Drinkable alcohol, also known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol, is produced through fermentation, which is the breakdown of sugar by certain species of yeast, yielding carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. Practically anything with sugar in it can be turned into "drinkable" alcohol (obviously people's definitions of "drinkable" will vary), but the most common starting points are fruits, grains and sugary saps.

We all know about alcoholic beverages made from grapes (wine et al.), barley (beer), rice (sake), potatoes (vodka), sugar cane/molasses (rum) and honey (mead). There are also many fruit-based alcohols, like the rakia common in the Balkans, which can be made from grapes, plums, peaches, pears, apples, figs, cherries, etc.

The FAO bulletin "Fermented Fruits and Vegetables: A Global Perspective" lists the following interesting alcoholic beverages, but consider this just a sampling:

» Banana beer - Common throughout Africa. Made by fermenting bananas with a cereal flour (usually sorghum).

» Cashew wine - Made in Asia and Latin America with the fruit of the cashew tree.

» Colonche - A Mexican beverage made from the juice of the prickly pear cactus.

» Date wine - Common in North Africa, made from dates.

» Jackfruit wine - Made from the mighty jackfruit by ethnic groups in India.

» Pulque - The national drink of Mexico and the starting point for the distilled spirits mezcal and tequila, made from cactus juices.

» Palm wine - Popular in West Africa and made from the saps of certain palm trees .

» Tepache - A Mexican beverage historically made from maize (corn) but now made from fruits like pineapples, apples and oranges.

» Toddy - Common in South Asia, made from the sap of the coconut palm.

» Ulanzi (bamboo wine) - Made in East and Southern Africa from bamboo sap.

There is virtually no limit to what can be (and has been) turned into alcohol, just as there is virtually no limit to the number of beverages people are willing to try if they hear they contain alcohol.

See also: Wikipedia: Alcoholic beverage