20 Types Of Alcoholic Drinks Along With Their Ingredients For A Perfect Appetite

From James Bond’s all-time favorite ‘Vesper Martini’ to The Bartender Best Friend’s ‘Between the sheets’, we now have a variety of alcoholic drinks to choose from.

Either be it your favorite team winning the match or your favorite person proposing you, alcoholic drinks have their own role to play. While sipping your glass of favorite drink, ever wondered where was it originated or which ingredients make it tastes so good?

Well, grab your glass of exquisite wine or your cozy can-beer and have a look at the types of drink that make your celebrations a little more fun.

Drinks are the keys to all the meals. It not only increases the flavors with our dishes but also lightens our mood. Some prefer alcohol as their drinks while some non-alcohols, however, both are best at their places.

So, have you ever thought of the ingredients used to prepare these drinks, especially alcohols? If not, no worries, read along to know all about it.

Before we proceed with the different types of drinks and their ingredients, let’s look at the history of Alcoholic drinks.

According to chemical and archaeological analyses, proof of alcoholic liquids has been observed courting from 5400-5000 BC in Hajji Firuz Tepe in Iran, 3150 BC in Egypt, 3000 BC in Babylon,2000 BC in Pre-hispanic Mexico, and 1500 BC in Sudan.

The earliest evidence of wine manufacturing dates back to 6000 BC in Georgia and 7000-6000 BCE in China.

Now, let's proceed to the list of different types of drinks and their ingredients.

Undistilled Drinks:

1. BEER

Beer is one of the oldest and most extensively ate up alcoholic types of drink in the world and the 3rd most famous drink after water and tea.

Beer is brewed from cereal grains—most commonly from malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats also are used. It is the type of drink which goes with every mood.

2. Wine

Wine is an alcoholic drink generally crafted from fermented grape juice. Yeast consumes the sugar within the grapes and converts it to ethanol, carbon dioxide, and heat.

Different varieties of grapes and lines of yeasts produce distinctive styles of wine. It is the type of drink that makes your evenings classy.

3. Red Wine

The red-wine manufacturing technique entails the extraction of color and taste additives from grapes. Red wine is processed from dark-colored grapes.

The color of the wine can vary from violet, usual of fresh wines, red for mature wines, to brown for older red.

4. White wine

It is a type of alcoholic drink fermented without skin contact. The color of white wine can be yellow-gold or yellow-green and straw yellow.

White wine is produced by fermenting non-colored grape pulps. White wine is as old as 4000 years. Its alcoholic composition is 5.5-20.5%

5. Hard Cider

Hard cider is an alcoholic drink made using fermenting the juice of the fruit, usually apples. the addition of "hard" in its name is used to differentiate this drink from its non-alcoholic counterpart, apple cider, which is made through urgent apples to provide juice.

6. Mead

Mead is the oldest alcoholic drink and is a kind of honey wine. This type of alcoholic drink is made by fermenting honey and water with yeast.

Mead can be flavored with spices, fruits, grains, or hops. It is the type of drink that has its own specific taste, somewhat between wine and beer. Harry Potter fans might love to sip this one though.

7. Sake

Pronounced, “SAKay or SAHkee”, this alcoholic drink is Japanese rice wine. It is a type of drink that is made from fermented rice that has been shafted.

Its alcohol composition varies from 15-22%.

Distilled Drinks (Liquors and Spirits):

8. Gin

Gin is a type of distilled alcoholic drink that derives its most vital flavor from Juniper berries. It was originally created by alchemists and monks near Southern France, for medicinal purposes.

It is a type of drink that is low in calories and has an alcoholic composition of ABV: 36-50%. The most famous of this kind are Gin and tonic.

9. Brandy

Brandy is a type of drink produced by distilling wine. Brandy contains nearly 35% alcohol and is commonly considered a hard drink.

A few brandies are aged in wooden barrels, others are colored with caramel to imitate the effect of aging, and a few are produced using an aggregate of both growing older and coloring. Some of the popular brandy brands are Christian Brothers, E&J Gallo.

