Drink
In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture.
In addition, alcoholic drinks such as wine, beer, and liquor, which contain the drug ethanol, have been part of human culture for more than 8,000 years.
The category includes drinks that have undergone an alcohol removal process such as non-alcoholic beers and de-alcoholized wines.
Thirst is regulated by the hypothalamus in response to subtle changes in the body's electrolyte levels, and also as a result of changes in the volume of blood circulating.
The complete deprivation of drinks (that is, water) will result in death faster than the removal of any other substance besides oxygen.
[9] The invention of beer (and bread) has been argued to be responsible for humanity's ability to develop technology and build civilization.
[17] Pasteurization is the process of heating a liquid for a period of time at a specified temperature, then immediately cooling.
The name is derived from the word "percolate" which means to cause (a solvent) to pass through a permeable substance especially for extracting a soluble constituent.
This category includes low-alcohol beer, non-alcoholic wine, and apple cider if they contain a sufficiently low concentration of alcohol by volume (ABV).
[33] Cola, orange, various roots, ginger, and lemon/lime are commonly used to create non-alcoholic carbonated drinks; sugars and preservatives may be added later.
[34] The most consumed carbonated soft drinks are produced by three major global brands: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from the roasted seeds of several species of an evergreen shrub of the genus Coffea.
The seeds are then roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor, before being ground and brewed to create coffee.
[38] Coffee cultivation first took place in southern Arabia;[39] the earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in the middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen.
Prepared hot chocolate can be purchased from a range of establishments, including cafeterias, fast food restaurants, coffeehouses and teahouses.
Tea, the second most consumed drink in the world, is produced from infusing dried leaves of the Camellia sinensis shrub, in boiling water.
[44] There are many ways in which tea is prepared for consumption: lemon or milk and sugar are among the most common additives worldwide.
Other additions include butter and salt in Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet; bubble tea in Taiwan; fresh ginger in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; mint in North Africa and Senegal; cardamom in Central Asia; rum to make Jagertee in Central Europe; and coffee to make yuanyang in Hong Kong.
[47] Leaves, flowers, roots or bark can be used to make a herbal infusion and can be bought fresh, dried or powdered.
Raspberry, blackberry and currants are popular juices drinks but the percentage of water also determines their nutritive value.
For example, a small alcoholic drink or a cup of warm milk can supposedly promote a good night's sleep.
[64][65] Today, the brewing industry is a global business, consisting of several dominant multinational companies and many thousands of smaller producers ranging from brewpubs to regional breweries.
The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, water, or other nutrients.
The well-known variations result from the very complex interactions between the biochemical development of the fruit, reactions involved in fermentation, terroir and subsequent appellation, along with human intervention in the overall process.
The final product may contain tens of thousands of chemical compounds in amounts varying from a few percent to a few parts per billion.
Wine has a rich history dating back thousands of years, with the earliest production so far discovered having occurred c. 6000 BC in Georgia.
[71] The Greek cult and mysteries of Dionysus, carried on by the Romans in their Bacchanalia, were the origins of western theater.
Popular spirits include borovička, brandy, gin, rum, slivovitz, tequila, vodka, and whisky.
Many coffee houses in the Middle East, and in West Asian immigrant districts in the Western world, offer shisha (nargile in Turkish and Greek), flavored tobacco smoked through a hookah.
For example, pubs are fundamental to the culture of The United Kingdom,[72][73] Ireland,[74] Australia,[75] Canada, New England, Metro Detroit, South Africa and New Zealand.
