A testament to human ingenuity

[lollardfish]

I want to come up with a comprehensive list of all the things that people have turned into alcohol. Please help me. What I want are the things that are actually fermented/distilled, as opposed to the flavors people dump in.

- Any grain: Beer (Barley is key!), Whiskey (Corn, Rye, Wheat), distilled grain alcohols (Vodka, Gin, Sool), sometimes fermented directly from bread (kvass from Russian black bread).
- Potatoes: Vodka, rarely Beer
- Mare's Milk: Kumis
- Sugar Cane Juice: Rum, Raki
- Grapes: Wine (of all types, including fortified and grappa and bubbly and ouzo and such).
- Pears: Perry
- Apples: Cider, Calvados
- Rice: Sake, Rice wine (rarely other kinds of distilled liquors)
- Agave: Tequila
- Artichoke: Cynar - A wierd Venetian liquor like Campari (with added wine)
- Assorted Veggies: Campari and Aperol (with added wine).
- Honey: Mead
- Plums: Slivovitz, or plum brandy (Romanian)
- Elderberries: Elderberry Wine
- Various Fruits: Various gross fruit wines made by Boon's
- Dandelion: Dandelion Wine
- Fig: Boukha, sometimes Raki
- Lilacs: Lilac Wine
- Cassava: Caxiri. Cauim. Pajuaru.
- Dates: Thibarine, Mahia
- Pomegranites: Sipak
- Birch Sap: Kvass
- Palm Sap: Arrack, Palm Wine
- Coconut Milk: Arrack
- Yucca Sap: Sotol
- Cactus fruit: Colonche
- Pineapple: Chica
- Maple Sap: Specialty vodka.

I'll add more as they occur to me and y'all direct me. I am mostly organizing my office today as I get set to move to the next chapter.

Comments

Also...

[creidylad.livejournal.com]

From pears people also make pear cider which I think is different from perry, and apples can be used to make applejack, which is just gross.

It turns out people really do make lilac wine from lilacs.

Nearly all fruits are used to make wines, come to think of it. I've seen/had peach wine, apple wine and plum wine (as opposed to the brandy, which is derived from plum wine, I guess.)

Per the wikipedia, raki is sometimes made from the fig as well as other fruits as well as from molasses.

Tej is also made from honey.

Re: Also...

[groomporter.livejournal.com]

"apples can be used to make applejack, which is just gross."

-I've heard it said that the reason Johnny Appleseed was important, wasn't for the fruit, but for the cider both alcoholic and non.

Re: Also...

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

As near as I can find Perry = Pear Cider, although some pear cider is just pear juice added to apple cider.