fermentarium » corona

The ritual of drinking

DJ Spiess — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:14:51 +0000

Corona Lime

There are several reasons offered for why the lime is added to the neck of a Corona bottle, none of which have any credence. The main reasons suggested for the lime are masking the light struck odors, protecting the lip of the beer from bugs big and small, or because a bartender wanted to start a fad.

Masking the odors from the beer being light struck is silly, because large macro beers like Corona use light stable hop extracts. The beer is unlikely to become light struck. The lime would not sanitize the lip of the bottle, nor would it be particularly helpful for keeping flies out of the beer. The book Buy-ology, by Martin Lindstron, claims a bartender wanted to start a fad, but I cannot find any other evidence or reference to this (I did email asking for a reference, but received no reply). This sounds like a story from a “friend of a friend”.

Ever wonder why limes go with Corona beer?

In the 1980s, Modelo, the company who owns the Corona brand, changed the bottle to the iconic clear longneck with raised letters and marketed Corona heavily to the American college students on spring break at the Mexican resorts of Cancún and Cabo San Lucas. The best explanation I’ve heard for the ritual’s origin is American college students just started adding the lime and the idea took off.

Regardless how the ritual started, Modelo’s marketing efforts had a dramatic effect on the Corona brand. Corona’s U.S. sales rocketed from 1.8 million cases in 1984 to 13.5 million in 1986. Barton Beers, Ltd., Modelo’s Chicago-based importer for the 24 states west of the Mississippi, advertised the beer featuring young attractive people (go figure) on tropical beaches with the beer and lime. The beer isn’t especially tasty, but this ritual helped take the Mexican beer to the top of American imports.

The ritual of the lime sparks an emotion in the consumer. You think of vacations on beaches, relaxing in the sand, and sipping beer. Even rapper Shwayze has a song “Corona and Lime” where the lyrics “baby will you be my corona and lime” reinforce the connection. Other Mexican brands have tried including the lime in their bottles, but when you see a beer with a lime in the top, you associate it with Corona.

Shaken not stirred

If you’ve ever seen a James Bond film, you know the line when he orders a martini – “Shaken, not stirred”. The reason for stirring a martini is to prevent the gin from becoming “bruised”. The ritual implies sophistication and wealth. Only the truly sophisticated would know why you do not shake the martini. Why Bond shakes it, who knows. Maybe to be different?

There is a huge amount of debate on the “whys” of stirring. W. Somerset Maugham declared that “martinis should always be stirred, not shaken, so that the molecules lay sensuously one on top of the other”. This sounds like a rich people version of “hippie” to me.

Believe it or not, the James Bond famous catch phrase “shaken, not stirred” was the subject of a medical study. In the 1999 paper, “Shaken, not stirred: bioanalytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis”, University of Western Ontario biochemistry researchers determined there were health benefits to shaking the martini. The paper claimed “Shaken martinis were more effective in deactivating hydrogen peroxide than the stirred variety, and both were more effective than gin or vermouth alone”. This means shaken martinis are a superior antioxidant (that’s good). The researchers did not look into any benefits to adding the olive, so take note graduate students–there’s at least a paper, and possibly a thesis, in the olive.

Why is Guinness so foamy?

When your beer is poured, usually the bartender will avoid foam. The point is to pour the pint to the top as quickly as possible. Ever notice it is the opposite for Guinness? The bartender will pour a very foamy pint ¾ full. Then let it sit until more can be poured into the glass. You might even get a shamrock on the top of your Guinness if your bartender is particularly adept at pouring. The reason? – clever marketing.

Ever wonder why it takes so long to pour a glass of Guinness?

Since Guinness uses nitrogen in their beer, it loses its head much quicker. The nitrogen escapes the beer much quicker than carbon dioxide. In the early 1900s, Guinness was getting their asses kicked in the UK pubs. No one wanted to wait for a Guinness when you could get a pale ale much quicker (and thus be drunk much quicker). How did Guinness fix this problem? As the Buy-ology book by Martin Lindstrom discusses, they introduced a ritual surrounding the beer.

Guinness ran ads stating “good things come to those who wait” and “it takes 119.53 seconds to pour the perfect pint”. They serve their beer with a special faucet to perturb the beer as it pours. Guinness’ brewmaster, Fergal Murray, is quoted as saying “we don’t want anyone putting liquid into a glass”. They turned a liability into a beer ritual. Now Guinness is the most famous stout beer on the market.

