Mezcal is not tequila. The agave is roasted in a pit in the ground rather than steamed, and that is where the smoke comes from. Four bottles on our shelf from $34.99 to $89.99 - El Silencio, Del Maguey Vida, Rosaluna and Casamigos - what separates them, and which one to start with.

Grey Goose comes in 750ml, 1 litre and 1.75 litre, and the prices are not proportional. Worked out per ounce, the litre and the handle cost exactly the same and the 750 costs 17 percent more. Every size, every price, how many drinks are in each, and what the same money buys elsewhere.

Green bottle, red seal, and a recipe of exactly four botanicals - juniper, coriander, angelica and licorice. What London Dry actually means, why a London gin is distilled in Scotland, what the 750ml costs, and how it stacks up against Hendrick's and the rest of our gin shelf.

Hana is flavoured sake - real rice-brewed sake with fruit added and the alcohol pulled down to about eight percent, half the strength of wine. How the lychee, fuji apple and raspberry differ, how to serve it, what to eat with it, and why lychee sake is not the same drink as lychee wine.

French labels say a place, not a grape, which is the only thing that makes them look hard. Bordeaux means cabernet and merlot, Sancerre means sauvignon blanc, Cotes de Provence means dry pink. The full kosher French shelf from $12.99 to $399.99, and what to buy at every price.

Five bottles on our shelf sound like "elite" and run from $29.99 to $129.99. Stolichnaya is the base vodka, Stoli is the same brand's short name, and Elit is its top shelf - while Russian Elite and Royal Elite are different companies entirely. What each one is, what the price buys, and which to pick.

Cherry liqueur is really two different drinks sharing a name - the sweet dark red kind you sip, and clear dry maraschino that is distilled and belongs in a Last Word. Why maraschino comes out colourless, where vishniak fits, and the three bottles on our shelf at $16.99, $31.99 and $36.99.

Pet nat is short for petillant naturel. The wine is bottled before it has finished fermenting, so the bubbles come from the wine itself rather than a second fermentation. Why it is cloudy, why it wears a beer cap, how it differs from champagne and prosecco, and the two kosher bottles Dalton makes at $31.99.

Potato vodka is distilled from potatoes instead of grain, which makes it rounder and fuller in the mouth, more expensive to make, and the traditional bottle for Pesach. What the difference actually tastes like, why seven pounds of potatoes go into one bottle, and the two we carry at $32.99 and $17.99.

Grand Vin is French for great wine, and on a label it means the estate's flagship bottling - not a legal classification, and not the same thing as Grand Cru. Where the idea comes from in Bordeaux, what it does not tell you, and the Domaine du Castel ladder from $29.99 to $112.99 as a worked example.

Amaretto is the sweet almond-flavoured Italian liqueur, and Disaronno is the bottle almost everybody means. What the name means, why there may be no almonds in it at all, what ours costs at $39.99, and the five things worth doing with an open bottle.

Lychee turns up on our shelf in four completely different bottles - an Italian sparkling moscato in a can at $16.99, a Japanese sake at $15.99, a sweet Israeli fruit wine at $24.99, and an aniseed arak at $26.99. What each one tastes like, how sweet it really is, and which one belongs on your table.