The English “yeast” comes, via the Dutch “gist,” from the Greek word for boiling. Getting the gist of something is literally boiling it down.

Sugar is the most important molecule on earth.

Some archaeologists and anthropologists have argued that the production of beer induced human beings to settle down and develop permanent agriculture – to literally put down roots and cultivate grains instead of roam nomadically.

Yay! We have made booze.

Distillation tells us that having less of something can make it more potent. It is concentration. It is focus.

Whisky is, basically, distilled beer – and.

It’s arguably the dumbest mixed drink ever invented.

It wasn’t until about 10,000 years ago that we humans took control of fermentation for ourselves, entering into a partnership with that fungus long before we knew what it was. We domesticated that microbe, the same way we domesticated dogs and cattle, to do a job: make drinks.

It’s not enough to admire the pretty bottles filled with varicolored liquids behind the bar. You’re supposed to ask questions about them – what they are and why they’re different, and how people make them. The only people who can get away with going that far down a rabbit hole are journalists, scientists, and three-year-olds. And three-year-olds aren’t allowed in bars.

Ethanol might help with a hangover because it stops the body from breaking down methanol.