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19 Fun facts about champagne

19 Fun facts about champagne-3

Champagne is synonymous with celebration, and nothing says New Year’s quite like popping a bottle of bubbly. Throughout the year it might be seen as slightly snobbish, but on December 31 Champagne becomes holiday revelers’ drink of choice in countries all over the world. It seems that simply letting those bubbles fly sets the tone for a festive celebration, but what do you actually know about this fizzy favorite? Here are 19 fun facts about Champagne you likely never knew. 1. There are about 49 million bubbles in a 7500ml bottle of Champagne. 2. A standard-sized glass emits 30 bubbles every second. 3. France has the largest Champagne market (of course). The French consume 162.5 million bottles every year, or about 52 percent of the entire world production of Champagne. 4. Champagne has 3 times more carbonation than beer. 5. The pressure in a Champagne bottle is about 3 times the amount of pressure…

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Tips to help prevent that horrible champagne hangover

Tips to help prevent that horrible hangover

If you’ve ever thought that a glass of champagne hits you faster than, say, beer, you’re not imagining it. It turns out there’s a reason why a single toast at your friend’s wedding can leave your head spinning. Boris Tabakoff at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told NPR, “Some of the dizziness you can feel after champagne is due to both the brain getting [a little] less oxygen and also the [effects] of the alcohol at the same time.” Blame it on the bubbles. All of those bubbles in sparkling wine and champagne are nothing more than carbon dioxide. C02 competes with oxygen in our bloodstream, explains Tabakoff, a researcher on the effects alcohol has on the body. The science behind it is pretty simple. Carbon dioxide increases the pressure in your stomach, which in turn, forces the alcohol out through the lining of your stomach where it’s absorbed right into your bloodstream — faster…

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Celebrate National Sangria Day, Wine not?

National Sangria Day, Wine not?Adobe stock

The holidays can be a stressful time of year, so it’s no coincidence National Sangria Day, December 20, 2017, falls right in the middle of them. Forget shopping, forgetting complicated cooking recipes, forget awkward family functions. Put some relaxation back into your month with a little sangria. A little splash of history The name sangria comes from the word sangre, or blood, and refers to the drink’s often dark color. The first sangrias were likely dark wine, watered down with mixes of water, wine, herbs and spices. Since water was often unfit for consumption because of bacteria, the ancient Romans probably added anything they could to help kill off the germs and disguise the taste of mediocre table wine. Thus, sangria was born. Though Spain and Portugal can claim its origins, today sangria is enjoyed all over the world. Whether you drink it on a patio in the summer to cool off, or…

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Tortellini skewers are an easy holiday appetizer

Tortellini skewers are an easy holiday appetizer

We’ve all been there. You have to bring an appetizer to a party, but “veggie tray” has already be claimed from the list. What do you bring when you’re concerned about travel time and keeping an appetizer warm or cold? Tortellini skewers are the answer to this age-old appetizer question. They’re both filling and festive, and the easy-to-eat design, means people will pick this up and they’ll be gone in no time. This dish can be served either warm or cold, so no need to stress about hauling coolers or reserving time in your friend’s oven. And it’s only 4 ingredients! Now that makes for holiday merriment. holiday Tortellini skewers Ingredients 10 ounce package of pre-made tortellini (multi-color make for some fun) 1/4 cup prepared pesto 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienne 1-2 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese about 2 dozen skewers Directions Cook tortellini as the package per the package directions. Drain tortellini and toss with…

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Why you should always store your wine bottles horizontally

Why you should always store your wine horizontally

If you’ve ever sat down to enjoy a nice, relaxing glass of your favorite wine only to have the cork crumble into the bottle, you’re not alone. It turns out, this devastating scene happens because you — and millions of other wine drinkers — don’t realize that proper wine storage is actually really important. There’s a good reason why wine racks typically have the bottle lying down. “Bottles of wine should be stored horizontally to keep the wine in contact with the cork and help prevent the cork from drying out,” wine critic and write Joanna Simon told Cosmopolitan. If a wine cork dries out, it can become brittle and break with just a small amount of pressure. These can lead to those cork fragments floating around your wine glass. Corks are susceptible to drying if not stored properly, and they’re also naturally breakable. “Corks can become crumbly and friable with age — it being…

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10 Naughty hot chocolate recipes for adults

