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Alcohol

There are mind-bogglingly vast quantities of alcohol in outer space. Sadly, it's so dispersed you’d have to travel half a million light years to make a pint of beer.

Guess What? Space is Full of Booze

We’ll toast to that

The Lenox Madeira

Cool Finds

New Jersey Museum Discovers Stash of Madeira from 1796

Liberty Hall Museum owns the wine and will decide if anyone will be allowed to sample the Revolutionary libation

Utahns will once again be allowed to see this view when they order a drink.

Trending Today

Utah Just Did Away With Liquor-Hiding “Curtains”

As liquor laws loosen, the “Zion Curtain” may become a thing of the past

Hamm’s Draft Beer Can

Raise a Glass to the Smithsonian’s First Beer Scholar

Theresa McCulla is ready to start the “best job ever” chronicling the history of American brewing

Trending Today

Famous Shriveled Toe Returned to Yukon Bar

The key ingredient in the Sourtoe Cocktail, the dried-out digit was mailed back on Thursday

Cheers!

Nobody Is Sure Why they Call It a ‘Martini’

Tastes just as good, though

"The Drunkard's Progress" shows how temperance advocates wanted to position alcohol consumption: as a choice leading, inevitably, to ruin and death.

Why Was Maine the First State to Try Prohibition?

The groundbreaking “Maine law” laid the groundwork for other states to experiment with temperance laws

A still from the 2015 film The Big Short, featuring actors Billy Magnussen and Max Greenfield.

New Research

From Budweiser to Heineken, Alcohol Brands Are Rampant in Hollywood Films

Over the past two decades, even G-rated films have amped up the booze labels

Is Champagne Still Champagne Without Bubbles?

In a storied part of France, a group of artisan producers is making this beloved wine the old fashioned way—sans fizz

Ireland May End Its Historic Good Friday Alcohol Ban

The 1927 prohibition restricted the sale of booze on Good Friday, Christmas Day and St. Patrick’s Day

Bevo, Anheuser-Busch's "cereal beer" or "near-beer," was the most popular of non-alcoholic malt beverages sold during Prohibition.

How Some Breweries Survived Prohibition

It mostly involved playing to their non-alcoholic strengths

Susannah Madora Salter was hanging up laundry when she heard her name was on the mayoral ballot.

130 Years Ago, Men Against Women’s Suffrage Put Susanna Salter’s Name on the Ballot

Boy, were they sorry.

To develop the next big mass-market wine, winemakers first hone flavor using focus groups, then add approved flavoring and coloring additives to make the drink match up with what consumers want.

The Science Behind Your Cheap Wine

How advances in bottling, fermenting and taste-testing are democratizing a once-opaque liquid

A vintage ad for Coca Cola from around the late 19th or early 20th century.

Coca-Cola’s Creator Said the Drink Would Make You Smarter

Like the wine and cocaine drink that preceded it, Coca-Cola was first marketed as a brain tonic

Order an old fashioned at the Frolic Room on Hollywood Boulevard, an old haunt of show business greats like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.

Lights, Camera…Cocktails! Five Historic Bars From Hollywood’s Golden Age

Toast the Oscars at one of these Old Holywood watering holes

The Daisy was a popular cocktail with many variations, including the Tequila Daisy.

Here’s How To Make the Margarita’s (Possible) Predecessor, the Daisy

This cocktail has its roots in the nineteenth century, and some of its first recipes are made with brandy, not tequila

How Moonshine Bootlegging Gave Rise to NASCAR

Rotgut and firewater are the founding fathers of our nation’s racing pastime

Atlas of Eating

When Happy Hour Was “Green Hour” in Paris

When the clock struck five, 19th-century Parisians turned to absinthe

A hot toddy isn't actually medicine, but it can feel like it is.

The Hot Toddy: A “Medicinal” Drink That Might Actually Work

On National Hot Toddy Day, warm up with this tasty drink, whether you’re sick or not

Whiskey? Check. Man bun? Check. Presidential presence? Check.

Cool Finds

In This New Portrait, George Washington Trades His Curls for a Man Bun

The first president turns hipster at a new D.C. restaurant

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