The story of wine

Wine has a ritual too. First you are presented the bottle by the server, then the cork, you swirl the glass or wine, smell the glass, and eventually sip the wine. The wine cork is presented to check to see if your wine is corked (contains 2,4,6-trichloroanisole – TCA which makes your wine taste like ass). You swirl the glass to introduce oxygen into the wine so more aroma is released and you can see the alcohol lacing. Everything is done according to a time honored tradition for serving wine.

There are reasons for each step of tasting your wine, but the truth is this is a ritual. A funky smelling cork does not necessarily mean the bottle is corked, the wine needs to actually be tasted to determine this, and yet this step is still practiced. Pouring the wine into a glass should add oxygen, will swirling really add much more?

You smell the cork, but why?

Lick, shoot, and suck.

Of course there is a ritual surrounding tequila (and we’re not talking “tequila makes her clothes fall off”). The common ritual for drinking tequila is to start with a lick of salt and chase the tequila with a lime. Anyone who has done a shot of tequila knows this ritual.

Countries other than the United States do not necessarily have this ritual. According to Wikipedia, the German’s tequila shot, called Cimmamon (not cinnamon), replaces the salt and lime with cinnamon and an orange slice. The Mexicans drink it straight, but this is with higher quality tequila (one would hope).

The ritual probably started to dull the sharpness of cheaper tequilas. The truth is the ritual makes the shooter more popular.

Why introduce a ritual?

Wine makers can sell their product for hundreds of dollars even though Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck) has proved you can sell a wine for much less and still make a profit. Charles Shaw wines, like their Chardonnay, have even won awards against much higher priced wines. So how do wines sell for so much? The more expensive wines include a story, and are presented with a ritual. You’re buying the experience.

Researchers have shown a wine drinker will enjoy the wine more if the wine is more expensive. This reaction by their test subjects was not imagined. Their reactions could be seen on MRIs. The researchers found “that the brain might compute experienced pleasantness in a much more sophisticated manner that involves integrating the actual sensory properties of the substance being consumed with the expectations about how good it should be.” In short the price of the wine changed how pleasurable the subject thought the wine was.

In each of the cases above, the beverage is ordinary on its own. Are Corona and Guinness the best representatives of their style? No, there are better Pilsners and stouts. Does any wine deserve a $100 USD price tag? No, no wine costs that much to make. Once a ritual is introduced for each beverage, it may elevate a drink to superstardom because you’re no longer selling just a product, you’re selling an experience with mystique.

Please see the fair use guidelines for republication. If you would like to submit articles to fermentarium.com, please review our Guest Post Guidelines.

Don't forget to "like" fermentarium on facebook

22 crazy alcohol myths you swore were true

DJ Spiess — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:45:28 +0000

NOTE: This article and website are not affiliated with the Facebook fan page “22 crazy alcohol myths you swore were true”. Someone stole the content and the facebook fan page points to another site who is posting the stolen article. The official Facebook fan page for fermentarium is located here.

Some myths are just wives tales, others are started to advance an agenda. Here’s a list of many alcohol urban legends.

These myths are as true as the unicorn

Does this beer make me look fat? (the beer belly)

A study published in 2003 by the Journal of Nutrition looked at the bellies of beer drinkers, wine drinkers, spirit drinkers, and no drinkers. They measured the body-mass index (BMI) and the abdominal height of each subject. The abdominal height is the distance from your spine to the top of your abdomen (how far your tummy sticks out). The results showed beer drinkers had no more body fat than non drinkers on average . Beers range between 100 and 200 calories. You need 3500 calories to create a pound of fat. Of course beer can only add to your caloric intake, but lifestyle and genetics most likely play a bigger part in your tummy fat.

The minimum drinking age in America is 21 by federal law

Each state can set the minimum drinking age to any number they like. Unfortunately, the federal government passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act in 1984, which coerces states to keep the drinking age at 21. The law does not state the drinking age should be 21. It states any state that does not make the drinking age 21 will lose 10% of their federal highway funding. Louisiana held out as long as they could, but eventually caved in with the rest of the nation.

Alcohol destroys brain cells and makes you stupid

Alcohol has no effect on the lifecycle of brain cells . According to Queensland Brain Institute director Professor Perry Bartlett in Australia, drinking alcohol does not kill brain cells, even if it feels like it did the next morning. The commonly accepted notion that alcohol creates huge craters of dead cells in your brain turns out to be an old wives’ tale. In moderate amounts, Italian researchers have demonstrated that red wine helps the brain and can prevent dementia in old age.

Parents can serve their children alcohol in America

This is true in only 30 states in America, and you can serve the alcohol only in your home to your own children. The other 20 states state that it is never ok to give your own children alcohol in any amount. You’ll have to look up the laws in your state to see if your state trusts you enough to know what is best for your children.

