Ep. 71 - Secrets of Tequila, Beer, Whiskey, Rum, Vodka

Welcome everyone. To Monday minutes. Thought I'd do a follow-up on, uh, the last episode about wine.

Basically most wine is just Kool-Aid.

Isn't really what we all thought it was. Was it.

So today I thought we'd go over some of the other ones that we sometimes consume all the basics, you know? All the regular stuff, not going to get into all the pre-made. , canned alcoholic beverages and all the. Things like schnapps and you know, all that.

We're just going to get into the normal ones. You've always known of.

But I'm going to state right now. I am not saying alcohol is good for you. I am just trying to teach you what's in your beverage.

Some say alcoholic beverages can be healthy. Maybe. But the alcohol. Is in the rest of the mix. Therefore I can't state any health claims.

I said this a couple of weeks ago. There are trade-offs to what you consume. Everything has consequences. You're going to consume these. I think it is best to know what you are buying.

And to consume the best quality you can find. And enjoy And afford.

Problem is. There are no laws. That state what's in all of our alcoholic beverages. This is on purpose, kind of talked about it. On Wednesday with the wine episode, but.

They just don't have to state anything. Now the.

Types of alcohol products. Where they're grown. Sometimes those organizations or governments.

We'll create standards that they have to abide by.

And those growers. Do just that. It's hard for us to know if they are. abiding or not.

And you see here in AmErika. Us treasury department actually regulates alcohol. Which means since they are the ones that collect taxes. Why are they in charge of alcohol? I'll let you figure that one out.

So the first thing that they seem to all be using except for a gin and vodka is caramel coloring. Well, we know that that causes cancer.

Right there. No go. You see. They use it for consistency to make sure that. All the barrels or whatever they're making is consistently the same color all the time, either in the one batch. Or next year or 10 years from now, all that kind of thing.

So you think, wow, look how dark that beverage is. It must be aged longer. Probably not most likely they added caramel coloring. They also use fake Oak products. Like I talked about in the wine episode. To make it seem like it's older than it really is so they can fake you out. Just like they can with wine.

And some alcohol. Instead of using sugar. They will actually use artificial sweeteners. Like aspartame. Really. Splenda. Seriously. I mean. Just you sugar. Why do you have to use. Artificial sweeteners. That's crazy.

We know they're not good for you. So not only are you consuming alcohol, but then you're consuming. Uh, poison that we know causes cancer. To sweeten it a little bit. I mean, does anybody like the taste of aspartame? Because I don't think anybody really does. I know you get addicted to it. In your diet Cola's if you know what I mean.

So then you have chemicals that are in the grains or the plants that they grew in order to make these alcohols.

So you've got all of their pesticides and insecticides herbicides, and. God knows what is also in there. Then you have GMO yeast that they could be using. Not everybody does. But I guarantee you, most of them do. And especially the big players, they absolutely do. Then you have your water quality. Are they using city water? Or are they filtering their water?

Are they using spring water? That matters.

All right. Let's get into them. Tequila.

What's in it. All right, you ready? There's only four things allowed in tequila. Caramel coloring. Oak. Glycerin and sugar. They can't call it tequila. If they use anything more than those four.

Erik, why would they even need to add those things? Well, you see really good tequila uses agave plant that are. Seven to 10 years old before they harvest them. Others need to harvest earlier. Let's say four years, something like that.

Those, agave plants have not created enough sugar. So therefore they have to add sugar. And then they can't age it as long because it's selling like crazy because of their marketing. And so they've got to use caramel coloring.

Then because they can't. Age it properly. Or grow the agave long enough. They have to add glycerin and sugar. For mouthfeel and flavor. Yes.

They're making fake tequila and you're buying it and you're spending good money on it. Most of these would be brands that are large they're celebrity brands. There's lots of marketing behind them. Small growers, making beautiful tequila. Don't have the money.

They just don't have the resources.

By the way there's a website called tequila matchmaking. They have a list of all the additive free tequila.

That'll let you know if it's real or not. And you'll find your brand on there might be. Not what you thought it was. Here's three. Really high quality tequilas.

Fortaleza. F O R T A L E Z A. El Tesoro. E L t E S O R O. And.

C A Z C A N E S. Now there are a little bit on the price, your side, you know, the 70 to 130 range. But those, aren't the ones you're going to get drunk off of and sit down and knock out a bottle. You know, you're going to sip a glass and that's it. Just to enjoy the experience of real tequila. Easier to find them those three would be something like.

El Tequileno

E L T E Q U I L E N O. Or.

probably just butchered that, but S I E T E second word, L E G U A S. This is all in the transcript. So you'll be able to go back and see those brands and the transcription.

Let's talk beer.

Largest alcohol consumption in America. That's for sure. Probably the world.

Most of the small, really high quality additive, free beer manufacturers, you know, these little.

Craft breweries and stuff. They're all getting bought up by all the big ones, all the big brands you've ever heard of. You can't trust those brands, those small ones either. I could name some. Brands that you've probably seen in the store, but I'm going to, I'm going to hold off on that and you just need to do your own research.

So just when you think it's a normal little craft brewery. It's actually owned by.

One of the big three, you know, who they are.

So you need to make sure. Of what they're using go to the website. Does it say additive free? Is it all natural? Et cetera.

Beer has more chemicals in it than any of the other alcoholic beverages. It's basically just a brewed food. If you really think about it.

