Flavored Spirits and Liqueurs Flashcards
Flavorings have been added to beverages for centuries in order to cover up flaws or other aspects of production or to preserve the seasonal or beneficial aspects of certain flavoring agents. This deck covers many of the popular styles as well as the various aspects of how the flavor gets used and preserved in the spirit.
Flavored spirit categories based on neutral spirits:
- Flavored vodka
- Akavit/aquavit
- Aniseed flavored
- Bitters
True / False:
Vodka was created with the column-still in the 1800s.
False
Vodka pre-dates the column-still and was not always the highly rectified spirit known today.
What are today’s flavored vodkas mostly based on?
Single fruit flavors.
The innovation for flavored vodka, as it is known today, began when?
In the late 1980s.
At its basic, legal level, what is a flavored vodka?
A neutral spirit to which flavor has been added?
Which style of flavored vodka would be more likely to have color?
Traditional Styles.
What restrictions are there on the production of flavored vodkas in the US and EU?
Very little - can use almost any method to flavor the vodka.
Explain Traditional Flavored Vodka:
Either pre-dates or aspires to a style that pre-dates the flavored vodka boom of the late 1980s.
What is Zubrowka?
Polish brand of vodka flavored with a Bison Grass tincture.
What is zubrowka?
Polish word for Bison Grass.
The distinction is in the branding and use of the term for flavored vodka.
Brand name in the US for the Polish version of Bison Grass vodka?
Zu
Two categories of Flavored vodka:
- Traditional
- Modern
Company that pioneered modern flavored vodka:
Swedish company Absolut.
How does Belvedere Vodka make their flavored vodkas?
They re-distill every botanical individually, then blend these distillates to make the final spirit - similar to how gin is made.
What are the most common type of flavors in modern flavored vodka?
Fruit flavors.
What ingredients are often used to flavor inexpensive flavored vodkas?
Novelty ingredients that taste synthetic and simple, and are often purchased from another manufacturer.
Why do many people look down upon the flavored vodka category?
Inexpensive and low-quality brands dominate the market.
Where do aniseed and similar flavored spirits originate from?
Throughout the Mediterranean.
What is Anethole?
Flavor compounds found in plants used to make Aniseed spirits.
Where was Absinthe traditionally made?
Alpine France
What do drinks containing anethole do when water is added?
When water is added, they go cloudy.
What is louching?
Adding water to a spirit containing anethole and having it go cloudy.
What is Artemisia absinthium?
Wormwood
What flavors does wormwood contribute to a spirit?
A distinct floral aroma, as well as a bitter taste.
What is the only country with a legal definition of Absinthe?
Switzerland
Where do aniseed flavors come from?
- Star anise
- Aniseed
- Fennel
- Any plant that shares the same principle aromas
How can aniseed flavors be incorporated into a spirit?
Either through maceration and/or redistillation.