Northern drinking cultures tend to be binge drinkers; they drink hard alcohol primarily, often in groups of just men by themselves, women by themselves. Alcohol is forbidden to kids. It's kind of taboo. The purpose of drinking is to get drunk. Anglophone college culture is kind of the worst version of this, because it's kids without fully developed prefrontal cortices doing it, and they're drinking distilled liquors. If you want to design the unhealthiest drinking culture possible, it would be college drinking culture. Whereas if you look at Southern European cultures like Italy or Spain, they're drinking primarily wine and beer. They're always drinking in the context of a meal, so it's always around a meal table. It's in mixed company - kids and grandparents and parents. To drink to the point of being visibly drunk is embarrassing and actually kind of shameful.