Drink

A drink or beverage is a liquid that people drink to satisfy their thirst. Drinks are important in daily life and culture.

Common drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies, and soft drinks. Warm drinks like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate are also popular. Many of these drinks contain caffeine, a natural substance that can give a feeling of alertness.

Alcoholic drinks such as wine, beer, and liquor have been part of human culture for thousands of years. There are also non-alcoholic drinks, which are made from traditional alcoholic drinks but have very little or no alcohol. Examples include non-alcoholic beers and drinks made from wine or cocktails.

Biology

When our bodies need water, we feel thirsty. This thirst makes us want to drink. Our brains help control this feeling. Without water, we cannot live long.

People have always drunk water and milk. As societies grew, they learned to make drinks like wine and beer from plants. The oldest evidence of wine making is from places like Georgia and Iran. Beer might have been made in Neolithic Europe thousands of years ago. Tea probably began in Yunnan, China, long ago.

History

Drinking has always been a big part of getting together with friends and family. In ancient Greece, people would meet for special gatherings called a symposium where they would drink watered-down wine. These meetings could be for serious talks or just for fun. In ancient Rome, they had similar parties called a convivium.

Many early cultures believed that alcohol was a gift from the gods, even creating gods like Dionysus to represent it. Some religions, however, did not allow people to drink alcohol. In some regions, rules were made so that no one could make, sell, or drink alcohol at all.

People have many traditions around drinking. Toasting is a way to honor someone or wish them well by raising a glass together. Another tradition is the loving cup, where a group shares one large drink at celebrations like weddings or sports victories.

In places like East Africa and Yemen, coffee was once used in religious ceremonies. Because this did not match with some Christian beliefs, the Ethiopian Church stopped people from drinking coffee outside of ceremonies until later times. Similarly, coffee was banned in Ottoman Turkey for a time because of political reasons.

Production

A drink is a special kind of liquid that people make to drink. Making drinks has many steps, some before the drink is sold and others just before you drink it.

Water is the most important part of almost all drinks. It is cleaned before we can drink it. Cleaning can include removing tiny bits through filtration or adding safe chemicals like in chlorination. Clean water helps keep us healthy.

Some drinks, like milk, are heated to a certain temperature and then cooled quickly. This process, called pasteurization, helps keep the drink fresh and safe.

Making juice from fruits and vegetables can be done in different ways. You can crush the fruit to get liquid, or use more pressure to get more juice.

Other drinks, like teas and coffee, use a process called infusion. This means letting plant pieces sit in water to give the water flavor.

Some drinks, like soda, get their fizz from a process called carbonation. This adds a special gas called carbon dioxide into the liquid.

Fermentation is a way to make drinks with alcohol, like wine and beer. For wine, grape juice is mixed with yeast. For beer, water, grains, yeast, and hops are used. The grains are prepared in a process called malting and then mixed to make sugars for fermentation.

Distillation is another way to make drinks, used for cleaning water or making stronger alcoholic drinks.

Mixed drinks, often called cocktails, mix two or more ingredients, usually including some kind of alcohol. Today, cocktails can include many different things like soda, fruit juice, sugar, honey, milk, cream, and various herbs.

Type

Non-alcoholic drinks

A non-alcoholic drink is one that has little or no alcohol. This includes low-alcohol beer, non-alcoholic wine, and apple cider if they have a small amount of alcohol by volume (ABV). The meaning of "non-alcoholic" changes depending on where you are. For example, in the United Kingdom, "alcohol-free beer" has less than 0.05% ABV, "de-alcoholised beer" has less than 0.5%, and "low-alcohol beer" has no more than 1.2% ABV. The term "soft drink" means a drink without alcohol, unlike "hard drink" or "drink". Common soft drinks include soda pop, sparkling water, iced tea, lemonade, root beer, fruit punch, milk, hot chocolate, tea, coffee, milkshakes, tap water, bottled water, juice, and energy drinks.

Water

Water is the world's most consumed drink. However, most water on Earth is salt water that we cannot drink. Fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, wetlands, groundwater, and frozen glaciers. Only a small amount of fresh water is easy to get from surface water and underground sources.

In western cultures, water is often drunk cold. In Chinese culture, it is usually drunk hot.

Milk

Milk is one of the "original" drinks; it is the main source of food for babies. In many cultures, especially in the Western world, people continue to drink dairy milk after infancy, using milk from animals like cattle, goats, and sheep.

Carbonated drinks

Carbonated drinks have carbon dioxide mixed into them. This can happen naturally or be done artificially by adding carbon dioxide under pressure. The first artificially carbonated drink was made by Thomas Henry in the late 1770s. Common flavors for carbonated drinks include cola, orange, roots, ginger, and lemon/lime. Sugars and preservatives may also be added.

The most popular carbonated drinks are made by big companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

Hot drinks

These drinks are often served warm or hot.

Coffee

Coffee is made from the roasted seeds of the Coffea plant. The two main types of coffee beans are Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. Coffee plants grow in more than 70 countries. After the coffee seeds are picked, they are processed, dried, roasted, ground, and then brewed to make coffee.

Coffee has a slight stimulating effect because of its caffeine content. It is one of the world's most popular drinks. Coffee has been studied for its effects on health, but results vary.

Coffee first grew in southern Arabia. People started drinking it in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen.

Hot chocolate

Hot chocolate, also called drinking chocolate or cocoa, is made from melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often topped with whipped cream. Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate.

The first chocolate drink was created by the Mayans thousands of years ago, and it was an important part of Aztec culture by 1400 AD. Hot chocolate became popular in Europe after it was brought from Mexico and has changed over time. It is enjoyed all over the world in many forms. Powdered hot chocolate mixes can be added to hot water or milk to make the drink at home.

