I am happy to report that all is going well so far. I seem to have overcome the desire for a drink as early evening approaches. The association between alcohol and 5pm seems to be weakening. Also, my sleep continues to improve – I have not woken in the early hours over the past couple of nights, which is unusual for me.
In yesterday’s post I mentioned the phenomenon of drunkenness. This state has been known to humankind for more than 7000 years. As with most things, it was a chance discovery and the science behind how alcohol was produced remained largely unknown until the 18th and 19th centuries when chemistry became more advanced thanks to advances in chemistry. Communities knew how to make alcohol but did not understand the underlying processes. The common factor across all continents was the fermentation of fruits and grains. In the beginning this was facilitated by wild yeast in the environment interacting with fruit, and it was only later that yeast was identified and isolated. Yeast is a fungus that breaks down sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, alongside other by-products. It was the French chemist Louis Pasteur who definitively showed that not only was yeast a vital part of the fermentation process but that it was an organic process – as the sugars were broken down so did the yeast multiply. This could only occur up to a certain concentration of alcohol (typically between 5% and 15%) depending on the strain of yeast – beyond this, the yeast cannot survive. For higher concentrations, we have to move into distillation – that’s another story!
P. G. Wodehouse, the author and creator of Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves, had numerous ways of referring to the state of drunkenness: awash,boiled, fried, lathered, illuminated, oiled, ossified, pie-eyed, polluted, scrooched, stinko, squiffy, tanked and woozled. I use the term squiffy to describe when my drinking has just gone a little over the edge – not drunk exactly, but certainly not sober. I will not regale you with my experiences of the whole spectrum of inebriation, from tipsy to well and truly toppled over.
Alcohol Trivia Quiz
Yesterday’s answers:
1. A whisky and soda will get you scrooched, stinko or woozled the quickest because the carbon dioxide speeds up the rate of absorption from your stomach. Neat alcohol actually slows down the process.
2. Whiskey can be made from any grains, but Bourbon has to be made from at least 51% corn,
3. Oasis had a hit with Champagne Supernova.
Today’s questions:
1. Is it whisky or whiskey?
2. Who had a hit with Lilac Wine?
2. Who famously said “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”
Understand Yourself Better 