The puritans were the original forces behind the prohibitionist movement in America

There was more beer on the Mayflower than water. Before people understood micro-organisms, drinking water was a good way to get sick. People who drank beer were healthier and lived longer. In fact, the first Thanksgiving had plenty of beer, brandy, gin and wine. [ed- There is some contention to the fact that the Pilgrims had beer on Thanksgiving. The point I was making was more that the Pilgrims did drink alcohol. The Pilgrim's beer supplies most likely were exhausted by the first Thanksgiving. Thanks to Bob S. for this correction on his site and the reference at Joe Sixpack .]

The large American breweries make watery beer because it’s easier

As any homebrewer will attest, it is very difficult to make the American pale lager with the same crispness and lack flavor found in the macro brews. The large breweries make the beer that way, because that is what sells. The majority of beer drinkers prefer this lager to other lagers. Hopefully the craft brew movement in America will change these preferences.

Budweiser contains formaldehyde

We were so sure that this rumor was a myth, we added it to the list to research later. This might come as a shock to you. It shocked us when we found this on Notre Dame’s website . Canned beer does contain a small amount of the same junk that keeps your dead Kermit (frog) fresh for biology class. At least it used to.

Formaldehyde was used to kill bacteria that attacked the lubricant used in the manufacturing process of cans. The cans were rinsed, but a small amount always remained. People got used to this flavor in their canned beer. Other emulsions are used now, so there is no formaldehyde in current beers in America (there are reports that Chinese and Thai beers are using formaldehyde). Its legacy does remain – the newer emulsions created must have the formaldehyde flavor, otherwise it will change the flavor of the beer. People are so used to it, that they expect it.

European/Organic wines contain no sulfites

All wines, even wines that state “No Sulfite Added” contain sulfites. Sulfites are used as a natural preservative in wine. The fermentation process for creating wine produces sulfites in the wine. Additional sulfites in the form of potassium metabisulfite are added to help preserve the wine. Since sulfite is a natural by-product of the fermentation process, there is always around 10 mg/liter of sulfite in wine. This is true for organic wine.

Good luck at finding wine with no sulfites. It's a natural by-product, so all wine has it.

It is a myth European wines do not contain sulfites; the EU does not require wine makers to list a warning label. European wines still contain 40-80mg/liter just like their American and Australian counterparts.

Sulfites causes red wine headaches

Australian researchers published in Thorax (2001 Oct; 56 (10):763-9), showed that “only a small number of wine sensitive asthmatic patients responded to a single dose challenge with sulfited wine under laboratory conditions. This may suggest that the role of sulphites [sic] and / or wine in triggering asthmatic responses has been overestimated.” However, an asthmatic reaction is very different from a headache. No scientific study has shown any sulfite links to red wine headaches.

Beer has the same amount of alcohol as a shot of 80 proof liquor or 5 ounces of wine

Anyone who has ever had a few Belgian ales knows this just isn’t right. Different beers and wines have a wide variety of alcohol contents. The wine and beer are listed in this often repeated fact with incomplete information.

80 proof liquor contains 40% alcohol. Proof is double the alcohol content. This means that a 1 ounce shot of 80 proof spirits contains 0.4 ounces of alcohol. Shots are usually defined as 1 ¼ ounces to 1 ½ ounces. We’ll be generous and go with the lower figure. One 1 ¼ ounce shot of 80 proof liquor will have 0.5 ounces of alcohol. (1 ½ ounces contains 0.6 ounces of alcohol)

Assume that the beer we are drinking is 4% ABV. Most beers in America are around 4%. In a 1 ounce shot of beer we would have 0.04 ounces of alcohol. Most beers are 12 ounces, so that is 0.04 x 12 = 0.48. If your beer is 12 ounces and 4% ABV, then one beer equals one shot of 80 proof alcohol. Most pubs serve pints which are 16 ounces. One pint is 0.64 ounces of alcohol. That’s more than a shot. If you are drinking a craft brew, this number will go up even more.

Wine alcohol contents are anywhere from 10% to 16%. We’ll assume 14% ABV for this example. One ounce of wine will have 0.14 ounces of alcohol. Five ounces of wine will have 0.70 ounces of alcohol. That is much more than a shot too.

Lesson learned: shots actually have less alcohol than typical servings of beers and wine. You need to pay attention to the alcohol content to make accurate comparisons.

Bottles of tequila in Mexico have worms in them

Tequila does not have worms. You are thinking of tequila’s close cousin mescal. In the 1950s, Jacobo Lozano Paez started bottling mescal and noticed the worms gave mescal a distinctive flavor. The worms were getting into the beverage during the processing of the agave plant. He came up with the idea of adding whole worms to mescal. The worms are harmless, and are more of a marketing gimmick. The worms will not make you hallucinate.

