A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is a drinkable liquid containing ethanol that is produced by means of distilling fermented grain, fruit, or vegetables.
This excludes undistilled fermented beverages such as beer and wine, and often the term hard liquor is used to contrast distilled beverages from undistilled ones.
Beer and wine are limited to a maximum alcohol content of about 15%, as most yeasts cannot reproduce when the concentration of alcohol is above this level.
The term spirit refers to a distilled beverage that contains no added sugar and has at least 20%. Popular spirits include brandy, fruit brandy, gin, rum, vodka, and whisky.
Distilled beverages that are bottled with added sugar and added flavorings, such as Grand Marnier, Frangelico, and American schnapps, are liqueurs.
In common usage, the distinction between spirits and liqueurs is widely unknown or ignored consequently all alcoholic beverages other than beer and wine are generally referred to simply as spirits.
Distilled alcoholic beverages first appeared in Europe in the 12th century among alchemists who were more interested in brewing medical elixirs than in making gold from lead.
They first appeared under the name aqua ardens in the Compendium Salerni from the medical school at Salerno. The production method was written in code, suggesting that it was being kept secret. Taddeo Alderotti in his Consilia medicinalis referred to serpente, which are believed to have been the coiled tube of a still.
In 1437, burned water was mentioned in the records of the county of Katzenelnbogen in Germany. It was served in a tall, narrow glass called a goderulffe.
Paracelsus gave alcohol its modern name, taking it from the Arabic word which means finely divided, in reference to what is done to wine.
His test was to burn a spoonful without leaving any residue. Testing were to burn a cloth soaked in it without actually harming the cloth. In both cases, to achieve this effect the alcohol had to have been at least 95 percent, close to the maximum concentration attainable through distillation.
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