# different fruits and Vegetables used in booze? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928 "2005-06-12T03:15:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/1 "2005-06-12T03:15:14Z")
So, I was at a Chinese restaurant with my dad, and he ordered some plum wine. This got me to ask what could be fermented, and what actually got fermented. So, we started listing odd things that are made into booze. We got: Potato Cactus (is tequila from cactus?) apple dandelion rice I was sure something must be from beets since Europe was almost completely depedent on beets for sugar before discovering America. So my questions are: what did we miss in our list? and is any alcohol made from beets? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/2 "2005-06-12T03:26:33Z")
Virtually anything can be used to make vodka: beets, potatos, corn, sugar… Other things that are fermented into tasty drinks: -pears -honey -grapes -grains -various berries, such as blackberries or elderberries -cassava / manioc -black bread -plaintains -palm sap -dates -parsnips -crabapples -rhubarb -cherries -horse milk Tequila, mezcal, and pulque aren’t made from a cactus, but from the [agave](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave) plant. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/3 "2005-06-12T03:33:38Z")
I think your list would grow without end. Here’s two more: Barley, and [caterpillars](http://www.walterreeves.com/insects_animals/article.phtml?cat=21&id=469). ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/4 "2005-06-12T04:12:31Z")
Tequila is, as far as I know, made from corn. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/5 "2005-06-12T04:15:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Tequila is, as far as I know, made from corn. Nope. Agave. See above link. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/6 "2005-06-12T04:17:19Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > Nope. Agave. See above link. I stand corrected. And here I’ve always thought it was corn. Oh well, alcohol can pretty much be made from anything with corn or starch in it…and it probably HAS been in some form or another. Meade is made from honey (isn’t it?!). ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/7 "2005-06-12T04:19:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Meade is made from honey (isn’t it?!). Yes, except for that fake mead they sell at the liquor store where if you look closely at the label you can see it’s not mead at all but white wine with honey added so it’s a mystery to me why they call it mead. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/8 "2005-06-12T05:18:37Z")
Gin is flavored with, but not distilled from, juniper berries. I think it’s safe to assume rye whiskey is made from rye. Rum is made from molasses, which is made from sugar cane. Folks in prisons and far-off military outposts have made horrid alcoholic beverages from just about every vegetable foodstuff. A sociology prof once told my class that nearly every society has an alcohol beverage. The Eskimos (Inuits) were thought to be an exception, but they had a preparation made from fermented auk (a bird,) so maybe they weren’t an exception. Some societies, of course, have other mind-altering substances, too. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/9 "2005-06-12T05:19:45Z")
In Italy, many families as well as restaurants brew their own liquer from many different fruits and vegetables. The most famous being Limoncello, made from lemons. I’ve personally tried some made from strawberries, cabbage and turnip. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/10 "2005-06-12T05:29:01Z")
I was unclear on the Inuits, by speaking in the past tense. My sociology class was in the past, but the Inuits still exist. Cross-cultural traffic, of course, has introduced booze to the present-day Inuits. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/11 "2005-06-12T06:51:28Z")
Radish wine is conceivable, although I’ve never made it. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/12 "2005-06-12T08:00:40Z")
[here](http://www.egullet.org/tdg.cgi?pg=ARTICLE-blandwine) is a rather amusing account of one mans journey to make wine out of absolutely anything. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/13 "2005-06-12T08:08:30Z")
Corn and spit. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/14 "2005-06-12T10:28:17Z")
Anything which contains starch and/or sugar which will ferment to form alcohol in the presence of yeast will make an alcoholic beverage. Whether this beverage is palatable is a different story all together. My mother used to make Dandelion wine from dandelion tubers, weeding the garden has its own reward, apparently. Whether you make a beer or spirit from fermented grain largely depends on whether you distill it or not. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/15 "2005-06-12T12:34:24Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > I was unclear on the Inuits, by speaking in the past tense. My sociology class was in the past, but the Inuits still exist. … Sadly, the auks [do not.](http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/greatauk.htm) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/16 "2005-06-12T15:29:34Z")
The Mongols drank fermented mare’s milk. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/17 "2005-06-12T18:12:15Z")
My uncle’s mother in the south of France makes peach wine. Good, if a bit syrupy. ---
**Author:** ![Eegba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Eegba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eegba)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2005, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-fruits-and-vegetables-used-in-booze/307928/18 "2005-06-13T01:32:21Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Folks in prisons and far-off military outposts have made horrid alcoholic beverages from just about every vegetable foodstuff. Mmmm, [pruno](http://www.blacktable.com/gillin030901.htm)…