In this paper an analysis is made of beverage preferences and their ef
fect on alcohol consumption patterns. For this purpose we have used th
e 1993 Spanish National Household Health Survey conducted on members o
f the population aged 16 or over. Beer and spirits are consumed more f
requently by young people and wine by older people. The most consumed
daily drink is wine and beer on a weekly basis. Men always drank more
frequently and consumed a greater number of drinks per occasion than w
omen for the three types of drink analyzed. The study shows that bever
age preference is an important factor in the characterization of alcoh
ol use patterns.