10. Whiskey

Whisky or whiskey is a kind of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Whisky is usually aged in timber casks, which are often old sherry casks or can also be manufactured from charred white oak.

Whisky is a type of strictly regulated spirit with many classes and kinds. The everyday unifying traits of the distinct classes and kinds are the fermentation of grains, distillation, and growing old in wooden barrels. The alcoholic composition of whiskey is 36-50%

11. Rum

Rum is a type of alcoholic drink made by fermented distilled sugarcane juice or molasses. The liquid is then kept to age in oak barrels.

Rum is produced mostly in the Caribbean and American countries as well as other sugar-producing countries like India and the Philippines. The alcohol composition of rum is around 36-50% ABV.

12. Tequila

Tequila is an alcoholic drink made from the blue agave plant, usually found in areas surrounding the ‘Tequila’ city: 65 kilometers northwest of Guadalajara and in Los Altos de Jalisco of the central-western Mexican state of Jalisco.

Tequila's alcoholic composition is around 38-55%. The color varieties of tequila are clear, golden, or brown and the flavor content is fruity, sweet, or earthy. This drink is usually taken in shots.

13. Vodka

Vodka is a type of clear distilled alcoholic drink composed primarily of ethanol and water. Vodka was originated in Russia, Poland, and Sweden.

Traditionally, it is made with the distilled liquid from cereal grains that have been fermented, with potatoes springing up as a substitute in recent instances, and a few modern manufacturers use fruits, honey, or maple sap. This alcoholic drink contains alcohol up to 40%.

14. Absinthe

Absinthe is a type of spirit drink and was originated in Switzerland. Its alcohol composition is 45-74% and is the only type of alcoholic drink that is green in color. The primary ingredients of this drink are anise, warm wood, fennel.

15. Everclear

Manufacturers often claim it as an ‘unfinished ingredient’ and says that it should not be consumed directly when in undiluted form because of its high alcoholic content. This type of alcoholic drink contains about 60%, 75.5%, 94.5%, and 95% of alcohol.

Everclear is usually colorless and has no flavor.

16. Vermouth

Vermouth is a scented strong wine. It is produced with a base of grape wine or unfermented wine. Dry ingredients such as roots, barks, aromatic herbs to the base wine, spirit plus wine, or spirit only are added. After aromatizing and strengthening the wine, vermouth is sweetened with cane sugar or caramel sugar.

17. Cognac

Cognac is a variety of brandy named after the community of Cognac, France. It is produced within the encompassing wine-growing area within the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime.

Cognac after distillation and aging is also known as an ‘Eau de vie. It is a type of alcoholic drink that differs, though typically consisting of nuts, fruit, honey, vanilla, caramel, or other spices. Its alcoholic composition is 40%.

18. Port wine

Port wine is a red, sweet Portuguese-originated wine, produced in the Douro Valley of Northern Portugal. This alcoholic drink is often served as a dessert wine.

Available in semi-dry, dry, and white varieties, this type of alcoholic drink contains 50 calories per ounce available in semi-dry, dry, and white varieties. Port wine’s primary ingredient is grapes.

19. Champagne

Champagne is a type of French sparkling wine. The primary ingredients used to make all Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot noir (all different types of grapes). Small amounts of Pinot Gris, Petit Meslier, Pinot blanc, and Arbane are also used.

The term Champagne comes from its region where it’s produced in ‘’Champagne’’. It’s illegal to label any product Champagne unless it came from the Champagne wine region of France and is produced under the principles of the appellation

20. Ethanol Or Grain Alcohol

Ethanol or ethyl alcohol, maybe a twice distilled, neutral spirit derived from fermenting and distilling a kind of grain that would include wheat, corn, rice, or rye.

So, that was the list of various alcoholic drinks and their ingredients. Alcoholic drinks have now become a part of our society.

Even though they are sought after on a lot of occasions, one should always refrain from alcohol consumption as much as possible.

Alcohol contains addictive substances which may lead to more harm than good. With the right amount of alcohol and controlled consumption, one can always try out those different types of alcoholic drinks, all ready to be served chilled.

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