Drinks Glossary: 80+ Wine, Beer and Spirits Terms Explained

General terms

ABV

Alcohol by volume: the percentage of pure alcohol in a drink.

Proof

In the USA, twice the ABV. 80 proof = 40% ABV.

Aperitif

A drink served before a meal to stimulate the appetite, usually dry, bitter or bubbly (spritz, dry vermouth, fino sherry).

Digestif

A drink served after a meal, often an aged spirit or herbal liqueur (cognac, amaro, Chartreuse).

Blend / blended

A mix of different components — grapes, casks, whiskies or batches — combined for balance and consistency.

Distillation

Heating a fermented liquid and collecting the vapour to concentrate alcohol and flavour.

Fermentation

The process in which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Finish

The flavour that lingers after you swallow. "Long finish" is usually a compliment.

Neat

A spirit served at room temperature with nothing added.

On the rocks

Served over ice.

Up

A cocktail shaken or stirred with ice, then strained into a glass without ice.

Nose

The aroma of a drink, or the act of smelling it.

Palate

The taste and texture of a drink in the mouth — or your personal sense of taste.

Mouthfeel / body

How heavy or light a drink feels: from watery to creamy and viscous.

Vintage

The year the grapes were harvested (wine) or a single year's production (Port, Champagne, some spirits).

NV / non-vintage

A blend of several years, common in Champagne and Port, made to a consistent house style.

Wine terms

Tannins

Natural compounds from grape skins, seeds and oak that create a drying, gripping sensation — strongest in red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo.

Acidity

The fresh, mouth-watering quality of wine. High-acid wines taste crisp; low-acid wines taste soft or flabby.

Dry

A wine with little or no residual sugar. Dry is the opposite of sweet, not of fruity.

Off-dry / medium

Slightly sweet.

Residual sugar (RS)

Sugar left in the wine after fermentation stops.

Brut

A dry style of sparkling wine (0–12 g/L sugar). Drier still: Extra Brut and Brut Nature. Sweeter: Extra Dry (confusingly), Sec, Demi-Sec and Doux.

Varietal

A wine named after, and made mostly from, one grape variety, such as Merlot or Chardonnay.

Cuvée

A specific blend or batch of wine; in Champagne, the finest first-pressed juice.

Terroir

The complete natural environment of a vineyard — soil, climate, slope, sun — that gives a wine its sense of place.

Appellation / AOC / DOC / AVA

A legally defined wine region with rules about grapes and methods (France AOC, Italy DOC/DOCG, Spain DO, USA AVA).

Oaked / unoaked

Whether the wine was fermented or aged in oak barrels, which add vanilla, toast and a rounder texture.

Malolactic fermentation

A secondary process that converts sharp malic acid into softer lactic acid, giving a buttery character (common in Chardonnay).

Lees

Dead yeast cells left after fermentation. Ageing "on the lees" adds bready, creamy notes.

Traditional method

The Champagne method: a second fermentation in the bottle creates fine bubbles. Also used for Cava, Crémant and English sparkling wine.

Fortified wine

Wine with added grape spirit: Port, sherry, Madeira, Marsala, vermouth.

Decanting

Pouring wine into another vessel to remove sediment or let it breathe.

Corked

A wine fault caused by TCA contamination, smelling of wet cardboard or damp basement.

Beer terms

Ale

Beer made with top-fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures; often fruity (IPA, stout, porter, wheat beer).

Lager

Beer made with bottom-fermenting yeast at cool temperatures, then conditioned cold; clean and crisp (pilsner, helles, bock).

Malt

Grain (usually barley) that has been sprouted and dried. It provides sugar, colour and bready or caramel flavours.

Hops

Flowers of the hop plant that add bitterness, aroma (citrus, pine, floral) and help preserve beer.

IBU

International Bitterness Units — a measure of hop bitterness. Pale lager: 8–20; IPA: 40–70+.

IPA

India Pale Ale — a hop-forward pale ale. Variants include West Coast (bitter, clear), New England / hazy (juicy, soft) and Double IPA (stronger).

Stout / porter

Dark beers made with roasted malts, with coffee and chocolate flavours.

Craft beer

Beer from small, independent breweries, often experimental or traditional in style.

Session beer

A lower-alcohol beer (usually under 4.5%) designed to be flavourful but light.

Sour

Beers deliberately soured with bacteria or wild yeast (Berliner Weisse, gose, lambic).

Head

The foam on top of a poured beer, which carries aroma.

Spirits terms

Single malt

Whisky made from 100% malted barley at a single distillery, in pot stills. It can still be a mix of many casks.

Single grain

Whisky from a single distillery made with grains other than (or in addition to) malted barley, usually in column stills.

Blended whisky

A mix of malt and grain whiskies from several distilleries.

Blended malt

A mix of single malts from different distilleries, with no grain whisky.

Single cask / single barrel

Bottled from one individual cask, so every batch is unique.

Cask strength / barrel proof

Bottled straight from the cask without dilution, often 50–65% ABV.

Age statement

The age of the youngest spirit in the bottle (e.g. 12 years). NAS means "no age statement".

Peated / peat

Malt dried over peat fires, giving smoky, medicinal flavours (typical of Islay whisky).

Bourbon

American whiskey made from at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak containers.

Mash bill

The recipe of grains used to make a whiskey.

Pot still / column still

Two types of still: batch pot stills keep more character; continuous column stills produce lighter, purer spirit.

Angels' share

Alcohol lost to evaporation from barrels during ageing, about 2% a year in Scotland and more in hot climates.

VS / VSOP / XO

Cognac age grades: at least 2, 4 and 10 years in oak respectively.

Blanco / reposado / añejo

Tequila categories: unaged or briefly rested; rested 2–12 months in oak; aged 1–3 years.

100% agave

Tequila made only from blue agave sugars. "Mixto" tequila may contain up to 49% other sugars.

London Dry

A gin style with all flavour from redistillation with botanicals and no added sugar or colour after distillation.

Botanicals

Herbs, spices, fruits and roots used to flavour gin and liqueurs.

Overproof

Spirit bottled well above standard strength, e.g. 57–75% ABV rum.

Infusion / tincture (nastoyka)

A spirit in which fruit, herbs or spices have been steeped to extract flavour.

Cocktail terms

Build

Making a drink directly in the serving glass, such as a highball.

Shake

Mixing with ice in a shaker to chill, dilute and aerate — used for drinks with citrus, dairy or egg.

Stir

Mixing gently with ice in a mixing glass — used for spirit-only drinks like the Martini.

Muddle

Gently pressing fruit, herbs or sugar to release flavour.

Double strain

Pouring through a fine sieve as well as a regular strainer to remove ice chips and pulp.

Simple syrup

Equal parts sugar and water dissolved together.

Bitters

Highly concentrated herbal extracts used a few drops at a time (Angostura is the most famous).

Twist / express

A strip of citrus peel squeezed over a drink to spray aromatic oils on its surface.

Highball

A spirit plus a larger amount of mixer over ice in a tall glass.

Jigger

A measuring tool for cocktail ingredients.

Mocktail / zero-proof

A mixed drink with no alcohol.

Want to see these terms in action? Try reading a real label, or explore shake, stir and build techniques.

Frequently asked questions