Rolling Rock’s “33” refers to the year prohibition was repealed

While Amendment XVIII was repealed in December of 1933, the source of 33 has a different origin. It refers to the number of words in their slogan on the bottles of Rolling Rock. The author was keeping track of the words in each proposed slogan and forgot to remove it. The number made it to production and was included on the bottles. The mystique surrounding the number encouraged the brewery to keep the number on the bottle.

Alcohol will make you feel warmer

It’s the reverse. Alcohol lowers your body temperature. Too much alcohol in very cold weather can cause hypothermia.

Corona beer contains urine from the workers

This myth was traced back to a Heineken distributor in 1987. The myth is false, and one can only wonder why this myth was started. Heineken was the number one beer import in America in 1987, and Corona was a close second. Corona learned of the rumor when Nevada grocers started removing Corona from their shelves. Corona traced the rumor back to Luce and Sons of Reno, a Heineken distributor. Corona sued and the case was dropped after Luce recanted the rumor.

Pennies under the tongue will help you pass a breathalyzer test

It won’t. We couldn’t even find the fake science behind this myth. This myth is so “out there” it is hard to believe anyone would believe it. The copper in the penny, which is mostly zinc, does nothing to the breathalyzer. Breath mints and prayer do not defeat the breathalyzer test either.

Coffee will sober you up

Your body processes about 0.015 percent of blood alcohol content per hour. Coffee, showers, nor exercise will speed this process. Gender, weight, age or any other factor has no influence on this process. You just have to wait to sober up.

Beer before liquor, never been sicker – liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.

The rate of consumption determines if you get sick. The mix or order has no influence on your ability to “hold your liquor”.

Aspirin while or before drinking prevents hangovers

Aspirin will not prevent or reduce your hangover. Taking an aspirin before drinking will actually increase the speed of intoxication and make your intoxication more severe. The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that found aspirin before alcohol will actually increase you blood alcohol levels by 26%. They also found that the alcohol will stay in your system longer because your metabolism is slower.

Acetaminophen can be even scarier. This drug, commonly found in Tylenol, is toxic to your liver when it mixes with alcohol. Aspirin or Ibuprofen might help with the headache the next morning, and are a safer choice.

Absinthe is a hallucinogen

This is a very famous myth that resulted in the beverage’s ban in many countries. Many believe the main ingredient wormwood causes insanity, because it contains thujone. Researchers believe the alcohol content (~70% ABV) would have a much stronger affect than any amount of thujone in the drink. Researchers also question if absinthe in the 1800s contained the reported amounts of thujone required to have its toxic effect. In 2007, three licenses were granted to make Absinthe in the United States. These absinthes are thujone-free (less than 10ppm). The modern versions will get you drunk, but if you see pink elephants it is because you had too much.

Homebrewers should avoid lambic yeasts because they will infect everything

Many myths surround these yeast and bacteria. Since they are “wild”, it is assumed they have supernatural powers above and beyond the normal beer yeast. Brewers worry the critters will lurk in every crevice of your home or brewery and infect every beer you ever make again. If you are using porous fermenters (wood barrels), you might need to be concerned for that particular container, but glass, better bottles, and stainless steel are all safe. Just make sure you clean your equipment, and properly sanitize it.

Coors supports Nazis

With a name like Adolph, how can this be wrong? Well for starters, the Coors brewery was founded sixteen years before Hitler was born. There is no evidence ever reported that anyone in the Coors family were Nazis or ever supported Nazis. This is an unfounded rumor, most likely started due to the company and families conservative leanings.

The name is German, but the Coors family were in the USA long before the Nazis were in power

Canadian (or insert another country here) beer is stronger than American beer

90% of the beer in the world is under 5.5% ABV. The myth most likely results in the conversion from ABV (alcohol by volume) to ABW (alcohol by weight), or the fact American macro beers tend to be lighter in flavor and body. The alcohol contained is similar in all countries.

Darker beers contain more alcohol

Coors Extra Beer is about 4.84% ABV. Guinness Stout contains 4.27% ABV. Budweiser has 4.6% ABV. Samiclaus, a dark Swiss beer, is about 12% ABV. Typical Belgian Golden ales are around 7%-10%. You get the idea.

The color of the beer has no corolation to the amount of alcohol in the beer. You can usually find a beer (ligher or darker) which has more alcohol than another beer.

What myths have you heard?

Hopefully you found this enlightening. Next time someone pops one of these myths on you, you can direct them here for the truth. I’m sure there are more myths out there. Which ones have you heard?