History Main / LuxuriousLiquor

The trope most likely comes from Britain; starting in the Middle Ages, wine was the drink of the rich nobles (as it had to be imported from the Continent, usually from France), while beer was a common drink (made locally with local ingredients). Similarly, distilled liquor was initially always imported to Britain, as distilling technology didn't make it to the British Isles until the late 14th to early 15th century. Even after that, distillation technology was initially quite expensive (requiring you to burn a lot of fuel to make a fairly small amount of liquor), and the technology needed to make anything actually good was enough to keep it well out of the hands of the common man. In bars, the expensive liquors are usually diplayed on the top shelves, hence the term, "top-shelf liquor," in contrast to the "bottom shelf" or "well" liquors, the latter term coming from the fact that bartenders have wells of lower-quality liquor for making mixed drinks quickly.

The character is not depicted as an alcoholic of any degree -- they do not need to drink, they merely find it pleasant. Combined with tranquil indoors imagery of a wealthy home, comforting silence, and solitude, the drinking scene will have the audience know that the character lacks nothing in this world.

They have power, wealth, and style. Alice prefers champagne, martinis, liqueur, and fine wines. Bob leans in the direction of whisk(e)y or brandy. Alice can typically be seen lounging around in long luxurious gowns and sipping absentmindedly at her drink while Bob pours himself a glass after a hard day and sits down to dwell in his thoughts.

The trope most likely comes from Britain; starting in the Middle Ages, wine was the drink of the rich nobles (as it had to be imported from the Continent, usually from France), while beer was a common drink (made locally with local ingredients). Similarly, distilled liquor was initially always imported to Britain, as distilling technology didn't make it to the British Isles until the late 14th to early 15th century. Even after that, distillation technology was initially quite expensive (requiring you to burn a lot of fuel to make a fairly small amount of liquor), and the technology needed to make anything actually good was enough to keep it well out of the hands of the common man.

They have power, wealth, and style. Alice prefers champagne, martinis, liqueur, and fine wines. Bob leans in the direction of whisk(e)y or brandy. Alice can typically be seen lounging around in long luxurious gowns and sipping absentmindedly at her drink, while Bob pours himself a glass after a hard day and sits down to dwell in his thoughts.

* In ''Literature/TheMalloreon'', the protagonists meet a tipsy noblewoman in a remote manor, and soon realize that her isolation and boredom have led her to become a LadyDrunk.

-->"Business drunk is like rich drunk. Either way it's legal to drive."
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has Barney and Robin who both drink scotch compared to the rest of the gang's beer -- Barney has a big job at a big, corrupt, banking group and makes "16 crap-tons" a year, Robin is revealed in the last season to be sitting on a big pot of family wealth (not that it was really a secret she has money, what with the big, glamorous, mansion lodge home that her flashbacks show, and the fact she was a teen popstar in Canada). Ted also starts to drink scotch more the later it gets in the show, matching his growing status as a professor at Columbia and successful New York skyscraper architect.

* Series/{{Frasier}} and his brother Niles are both wealthy pscyhiatrists who collect [[WineIsClassy wine]] and frequently drink sherry. When Niles' divorce from Maris puts a strain on his finances he has to stop buying cases of expensive wine. In another episode Frasier's accountant tells him he had to hire an assistant specifically to keep track of his sherry purchases. The brothers' tastes are contrasted with their blue-collar, ex-cop father whose choice of drink is beer.

* Series/{{Frasier}} and his brother Niles are both wealthy pscyhiatrists who collect [[WineIsClassy wine]] and frequently drink expensive sherry. When Niles' divorce from Maris puts a strain on his finances he has to stop buying cases of expensive wine. In another episode Frasier's accountant tells him he had to hire an assistant specifically to keep track of his sherry purchases. The brothers' tastes are contrasted with their blue-collar, ex-cop father whose choice of drink is beer.

-->'''Ward Meachum:''' What, you leaving so soon? We've got bourbon to finish.
-->'''Jennifer Many:''' Tempting, but, uh, I have an early morning deadline...

* Nick Wilde of ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}'' discovers a minibar set in disarray while snooping around inside a limousine. The monogram on the drinking glass is "B," which causes Nick to deduce that the limo belongs to crime lord Mister Big.

* In ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', Nobby Nobbs (who's [[spoiler: been set up as]] the King of Ankh-Morpork) is invited to a party and then to a smoking room, where he swills the brandy like beer.

