On alcohol bottles, why do we put the percent of alcohol AND the proof percent on? Proof is always twice the other percent, so why label both?
In: Chemistry
In the old days when alcohol percentage in alcoholic beverages was not accurately measured and there was a lot of fraud sailors use to mix 50% drink %50 gunpowder and toss it on a match, if it sparked and exploded it meant that the drink was at least 50% alcohol or 100% proof that its not fraudulent.
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Consumers associate hard liquor with the phrase “80 proof” even if they don’t necessarily know what that means. Having those words on your bottle makes it look legit and signals that this is a strong drink rather than a beer/wine/mixer/liqueur. Some brands (especially “151” rums) are inextricably linked with their proof.
At the same time, ABV is a much easier measure to understand. It’s also how beers and wines are labeled. Manufacturers have enough space on the label to provide both the traditional and contemporary alcohol content information, so why not?
You will get a lot of people proud they read last week on TIL how proof meant sailors mixing spirits with gunpowder as proof of potency.
The answer is there no good reason. For some liquors the higher proof number looks better since it’s three digits. But mostly it’s just custom in America. Like how we print liters on gallons of milk or quarts on 2 liter sodas.
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