Guinness

If you're picking up a glass of Guinness this St. Patrick's Day, savor it while pondering this story from 1917, when Ireland's famous stout was cause for true celebration: It saved lives.

Dublin's Guinness Storehouse is a cross between a museum and a marketing campaign, and an homage to the history and taste of the world's best-known stout.

The folks at Guinness have a polite request: Don't slurp the foamy head off their beer. It's essentially a nitrogen cap, they say, that's protecting the flavors underneath from being oxidized.