Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → News

Internet searchers reveal people’s favorite Christmas spirit

Brandy, it turns out, is the most popular Christmas drink -- at least in the UK.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
December 20, 2017
in News, Offbeat

It’s almost Christmas time, and even the studies are getting festive. Brandy, it turns out, is the most popular Christmas drink — at least in the UK.

Christmas brandy, anyone? Credits: Will Shenton.

Different people like to do different things for Christmas, but if you ask me, there’s nothing quite like a quiet drink with your loved ones — and I’m sure many adults would agree. But different people also like different drinks, and for some reason, researchers were determined to figure out the favorite. Nathan Cunningham from Warwick’s Department of Statistics has discovered that during the week of Christmas, UK online searches for all alcohol soar, but those for brandy were way higher than those of any other drink.

Nathan Cunningham commented:

“In each of the last five years, the search volume for some of the most popular alcoholic spirits has peaked dramatically around the week of Christmas. I found it interesting that there’s been such a consistent surge in searches for spirits around the festive period, and wanted to find out which one, more so than any other, we associate with Christmas above and beyond any other time of the year.”

However, Cunningham didn’t just rely on the results, because that would show what is the most popular drink in general. Instead, he carried out a standard statistical analysis, looking at the standardized search volume of each candidate drink, subtracting their respective means (the average search volume of each drink) and dividing this by their respective standard deviations (how each search volume varies from the average). Brandy was still the highest, rum came in second, and surprisingly, vodka was third.

However, brandy’s popularity could also be owed to the fact that it’s also associated with cooking popular Christmas cakes, especially puddings and mince pies — which contrary to their name, don’t contain meat. Mince, in this case, is a mixture of raising, cranberries, sugar, and other sweets. Speaking for himself, however, Cunningham isn’t a fan.

So, it appears the Christmas spirit is … brandy. Hardly surprising, I guess, given its association with Christmas puddings and mince pies, both of which often contain brandy or are served with brandy butter. I’m not particularly a fan of either; Christmas dessert in my house has always been my mum’s delicious lemon cheesecake.

You can read more about it on his blog. The analysis was done in R, with the plot created in ggplot2 and tidied up after in Inkscape. The data come from Google Trends.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Here’s how you can feed your ex’s spirit animal (a bug) to a meerkat
  2. Stone-age peoples in the Iberian Peninsula shared graves with dogs
  3. Ancient peoples in South America had both Denisovan and Neanderthal DNA — and we have no clue how it got there
  4. A flat-earther brought a spirit level on a plane to prove the Earth is flat. Yeah…
  5. Ukraine seizes spirit made from apples grown near the Chernobyl nuclear site
Tags: brandyChristmas

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW