
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The French martini is a vodka-based cocktail. It was invented in the 1980s at one of Keith McNally's New York City bars. It next appeared on the drinks menu at McNally's Balthazar in SoHo in 1996. The cocktail was produced during the 1980s–1990s cocktail renaissance.
Bottles of the two most famous brands of erguotou, Red Star and Niulanshan (at far right)
Erguotou (Chinese:二锅头; pinyin:èrguōtóu; lit. 'second pot head', 'i.e. second distillation') is a style of qingxiangbaijiu originating in Beijing and primarily made in the region surrounding.
The process of erguotou production is what sets it apart from other qingxiang baijius like Fenjiu. Three ingredients, sorghum, fuqu (麸曲; a wheat bran based qū), and water make up the ingredient base. The sorghum is crushed, cooked, cooled, and mixed with the qū before being added, in a liquid state, to a stone or steel fermentation vessel where it will be left to ferment for a relatively short period of about four to eight days. After the qū has converted the starches and sugars in the sorghum into ethanol, the grain is transferred to a still that will extract the ethanol from the mixture. The distilled output is then rested in ceramic jars for a relatively short six to twelve months before being blended, proofed, bottled, and sold. ('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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The restaurant's exterior in 2014, shortly after closing
The Gypsy Restaurant and Velvet Lounge was a restaurant and nightclub established in 1947 and located along Northwest 21st Avenue in the Northwest District neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. Popular with young adults, the restaurant was known for serving fishbowl alcoholic beverages, for its 1950s furnishings, and for hosting karaoke, trivia competitions, and goldfish racing tournaments. The restaurant is said to have influenced local alcohol policies; noise complaints and signs of drunken behavior by patrons made the business a target for curfews and closure. Concept Entertainment owned the restaurant from 1992 until 2014 when it was closed unexpectedly. (Full article...)
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.
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)