History UsefulNotes / NationalDrinks

** Alternatively, he'll order a cocktail containing [[OverlyLongGag three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka (made from grain, not potatoes), half a measure of Kina Lillet, then instruct the bartender to shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel.]][[note]]This was new at the time, but is now called a Vesper after the [[Literature/JamesBond original source]][[/note]]. This is in keeping with the source material, where the [[Literature/JamesBond patron]] explains his reasoning behind such strong and persnickety orders and is played very straight. However, he does consistently get a chuckle out of everyone else ordering one as well, which may also [[OverlyLongGag apply]]. In the original books Bond was meticulous about the use of Gordon's Gin. However, liquors have changed over the years; vodka is weaker (break out the Stoli 100) and evidently Tanqueray is closer to what Gordon's was in Ian Fleming's day, so keep those in mind. Also, Kina Lillet has been out of production for quite some time now and unobtainable except in ludicrously expensive cocktail bars that keep a supply; the accepted modern substitute (at least since Daniel Craig's Bond popularized the drink) has either been Lillet Blanc (a close relative but not as bitter as Kina Lillet) and a dash of bitters, or Cocchi Americano which is made with cinchona bark and is much closer in flavour to the original.

* The BourgeoisBohemian will drink wine, probably from the Napa Valley--unless it's from another American wine region that's "an undiscovered treasure." Alternately, a craft beer might be substituted when something more "manly" is desired. A non-alcoholic drink will probably be coffee made from fresh-ground beans in a French press, pour-over, or espresso coffee maker--unless it's some kind of particularly fancy tea or herbal tea, brewed from loose leaves instead of a tea bag.

* Any race of warriors who wear fur and armour (from Vikings to dwarves) will quaff beer, ale, or mead -- ideally from a drinking horn, tankard, or stein.

** Certain tea blends exist to interact with British patterns--for instance, English and Irish breakfast blends are strong, intended to accompany the [[HollywoodCuisine heavy, fatty, salty Great British/Irish Fry-Up]] loaded with bacon, eggs, sausages, fried bread, etc, so drinking one with the other suggests a robust ("manly") appetite; the more delicate ones like Earl Grey and Darjeeling contrariwise are served at afternoon tea with similarly delicate foods like cucumber sandwiches or (at the very heaviest) scones with clotted cream and jam, and suggest a delicate ("[[EnglishRose womanly]]") sophistication.

* If a character identifies as a {{Juggalo}} (or [[DistaffCounterpart Jugalette]]), expect him/her to drink Faygo.

** The most popular whiskey ''within'' Ireland itself is reputedly ''Powers Gold Label'', which is usually hard to come by at any bar in the states, outside of certain Irish enclaves like Boston or New York (and sometimes even there).

* Cider experienced a surge in popularity in the late 2000's with the younger population, as they dislike the bitter taste of beer compared to the sweeter fruit flavours in cider.

** This may vary from area to area; out West Starbucks has more of a hipster demographic than a yuppie one. See ''LessThanKind'' for an example.

** Trinidad is home to the world-famous House of Angostura, makers of Angostura bitters, a staple of bartenders worldwide. In Trinidad, the bitters have all their usual uses, but are also used in an usual form in the country's national coctail, the famous Queen's Park Swizzle: Aged Guyana rum, lime juice, sugar, mint, and 1-2 ''ounces'' (15-30 [=mL=]) of Angostura bitters,[[note]]In most cocktails, "Ango" is measured in dashes, i.e. a few drops (maybe 2-3 [=mL=]). The stuff was legal to import to the United States during Prohibition because even though it was over 40% alcohol, its bitter ingredients supposedly made it non-potable on its own. So even 1 ounce in a drink is...a lot.[[/note]]. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swizzle_stick swizzled]] with crushed ice. The House of Angostura also makes a range of well-regarded rums, which only rum aficionados really ever talk aboout.

** Alternately, they will drink any of a variety of [[ATankardOfMooseUrine awful mass-market economy pale lagers]]--typically one of the Big Three's "reject batch" beers[[note]]Busch (Anheuser-Busch), Milwaukee's Best (Miller), and Keystone (Coors)[[/note]], although certain particularly vile regionals (Narragansett in the Northeast, National Bohemian in Maryland and DC, Blatz in the Great Lakes, and the historically-Midwestern Pabst Blue Ribbon everywhere) are also in the mix--not because they like it (they usually profess to ''hate'' it), but because it's cheap, and gets them drunk.

** Note that while most iced tea today is black tea, this is [[NewerThanTheyThink relatively recent]], only dating back as far as World War II. Before the war, the U.S. got most of its tea through direct trade with East Asia, and the tea was for the most part green, or perhaps oolong. After the war started, the supply of green and oolong tea dried up, as besides the ludicrously exclusive Darjeeling[[note]]Which is technically an oolong, though the Brits tended to treat it as a very light black tea[[/note]] these were only produced in East and Southeast Asia, which were now either in Japanese hands or at least across Japanese lines. Americans therefore turned to black tea from British India, Ceylon, and East Africa to make iced tea, and the preference has stuck ever since.

