It’s both, you’re mixing different phylogenies. Any alcohol prepared for consumption is a solution of water, ethanol, and various other substances (almost all water or alcohol soluble). Ethanol in aqueous solution is also a strong solvent (pure ethanol is a less effective solvent, but a solvent nonetheless).
Alcohol refers to an alcoholic drink (like the martini held by this sophisticated cat). Water and ethanol (99% of these drinks) are miscible, so are always at least a solution with one another. The additional flavor compounds that make drinks different from one another tend to be in solution as well.
There’s the joke in Swedish about alcohol being a lösningsmedel (solvent, but also something that solves problems). Won’t that also work in German but with Lösungsmittel?
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