Naughty-hot-chocolate-recipes-for-adultsAdobe stock

When winter arrives, it’s time for thick socks, cozy blankets and nights cuddled up on the couch with giant mugs of spiked hot chocolate. Almost all of these recipes are pretty simple to make, and yours don’t have to look Pinterest perfect. They just have to taste great and help you smile a little more through the coming cold months. The key is to making them taste fantastic is starting with quality chocolate in the first place. Drop that processed supermarket pouch with mini marshmallows right there! It’s full of brown powder, but that’s hardly the rich chocolate you crave when the temperatures dip. Treat your self to the real deal. After all, why use kid hot chocolate mix for these delicious adult drinks? You pay your bills. You’re an adult. You’ve earned it. Red Wine Hot Chocolate Rich red wine. Devilishly dark chocolate. It’s the ultimate decadent hot chocolate. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/72057662768436582/ Tequila spiked…

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New study reveals alcohol can help you speak a foreign language

New study reveals alcohol can help you speak a foreign languagePixabay

Have you ever drank a glass of wine and felt fluent in French? It might not be your imagination. A new study found that a drink or two can lower inhibitions and may make it easier for new speakers to overcome their hesitations and awkwardness with a new language. So is it just liquid courage or do people really speak non-native languages better after a little booze? Recent studies have shown that drinking alcohol can have some incredible and unexpected benefits, but how it improves your ability to speak a foreign language wasn’t quite as well understood. So British and Dutch researchers conducted a study to better understand the phenomenon. The study was recently published in Journal of Psychopharmacology. Fifty native German speakers who noted they drink alcohol on occasion also had to demonstrate proficiency in their second language, Dutch. Half of the participants were given water to drink and half were given an alcoholic beverage. Then each person was asked…

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Here’s why the first glass of champagne will get you drunker

Here's why the first glass of champagne will get you drunkerPexels

A leading professor of medicine has published a book that dives into the fascinating science behind our vices, from caffeine to chocolate to alcohol. In his book, The Longevity List, Merlin Thomas puts wives-tales to the test to determine fact vs. fiction. He explains that that the first glass of champagne poured out of any bottle will get the person who drinks it more drunk than those who receive the second, third and fourth (and so on) glasses poured from the same bottle, Mail Online reported. Thomas concluded that the fizz is the culprit for the phenomenon because it speeds up the absorption of alcohol into our bloodstream. While other drinks have fizz, champagne or sparkling wine is the most bubbly alcoholic drink of them all. With the pop of the cork, the carbon dioxide held in the champagne starts to escape partly through those tiny gas bubbles you see rising to the surface, but…

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Designated drivers enjoy new perks at beer and wine festivals

Designated drivers enjoy new perks at beer and wine festivals

As if there weren’t enough opportunities to drink, American cities host countless beer, wine and other alcohol-centric festivals. For those who imbibe, these festivals offer a fun way to try many different drinks in one setting. But if you happen to be at an event like this and you’re not drinking, you’re probably pregnant or someone’s designated driver — and you’re not having much fun. But the New York Times recently reported that plenty of major drinking-focused events are actually making a push to include non-drinkers in their festivities. The Great American Beer Festival, one of America’s best known beer festivals, kicks off today at the Colorado Convention center in Denver and will feature over 800 breweries with 3,900 types of beer. Organizers estimate that only 300 guests out of the 60,000 expected attendees won’t be drinking. “We have games set up, and I’ve seen card games break out. People tell jokes. I’ve seen…

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Expensive wines taste better, but only because they trick your brain

Study shows we think expensive wines taste better.Pexels

Despite taste testings that show the best wines in the world can fall at any price point, your brain is predisposed to prefer expensive bottles. You can thank the “marketing placebo effect” for this. The placebo effect states that we tend to experience what we expect — and a higher price creates an increased expectation for better tasting wine. We tell ourselves that more expensive wines taste better — but then they actually do. A recent study published online in Scientific Reports confirmed that the same wine tastes better to consumers when it boasts a higher price tag. The small European study used just 30 participants with an average age of 30, but the experiment was in-depth. Participants were placed in MRI scanners to monitor brain activity, while they were given sips of wine, as well as the wine’s price tag. Participants were then asked to rank each wine. The catch? Participants were given the exact same red…

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