Myths About Your Favorite Drinks You Shouldn't Believe

"Absinthe is totally safe for human consumption when enjoyed responsibly. It got a bad rap at the beginning of the 20th century because the wine lobby of France started a highly effective smear campaign against the spirit when they felt that absinthe was threatening their place as the preferred drink of the French. In actuality, absinthe never consisted for more than 5% of the total consumed alcoholic beverages at the time, but its popularity and its notoriety was enough to prompt the wrath of the wine makers. It should also be noted that absinthe is 68% ABV or 136 Proof. Drink enough of any double proof spirit and you will notice some negative effects." –Anne-Louise Marquis, Brand Ambassador for Pernod Absinthe

"Older doesn't mean better. Lots of people think it does, but that's not the case. Good quality whisky comes from good maturation. Maturity and age are very different things. The time spent in cask is not as important as the quality of the cask that the whisky sits in. I can prove that. Casks are like human beings-it's a natural, organic process, what happens inside the cask between the spirit and the wood. There's no way for us to control that natural process. You just have to be patient. The age won't tell you how good it is. I'm sure you know one 30-year-old person who is an asshole. And I'm sure you know one 30-year-old who is cool, who you'd want to have a beer with. Casks are the same way. The better the wood is, the better the whisky." –Nicholas Pollacchi, Balvenie distillery

"It is often thought vodka has no taste, typically because all of its natural flavors are lost when its mixed with any sort of juice or mixer. But for true vodka connoisseur, or any Russian or Polish drinker, there are big differences! Vodka certainly does have taste. The ingredients of what it is made from definitely affects the taste, whether it is potato (such as Chopin or Karlsson's), grape (such as Ciroc) or grain (Ketel 1, Absolut, etc). Potato vodkas, for example tend to be much richer and sweeter in flavor." –Jasper Soffer, bar manager and mixologist at Greenwich Project

"Champagne can only come from the Champagne region of France, a very specifically delineated area of about 34,000 hectares.The worst bottle of Champagne that you can get-and there are certainly some that are better than other--but the worst bottle of Champagne you can get is going to be a lot better than the worst bottle of sparkling wine that you can get. When you get to other countries, the rules cease to apply like they do in Champagne. Say you wanted to make wine in Argentina, for example; you could do whatever you wanted. You could use whatever grape; you could grow it wherever; you could make it as sweet as you wanted and not put it on the label; you could age it for however long you wanted, and do it in a tank and not in a bottle; you could inject it with CO₂ like it were Coca-Cola. As long as there was a market for it, and you paid you taxes, you'd be in business."–Seth Box, wine and Champagne specialist for Moët

"There is not one best way to drink tequila, as it can be enjoyed in many different recipes and forms based on personal preference. Aged tequilas are excellent sipped neat or on the rocks, which allows you to savor the aromas and flavors. They are also great for twists on classic cocktails that typically call for aged brown spirits, such as a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned." –Enrique de Colsa, Master Distiller for Tequila Don Julio

"They don't get you drunker faster, and, to add insult to injury, all of that sugar doesn't help. It makes you feel drunker faster because of all of the sugar going into your blood stream, meaning you're essentially experiencing a sugar "high."–Jasper Soffer, bar manager and mixologist at Greenwich Project

"This is a misconception that derived from moonshine distillers who, without government oversight, produced batches of moonshine in stills that were fitted with lead. Stories remain here in the Appalachian mountains, but our moonshine is made from local quality ingredients and distilled under the watchful eye of trained distillers." -Joe Baker, founder of Ole Smoky Moonshine

"Many people associate rum with sweet, tropical drinks they perceive as high-calorie and indulgent, something they only have when they're on vacation or want to feel like they're on one. They don't associate these rum cocktails with the more sophisticated, premium drinking occasions they've come to enjoy today. This isn't always the caase. We're fortunate to have a clean, extra dry-style rum that's less sweet because of Brugal's proprietary distillation process, which removes most of the heavy alcohols that other rums leave in (your tongue and nose interpret these heavy alcohols as sweetness). In the case of Brugal Extra Dry, a combination of the clean distillation process and aging the spirit in white American oak casks for 2-5 years offer a very smooth, dry (not sweet) rum. It's smooth enough to serve on the rocks or with soda or tonic, and makes more balanced, top shelf rum cocktails, so it can give consumers what they want—the fun of rum, but a more versatile and sophisticated spirit." – Juan Campos, brand development manager for the Americas for Brugal

"Too often, consumers are misled by marketing hype. That's where the myth that 'darker beer has a lot more calories' originated. Through FindTheBest's beer research, we found that despite all the promotion, there is actually a very low correlation between the color of a beer and its calorie count. Plenty of dark beers have a low calorie count, while many light beers have very high calorie counts. Our goal at FindTheBest is to give people accurate information and the tools they need to think like experts-so they won't be fooled by all the advertising." -Kevin O'Connor, FindTheBest

"Expensive vodka is simply a matter of age and a more elaborate preparation process. Ultimately, the ingredients are the same, and therefore will have the same effect on the drinker. And in some instances, it is simply a matter of good PR and marketing; some brands have a high perception of quality due to that alone." –Jasper Soffer, bar manager and mixologist at Greenwich Project