WINE OR WHISKEY?
An alcoholic drink is simply a beverage that contains ethanol. Alcohol is made by the process of fermentation of a source of sugar with a catalyst. The catalyst used here is yeast. As it ferments, the carbohydrates of the source i.e., sugar and starch convert them into carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. This ethyl alcohol is called ethanol, which is the base for every alcoholic drink. The more the ethanol present in the drink, the stronger the liquor is. Some commonly consumed drinks include Wine, Beer, and distilled spirits (Whiskey, Rum, Vodka, and Gin).
SOURCES FOR LIQUOR PRODUCTION
- Wine is produced majorly by grapes and other fruits like peaches, plums, and apricots. The process undergoes fermentation and aging of fruit juices.
- Beer is the process used for making beer. Brewing is done by fermentation of malted cereals like wheat, barley, corn or rye.
- Distilled spirits beverages like Whiskey, Rum, Vodka, and Gin are produced by distilling ethanol by fermentation of grains and fruits. These drinks are termed as hard drinks.
Hard drinks are considered damaging for one’s health due to high alcohol content in it. Hard drinks are the beverages that are produced by the process of distillation I.e., boiling and condensation carefully. Distillation is done on fruits and grains that are already fermented. This process purifies the fermented liquid by removing water from it and increasing the alcohol content.
So out of many available options in the market, Whiskey, Rum, Vodka and Gin are the hard liquors and beer and wines are not.
ALCOHOL CONTENT IN DRINKS
Different liquors have a different amount of alcohol i.e., ethanol present in them. Alcohol by volume (ABV) varies in every kind of beverage. It is very important to know about the percentage of alcohol in the drink one is consuming. Contents in Whiskey and Wines:
- Whiskey: Whiskey is divided into Scotch, Bourbon, and Irish and Canadian whiskeys. They all are soaked and aged in oak barrels which give them the caramel color. Whiskeys must have a minimum ABV of 40%. Once the whiskey is aged and distilled, its ABV goes higher than 43%. In fact, after distillation, a scotch whiskey reaches between 60-75% ABV and top of all American whiskey goes around up to 90% ABV.
- Wine: Wines are further divided into fortified and unfortified.
- Wine is of just type of fruits or honey alcohol, because of brandy addition to it or due to long time fermentation. There ABV ranges between 16% -24%.
- Wines are standard fruit alcohol with ABV less than 16%. The average amount of alcohol content in these wines is 14%.
India’s top food regulator “The Food Standards and Safety Authority of India (FSSAI)” has provided standards that will set maximum permissible limits for alcohol content in alcoholic beverages. Current license standards in India allow a maximum limit of 45.5% content in whiskeys, rum, gin and vodka, 12% for wine and 8% for beers but there is no limit on locally manufactured beverages.
PREFERENCE OF WINE OVER WHISKEY
As explained above, hard liquor like whiskey is very high on alcohol content. Excessive consumption of alcohol can affect you inside as well as outside. Everybody organ can feel the disturbance of drinking high ABV drinks. Some of them are:
Brain: the first effect is seen in brain functioning. It can cause temporary as well as permanent memory loss and coordination.
Heart: heavy drinks can weaken the heart over time and do impact on the supply of oxygen to different parts of the body.
Liver: Heavy drinking can lead to severe liver problems. It results in fatty liver.
When it comes to wine, centuries ago wine was used to treat various health problems. It was also believed that people lived longer with moderate consumption of wine. They boost your heart health and prevent some type of vision loss.
Especially red wine is considered good for health because of resveratrol present in it which is giving many benefits:
- It boosts the level of omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cells.
- It humbly decreases the cardiometabolic risk in type-2 diabetic people.
- It controls blood pressure.
So, due to low alcohol content and health benefits of wine make it more preferred over whiskey which is hard liquor with high alcohol content in it.