** As noted in the section on Italy above, Argentina is one of the best markets outside Italy for traditional Italian amari, particularly fernet, thanks to its large population of Italian ancestry. The ''Fernandito'' or ''fernet con coca''--a mix (in varying proportions) of fernet and Coca-Cola--is a staple of Argentine parties.
** More sophisticated Argentines will order a Clarito. What's a Clarito? It's a dry gin Martini--always stirred, and always served with a lemon twist, not an olive. (This one may be down to Argentina's longstanding trading relationship with Britain.)

** As noted in the section on Italy above, Argentina is one of the best markets outside Italy for traditional Italian amari, particularly fernet, thanks to its large population of Italian ancestry. The ''Fernandito'' or ''fernet con coca''--a mix (in varying proportions) of fernet and Coca-Cola is a staple of Argentine parties.

** Someone trying to be seen as extra-Argentine will be drinking hot ''mate'' from a calabash with a ''bombilla''. While stereotypical, it's a legitimate local product and part of the culture--when [[UsefulNotes/NotablePopes Pope Francis]] visited his native country for a visit with its president, they made a point of being photographed drinking ''mate'', calabashes and ''bombillas'' and all.

** Trinidad is home to the world-famous House of Angostura, makers of Angostura bitters, a staple of bartenders worldwide. In Trinidad, the bitters have all their usual uses, but are also used in an usual form in the country's national coctail, the famous Queen's Park Swizzle: Aged Guayana rum, lime juice, sugar, mint, and 1-2 ''ounces'' (15-30 [=mL=]) of Angostura bitters,[[note]]In most cocktails, "Ango" is measured in dashes, i.e. a few drops (maybe 2-3 [=mL=]). The stuff was legal to import to the United States during Prohibition because even though it was over 40% alcohol, its bitter ingredients supposedly made it non-potable on its own. So even 1 ounce in a drink is...a lot.[[/note]]. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swizzle_stick swizzled]] with crushed ice. The House of Angostura also makes a range of well-regarded rums, which only rum aficionados really ever talk aboout.

** Curiously, asking for French Cognac is usually the sign of being rich; sophistication is more often suggested by choosing a Georgian or Armenian brandy. These are usually called ''konyak'' in the region, following some 19th-century confusion.[[note]]To simplify greatly, merchants in the Russian Empire didn't fully digest that "Cognac" was the name of a French region and assumed they could just use the name to mean "good brandy". Good brandy from the Caucasus was therefore marketed with the name "konyak", which the French couldn't really protest about at the time because their system of geographical indications had not yet been fully codified.[[/note]] The reputation for sophistication may have something to do with the fact that the Caucasus ''konyak'', while at least arguably every bit as good as the French stuff (''de gustibus non est disputandum'') is definitely always ''cheaper'' for comparable levels of quality thanks to both lower transport and labor costs and the absence of the "it's French cognac so it must be better" global snob premium. (Even in the far-off U.S., you can generally get a bottle of 5-year-old Ararat Armenian brandy[[note]]The cheapest stuff exported outside the old Eastern Bloc[[/note]] for less than a bottle of VS[[note]]2-year-old[[/note]] cognac from a decent distillery.) Also, the Caucasus brandy industry really took off in the 19th century with the adoption of cognac-inspired French techniques, so there's more than a minor hat-tip in the whole delicious enterprise.

** Speaking of lager, beer is a pretty much the standard alcoholic drink nationwide. Due to the aforementioned German influence, most commercial beers in Mexico are lagers, usually of the pale variety (although amber and dark lagers are common too, like Negra Modelo or the beloved Nochebuena, a Bock which is only available during late Fall and Winter, as a staple Christmas beer). The most famous of these worldwide is Corona, but there are many other brands that share its popularity inside Mexico.

** Tiny Washington Island, Wisconsin, a rural tourist area off the tip of the Door Peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan, is one of the world's largest consumers of Angostura bitters (if not the largest).[[note]]For those not in the know, Angostura bitters are the canonical bartender's bitters, produced by the House of Angostura, a distillery originally from the city of Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar) in eastern UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}} but whose producers packed up and moved to [[UsefulNotes/TrinidadAndTobago Trinidad]] in 1876. It contains a very, well, bitter mix of herbs and spices; the exact recipe is unclear, but it's generally accepted that it includes gentian root (because they've all but admitted it) and cinnamon (because anyone who pays attention to these things can taste it in there).[[/note]] Why? The people there take ''shots'' of the stuff. Please note: "Ango" is widely considered to be so bitter as to be non-potable if drunk in greater concentrations than a few ''dashes'' (i.e. a few milliliters) in a full-size drink. The reason here is that during Prohibition, the enterprising local barkeep realized that bitters were considered "medicinal" and were thus legal to buy, own, and sell even though they had about as much alcohol by volume as a strong whiskey. He promptly began to sell shots of the stuff, and it became a tradition that never went away even after Prohibition did.

** The Portuguese, like the Spanish, are largely wine-drinkers; Madeira and Port wine are their most famous styles. However, vinho verde (literally "green wine" but more accurately "young wine"--it can actually be any wine color), a young wine from the north of the country, has also gained a global following for its light, refreshing flavor and slight effervescence--perfect for summer drinking.

