Fractured Alcoholic Drinks Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sake

Sake, also spelled as saki, is a Japanese alcoholic drink made from rice that has been fermented. In Japan the word sake can also refer to any drink of an intoxicating nature. This drink is believed to have been first created at the beginning of the 8th century, and for centuries following this, the authorities in Japan monopolised the rights to manufacture and sell same. It took until the late 1800s before anyone else was allowed to set up a sake manufacturing brewery, and incredibly so, within a year of that permission being granted, 30,000 breweries sprang up around the country.

Within a few years more, however, because of government taxes increasing more and more on these newly created private enterprises, the number of breweries had shrunk down to only 8,000. One presumes a reduction in the number of hangovers followed suit.

Answer: Cider

Cider is an alcoholic drink manufactured from apple juice. Real cider should be comprised of 90% fruit juice, but different countries permit various levels of this requirement, with some as low as 35%. Cider can range in flavour from dry to sweet, and have a colour range from clear right through to brown.

After the apples have been harvested, they are squashed down into a pulp known as pomace. The old traditional method of making cider from this stage involved placing layers of pomace between layers of sweet straw, with an ash wood rack placed between each dual combination, until twelve levels were reached. Increasing pressure was then exerted on each pile until all the juice has been squeezed out. The squashed straw and pomace remaining was either then given to cattle as winter feed, or used as lovely rich mulch for the gardens, or, with the straw removed, made into liqueur. The juice which was obtained from the squeezing process was strained, placed in containers, and allowed to ferment from three months to three years. Cider sounds quite simple to make really, and this would have explained its popularity as a product manufactured in the family home for centuries.

Answer: Moonshine

Moonshine is a term applied to illicitly made and very potent alcohol manufactured from corn mash. It can be made anywhere, but the term has come to be greatly associated with the stills, raids and strife of illegally manufactured alcohol in the United States, particularly during the era of Prohibition. The name moonshine originally springs from early English smugglers who carried out their work in the hours of darkness or under the light of the moon. Today illegal stills are commonly made using car radiators as condensers, and these, plus the contaminants that sometimes make their way into the ingredients, can have deadly effects. Oh my goodness, some manufacturers even use methanol and anti-freeze to increase the strength of their product.

Illegal alcohol, known as bathtub gin, was also manufactured during the Prohibition era in American history (1920-1933). Would you like to know why it was called bathtub gin? It wasn't because it was made in the bathtub, though one imagines it may have been now and then, but because of the method used in its manufacture. This illegal product was made from water and cheap grain based alcohol, and then usually flavoured with juniper berry juice. The bottles in which it was sold were too tall to be topped up with water from the taps of a normal sink - so were filled from the bathtub taps instead. Bathtub gin was the result.

Answer: Vodka

Vodka, a drink associated by many with Russia, is normally manufactured from grain or potatoes, and, when sold, usually has an alcohol level of forty per cent. That's pretty powerful stuff, comrade. Various alcoholic combinations with peculiar names are made containing this drink, but traditionally it should be consumed neat.

The drink originated in eastern European countries and was known to have been consumed as far back as the 8th century. However there isn't any written material to substantiate this one way or another.

The first recorded use of the word vodka, however, dates back to 1405 in Poland where it was used in medicines and cleaning products. Cleaning products? They gave me cleaning fluid to drink on my 21st??

Answer: Cognac

Cognac is named after the French town of the same name, but for this product to be called such, it has to meet certain requirements. These include its manufacture from specific types of grapes, a double distillation in copper stills only, and an ageing process of at least two years in oak barrels which have been made of trees from selected parts of France.

This guarantees that the special flavours usually associated with this brandy retain their uniqueness. Cognac is another drink with a forty per cent alcohol content. To give you an example of the cognac kick if you're a non-drinker, beer, for example, only contains four to six per cent alcohol content.

However, cognac isn't meant to be consumed in large glasses. It is meant to be sipped and savoured.

