Spirits Flashcards
Pot Stills
- copper pot-shaped vessel
- batch process
- successive distillations required to get high-strength spirit
- components (in order of boiling, first to last)
• heads (highly volatile)
• heart (spirit)
• tails (least volatile)
Pot Stills Final Spirit
- characterful
- low strength
Column Stills
- tall, vertically structures column
- continuous process
- internally divided into plates
- mini-distillations on each plate increases alcohol at each level
- high-strength, almost pure ethanol
Column Still Final Spirit
- smooth, light character
- high-strength
Column Still Post Distillation
Maturation - unaged (stainless steel tanks) - aged (oak vessels) Oak - softens alcohol - adds tannins, colour and flavour Sweetened - eg sugar or oak Colour - eg caramel or oak, or removed by charcoal filtration Water - reduced to bottling strength 40% abv with de-mineralized water
Brandy
Distilled wine
Types of Brandy
Cognac
Armagnac
Cognac
- oak-aged grape brandy
- region: delimited Cognac region, Bordeaux
- must be double-distilled in copper pot still
- fruity (grapes), floral (perfume), light to medium-bodied, smooth alcohol
Armagnac
- region: delimited area south of Bordeaux
- Armagnac column still (low strength, characterful spirit)
- dried fruit (prune, raisin, fig), medium to full-bodied
Brandy Maturation
Oak Maturation
Smoother, wood (vanilla, toast, nuts, sweet spice, fruitcake, dried fruit)
Brandy Labelling Terms
- VS
- VSOP
- XO (Napoléon)
Whiskey
Characterful oak-ages spirit.
Whiskey Process
Grains (barley, rye, corn)
Starch converted into fermentable sugar
Fermentation
Distillation
Maturation
Whiskey
Types of Whiskey
Scotch whiskey Malt Whiskey Single Malt Whiskey Grain Whiskey Blended scotch whiskey Irish whiskey North American whiskey (Bourbon, Tennessee whiskey)
Scotch Whiskey
Must be distilled and aged in Scotland for a minimum of three years
The Distillation Process
Alcoholic Liquid
Heated (boiling temp for alcohol = 78.3 C)
Liquid boils, alcohol evaporates
Alcoholic vapor travels up the still to condenser
Cooled
Vapor condenses
New Make Spirit
Malt Whiskey
Made using malted barley.
Distillation must take place in a copper pot still.
Single Malt Scotch
- Malted Barley
- Copper pot still
- peat - can be a defining flavour
- other flavour a may include: floral, honey, fruit, dried fruit, nutty, medicinal, spicy, cereal, woody
- comes from just one distillery
Grain Whiskey
- second kind of scotch
- made from a mixture of grains including corn, wheat and malted barley
- column still
- smooth and light in flavour
Blended Scotch Whiskey
- grain and malt whiskey blended
- best blended whiskeys have a smooth spirit component and a well-balanced combination of flavours.
Irish Whiskey
- generally made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley
- usually unpeated
- pot, column or combination of stills
- tends to be smoother and lighter in flavour than scotch whiskey, soft and mellow flavours of fruit, honey, flowers and oak
Bourbon
North American Whiskey
- mixture of grains but must contain 51% corn
- relatively low strength spirit
- aged in heavily charred new American oak barrels
- majority is produced in Kentuckey
Tennessee Whiskey
- new make spirit is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before put into barrel
- mellows whiskey, resulting in smoother spirit.
Rum Process
Sugar Cane product (molasses must be diluted prior to fermentation)
Fermentation
Distillation (pot or column)
Maturation (optional)
Rum
Rum Styles
White Rum
Golden and Spiced Rum
Dark Rum
Golden and Spiced Rum
- usually dry or off-dry
- spiced rums are typically golden runs that have had spice flavouring added
Dark Rum
- generally full-bodied, sweet in style
- may have caramel added for their colour - may be harsh and spirity
- best are aged for several years and can be very smooth, intense and complex
White Rum
- most popular style
- some distilled to lower strength, very flavoursome with intense tropical fruit flavours
- majority distilled to high strength, dry and neutral in character
- may be aged in oak and colour removed with charcoal filtration
Tequila Process
Agave harvested (must be produced from 51% blue agave)
Hard core is Cooked (sugars extracted)
Fermentation
Distillation (typically double pot distilled)
Maturation (optional)
Tequila
Tequila Styles
Blanco/Silver
Joven/ Oro/ Gold
Reposado (rested)
Añejo (aged)
Blanco/ Silver Tequila
- purist, most authentic expression
- dry with intense vegetal and spicy flavours
Joven/ Oro/ Golf
- Unaged
- caramel added
Reposado
- Rested
- aged in oak for short time
Añejo
- Aged for much longer period
Vodka Process
Any raw material (grains, potato, grapes)
Distilled to a high strength (95-96%abv)
Charcoal filtration (optional)
Reduced to bottling strength
Vodka
Vodka
- light, neutral character
- some more characterful
- popular, versatile (cocktails and mixers)
- some flavoured
Flavoured Spirits
High-strength neutral based spirit.
Includes flavoured vodkas, find and liqueurs.
Flavour Spirits Flavouring Techniques
- Maceration
- Re-distillation
- Essences
Maceration
Soaking the flavour in ingredients in the spirit.
Re-Distillation
Re-distilling the spirit with the flavour ingredients.
Essences
Adding artificial flavours to the spirit.
Gin
- Neutral base spirit flavoured with botanicals
- Must use juniper as main botanical
- All typically Unaged
London Dry Gin
Re-distillation in a pot still
No flavourings added after distillation.
Distilled Gin
Same as London Dry
Flavourings can be added after distillation.
Liqueurs
A sweetened, flavoured and coloured distilled spirit.
Liqueurs Process
Base neutral or flavoursome (eg rum, brandy, whiskey)
Flavoured
Sweetened
Coloured (optional)
Liqueur
Liqueur Categories
Dairy
Fruit
Herb
Seed/ Nut