Tea

Main article: Tea

Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world. It is made by adding dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to boiling water. Tea can be prepared in many ways, with lemon, milk, sugar, or other ingredients added. Tea is served differently in various countries. For example, in China, Japan, and South Korea, tiny cups are used, while in Thailand and the United States, tea is often served cold or with a lot of sweetener.

Tea leaves can be processed in different ways, leading to different appearances and tastes. Chinese yellow and green tea are steamed and dried, Oolong tea is partly oxidised, and black teas are fully oxidised.

Herbal tea

Main article: Tisane

People around the world call many herbal infusions "teas". These can be made from leaves, flowers, roots, or bark and come fresh, dried, or powdered.

Juice and plant drinks

Fruit juice is a natural product with few additives. Common juices include orange juice, tangerine juice, grapefruit juice, pineapple, apple, grape, lime, and lemon juice. Coconut water is also a popular juice. Berries like raspberry, blackberry, and currants are often crushed and mixed with water and sometimes sweetened.

Fruits are perishable, so being able to extract and store their juices was very useful. Some fruits are very sour, so mixing them with water, sugar, or honey makes them taste better. Fruits can also be blended with ice and other ingredients to make a smoothie.

Vegetable juices are usually served warm or cold. Vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and celery can be used. Some vegetable juices are mixed with fruit juice to improve the taste. Many vegetable juices, especially those with a lot of tomato, have high sodium content, so eating them for health should be done carefully. Some vegetable juices offer the same health benefits as eating whole vegetables.

Plant milk is a milk-like drink made from plants. Common types include soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, coconut milk, and oat milk.

Sleep drinks

A nightcap is a drink taken before going to bed to help sleep. Examples include a small amount of alcohol or a cup of warm milk. Today, most sleep drinks are non-alcoholic and contain calming ingredients. Unlike other calming drinks like tea or warm milk, sleep drinks often have more than one ingredient to help relax. They usually do not contain caffeine or alcohol.

Alcoholic drinks

Main article: Alcoholic beverage

A drink is considered "alcoholic" if it contains ethanol, also known as alcohol. Beer has been part of human life for about 8,000 years.

Beer

Beer is made by fermenting starch from grains like barley and wheat. It is usually flavored with hops, which add bitterness and help preserve the beer. Beer is the world's most widely consumed alcoholic drink. It is believed to have been discovered by the goddess Ninkasi around 5300 BCE when she accidentally found yeast. Women were the main brewers for much of history because brewing was a home activity. Only recently have men also started brewing.

Some of the earliest writings mention beer production and rules about it. Today, brewing is a big global business with many large companies and many smaller breweries.

Cider

Cider is an alcoholic drink made from fruit juice, usually apple juice, but also from peaches, pears ("Perry" cider), or other fruits. The United Kingdom drinks the most cider and has the biggest cider companies. As of 2006, the U.K. produced 600 million liters of cider each year.

Wine

Wine glasses with white wine and red wine

Wine is made from fermented grapes or other fruits. Yeast changes the sugars in grapes into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Different grapes and yeasts make different kinds of wine. Wine has been around for thousands of years, with the earliest found in Georgia around 6000 BC. It was important in ancient Greece and Rome.

Wine has also been important in religion. It was linked to blood by the ancient Egyptians, and it is part of Judaism and Christianity. In Islam, alcohol consumption was not allowed.

Wine has been part of human culture for a very long time and has played roles in many religions and traditions.

Spirits

Further information: List of alcoholic drinks § Distilled beverages

Spirits are strong alcoholic drinks with at least 20% alcohol by volume (ABV) and no added sugar. Popular spirits include brandy, gin, rum, tequila, vodka, and whisky. Brandy is made from wine, while vodka can be made from grains like sorghum, corn, rye, or wheat.

In culture

Places to drink

People have always gathered in special places to enjoy drinks together. Cafés and coffeehouses focus on serving hot drinks and light snacks. Many coffee houses in the Middle East and in West Asian areas around the world offer a special way to enjoy flavored tobacco through a hookah. Espresso bars are coffeehouses that specialize in espresso and drinks made from espresso.

In places like China and Japan, people meet in tea houses to socialise while drinking tea. Alcoholic drinks are served in special places called drinking establishments. Pubs are very important in the culture of The United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada, New England, Metro Detroit, South Africa and New Zealand. In villages, pubs often become the center of community life.

Matching with food

Main article: Wine and food matching

Food and drinks are often enjoyed together to make the taste better. This is especially true with wine, and many people have studied how to pair wines with foods. The weight, flavors, and textures of food and wine can either contrast or complement each other. Recently, food magazines have started suggesting certain wines to go with recipes, and restaurants sometimes offer meals where each course is paired with a special wine.

Presentation

Different drinks are served in special glasses or cups. Sometimes this is just for looks, like with cocktails. Other times, the glass is made in a certain way for practical reasons, like coffee cups that keep the drink hot or brandy snifters that let the smell of the drink stay in the glass.

Many drinking glasses have a stem, so you can hold the glass without changing the temperature of your drink. In champagne glasses, the bowl is shaped to keep the bubbles in the drink by reducing the surface area at the top. In the past, champagne was often served in a champagne coupe, which let the bubbles escape even faster than a normal wine glass.

Commercial trade

Coffee is a very popular drink that many countries sell to others. In 2004, twelve countries made coffee their biggest farm product to sell. By 2005, coffee was one of the most valuable farm products sold around the world.

Some drinks, like wine, can also be used to save money. People can buy and sell special bottles of wine, or join a group where everyone puts money together to buy valuable wines.