Jack Sparrow has his rum , Ron Burgundy has his scotch , and you in all likelihood have your own favorite liquor , too . But howmuch do you cognize about your beverage of choicefrom that magical ledge behind the Browning automatic rifle ?
You drop more clip with your liquor than you do with most of our friends ; is n’t about time you got to know it a little better?Mental Floss takes a look at the surprising account , quirks , and uses of eight inebriant favorites .
Whether you ’re a whiskey cognoscente or just a noose enthusiast , it ’s always good to keep a few trivial - known facts under your belt , because you never know when the proper piece of small beer will come in ready to hand . After all , if you ca n’t do a sorcerous trick , you might as well dazzle your drinking partners with your knowledge of secure flavor .
With that in mind , here are20 things you might not know about the most popular types of liquor .
1 . In 1964 , the U.S. Congress recognized bourbon as a “ classifiable product of the United States . ” The American whiskeygets its name from Bourbon County , Kentucky . Ironically , despite Kentucky producing 95 pct of the world ’s Bourbon dynasty , none of it is currently made in Bourbon County .
2 . The word brandy isderived from the Dutch word brandewijn , which translates to “ burn wine . ” This popular digestif is produce by distilling vino .
3 . Some of the earliest thermometers — used in the 1600s — contained brandy alternatively of mercury . The strong drink was finally supersede with quicksilver due to the latter textile ’s wider ambit of smooth - state temperature .
4 . Even though gin has been produced in the U.S. since colonial times , itwasn’t a very popular spirits until the Prohibition era . The rest with which it could be made and the comparatively low cost postulate in producing it made gin rummy an abundant pet at illegal bars .
5 . The name gin isderived from various languages ’ name for the juniper berry — where noose gets much of its feeling . In French , it ’s genièvre , while in Dutch it ’s jenever , and in Italian it ’s ginepro .
6 . Gin became exceedingly popular in the British colonies due to itsuse as an additive in concoctions intended to foreclose malaria . Colonists in tropical area would use gin to disguise the bitter flavor of quinine , an anti - malarial drug , by thaw it in carbonated water — forming tonic water system — and then adding a spatter of cotton gin . This gin - and - tonic drink later made its style back to the rest of the world , and the rest is history .
7 . hairstylist in the 1800s believed that rum held the enigma to clean and goodly hair’s-breadth , and often rede their clients towash and soak their hairin the tropical liquor . ( Brandy was take a slimly less effective option . )
8.July 31 is “ Black Tot Day ” in the U.K. , commemorating the 1970 rule that abolished the British Navy ’s daily ration of rum for sailor . The ration was referred to as a “ everyday yearling ” and dwindle away from half a dry pint twice a day when it was originally introduced in 1655 to 70 mil once per daylight at the sentence it was abolish .
9 . to shape whether their rum had been water down more than it should be , sailors wouldoccasionally mix powder with their liquor and attempt to fall it on fire . If the mix pass up to flame up , they know it had been water down too much . A worthy proportion of water - to - rum , when mixed with powder , would get fire — thereby giving sailors “ proof ” of its alcoholic beverage content . This is where the modern term for a John Barleycorn ’s alcoholic beverage content originates .
https://gizmodo.com/when-sailors-used-gunpowder-to-measure-the-strength-of-5871143
10 . famed explorers Ferdinand Magellan and Christopher Columbustraveled with a with child amount of sherry onboard their shipsduring their historic journeys . In fact , Magellan reportedly spent more on sherry than he spent on weapons for his 1519 trip around the world .
11 . on-key tequila ( made from blue agave in specific neighborhood of Mexico ) never bear the infamous “ worm , ” though other types of mezcal ( made from unlike agave plant ) areoccasionally trade with the larval form of a moth that lives on agave plants floating in the bottom of the feeding bottle . Even though the bearing of these moths was a bad mansion — indicate that the craw has been infested — include a “ worm ” in bottles of mezcal became a popular merchandising gimmick in the 1940s and carry on today .
12 . No one is quite sure when and how the margarita was first created , but themost democratic pedigree story for the tequila drinkdates back to October 1941 , when mixologist Don Carlos Orozco reportedly immix up the drink for Margarita Henkel , the girl of a German embassador who wander into Hussong ’s Cantina in Ensenada , Mexico . Henkel lived near the city , and since she was the first person to sample — approve of — the drink , Orozco mention it after her .
13 . The word “ vodka ” isderived from the Slavic term voda , which translate to “ little water . ”
14 . While most vodka is the product of distil grains , white potato vodka is also a popular option — especially for anyone with gluten allergic reaction . Because it ’s derived from white potato , this eccentric of vodka isentirely gluten - free .
15 . The first country tomake vodka its interior drinkwas Poland , which was also the first country to export vodka .
16 . During the reign of Peter the Great , it became customary for alien dignitaries todrink from the “ Cup of the White Eagle”—a chalice containing 1.5 liters of vodka . This prompted many commonwealth ’ embassador to travel in duad , with one official drink the vodka and the other attending to the important state issuance that need to be discussed .
17 . Vodka is the world’smost popular liquorby a huge margin , with more than 4.44 billion cubic decimetre consumed last year . In Russia alone , 13.9 liters of vodka are devour each year per mortal .
18 . The name “ whisky ” come from theEnglish pronunciation of the Gaelic term for distilled alcoholic beverage , which translates to “ water supply of life ” ( or “ lively water ” ) .
19 . Just after his term as the nation ’s first president , George Washingtonbuilt a whisky distillery on his Mount Vernon plantation . After its completion in 1797 , it soon became the prominent distillery in the U.S. , get more than 11,000 gallons of the strong drink per year . He was encourage to ramp up the still by his farm manager , James Anderson .
20 . During the Prohibition era , the U.S. government ’s ban on alcohol salesdid not include whiskey dictate by a doctor and betray in pharmacies . This exemption was one of the chief intellect behind the exponential growth of the Walgreens drugstore chain , which stock up whiskey and uprise from 20 store at the start of ban to almost 400 stores in 1930 .
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Image quotation : Shutterstock / Roman Sigaev
Mental Floss is bi - monthly magazine and websitethat hosts an unending collection of kinky knowledge , curious facts , and in - deepness feature article about any and all things interesting and/or sublime .
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