Types of Alcoholic Beverages

The variety of alcohol types, different brands, and mixing ingredients is sometimes overwhelming. SYRUP Magazine makes it easy for you to gain a clear understanding of each type of alcohol and mixing ingrediants by breaking them down to their basic classes: Spirits, Liqueurs, Wines & Champagnes, Beers, and Mixers.

SPIRITS

GIN
a colorless alcoholic beverage made by distilling or redistilling rye or other grain spirits and adding juniper berries or aromatics such as anise, caraway seeds, or angelica root as flavoring.

VODKA
originally distilled from fermented wheat mash but now also made from a mash of rye, corn, or potatoes.

RUM
distilled from cane juice, or from the scummings of the boiled juice, or from treacle or molasses, or from the lees of former distillations. Also, sometimes used colloquially as a generic or a collective name for intoxicating liquor.

WHISKEY
distilled from grain, potatoes, etc., especially in Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. In the United States, whisky is generally distilled from maize, rye, or wheat, but in Scotland and Ireland it is often made from malted barley.

TEQUILA
an alcoholic liquor distilled from the fermented juice of the Central American century plant Agave tequilana.

BRANDY
an alcoholic liquor distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice.

LIQUEURS (FLAVORED SPIRITS)

Liqueurs are flavored spirits prepared by infusing certain woods, fruits, or flowers, in either water or alcohol, and adding sugar, etc. Others are distilled from aromatic or flavoring agents.

WINES & CHAMPAGNE

RED WINE
Wine having a red color derived from skins of dark-colored grapes.

WHITE WINE
Any wine of a clear, transparent color, bordering on white, as Madeira, sherry, Lisbon, etc.; -- distinguished from wines of a deep red color, as port and Burgundy.

ROSE WINE
Pinkish table wine from red grapes whose skins were removed after fermentation began.

CHAMPAGNE
A sparkling white wine made from a blend of grapes, especially Chardonnay and pinot, produced in Champagne.

SPARKLING WINE
Any of various effervescent wines, such as champagne, produced by a process involving fermentation in the bottle.

VERMOUTH
A sweet or dry fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and used chiefly in mixed drinks.

BEER

ALE

LAGER
A type of beer of German origin that contains a relatively small amount of hops and is aged from six weeks to six months to allow sedimentation.

CIDER

NON-ALCOHOLIC MIXERS

WATER

JUICE

SPARKLING BEVERAGES

SYRUPS

COFFEE

CHOCOLATE