 All of the different kinds of alcohol we drink are ethanol based. Ethanol, also known as evil alcohol, is a clear volatile liquid that has a pungent bitter taste. Ethanol is produced by the yeasts that ferment the sugars in fruits and grains. Tiny yeast organisms eat those sugars, and the ethanol is the waste they leave behind as they break it all down. The ethanol molecule is small and highly water soluble, and because it's so small, when we drink it, it's very easily absorbed in our gut and distributed in the blood to virtually all the organs and tissues of our body, including the brain. Ethanol doesn't easily dissolve well into oils and fats, although fats and oils can dissolve into it. And as well as being intoxicating, ethanol is also a nutrient. But the bad news is that it's most readily converted to fat. And like most nutrients, it's most easily absorbed into our system via the small intestine, which means that what you have in your stomach can make a very big difference to how you night could go if you're planning to drink.