What are the types of alcoholic drinks?

Question

I come from a family where alcohol is pretty much non existence(yes shockingly we are still breathing)! So I was wondering, can someone give me a breakdown of the types of alcoholic beverages (some of the names like s*x on the beach?!, martini etc) and well their cost (average) in west coast, Canadian dollar and how strong they are, like rate them in their strength. Any other info will be helpful too!

thanks

Answer 1

Okay let's categorize:

* BEER is made from fermenting a mash of malted grain and hops.  It is usually served carbonated, either naturally or after pasteurization, and typically has is about 4-5pct alcohol by volume (though some beers go much, much higher).

-> "malt liquor" is cheap, highly alcoholic beer that's been flavored with corn syrup so it doesn't taste quite so bad

* WINE is fermented from the juice of fruits, usually but not always grapes.  It's most often between 10 and 15pct abv, and comes in two basic varieties: red and white.

-> MEAD is sometimes called 'honey wine', even though since honey isn't a fruit it technically isn't a wine at all.  Honey and water are fermented, and mead is often flavored with fruit (melomel), or spices (metheglin).

-> SAKE is sometimes called 'rice wine', but it's not made from the juice of fruit, and sometimes called a beer, even though it isn't malted.  Most connoisseurs consider it to be sort of sui generis, even though it most closely resembles wine in strength (10-20pct) and serving style.

-> SPARKLING WINE is wine that undergoes secondary fermentation in the bottle, so it is carbonated.  "Champagne" is properly only sparkling wine from a particular province of France famous for its chalky soil, although sparkling California wines also call themselves "champagne" owing to the USA's long-standing disregard for controlled designations of wine.

* SPIRITS are any alcoholic beverage that's the product of distillation.

-> WHISKY or WHISKEY is a spirit produced by distilling grain alcohol and aging in oak casks.  It is usually at least 40pct abv.

---> SCOTCH is whisky produced in Scotland.  Single malt scotch is scotch distilled from a mash consisting entirely of malted barley.  Bourbon is whisky produced in America from a mash that is mostly corn and aged in new, charred white oak barrels.  Other types of whisky include Rye whisky, Canadian whisky, and Irish whisky.

-> BRANDY is a spirit produced from distilled wine.  It is usually at least 40pct abv, and sometimes aged in oak casks.

---> COGNAC is a particularly fine brandy made near the town of Cognac, France, and aged in French oak casks.  The best cognacs are the most expensive alcoholic beverages in the world.

-> RUM is a spirit distilled from molasses, made from sugar cane.  Rum was once produced mostly in what is now the USA, but these days most rum comes from the Caribbean, where the sugar cane to make it is grown. It is at least 40pct abv.

---> 'light rum' is rum that has not been aged or modified in any way.

---> 'dark rum' is rum that aged been aged in a cask, similar to whisky or brandy.  It is more expensive than light rum.

---> 'spiced rum' is rum that has had spices added to it, the way it was served in the Caribbean islands for centuries.  Some premium spiced rums have been aged.

-> VODKA is a "neutral" spirit, which means it does not retain any characteristics of the grains, fruits, or starches from which it was made.  Since the Middle Ages vodka has been made with grain, although since the introduction of the potato from the Americas it has been cheaper to make it with that instead.  Today vodka is made using a variety of traditional and modern ingredients, and Grey Goose is even made with fruit instead. Most plain vodkas are at least 40pct abv, although some flavored varieties are only 35pct, and vodka is never aged

---> SOJU, SHOCHU, and BAIJU are Korean, Japanese, and Chinese distilled beverages that are essentially vodkas: they are distilled from grain alcohol, are not aged, and have not been flavored.

-> GIN is a spirit distilled from grain with juice of juniper berries added for flavor.  It is almost always exactly 40pct abv.

* LIQUOR properly refers to any alcoholic beverage, but is mostly often used to refer to spirits, and used in apposition to beer and wine.

* LIQUEURS or CORDIALS are drinks made by adding sugar and usually flavoring to distilled beverages.  Southern Comfort adds sugar to whiskey, Triple Sec adds it to vodka, etc.

* COCKTAILS are drinks that mix together a variety of soft and hard drinks.  The basic recipe for a cocktail is to add one part straight spirit to two or three parts liqueur, like the martini mixes vodka and vermouth), sometimes with a completely soft drink like coke or cranberry juice added in addition or to replace the liqueur (a Cosmopolitan is vodka, triple sec, and cranberry juice, whereas a vodka cranberry is just vodka and cranberry juice).  There are nearly as many cocktails as there are bartenders, and the recipes are fungible: you can add more or less of a particular ingredient to suit your own taste.

Prices are going to vary all over the place, depending on where you get it (a 750mL bottle of whisky at a liquor store is a lot cheaper than 15 50mL shots of it in a bar).

Answer 2

Three basic categories: wine, beer and spirits, each with endless brands and types and various cocktails based on each.  It would be almost impossible to list them all.