The Origins And Meanings Of The Names Of The World's Seven Major Distilled Spirits

Chinese Baijiu originated from Chinese. "Baijiu" in Chinese actually means colorless and transparent wine. However, "bai" in Chinese also means white color, and is often mixed with "colorless and transparent". For example, "bai" in "boiled water" means colorless and transparent, but if soy milk is white, it is also called "white soy milk". Although Chinese words sometimes have different meanings, if the context is familiar, people know the meaning of "baijiu" when they actually use it. Now, Chinese Baijiu has been unified as "Baijiu" in Chinese pinyin for use in international exchanges. In international exchanges, for foreigners, Baijiu is the transliteration of the Chinese character "baijiu".

Brandy, the English name "Brandy", is the abbreviation of the Dutch word "Brandewijn (burnt wine)". It originally only referred to the wine made by distilling grapes after fermentation and then storing them in oak barrels. Earlier, this kind of strong liquor distilled from grapes was named "Aqua Vitae", which means "water of life" in Latin. After it was introduced to France, it was translated into French "Eau de Vie (water of life)". Later, it was sold to other countries such as the United Kingdom by Dutch merchants and gradually evolved into the commonly used "Brandy (Brandy)" today.

Whiskey, English name "Whisky". The name of whiskey comes from the Gaelic "uisge beatha" (Gaelic is a sub-branch of Celtic, so some materials attribute the origin of the name of whiskey to Celtic), also written as "uaquebough". It is said that Roger Bacon, an Irish philosopher, monk, and alchemist in the 13th century, combined "uisge (water)" and "beatha (life)" to refer to the strong liquor used for medicinal purposes at that time as "water of life". Although both were once called "water of life", whiskey has developed its own unique name like brandy. In 1736, the word "usky" appeared in a letter from an English captain to refer to "uisge beatha (water of life)", proving that "usky" was already used to represent grain distilled liquor to a certain extent at that time, and as time went on, "usky" slowly evolved into "whisky (whiskey)".

Vodka, English name "Vodka". There have been two theories about the origin of the name of vodka, one is the Russian origin, and the other is the Polish origin. In Russia, vodka was originally used as a medicine. Like brandy and whiskey, it was once called "water of life". In Russian, it is "zhiznennia voda". People abbreviated it as "voda (water)", and later gradually evolved into a nickname "vodka". The Polish origin theory proposes that in Poland, strong alcohol above 70 degrees is called "Okowita", and when diluted to 30~40 degrees, it is called "Prosta Woda (ordinary water)", and its abbreviation is "Wodka", which gradually became the name of this strong liquor. It was not until the 19th century that the name "Vodka (Vodka)" began to be widely used internationally. Regardless of whether it is of Russian origin or Polish origin, the meaning of vodka is the same, meaning "water". Calling wine water shows that the people of the two countries loved this alcoholic beverage at that time

Rum, English name "Rum". The history of rum is inseparable from the history of European colonization of the Americas, and the origin of its name cannot escape the relationship with the language systems of colonial countries such as Britain and France. The original rum was called "Rumbullion" in English, which means "a glass of rum"; sometimes it is also called "Rumbowling" because the words "rumble" and "boil" mean "rumble" and "boiling" in English respectively. "Rumbowling" usually refers to the noise made by the distillation boiler or the excitement of the indigenous people after drinking sugarcane distilled liquor. With the evolution of time, various countries have simplified the name of rum, but the selected suffixes are slightly different. The UK simplified rum to "Rum", France shortened it to "Rhum", Spain shortened it to "Ron", and Portuguese called rum "Rom". There is also a simple and straightforward statement that "rum" is the abbreviation of the English phrase "Saccharum officinarum (sugar cane)", which is used to refer to the fact that the wine comes from sugarcane.

Gin, also known as juniper or gin, is called "Gin" in English. Gin originated in the Netherlands. It was first called "Genevier" because of the juniper berries added to it. It was used to treat a fever that spread among sailors during ocean trade. Later, it was sold to various countries through Dutch traders and was called "Geneber". Dutch gin was introduced to Britain in the late 17th century. In the early 18th century, the British royal family imposed heavy taxes on imported wine and brandy to protect the country's brewing industry. Dutch gin was quickly promoted and popularized as a cheap distilled liquor, and was named "Gin".

Tequila, the national liquor of Mexico, is called "Tequila" in English. The name of Tequila comes from its brewing raw material, Agave, a perennial herbaceous plant of the Amaryllis family. Its fruit is juicy and rich in sugar. It cannot be eaten, but it can be used to make sugar. The locals used its sugar juice to brew the fermented alcoholic beverage "Pulque (Pulque, also translated as Pukui)", which is only used in religious activities. After the distillation technology was introduced, the locals improved the brewing method of "Pulque" and distilled "Mescal". Among them, the Mescal brewed in a village called Tequila is famous for only picking nearby agave as the brewing raw material. The brewed wine is called "Agave Aznl Tequilana", which is the original Tequila. In 1873, the Mescal of Tequila Village was exported to the United States and was welcomed by Americans. Because there was no wine name on the bottle, only the production place Tequila Village, this kind of wine has since been called "Tequila", that is, Tequila. Tequila was not separated from mezcal until the early 20th century, so the widely used "Tequila" is actually the name of its place of origin.