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Wine and beer consumption are an integral part of European culture: Southern Europe is associated with wine and Northern Europe is associated with beer. When consumed in moderation, these alcoholic beverages can be part of a balanced and healthy diet. In the 1990s, non-alcoholic beer (NAB), which has no cultural roots, became available in the market. This review identifies determinants for consumption of wine, beer, and NAB, using data on consumption patterns from Portugal and the Netherlands. Since the 1960s the image of Portugal as a wine country declined, whereas the image of the Netherlands as a beer country remained stable. In each country beer is now the most consumed alcoholic beverage and is mainly a men's beverage, whereas wine is the second most consumed and is consumed by both genders. Cultural differences define Portuguese as "outdoors, everyday drinkers", within a meal context, and Dutch as "at home, weekend drinkers." Wine is perceived as the healthiest beverage, followed by NAB, and regular beer. Motivation for consumption is related to context: wine for special occasions, beer for informal occasions, and NAB for occasions when alcohol is not convenient. Moderate wine and beer consumption seems to be surrounded by positive emotions. This review is relevant for public health, for industry market strategies, and identifies opportunities of future research on drinking behaviour.

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Eating and drinking are dynamic processes where both sensations and emotions might evolve or change over time during multiple bites/sips. However, most previous studies have measured food‐evoked emotions statically, that is, at a fixed time point after consumption and using a single bite/sip approach. This study aimed to explore the sensitivity of temporal dominance of sensations (TDS), of emotions (TDE), and temporal liking (TL), using a multi‐sip approach, to differentiate between two comparable tasting wines. A glass of wine, in an appropriate consumption context, a bar, was served to 69 consumers, in two different sessions. It was shown that TDS and TDE captured small differences between equally liked wines. Wines were distinguishable during consumption, based on the dominance of basic sensations such as acid, bitter, and dry, rather than aromatic sensations and based on three emotions pleased, comforted, and relaxed. These emotions were dominant in both wines and in all stages of consumption but differed in the dominance rates. So, the impact of wine consumption on emotions was more uniform during consumption while new sensations became dominant during drinking. Practical implications The method tested in this study showed a sensitivity level sufficient to capture subtle but significant differences between similar, equally liked wines. Wines tested have a major difference in wine‐making process, that is, one of the wines had a particular wood aging processing in new oak barrels conferring specific flavors and associated costs. For the wine industry, the method can be particularly useful to understand to which extent consumers perceive differences in sensations and emotions, in a blind tasting, to investigate if increased costs of production are acceptable and justified. For other food products, the method can be useful to use during product development stage, when the aim is to differentiate prototypes with subtle differences in ingredients composition and associated costs. Knowing when certain sensations and emotions occur during consumption might help to create successful products in the market. Further research using different food or beverages is however necessary to assure its validity.

The aim of the present research was to explore consumers' conceptualization of feeling good in relation to food and beverages from a cross-cultural perspective. Participants from 14 countries across 5 continents and covering 10 languages (N=8,325) responded to an online survey including word association and free listing tasks related to feeling good in the context of food and beverages. Results were analyzed using inductive coding: a list of main codes was generated in English for each of the tasks, after which native speakers for each language coded the responses. Codes were grouped into categories reflecting common themes from which eight dimensions were identified. Results showed that in the context of foods and beverages, feeling good was mainly associated with specific foods and sensory and hedonic properties. Across the 14 countries, 'Sweet and fat food', 'Fruit and vegetables', and 'Protein food' were the three food categories most associated with feeling good. Emotional aspects of food consumption ('Taste good' and emotions) were also relevant. Health and nutrition-related aspects were more relevant for consumers when they were asked to think about how foods and beverages would make them feel good in the future. In other words, food-related feeling good seems to be mainly driven by sensory pleasure at present, but it is also related to nutrition and health in the future. Differences in the strength of the associations between feeling good and the identified categories were found between countries, in line with the existence of cultural differences in food habits, as well as in the importance people attach to the characteristics of foods and beverages. Results from the present work provide insights on the impact of eating and drinking on feeling good in terms of emotional, physical and social aspects, and increase knowledge about the way food and drink can contribute to general well-being.