Everything You Need To Know About Alcoholic Spirits

What Is The Definition Of Liquor?

Aquavit Distillery By Allagash Brewery

Liquor is an alcoholic drink that’s usually produced through a process of distillation. As for the distillate, it can be produced using a number of different fermented ingredients such as grain, fruit or vegetables.

Biercée Distillery, Belgium

Impurities and diluted compounds are removed from the resulting product thanks to the distillation process. In some cases, the liquid may be distilled a number of times and is often diluted with pure water to bring its resulting Alcohol By Volume (ABV) down to a drinkable level.

The word stems from the Latin verb for fluid, which is “liquere”. However, the process predates the Roman Empire and has been recorded as early as 1,200 BC in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Furthermore, liquor can sometimes also be referred to as “spirits” as we have done with these guides. Yet, a spirit will traditionally refer to distilled liquors that have no sugar added.

Typically, liquor and spirits are pretty narrow categories and don’t include other alcohols such as fortified wines and some aperitifs.

Nevertheless, we’ve added them in order to provide you with the largest collection of guides on alcoholic drinks outside of wine, beer, and Champagne.

Similarly, we’ve provided our American whiskey, Scotch whisky and rum guides with their own categories given the level of detail that they’ve received. Likewise, you’ll find fortified wine like vermouth and port in their own wine section, too.

Why Learn About Alcoholic Spirits

You may ask yourself why we’ve gone to all the trouble of writing out individual guides on different varieties of liquor. As you will see, each guide is very long and detailed with sections on its history and production process.

Firstly, we don’t perceive alcohol as simply something to get us a bit tipsy after a long day at the office. In fact, every variety of alcohol has its own cultural significance.

Most types of alcohol have been produced for centuries and even have origins during the Middle Ages or earlier. While many started as medicinal remedies, they grew to define their own cultures, which would sometimes cross national borders and influence entire continents.

Furthermore, many different alcohols even inspired one another. Not only do they share similar stories but they sometimes helped one another to evolve into their contemporary varieties.

For instance, if you were to compare gin, vodka, and akvavit, you will notice how their historical epicentres are relatively geographically close. Similarly, they were born during similar periods with comparable processes and all started as medical aids before becoming enjoyed for their taste.

Today, each of these beverages plays a vital role in its culture and is constantly present during celebrations and social gatherings. As a result, these drinks have been the centre of traditions and rituals that are significant in people’s daily lives.

By learning about liquor, you’ll come to develop a new appreciation for them by understanding their cultural significance and how they are produced. Consequently, you’ll be able to discover new ways of enjoying them and the different varieties best suited to your tastes.

Discover The Best Liquor To Buy Online

Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth

Each guide is accompanied by an in-depth Top 10 list of the best liquors that you can buy online. We’ve invested a lot of time and financial means into trying a variety of every type of liquor to provide you with reliable recommendations.

Rather than just offering more clickbait listicles, we’ve sought to provide a selection of liquors from different parts of the world as varieties that were made differently.

Therefore, even if you’re already familiar with each type of liquor, you’ll be able to find something new thanks to our guides.

Finally, we often research and study the necessary barware so you can be properly equipped at home. For instance, we have written a detailed guide to the best glassware that everyone must have for their home bar!

Liquor Deliveries: Best Places To Buy Alcohol Online

We recently discovered both Reserve Bar and Drizly, which are excellent online retailers that deliver liquor to your door. We’re also lifelong fans of Wine.com that also has an extensive spirits section.

Drizly has an interesting concept as it works with partnering brick and mortar merchants across the USA. When you place an order through Drizly, the merchant will then directly deliver the liquor to you sometimes in less than an hour!

As a result, they have a mind-blowing selection of liquors on their site. However, we recommend punching in your address before you use them as what’s available varies depending on the local merchants near where you live.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bar is a traditional online retailer that distributes its own stock. Therefore, as they work on a direct to consumer business model, the prices are fixed and don’t vary depending on where you live. Consequently, they can actually be cheaper than Drizly but this depends on your local area.

In our buying guides described above, we’ve made sure to present liquor that can be easily found through these sites so you don’t have to embark on a quest to find the liquor yourself.

Both retailers have their own benefits and we’ve included links to both when available so you can have several options available.

What Next?

Now that we’ve given you an insight into our liquor guides, why don’t you start exploring them with a few that are ready to read?

• Full Liquor Guide Menu [Up]
• Best Liquor Glassware
• Vodka Spirit Guide
• Gin Spirit Guide
• Jenever Spirit Guide
• Akvavit Spirit Guide
• Vermouth Spirit Guide
• Bespoke Unit Homepage