Top 10 alcohol facts

As advertisements of brandy. The Osborne sherry company erected large images of bulls starting in 1956 to advertise their Brandy de Jerez. In 1994 a law that prohibited all roadside advertising of alcoholic beverages came into being; as a result of the protests, bulls have not been liquidated, have become a part of the landscape and have "aesthetic or cultural significance".

In Spain. Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. The word "Sherry" is an anglicisation of Xeres (Jerez). Sherry was previously known as sack, from the Spanish saca, meaning "extraction" from the solera.

Less sedative. Methanol has a much weaker sedative effect than ethanol, which leads the victim to drink more than it would normally do with ethanol. Methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and then to the poisonous formic acid in the liver.

Nordic Countries. In the early twentieth century, much of the impetus for the prohibition movement in the Nordic countries and North America came from moralistic convictions of pietistic Protestants. Nordic countries had started prohibition before the United States did. Between 1915-1919, laws were passed in Norway, Iceland and Finland.

Dom Pérignon. In 1718, Canon Godinot published a set of wine making rules that were said to be established by Dom Pérignon. Prior to blending he would taste the grapes without knowing the source vineyard to avoid influencing his perceptions. References to his "blind tasting of wine" have led to the common misconception that Dom Pérignon was blind.

Absinthe. A perforated or slotted spoon is used to dissolve a sugar cube in a glass of absinthe. In the period since absinthe was made illegal in the US antique dealers have seen dramatic increases in the prices of these artifacts there. Some absinthe spoons can fetch thousands of dollars.

It was designed for coachmen. The brewery claims the glass was designed by the innkeeper Pauwel Kwak in the early 19th century for coachmen. The shape of the glass allowed them to fix the beer to the carriage and avoid spills.

From Cyprus. Commandaria is an amber-coloured sweet dessert wine made in the Commandaria is made from sun-dried grapes of the varieties Xynisteri and Mavro. It represents an ancient wine style documented in Cyprus back to 800 BC. The name Commandaria dates back to the crusades in the 12th century.

Blue agave. Tequila is a regionally specific distilled beverage and type of alcoholic drink made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the central western Mexican state of Jalisco.

London. The London Beer Flood happened on 17 October 1814 in London. A huge vat containing over 610,000 litres of beer ruptured, causing other vats in the same building to succumb in a domino effect. As a result, more than 1,470,000 litres of beer burst out and gushed into the streets, killing couple of people in the process.