* Parodied on ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'' with the John and Peter sketches. John and Peter are "high powered executives", and as such are constantly drinking whiskey or brandy at work from a fancy cruet. The joke is that they run a small health club in the small town of Yutoxeter, but act like Fortune 500 [=CEOs=] and treat everything like SeriousBusiness despite the low stakes.

For the affluent villains taking evil sips of expensive alcohol, see AGlassOfChianti, and for when a classy character is denoted by their knowledge of wine, see WineIsClassy (though this trope does cover wine examples, as having wealth and having class snobbery are not the same thing). This character may wear a tuxedo and order a martini, but [[TuxedoAndMartini that trope]] is about Bond expies. SisterTrope to DrinkOrder.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheGreatGatsby https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gatsby_5.jpg]]]]

* Parodied on ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'' with the John and Peter sketches. John and Peter are "high powered executives", and as such are constantly drinking whiskey or brandy at work from a fancy cruet. The joke is that they run a small health club in the small town of Yutoxeter, but act like Fortune 500 CEOs and treat everything like SeriousBusiness despite the low stakes.

As [[https://www.quora.com/Why-do-you-often-see-rich-people-drinking-Scotch-usually-on-the-rocks-or-neat-but-never-beer one alcohol expert put it]], "The truly rich people I've seen while working drank whatever they felt like, and beer was one of the relatively common options. But high-quality, expensive liquor or wine visually communicate affluence better than beer does, so that's what you see 'rich people' on TV drinking." The trope most likely comes from Britain; starting in the Middle Ages, wine was the drink of the rich nobles (as it had to be imported from the Continent, usually from France), while beer was a common drink (made locally with local ingredients). Similarly, distilled liquor was initially always imported to Britain, as distilling technology didn't make it to the British Isles until the late 14th to early 15th century. Even after that, distillation technology was initially quite expensive (requiring you to burn a lot of fuel to make a fairly small amount of liquor), and the technology needed to make anything actually good was enough to keep it well out of the hands of the common man.

* ''Series/ThePunisher2017'': When Dinah Madani is talking with her mom in the first episode concerning her grief over losing Ahmed Zubair, she does remark that she's been drinking more now that she's got access to her parents' expensive liquor.

As [[https://www.quora.com/Why-do-you-often-see-rich-people-drinking-Scotch-usually-on-the-rocks-or-neat-but-never-beer one alcohol expert put it]], "The truly rich people I've seen while working drank whatever they felt like, and beer was one of the relatively common options. But high-quality, expensive liquor or wine visually communicate affluence better than beer does, so that's what you see 'rich people' on TV drinking." The trope most likely comes from Britain; starting in the Middle Ages, wine was the drink of the rich nobles (as it had to be imported from the Continent, usually from France), while beer was a common drink (made locally with local ingredients). Similarly, distilled liquor was initially always imported to Britain, as distilling technology didn't make it to the British Isles until the late 14th to early 15th century. Even after that, distillation technology was initially quite expensive (requiring you to burn a lot of fuel in an expensive copper still to make a fairly small amount of liquor), and the the technology needed to make anything better than rotgut was enough to keep the good stuff well out of the hands of the common man.

As [[https://www.quora.com/Why-do-you-often-see-rich-people-drinking-Scotch-usually-on-the-rocks-or-neat-but-never-beer one alcohol expert put it]], "The truly rich people I've seen while working drank whatever they felt like, and beer was one of the relatively common options. But high-quality, expensive liquor or wine visually communicate affluence better than beer does, so that's what you see 'rich people' on TV drinking." The trope may also have origins in Britain; starting in the Middle Ages, wine was the drink of the rich nobles (as it had to be imported from the Continent, usually from France), while beer was a common drink, made locally with local ingredients. Distilled liquors were originally similar; brandy was developed long before gin or whisk(e)y, and even after that, the kind of quality control needed to make liquor that didn't eat one's guts from the inside was so expensive it made good liquor unavailable to the masses in a way that good beer was not.

