Word: liquor
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Every time someone ends a sentence with “Eh?” or pronounces “about” as “aboot,” take a shot. You’ll need about three handles of hard liquor per player if you intend on lasting through the entire broadcast...
Peter the Great - who was rumored to drink up to half a gallon (2 L) of vodka a day - cracked down on home-brewed alcohol by creating liquor licenses, which were required in order to sell vodka. Catherine the Great made it illegal for anyone other than the aristocracy to purvey it, which boosted the drink's quality - and the Czarina's coffers. By 1860, more than 40% of government revenue came from vodka. The distillation process had improved (vodka was now filtered with charcoal and occasionally flavored), leading to increased consumption. By 1913, Russian citizens could boast one unlicensed...
That year, the Russian army revoked shops' liquor licenses and confiscated over 140 million gal. (530 million L) of vodka. (Unsure what to do with the oversupply, the government gave the vodka to scientists, who used it in experiments - one of which led to a new kind of synthetic rubber.) Prohibition remained in effect during the 1917 revolution and subsequent civil war. But when the teetotaling Bolsheviks ran low on funds, they rethought their stance; by 1925 vodka was back on the shelves of state-run dispensaries. In World War II, every Russian soldier at the front was given...
...temperance movement flared up again in the 1985 when Gorbachev launched an all-out campaign to eradicate drunkenness, revoking liquor licenses, banning vodka consumption at Soviet embassies and razing vineyards (Russia also makes wine), earning himself the nickname Mineral'nyi Sekretar ("The Mineral Water Secretary.") (See pictures of Denver, Beer Country...
Drinking increased after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. Although personally fond of vodka, Boris Yeltsin abolished the state monopoly and instituted laws to keep drinking in check. He outlawed sidewalk liquor kiosks - prompting merchants to build tiny phone booth-size stores instead. He also raised the price of vodka, which only encouraged the black market for samogon...