10 Weird and Interesting Facts About Alcohol That Will Surprise You

It’s interesting to see all the different kinds of alcohol that people like. Your best friend’s favorite drink may be something that you can’t even bear the smell of, or, it could be a cocktail that you’ve never even heard of before.

As for your personal taste, are you someone who drinks the same thing every single weekend or do you like to switch things up? Do you enjoy making your own interesting creations or prefer to stick to classic cocktails?

Maybe it’s time to expand your alcohol knowledge a bit.

Here are 10 interesting facts about alcohol that go beyond lagers vs. IPAs and the classic white wine vs. red wine debate.

1. Russia Used to Consider 10% Alcohol Too Low

It’s no secret that Russians really know how to drink. They’re infamous for holding their liquor well – and a lot of it. Maybe this is because, until the early 2000s, anything with an alcohol content of 10% or less was considered cooking material in Russia.

That’s right, they didn’t drink alcohol under 10%. They’ve been downing the hard stuff for years, so it’s no wonder they can drink most people under the table.

2. Moscow Once Ran Out of Vodka

When you can drink like a Russian, you can keep partying all night long, or even for days on end. That’s what happened when World War II ended, at least!

Everyone in Moscow spent so long celebrating the end of the war that they ran out of vodka! There wasn’t a drop left in the entire city after a continuous, multi-day uproar of joy and elation.

3. Germany Has a “Men’s Day” for Drinking

Although it’s not often for an entire city to have such a large celebration as that day in Moscow years ago, some occasions call for an extra drink or two (or three, or ten). That is the case in Germany, where people celebrate Men’s Day every year.

Every year on Men’s Day, men of all ages lug around carts filled with alcohol and food. They get together and walk around their local areas or find a common place to meet and have fun. The women? They’re probably having their own drinking event, too!

4. Alcohol Was Poisoned During Prohibition

There’s still debate in the United States over the effectiveness/consequences of prohibition, the time when alcohol was illegal and people were forced to have fun without it, or else. Prohibition was strictly enforced – to the point that some government officials were poisoning alcohol!

This caused a significant number of deaths in the state. It did more harm to the people than it served justice to the law.

5. Walgreens Owes Some of Its Growth to Prohibition

Another, much lighter result of prohibition, is the growth of Walgreens. That’s right, the classic pharmacy store everyone knows and loves actually owes a large chunk of its success to the time when alcohol was illegal.

Walgreens grew from 20 stores to 400 during prohibition thanks to all the alcohol prescriptions that were given out. It’s a fun fact most people wouldn’t know today as they head to the store for photo prints or medicine refills.

6. Original Playboy Bunnies Had to Know Their Drinks

There’s going from 20 to 400 stores as a whole company, and then there’s one person who knows how to make 20 different cocktails. That’s what every Playboy Bunny had to be able to do back in the day.

Each woman who got the job was expected to identify over 140 various liquors and be able to turn many of them into delicious alcoholic creations. It’s hard for most people to know what goes into 3 or 4 cocktails off the top of their head, let alone 20!

7. Mountain Dew Was Made for Whiskey

Here’s a cocktail you might have heard about: a redneck margarita. This is just a mixture of Mountain Dew and tequila. What Mountain Dew was really made for, though, is whiskey.

The soda got its name as a play on words for mountain-made moonshine. It was intended to be marketed and sold as a chaser for the strong beverage but ended up being a much-loved soda for people of all ages. Still, there’s nothing that says you can’t still mix the two together for a surprisingly delicious combination!

8. A Champagne Bottle Contains 3x More Pressure Than a Tire

There’s something really nice about the carbonation of a soda or a seltzer mixed with alcohol. It helps everything go down smooth, and some people say such mixtures let them keep drinking all night at special events.

Truly special moments require champagne, though. More importantly, they need someone who knows what they’re doing when popping champagne!

The average bottle of this beverage has 3x more pressure than a full car tire. It can send a cork flying across a room at up to 60 miles per hour, which can turn someone’s special night into a bad time faster than you can apologize for the accident.

9. 50 Million People Are Drunk Right Now

The next time you’re having a drink with your friends, think about all the other people around the world raising their glasses, too. At any given time, about .7% of the world’s population is drunk.

That may not sound like many people, but when you consider the billions of humans on the earth, you realize .7% is actually about 50 million people! That’s a lot of filled glasses and empty bottles.

10. Culture Plays a Role in Alcoholism

Speaking of all the people drinking around the world, consider the different perceptions of alcohol for a second. The United States’ drinking age is among the highest of all the world’s nations, with the lowest national drinking age being 16.

Many people argue this plays a role in alcohol misuse and addiction because young people aren’t introduced to it and therefore don’t know what they’re doing. While this may have some truth, there’s not one single reason why alcoholism occurs in anyone. This disease is different for each person it affects, and you can read more here about it.

Interesting Facts About Alcohol, Sex, and More

It’s funny how something you think you know so much about can still surprise you. Maybe you’re well-versed in the various forms of whiskey and what goes well with each, but you know nothing about wine. Maybe you love trying different cocktails and concoctions but you still don’t have a go-to drink yet.

These things come with time, and even with experience, it’s nice to keep learning interesting facts about alcohol. This goes for other things in life that you think you may know well, too.

Perhaps it’s time to try some new moves in the bedroom or work on new ways of meeting people in order to get to that intimate step. For interesting insights about getting close to another person, click here.

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