As [[https://www.quora.com/Why-do-you-often-see-rich-people-drinking-Scotch-usually-on-the-rocks-or-neat-but-never-beer one alcohol expert put it]], "The truly rich people I've seen while working drank whatever they felt like, and beer was one of the relatively common options. But high-quality, expensive liquor or wine visually communicate affluence better than beer does, so that's what you see 'rich people' on TV drinking." The trope may also have origins in Britain; starting in the Middle Ages, wine was the drink of the rich nobles (as it had to be imported from the Continent, usually from France), while beer was made locally with local ingredients. Distilled liquors were originally similar; brandy was developed long before gin or whisk(e)y, and even after that, the kind of quality control needed to make liquor that didn't eat one's guts from the inside was so expensive it made good liquor unavailable to the masses in a way that good beer was not.

As [[https://www.quora.com/Why-do-you-often-see-rich-people-drinking-Scotch-usually-on-the-rocks-or-neat-but-never-beer one alcohol expert put it]], "The truly rich people I've seen while working drank whatever they felt like, and beer was one of the relatively common options. But high-quality, expensive liquor or wine visually communicate affluence better than beer does, so that's what you see 'rich people' on TV drinking."

* ''Series/IronFist2017'': Ward Meachum, of course, keeps a liquor cabinet in his office for him to raid when the stress of being his dead-but-resurrected father's mouthpiece gets to him. In one episode, he even tries to sweet-talk a reporter who's interviewing him out of ending early to finish a bottle of bourbon.

* Pegasus in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' is occasionally seen sipping a glass of red wine while lounging around in his BigFancyHouse. Infamously {{Bowdlerized}} by the [[FourKidsEntertainment dub]] into [[FrothyMugsOfWater "fruit juice".]]

!!Examples

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[[AC:Comedy]]
* Comedian Creator/JackieGleason had a stage persona named Reginald van Gleason, an IdleRich character who tottered about his mansion being served mixed drinks in the most ridiculously elaborate ways possible. Like hiring a personal bartender would be too plebeian.

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[[AC:Film -- Live-Action]]

* [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] in the MarvelCinematicUniverse is seen drinking scotch to match his narcissistic rich boy persona. In the first ''[[Film/TheAvengers Avengers]]'' film, he even prepares one for [[BigBad Loki]] when they're exchanging words at Stark Tower [[spoiler:and as an excuse to go behind the bar to get his Iron Man suit attachment bracelets in preparation for needing to jump out the windows]] -- though this could well be exploiting the theory behind the trope to prevent the trickster from questioning his movement. In the first ''Film/IronMan'' film, he even throws in a portable alcohol station for the troops in the Middle East who buy his weapons.
-->"Give me a scotch, I'm starving."

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[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

[[AC:Music]]

--> "And she thinks I'm uncouth,
-->While she's sipping vermouth,
-->And I yell as the waiter draws near,
-->I like beer."

* Comedian Creator/JackieGleason had a stage persona named Reginald van Gleason, a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob who tottered about his mansion being served mixed drinks in the most ridiculously elaborate ways possible. Like hiring a personal bartender would be too plebeian.

* In ''[[Literature/TheBelgariad The Malloreon]]'', the protagonists meet a tipsy noblewoman in a remote manor, and soon realize that her isolation and boredom have led her to become a LadyDrunk.

This character is likely to have a BigFancyHouse, [[TheRichHaveWhiteStuff full of white stuff]], and there may be a joke about spilling expensive and colourful alcohol on a more expensive but very white couch. They may have a high-profile job and like to drink hard at work, or may [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob have no job and so the free time to drink all day]]. Or they might just have enough money to enjoy the finer things in life, and the TV writers know the best way to show, not tell, this characterisation is to give them a crystal glass of scotch.

''OP notes: "inspired by finding a misjudged wick to BottleFairy. I don't know most of the works listed there, but I assume there are a number of misuses -- BF is supposed to be a carefree and happy-go-lucky bottle kisser, not just any young female who drinks. NeedsABetterTitle. Problemtic overlap with AGlassOfChianti -- that's about the exact same thing as here, but with villains only. Indexes: CharacterTropes, do we have something for alcohol and wealth?" Indexes: LuxuryTropes, CharacterTropes, HardDrinkingTropes, RichPeople. Alternative image: [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/iron_man_2008_tony_stark_booze.jpg Tony Stark]]''
----

For the affluent villains taking evil sips of expensive alcohol, see AGlassOfChianti, and for when a classy character is denoted by their knowledge of wine, see WineIsClassy (though this trope does cover wine examples, as having wealth and having class snobbery are not the same thing). This character may wear a tuxedo and order a martini, but [[TuxedoAndMartini that trope]] is about Bond expies.