What’s better than bacon or a tumbler of whiskey? Whiskey infused with bacon, of course (if you’re a fan of that sort of thing and well, we are). But Idaho State Police have started cracking down in Boise at establishments that are serving up infused alcohol, citing state law. [More]
liquor
Where Booze Is Concerned, Americans Choose Beer Over Wine & Liquor
By 8.20.12
When faced with a chilled chardonnay, a dry martini or a frosty mug of ale, all Americans who drink have a choice that we are fond of making. A new report from venerable pollsters Gallup found that a majority of us drink alcohol in some form — 66% of Americans, to be exact — but there can be only one boozy winner, and it’s beer. [More]
Pennsylvania Pulls Plug On Wine Kiosk Experiment
By 9.20.11
As anyone who has tried to buy booze, wine or beer in Pennsylvania can tell you, the Keystone State has some of the most bizarre and byzantine liquor control rules on the books. Last year, the state tried to clear things up by introducing overly complicated wine kiosks in supermarkets, but it now looks like those have fallen victim to a payment dispute. [More]
We Are Too Poor For Fancy Alcohol
By 2.2.10
The numbers are in for liquor sales in 2009, and last year had the smallest increase in sales since 2001, reports Bloomberg. What’s worse (if you own a high-end liquor company), sales shifted toward the products on the cheaper end of the spectrum, and people bought less at restaurants and other public places. But we’re not actually drinking less, it turns out–we’re just doing more entertaining at home. [More]
Pennsylvania Training Its State Liquor Store Employees To Be Nicer
By 3.10.09
If you buy your devil juice from Pennsylvania, you might notice a difference in the way you’re treated starting later this month. Pennsylvania is spending $173,000 to train employees of its state-owned liquor and wine stores to be more polite, reports PhillyBurbs.com: “The board wants to make sure clerks are saying ‘hello,’ ‘thank you’ and ‘come again’ to customers coming in for wine and liquor.”
It's Midnight Somewhere…
By 1.1.09
It’s New Year’s Eve, and we have some drinking suggestions for you.
Safeway IDs Everyone In Your Party When You Buy Beer
By 9.5.08
Daniel went to his local Safeway with his brother to buy some beer. Daniel had his ID, but his brother didn’t—but that’s okay, because Daniel was the one buying the beer. The cashier, however, felt otherwise, and wouldn’t complete the transaction without carding both of them. The store manager told him “the policy is, at the discretion of the clerk, to check the ID of every person present.”
The World’s 5 Worst Ways To Get Drunk
By 6.10.08 — Updated: 10.24.16
We had a sense that some readers may have been put off by The Most Expensive Spirits In The World. We realize now that there are many people who are only willing to spend a few pennies to get drunk, even if it means massive organ damage or death. For those people, Cracked has assembled a list of The World’s 5 Worst Ways To Get Drunk. The list, inside…
The Most Expensive Spirits In The World
By 5.22.08
Since the beginning of history, man has sought to concoct a spirit that makes him seem like the ultimate pimp. But which are the spirits that exemplify the pinnacle of decadence? In case you still have money left over from encrusting your toilet seat with diamonds and gold plating your pets, Divine Caroline has put together a list of the most expensive spirits in the world. And you thought you were a player. The spirits, inside…
Is This Absolut Ad Cheeky Or Distasteful?
By 4.6.08
Absolut is running an ad in Mexico that some in this country are finding offensive because it favorably depicts our borders as they existed before the 1848 Mexican-American war. We’re going to bite and talk about the ad even though it means that the advertisers win and America dies just a bit more.
10 Superb Fancy Schmancy Scotches
By 11.21.07
Americans and Europeans love “super premium” single malt scotch whiskies—sales were up 14% last year, even while sales for value and premium scotch fell. If you helped contribute to that number, you’ll appreciate this list of 10 terrific single malt and blended whiskies from a fellow scotch lover, with detailed descriptions of what you can expect from each bottle.
Why Can You Brew Your Own Beer, But Not Moonshine?
By 10.22.07
Slate investigates, and the short answer is, because the government stands to lose too much money on lost sales of spirits, which are taxed far higher than beer: the U.S. “takes an excise tax of $2.14 for each 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof spirits, compared with 21 cents for a bottle of wine (of 14 percent alcohol or less) and 5 cents for a can of beer.”
What's Up With All The "Special" Kinds Of Vodka?
By 8.31.07
Why are there so many different kinds of new vodkas, while brands of gin, rum and tequila stay the same?
Teens Prefer Liquor To Beer, Hate Wine
By 7.29.07
The CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report claims that teens prefer bourbon, rum, scotch, whiskey, and vodka to beer. Why should you care? Regulators and policy makers use the statistics to develop beverage-specific measures to combat underage drinking, “including increasing alcohol excise taxes and increasing restrictions on the distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages.” The CDC studied high schoolers in Nebraska, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and found the following:
