Exam III Review Flashcards
Distillation Process Purpose
To increase the alcohol level.
Ethanol (drinkable alcohol)
Boils at a lower temp (173F) than water (212F)
Pot Stills
- Oldest + simple still
- copper pot shaped
Pot still components (in order to boiling, first to last)
- head (highly volatile), heat (spirit), tails (least volatile)
Column Stills
- tall + vertical
- Continuous process
- internally divided into plates
- mini-distillations on each plate increases alcohol at each level
- high strength, almost pure ethanol
Post distillation: Maturation
- unaged (stainless steel tank)
- aged (oak vessels)
Post Distillation: Oak
- Softens alcohol
- adds tannins, color (caramel or oak, or removed by charcoal filtration), and flavor
- Water (reduced to bottling strength 40% abv with de-mineralized water).
Spirit Label Reading
- Alcohol proof is a measure of the content of ethanol (alcohol) in an alcoholic beverage.
- In the U.S. alcohol proof is defined as twice the percentage of ABV.
Spirit Category and Styles
Flavor of spirit depends on:
- type of raw materials (fruit, gain, sugar cane)
- type of distillation process (high strangth and neutral, or low strength and characterful)
- maturation (if any: period of time in oak and type of oak)
Brandy
- Wine is made by fermenting who, fresh grapes
- brandy is a distilled wine
- most brandy is aged in oak and/or colored with caramel before bottling, so it is brown or amber in color.
Brandy - Cognae
- aged in oak brandy
- region: north of bordeaux
- must be double distilled in copper pot still
Brandy Labeling Terms
VS = aged 2 years
VSOP = aged at least 4 years
XO (Napoleon) = aged at least 6 years
What is Rum
- rum created from the fermentation and distillation of some form of sugar cane product (molasses most common, sugar cane juice, sugar).
Rum in the US
- any product of sugar cane
- distilled to a strength of less than 190 proof (95% ABV)
- must be bottle equal to or greater than 80 proof (40% ABV)
Rum in EU
- sugar product
- distilled less than 96% ABV (192 proof)
- bottled equal or greater than 37.5% (40% ABV)
- add sugar but with limit
Rum making
- make sugary liquid
- fermentation
- distillation
- maturation (longer does not mean better rum + maturation time dependent on climate/location)
Tequila origin
- only select municipalities within only 5 Mexican States can grow agave and produce Tequila
- agave has over 300 species
Two types of tequila
Mixto:
- tequila made with less than 100% blue agave
- must be a minimum of 51% blue agave
- 100% blue agave tequila
Five classifications of Tequila
Silver/blanco/plata
- Clear + rested less than 2 months
Joven/Gold/Oro
- unaged or up to 2 months; can contain caramel coloring/flavor
Reposado
- aged in oak for min. 2 months but less than 1 year.
Anejo
- aged in barrels for min. 1 year - 3 years
Extra Anejo
- aged for 3+ years
Whiskey raw materials
Barley, corn, rye, wheat
Whiskey - maturation in oak
Going in:
- color and congeners + oxygen
Going out:
- Concentration via evaporation + char removes harsh congeners
Whiskey - Post-distillation processes
- barrel age
- previous contents (wood finishing)
- temperature (hot or cool)
- blending (batch consistency + complexity)
- Carmel color (batch consistency)
- chill filtration (prevents haze)
Scotch Whiskey
- distilled and matured in Scotland
- aged form min. 3 years in oak
- age statement is that of youngest spirit involved
- single malt = 100% malted barley + min. 3 years in oak
- Peat: partly decayed vegetation (used as fuel during malting + gives the malt a smokey flavor)
Irish Whiskey
- Grains barley and other grains
- distilled: column stills are used to make mostly whiskies from corn.
- maturation: minimum of 3 years
Cocktail ingredients
- Cocktail prime directive = the better the ingredients than the better the cocktail.
- spirit
- mixers
- garnish
- ice
Cocktail templates
The vast majority of cocktails stem from a few basic recipes or templates.
Cocktail templates - highball
Spirit + mixer
Cocktail templates - sour
spirit + citrus + simple
Cocktail templates - daisy
Spirit + liqueur + citrus
Cocktail templates - old fashioned
Spirit + sugar + bitters + water
Vodka
- Produced anywhere in the word
- raw materials = grans, grapes, potato
- Distilled to 95-96% ABV column still (add water to bottling strength about 40% ABV)
- typically unaged
Vodka styles
- light + neutral (most charcoal filtered)
- some more characterful = Polish and Russian
- flavoring agents added after the Vodka has been distilled.
Gin
- Neutral base spirit flavored with botanicals
- must use junipers as the main botanical
- sugar source = grain; typically corn or malted barley
- clear
- area of production: England, United States, Holland.
- all gins are typically unaged
Gin styles
- London dry gin (re-distilled in a pot still + no flavoring after distillation)
- distilled gin (similar to London dry + flavoring can be added after distillation
- Inexpensive gin (essences)
