10 unnecessary stupid facts about alcohol

Stimulans. Dorstlesser. Probleemveroorzaker. Troostmiddel. Relatiekapotmaker. Liefdesverdrietverzachter. Leververgaller. Drinkbaar vocht. Versnapering. Achtbaan-in-buik-veroorzaker. Kotsvloeistof. Gedistilleerd goed. Scherpe-randjes-afhaler. Spraakwater. Gezelligheidsvergroter. 10 dingen over alcohol die je nog niet wist.

1. There are 49 million bubbles in a bottle of champagne. No idea what you should do with that info, but I found it quite nice.

2. Just like this: in Italy, there is a wine fountain where you can drink free wine 24/7. PACK YOUR SUITCASE.

3. No one is ever truly alcohol-free. The body naturally produces alcohol itself. Yep, really. When you die, various fermentation processes occur, causing the body to contain a slightly higher alcohol percentage. But this percentage will never exceed 0.5 per mille.

4. In Cambodia, they drink ‘Tarantula Brandy’. Rice drink with a... freshly killed tarantula in it. HEEEEELP.

5. It's not a tall tale: women get drunk faster than men. The bloodstream absorbs alcohol faster and breaks it down less quickly. By the way, it takes six minutes for your brain to start reacting to a drink.

6. According to the ‘drunken monkey hypothesis’, our desire for alcohol is a result of our ancestors' tendency to choose the ripest fruits. These contain the most energy, but they often ferment as well. Because ethanol is a relatively light molecule and can be spread by the wind, our primate ancestors could find the overripe, fermenting fruits by smell in the jungle. Ahaaaa.

7. No one drinks more alcohol per capita than the Czechs. An ‘average Czech’ drinks 138 liters of beer. In Europe, Austria and Germany follow the Czechs with just over 100 liters of beer per person.

8. Did you know that alcohol makes it harder to see the color red and you can look sideways much less well (tunnel vision)? This leads to more casualties in traffic.

9. You need six hundred grapes to make one bottle of red wine.

10. Why do we toast? For that, we need to go back in time a bit. The ancient Romans would drop a piece of toast in their wine for good health. They also did the toast in the wine of their drinking companions, and that's where the expression ‘to toast’ comes from. Cheers!