Answer: Tequila

Tequila originates from Mexico where it is manufactured from the blue agave plant. That plant looks like a hideous looking cactus, but in fact it isn't related to a cactus at all. Agave has an amazing number of uses. Products manufactured from the plant include paper, thread, rope, thatching, needles, pins, tequila, various medicines, nails, soap, tea, and even food.

It's one incredible plant really. Tequila is made from the heart of the plant and harvested in the twelfth year of growing. Amazingly, this heart can weigh up to 200 pounds. Once harvested, it is then heated.

This allows its sap to be released and this is then fermented and distilled to give us the powerful drink, tequila.

Answer: Champagne

Champagne is a sparkling wine made in France. The three main grapes used in its production are Pinor Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. For the drink to be called champagne, however, these grapes have to have come from specific areas of France and be grown according to set rules.

The Romans were the first to plant vineyards in the area of Champagne wherever a garrison was based in order for ordinary wine to be on hand whenever it was needed. Following the demise of the Roman Empire, churches and monasteries became the major producers of this beverage for many years.

The oldest of the *sparkling* wines, however, is Blancette de Limoux. This was first manufactured by the Benedictine order of monks in 1531. Champagne was once apparently a lot sweeter than it is today.

It could hardly be more sour, that's for certain. Quite Frankly (a little French pun for you), this quiz writer thinks it tastes sour, bitter and extremely unappealing. It is quite safe to say that today because the French no longer use the guillotine.

They're too busy drinking champagne.

Answer: Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese wine, which, like the other wines, has a flavour range from dry to sweet. Its history dates back as far as the 15th century's Age of Discovery. Just as champagne is only allowed to be called such if produced in that area of France, so this fortified wine can only be called Madeira if made in the Madeira Islands. Interestingly, the flavour of this drink is said to develop beautifully when, after bottling, it is left exposed to the heat of the sun.

Madeira was so popular in colonial America, before their own vineyards were established, that one quarter of all the wine produced on the Islands went to that new country. This popularity even saw its consumption there during the momentous adoption of the Declaration of Independence on the 4th July, 1776. It was actually the British seizing of John Hancock's Madeira laden ship because of a dispute over import duties that sparked off the Boston riots in the lead-up to the Revolution. In those heady days before and after this event, John Adams was often away from his home on early Congress business. He was known to be particularly fond of this drink, and mentioned on at least one occasion in a letter home to his wife Abigail that, well, quite frankly, he got plastered on it.

Answer: Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine associated in the main with southern Spain, and in particular with the white grapes grown in the Andalusia region. Everyone sing now: "Champagne in Spain comes mainly from the pla-ain". The old word for sherry was "sack". It is believed this is a derivative of the Spanish word "sacar" which translates to "draw out". From a barrel, one presumes, as sack was matured in those containers. This drink only later became known as sherry because of the British habit of referring to wine imported from the area of Jerez by that name. As with several of the other drinks in this quiz, any drink that carries the label of sherry has to come from the south of Spain in three main grape growing areas there that are referred to as the sherry triangle. Incidentally, sherry became a popular drink in England following Francis Drake's sacking and looting of the Spanish sea port of Cadiz in 1587. Among the spoils he took back with him to England following this fine piece of arson, were almost 3,000 barrels of sherry. Perhaps this is the real reason behind the planned invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. They wanted their plonk back?

This should give you a chuckle: So popular was sherry in the Iberian Peninsula in its early days that, in 1519, when Ferdinand Magellan was preparing his ships for that historic voyage around the world, he spent more on sherry than he did on weapons. Some people may even be inclined to think that Magellan had his priorities in the right order. There is absolutely no truth to the rumour that when Magellan left Spain, he was so intoxicated with Madeira that he sailed around in circles until he sobered up.

Answer: Ouzo

Ouzo is a smooth tasting liquorice flavoured drink associated with Greece and Cyprus in particular. It is believed to have been created by 14th century monks on Mount Athos. The traditional way of serving this drink is mixed with water and topped up with ice cubes.

Many people prefer to drink it straight however. This is usually before they (a) break out into a hearty attempt at "Zorba the Greek" dancing, or (b) pass out.