** As for the non-alcoholic stuff, Israelis MustHaveCaffeine, so nearly every Israeli has a jones for the java. Instant coffee is widespread (commonly referred to as ''nescafe'' or just ''nes''), but coffeehouse culture is huge in Israel. The combination of Middle Eastern coffeehouse culture with the introduction of Viennese coffeehouse culture from Central European refugees in the '30s might have something to do with that. Consequently, in big cities you will find cafes all over, and people will linger for hours, drinking black coffee with cardamom, playing ''shesh-besh'' (backgammon) or chess. Tea is also widely available, and more popular with Russian immigrants. Herbal teas are also popular. As for cold stuff - before Coca-Cola arrived in the 1960's, people craving fizzy contented themselves with ''gazoz'' - fruit syrup mixed with seltzer water. Now a variety of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products are available, but ''limonana'' (a mint-lemon drink) is also popular, as is its variant ''rimonana'' (mint-pomegranate).

** A member of the [[RedChina Communist Party of China]] will down several small glasses of ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baijiu baijiu]]'' at Party functions and while entertaining the Western, Korean, and Japanese businessmen who come to visit. The stuff tends to be stronger than Western liquor and even the finer varieties--let alone the mediocre ones provided to middle- and lower-level functionaries--have been [[ItTastesLikeFeet compared in flavor to jet fuel]]. All of a sudden, the Great Leap Forward makes a whole lot more sense.

** The most widely known spirit native to France is cognac. However, cognac is usually seen as a more upscale drink, perhaps to spirits what champagne is to wines. That said, much like champagne, there's no shortage of modest cognacs that, while nobody's idea of an amazing spirit, are ''just'' good enough to sip straight and won't break the bank (a bit like the most common blended Scotches, and at about the same price point, too). A common spirit in France is ''eau-de-vie'': clear fruit brandy.

** Note that pale lagers are sold in great quantities in Belgium, but only because they're cheap and easy to get drunk on; that tends to inflate the numbers. The good beer is drunk more deliberately. It's also more expensive, so it doesn't help that Wallonia is basically the epicenter of Western Europe's Rust Belt, with decaying industry and unemployed people everywhere. (Read: Walloons drink Stella Artois for roughly the same reason American Midwesterners drink Pabst Blue Ribbon--it's cheap, it isn't ''terrible'' when it's cold, and it gets them drunk.)

** Note that pale lagers are sold in great quantities in Belgium, but only because they're cheap and easy to get drunk on; that tends to inflate the numbers. The good beer is drunk more deliberately. It's also more expensive, so it doesn't help that Wallonia is basically the epicenter of Western Europe's Rust Belt, with decaying industry and unemployed people everywhere.

** As regards hot drinks, most Germans prefer coffee (German coffee madness goes back at least to the early 18th century, when [[Music/JohannSebastianBach J. S. Bach]] wrote [[Music/SchweigtStillePlaudertNicht a humorous {{cantata}} on the subject]] and UsefulNotes/FrederickTheGreat became a huge fan), except in [[UsefulNotes/TeaAndTeaCulture tea-addicted East Frisia]] (where they drink it in an extremely weird fashion, adding rock sugar and cream and then ''not'' stirring, to get a layered effect), although many of those Germans who do drink tea like to think of themselves as better ''connoisseurs'' of tea than, e.g., Britons. Germans stereotypically consider American coffee weak (as shown in a running gag in the Percy Adlon film ''Out of Rosenheim'' aka ''Bagdad Café''), though not as weak as the "legendary" ''Bliemchenkaffee''[[note]] "Little-flower coffee"; the name refers to the urban legend that Saxon coffee is so thin that you can see the little flowers at the bottom of the Meissen china cup even when it is full. According to another urban legend you prepare it using one coffee-bean per cup plus one for the pot.[[/note]] of Saxony. In North Frisia (which is situated to the north-east of East Frisia) they sometimes like to drink ''Pharisäer'', coffee with sugar and a shot of rum covered with a layer of cream, which allegedly serves to hide the smell of the rum. The more recent fad for latte macchiato among German yuppies caused amusement in the drink's native Italy; there latte macchiato is considered something you give to children too young to drink proper coffee. Hot chocolate is also very popular, especially in winter.

* An Orthodox Jew will be drinking the hideously-sweet (and just generally hideous) Manischewitz or Kedem kosher wine. HilarityEnsues when he attempts to obey the commandment on [[UsefulNotes/JewishHolidays Purim]] (to be so drunk as to be unable to tell "cursed is Haman" from "blessed is Mordechai") using this wine. (Never mind that beer or various distilled beverages could have done the job just fine and not violated any laws...).

* Nervous types will order decaf. If someone wants to mess with such a person, they'll switch the decaf for caffeinated, and HilarityEnsues. A semi-subversion of the trope is the reverse situation, in which a hard-driving personality type or group of same has their [[CaffeineBulletTime extreme caffeine]] replaced with decaf. As ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'''s Wally gasps among the fallen (asleep) bodies of his co-workers: "Must... find... antidote..."