Since time immemorial, fermented beverages have been a part of the daily lives of people across the globe. It is difficult to earmark the exact year in which human beings started to ferment fruits and grains to obtain spirits.
Alcoholic beverages form an integral part of the socializing in different cultures. Most of us enjoying spirits of various kinds may not know their ingredients or the process of production which make each of them unique. It is not only the percentage of spirits in the beverage but also the region where the raw materials came from and the procedure of their production that makes that alcohol special.
Let us have a look at the various kinds of alcohols and what makes each of them different.
- Wine:
Made out of all kinds of grapes, wine is made by fermenting mushed grapes. The natural sugars of grapes is fermented by yeast releasing alcohol. It can also be made using apple, pear and some other fruits. - Beer:
Similar to wine, beer is made by fermenting grain water. Crushed grains such as wheat, rice, rye etc. is mixed with water and ferments using yeast in order to produce beer. - Brandy:
It is the distilled form of wine. Meaning, once wine is produced, it would be heated to high temperatures and distilled to produce brandy. Alcohol evaporates on lower temperature than water, hence all the alcohol would be collected separately during distillation and the water and other contents of the wine will be separated from pure alcohol. After the process of distillation, pure alcohol collected is called brandy. This process is usually carried out in big distilleries. - Whiskey:
Any grain based alcohol source when distilled produces whiskey. The grain based alcohol may be made out of corn, rye, wheat etc. This alcoholic beverage after distillation seperated water and pure alcohol which is called whiskey. - Rum:
Rum is obtained after the distillation process of fermented molasses. Molasses is a by product obtained after making sugar out of sugarcane juice. Molasses is fermented and the fermented liquid is distilled to obtain rum. Some rum brand make it using both fermented sugar and molasses in well defined proportions. - Tequila:
It is manufactured using Agave plant found commonly in Mexico. After cooking the Agave plant, it is fermented and then distilled to obtain Tequila. - Vodka:
The flavorless, odorless, colorless spirit is obtained by distilling the fermented liquid several times. The repeated process of distillation makes the obtained alcohol lose it aroma and taste almost completely. Some vodka brands distill the fermented mixture as many as 15 or more times to obtain colorless, odorless vodka. It can be made using fermented potatoes, grains or any other raw product. - Gin:
Gin is made by adding Juniper, which a kind of berry to the distilled alcohol product. For instance, when Juniper is added to whiskey the end product is Gin. - Liqueurs:
These are distilled spirits which have some flavors added to them such as oranges, banana etc. - Amaro:
Distilled alcoholic beverage infused with herbs and spices.
