Did You Know It ?

Aperitif

·         French –“ Appertizer”. A short, usually bitter drink of aromatic fortified wine serves before meals to whet the appetite.

·         Examples are:

·         Campari – Italy. Slightly bitter taste leaving a clear palate and fine appetite.

·         Cinzano – Italian Vermouth. An aromatic white wine flavoured with herbs, roots, berries and seeds.

Cinzano Rosso: Italian sweet vermouth. * Rosso means red in Italian.

Cinzano Bianco: Sweetest of the vermouth made in Italy. * Bianco means white in Italian.

·         Pernod – An unsweetened aniseed flavoured liqueur / spirit.

·         Dubonet – French. Contains quinine (tonic) and bitter bark. Comes in red/ blond/ white. The blond being lighter and dried than the red.

·         Fernet Branca – Italian.

Gin

·         Gin is from the distillation of grain, barley or maize with the additional of juniper berries for flavor.

·         Examples are:

·         Beefeater

·         Bombay Sapphire

·         Gordon’s

Vodka

·         A neutral spirit distilled from grain (seldom from potatoes as commonly thought) which is filtered through activated carbon to remove any taste of the spirits. Colorless, no aroma or taste no flavoured.

·         Examples are:

·         Smirnoff

·         Stolichnaya

·         Absolut blue / Citron / Kurant / Peppar

Rum

·         Distilled from the fermented of sugar cane juice and sugar cane molasses.

·         Dark Rum often has caramel added color.

·         Examples are:

·         Bacardi – Light Rum

·         Myer’s – Dark Rum

·         Captain Morgan – Dark Rum

Tequila

·         Mexican liquor, principally made from a cactus plant called Mescal, a special variety grown in the state of Jalisco.

·         They are labeled in two varieties – white and gold labels.  The white label is colorless and the gold label is light amber as a result of aging in oak barrel.

·         Examples are:

·         Camino Gold

·         Mariachi

·         Jose Cuervo

Cognac

·         French. Brandy distilled from grapes grown in the Charente district (principal city: Cognac).

·         Strictly controlled by law, only brandy from this defined area may be called Cognac. Thus, all Cognacs are brandy Cognac – nor is all brandy produced within the Cognac district call Cognac.

·         Cognac takes on color from the tannic acid of the oak casks in which it matures (the longer the better).

·         Grading and Terminology:

***            : 3 stars, aged for 3 years

VSOP        : Very Superior Old Pale, aged for 6 years

XO                        : Extra Old, blend of cognacs between 20 – 130 years

·         Examples are:

·         Matell Cordon Bleu

·         Remy Martin

·         Hennessy

·         Remy Martin Louis XIII

·         Otard

Armagnac

·         French. A good brandy from thee Gascony province that cannot be called Cognac because of where it is produced.

·         Grapes used similar to Cognac and made the same way as Cognac, except it is aged in Gascony oak cask.

·         Grading : Stars, VS, VSOP, XO

·         Example are:

·         Samalens

·         Calvados

Whisky

·         Distilled from a fermented mash of grain, usually corn, rye, barley or wheat and placed in oak barrels to age. At that time, it is colorless; it is during the ageing process that whiskey obtains its characteristic amber color, flavor and aroma.

·         Types of Whisky

1)        Scotch Whisky – is made predominantly of barley grain. Its smoky flavor comes from the peat fires to which the green barley malt has exposed.

·         Examples are:

·         Chivas Regal

·         Cutty Sark

·         J&B

·         Johnnie Walker Black

·         Dewar’s White Label

2)        Irish Whisky – is made predominantly of barley grain, but unlike Scotch, it is not exposed to burning peat, and so does not have the smoky flavor of scotch.

·         Examples are:

·         John Jameson

3)        Canadian Whisky – is a blended Whisky made from rye, corn, barley and blended with neutral grain spirits. It is light in flavor and predominantly corn grain blended whisky.

·         Examples are:

·         Canadian Club

·         Seagrams V.O.

4)        American Whisky / Bourbon Whisky – is made of several grains most predominantly of corn, about 60%, the balance is rye and barley.

Liqueur

·         They are used interchangeably to designate the sweetened, flavored alcoholic drinks made by the additional of fruits, herbs, seeds and sugar.

·         Examples are:

·         Amaretto : Italy : Brandy, Almond and herds

·         Baileys : Ireland : Creamy Irish Whisky, flavoured with chocolate.

·         Cointreau : France : Brandy, Orange peel.

·         Grand Marnier : France : Brandy, orange curacao.

·         Kahlua : Mexican : Brandy, coffee beans.

·         Sambuca : Italy : Whisky, aninese and herbs.

·         Tia Maria : West Indies : Jamaica Rum, coffee extracts and spices.

·         Frangelico : Italy : Brandy, halzenut flavour.

·         Drambuie : Scotland : Whisky,  honey, herbs & spices

·         Midori : Japan : Whisky, melon

·         Benedictine : France : Brandy, herbs & spices

·         Southern Comfort : America : Whisky, orange flavoured

·         Malibu : Jamaica : Rum, coconut flavoured

Beer

·         Beer are brewed and fermented from malted barley and cereal grains flavoured with hops.

·         Components of Beer.

·         Cereals – barely is most common, those chosen for brewing of beer are those with low protein. (High protein causes cloudiness).

·         Water – Beer contains 85% and above of water. Types of water used will have a great deal to do with the beer quality.

·         Hops – to give the bitter flavour and aroma it imparts, act us preservative giving beer longer life.

·         Yeast – yeast must be carefully cultured and must be pure, a change in yeast will result a different character of beer.

·         Sugar – the sugar used in the making of beer is cane sugar.

·         Examples are:

·         Anchor – Malaysia

·         Beck’s – Germany

·         Carlsberg – Denmark

·         Kirin – Japan

·         Saporro – Japan

·         Heineken – Holland

·         Tiger – Singapore

·         Foster’s – Australia

·         San Miguel – Philippines

·         Budweiser – USA

·         Corona Extra – Mexico

·         Guinness Stout – Ireland * Dark, very malty, and rather bitter, stout has roasted barley added to it for color and flavor.

A.B.S