And now with all this stuff, they're adding to the brewing process. From flavors to fruit, to, you know, whatever. Who knows what's in that stuff any longer. Are they using sugar? Absolutely. Lots of corn syrup. Lots of. Weird flavorings. And it's just, I'm telling you right now, beer is not what you think it is unless you know what that company's producing.

All the cheap beers, use GMO sugars. Mostly corn. They're not even using barley in their grains that they use. Most of these big brands. It's it's literally corn. Really corn. Yes. You know, who else uses corn? The coffee industry. And of course they admit this, that they're using GMO sugars and say, it's, there's nothing wrong with this.

We're fine. You're fine. There's no issues. Sure you're just doing it because it's cheap. You're making cheap product.

Kind of like the fast food industry. So you're the fast food of beer. Almost. All of the beer companies use caramel coloring.

And remember. All these alcoholic type products.

They don't have to tell you what's on the label. They don't have to tell you what's in it, on the label.

Then you have.

Some of the best beers in the world that would be German.

Some say German beers. Don't give you a hangover. I would say maybe. Possibly. You know, very few chemicals, very few basic ingredients. It has to be yeast, water and barley. That's it. That is what Germans call beer.

Organic at least, you know,

they're growing the grains cleanly. They're using clean water. They're not using GMO yeast. But of course you have to verify that with them or on their website.

Beer is very similar. To wine.

You see, it uses very common ingredients. Things like. Colorings and. Sugar and Antifa foaming agents clarifiers, but they also use things that. Wine doesn't use. Did you know, there's MSG and a lot of beer. Oh yeah. Did you know, there's antifreeze. You know the stuff that's in your cars engine to keep it from overheating. Yes.

There are more chemicals than even there is in wine.

You got to know your beer. Unless you just don't care.

Then you have whiskey.

There is only one whiskey that's clean.

It's American.

And it will say on the label straight whiskey, if it says anything other than straight whiskey, it has additives.

So. Straight whiskey would probably have, you know, chemicals from the water they're using were chemicals from the grains that were grown. Maybe even the yeast. Is it GMO? Who knows? I'm sure. Some of the larger brands that make whiskey are using GMO yeast.

But basically you S made whiskey that says straight whiskey.

It's probably your cleanest option.

I can't find any other countries that have whiskey standards to such a level. Irish whiskey has additives.

Sorry, all you Irishman, but that's just the way it is.

Even scotch. There's no guarantee that really expensive scotch. You do not know if they've added anything. Even if it was 50 years ago, they could have added stuff. And most of those are blended. Oh, no, Erik, you don't understand. I only buy single malt. That doesn't mean anything. There are no standards.

So you have to trust them. No, you can find out from them. Like I said, do your research. The one that surprised me the most was Cognac. Lots of additives, especially sugar and caramel coloring. Really. It's supposed to be, you know, The highest level of alcohol beverages. . Well, It's not. So, what about gin? Besides the botanicals that are in there.

Pretty much just a straight. Corn wheat, barley or RYE alcohol.

So you're going to have the chemicals from the growing process of those grains, but also maybe the botanicals aren't organic either.

Then we have rum. Almost 75% of the rum brands have sugar added. And I mean, a lot of it. I've seen anywhere from. Four or five grams per bottle to up to. 200 grams per bottle, and it's not even a flavored version. Like. Pineapple or something.

They use tons of Carmel coloring. Almost all of the dark rums are just the caramel coloring. But. If you get rum from Martinique. It has to be pure. They can't add anything. That's one of those areas, like I was talking about with wine.

And with tequila where they have their own standards. They do not. Deviate from those.

Which leaves the most controversial. One of all vodka.

Just because it's clear. Doesn't mean it's clean. I say that about water as well.

Vodka's one of the worst offenders. The main thing that they use as an additive is glycerol. Glycerol. Is sugar. Why did they use it? Erik? Well, because it creates mouthfeel. And it helps to hide the burn in your throat and your mouth. Sometimes it can help mask just. Not good vodka.

So when they say. You know, just do vodka. It's the lowest calories and lowest in sugar. Nope. You have to know if it is.

One of the best brands that will not add anything. If you've never tasted or had Valentine vodka. It's a Detroit produced product. No additives. And they have won more awards. Now they have been crowned the best vodka in the world, all kinds of stuff. I'm telling you.

It's that good.

But I'm sure there's others that are just as good. They're just small and maybe they're not in America, maybe they're in other places.

Maybe you make your own vodka at home. Wink wink.

Organic vodkas basically have nothing in them. No additives. So they're the cleanest. But you still have to make sure in find out if they're actually additive free.

It's not that hard to do on any of these. Look at their website. Email them call them. Get on their social media. If you do their social media and you ask a question. They have to answer. And if they don't or they give you some.

Run around type answer. You can put them on the spot.

There's also companies online that are producing results of testings done on many different alcoholic beverages and brands as well.

Like I said, I'm not telling you to drink these and I'm not telling you. That they're healthy. I'm just saying, if you're going to do something like this, you should know what you're drinking. I mean, really it's like water. You need to know what you're putting in your body.

Especially something that can potentially harm you if you do too much of it. You need to know what you're drinking.

I hope this was helpful.

Oh, here's a quick one. I just remembered. To find out if your tequila has added sugar. If you take a little bit of it. Or you could use this for vodka as well, but it's better with tequila. You put a little bit in your hand and rub it around in your hands. Like you would lotion and then smell it. You'll be able to smell the characteristic qualities of that tequila. And if it's sticky on your hands, you'll know they're sugar in there. Same with your vodka.

You're just not going to smell any attributes. All right. That's it for today. I see a Wednesday take care of yourselves.