A visual showdown of alcohol

Yes, yes, yes…. I know it’s ‘dry January’.

We don’t participate.

From my brief search as to the origin of the promoted abstinence for this month it seems that the reason was to counter the excesses of last month (December holidays, office parties, etc.).

Since we don’t do the excesses (any more) we see no reason to do the abstinence. It’s all about moderation, right?

I will freely admit, however, I do remember the excesses…. and while they were a lot of fun in the moment I don’t regret at all not having to face those mornings after.

That lovely Cadillac you are looking at, by the way, is our annual Christmas treat. It goes equally well with foie gras and smoked salmon.It’s a sweet wine, similar to a Sauterne.

I digress…..

When I was asked if I would like to publish this article, I found it interesting. I thought you might, too,

Infographic roundup: A visual showdown of alcohol

Over the last few weeks we have seen some really interesting alcohol-related infographics enter our inbox.

These don’t focus on the dangers of alcohol; we all accept they exist and should be taken completely seriously.

Instead, they breach some really interesting topics that alcohol covers. Here are four of the best to highlight our point in full.

The periodic table of alcohol

This first infographic mainly caught our attention for the genius way in which it was displayed.

For those looking for a quick reference on all of the different alcoholic beverages out there, this periodic table does the trick perfectly.  It mulls over beers, wine, cocktails and everything in between – noting the prevalent flavors as well as the strength of the drink.

As a starting point, it’s excellent.

The glossary of alcoholic glasses

The authors of this next infographic haven’t called it a glossary but in our eyes, it completely is.

Rather than focus on the liquid itself, this is all about what you put the beverage in. Surprisingly, there are countless glasses (65 in total on this infographic) with each used for a different beverage.

In short, a wine glass isn’t a wine glass. You need a specific glass for each different type of wine – and this is something that many of us probably never realized!

The beer economy

Particularly with the emergence of the craft beer phenomenon over the last few years, there are thousands of different beers now out there.

Bearing this in mind, this next infographic really sparked our interest. It shows how that generally speaking, most of the beer in the world is controlled by five different companies.

If you click into the page, there’s some interesting history as well. This is because originally, the beer industry was controlled by six companies. It wasn’t until 2016 where two of the largest, in the form of InBev and SAB Miller, merged.

Regardless, feast your eyes on the below and be surprised at how some completely different beers are most likely owned by the same company.

Beverage composition around the world

When most of us prop up a bar, absolutely no thoughts regarding the composition of these drinks tend to enter our head.

This is where this final infographic steps in. It shows some of the most popular alcohol drinks in the world, and exactly how they are composed.

For example, in the case of absinthe, there are all sorts of ingredients that make up this 60% beverage, including sweet fennel, herbs, grand wormwood and grains. Then, when it comes to cider, apples are the main ingredient of choice.

As well as all of the ingredients, the other interesting element of this infographic is seeing what the main drinks of each different country are.

This last one I found particularly interesting…. I didn’t know kefir was alcoholic (1%) and many (most) of these I’ve never heard of. Kvass is made from rye bread croutons? Really?

Interesting reading….