Oh, okay. Just confusion of terms.

My brain organizes things as "beer, wine, and alcohol (aka spirits)" as opposed to "alcohol, including beer and wine". And an "alcoholic beverage" is just either a spirit alone or a spirit mixed with something.

Probably because that's how my state organizes the stores (with wine/alcohol in separate stores from beer, so if you say "we need to buy beer" that means going to a different place than "we need to by alcohol").

The unambiguous word in these situations is "liquor", at least in US English.

“Liquor” has two senses - a narrow sense in which it refers specifically to beverages produced by distillation, and a broader sense in which it refers to alcoholic beverages in general, including wine and beer. The narrow sense is stronger in the US (and I think also Canada?), whereas the broader sense is stronger in the UK and Australia (and I would assume Ireland and New Zealand too)

I always thought "liquor" was stuff like Lemoncello and Amaretto.

(FWIW I'm a native US English speaker.)

You may be thinking of liqueur.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liqueur

> a usually sweetened alcoholic liquor (such as brandy) flavored with fruit, spices, nuts, herbs, or seeds

vs liquor

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liquor

> a usually distilled rather than fermented alcoholic beverage

see https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amaretto

> an almond-flavored liqueur

and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limoncello

> Limoncello (Italian pronunciation: [limonˈtʃɛlːo]) is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy

Yep, liqueur is cutesy syrupy stuff made in european monasteries or whatever, typically around 40 proof. Liquor (as in "corn likker") is the stuff for getting messed up fast, typically at least 80 proof.