the DRUNKEST country in the world, cheers!

[Blondie]

I thought it's Ireland.

[Hulu]

I didn't expect Sweden being so high up.

[KirillMazur]

Knowing ''basics'' of chemistry (or enough like in many areas ...).

Sure. The risk of methanol (which can make one blind) is pretty easy to eliminate. Just as the boiling point of methanol is clearly lower than boiling point of ethanol. Just not be greedy and wait enough ... and of course have good enough distiller.
The problems are few other longer alcohols (longer than ethanol) and another organic compounds which will have pretty similar boiling temperature as ethanol has. One can not separate those from ethanol via any home system. Those will give home made alcohol the typical ''taste''.

I remember one chemistry area trade show in Helsingfors. There were all companies and stakeholders presence (incl. companies which will sell equipment to chemical industry). On HP's stand one men started to talk us about their gas-chromatographs (how well the new line is). Few local guys gave him small sample (test-tube full of liquid) to prove his talks (asking analyzing it). He took the sample and asked to come back before our buss would leave back to Ostrobothnia. As we came back, man started his dry sounding talk what they have found out. Compound by compound and amounts of those. He ended his talks: Students ... I hope you still will not drink that? That was pretty good/clean quality ''pontikka'' (general name of home made alcohol in Finland) ... but that is not legal and that was also pretty strong stuff.

On buss guys said that they had distilled it 3 times....

I have always said that vodka is an absolute alcohol - only pure alcohol and water. And it is absolutely impossible to obtain a similar degree of purity at home, which is given by an industrial rectification column (there is simply not enough ceiling height for this).
Any distilled strong drink is basically vodka + complex aromatic esters and aldehydes (including methanol compounds) that give the "taste" and headache the next morning. The wine is the same, albeit a fermented product.

As for the gas-chromatograph, a friend of my friend used a similar method to study some of the "Big Four" cognacs (Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martel, Courvoisier). And he came to the conclusion that the current batches (bottled in 2021) are made simply on the verge of allowing of cognac technology. A huge contrast to the pre-covid era - the manufacturer saves on everything now.

[Finnish Swede]

I have always said that vodka is an absolute alcohol - only pure alcohol and water. And it is absolutely impossible to obtain a similar degree of purity at home, which is given by an industrial rectification column (there is simply not enough ceiling height for this).
Any distilled strong drink is basically vodka + complex aromatic esters and aldehydes (including methanol compounds) that give the "taste" and headache the next morning. The wine is the same, albeit a fermented product.

As for the gas-chromatograph, a friend of my friend used a similar method to study some of the "Big Four" cognacs (Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martel, Courvoisier). And he came to the conclusion that the current batches (bottled in 2021) are made simply on the verge of allowing of cognac technology. A huge contrast to the pre-covid era - the manufacturer saves on everything now.

In Finland there are 3 pure spirits: A, AA and AAA. Those are not sold for normal consumers, only for laboratory use (there is tight control and bureaucracy process behind of all that). A is about same as the strongest home made alcohols can be (%), two others even higher than that (%). AAA is so close 100% that it will lost some % immediately as it is contacted to air (bottle opened). Big boys says that those will not have the typical taste of ''pontikka'' (via aromatic esters and aldehydes), so I assume you are right.

[KirillMazur]

In Finland there are 3 pure spirits: A, AA and AAA. Those are not sold for normal consumers, only for laboratory use (there is tight control and bureaucracy process behind of all that). A is about same as the strongest home made alcohols can be (%), two others even higher than that (%). AAA is so close 100% that it will lost some % immediately as it is contacted to air (bottle opened). Big boys says that those will not have the typical taste of ''pontikka'' (via aromatic esters and aldehydes), so I assume you are right.

It's about the same in Russia.
There is an alcohol of the "extra" degree of purification (grain + potatoes, no more than 60% of potatoes). The degree of purification from methanol and impurities is average; it has not been used for food purposes for a long time.
"Lux" alcohol (also grain + potatoes, but no more than 35% of potatoes) - most vodka is made from it. The purification here is already multi-stage.
"Alpha" alcohol (only grain crops - barley, wheat or rye) - the least amount of impurities, it is used to make vodka of the premium segment.

I suspect that in home distilled alcohol, the degree of purification is "extra" or less.

[Oneeye]

I call bullshit on mexico being so low.

[Finnish Swede]

One comment about Vodka ...

If that would be Spaniards, French, Italians, Brits, Scots etc. drink ... the product ''Vodka'' would have been specified many decades ago much more tightly (from what it can be made and how). Basically what kind of alcohol can be sale under name of ''Vodka''. Just like others (strong alcohols) ... Whiskey, Brandy, Cognac even Grappa ... some says taste like pontikka.

But as Vodka is basically Slavics, Baltics and Finns drink ... harasoo There and Here .

PS: I know '' fights'' between French Champagnes in Russia (labelling of those). But that bases on just endless political matters, and has nothing to do with drinks as such.

[tk'es]

alcohol harms your health, just drink milk, milk whey or yogurt drink instead

[PlattitüdenPaule]

Who? Finns? Scandinavians? Or French/other southern Europeans? I do not know about two last ones (what comes to drugs), but I think people here will not use drugs more than others in Europeans (average level). Opposite it is probably exactly other ways. Just as drugs are still bit more difficult to get in hands (sparely populated country vs big cities in Europe).

Everyone in the west, since it`s cool to act like the "new Europeans". Of course Scandinavia is much more sparsely populated then, say Germany or France for example, but (and I witnessed it all through my own eyes) even in Finnland drugs have become much more readily available due to importing of "new Finns" and them in turn further popularizing the use of aforementioned.

[Gallop]

I didn't even remember...