Spirits: Gin/Vodka Flashcards
EU & US min. ABV for gin
- min 37.5% ABV // 40% for US
“ethyl alcohol flavored predominately with juniper”
London Dry Gin
- allowed additives
- max added sugar?
- sugar - but can’t exceed 0.1 g/l in the finished product to use the word “dry”
- water
- no coloring or flavoring after distillation
London Gin
- process / methods
- brands
Flavored through redistillation - no flavoring can occur after. Only water and sugar can be used to adjust after distillation
DRY: no more than .1 gl added sugar
METHOD: vapor infusion, steeping, vacuum distillation
Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, Gordon’s, Beefeater, Boodles
PGI gin (2)
Gin de Mahon (Menorca)
Vilnius Dzinas (Lithuania)
Genever
- countries of origin / countries in the AC
- definition / process
- 3 main styles
HOLLAND // BELGIUM in origin. AC covers Nord/Pas-de Calais FR, NW DE, Netherlands, Belgium.
Malt wine + botanical-infused neutral spirit. Retains more flavor from base spirit ingredients - rye, barley, and maize - than gin.
PROCESS: malt wine is created by distilling cereals with malted barley - 3x, sometimes 4. Malt wine is blended with botanical-infused neutral spirit.
* JONGE: “young” in style - 1950’s response to voda. MAX. 15% malt wine, max 10gl sugar. Not in law but a general agreement says it must contain at least 1.5% malt wine.
* OUDE: “old” in style; MIN 15% malt, max 20gl sugar
* KORENJWIN: “grain wine”; 51%+ malt. Not really Genever.
Malt wine = distillate of corn, rye, wheat
3 main Gin distillation methods
(most) are redistilled with botanicals in a pot still
- steep and boil: botanicals are steeped in ethanol in pot still over heat source for a certain amount of time, then distilled
- vapor extraction: modified still called a “Carter-head still” is equipped with a suspended basket. Vapors pass through basket to be then re-liquify in condenser
- vacuum distillation: aka cold distillation. Low pressure significantly reduces ethanol’s boiling point for redistillation with botanicals - said to keep them bright and fresh. Less scalable, more of a craft method
List 3 Japanese gins
Nikka (yuzu + sour citrus)
Suntory Roku (Sakura flower, sakura leaf, sencha tea, gyokuro, sanshō, yuzu peel)
Kyoza Shuzo (yuzu)
Aquavit
Scandinavian liquor aquavit, a clear spirit made from fermented potato or grain, and flavored with caraway root and other aromatics, is basically flavored vodka.
Gin Basket
Used for Vapor extraction method
- Botanicals are placed in a stainless steel “basket,” as the alcohol evaporates, it passes through the basket before being condensed, being flavored in the process
Plymouth Gin
Revived in 1996; only made by Plymouth, Coates & Co. - the trademark is owned by Pernod Ricard.
* PGI briefly - until Pernod Ricard didn’t want to submit organeptic testing and thus withdrew
* fuller bodied than London Dry, very aromatic
* Pink Gin
Old Tom Gin
A relic of the “pot still days”; before continuous stills. Heavy flavor/sugar masked a bad base spirit.
* Hayman’s revived the style.
* the “Tom” in the Tom Collins
One shot vs. Mult-shot gin
One Shot: follows a recipe; spirit is distilled with botanicals in one go
Multiple Shot: creates a “gin concentrate” by distilling a large quantity of botanicals in a smaller amount of neutral spirit. Desired ABV and profile are achieved via dilution with water and neutral spirit.
benefits of copper distillation
- antibacterial properties
- good conductor of heat
- removes volatile sulfur compounds: sulfur compounds react with the copper and create copper sulfides, which stay on the walls of the still
[higher / wider stills= more contact with copper = more compounds removed = lighter spirit.
shorter / narrower = less contact = heavier]
Potato vodka vs Grain
Starch vs. Sugar:
* potatoes = starchier base. Wheat, corn = more sugar
* starches convert into sugar that yeasts feed on to produce alcohol. Starch is more work to convert, which leaves…
* leftover starches = thicker, creamier mouthfeel in potato vodka
Distillation Choices:
* potato vodkas go through fewer distillation processes compared to grain vodkas. Each distillation purifies the alcohol further, but it also removes some of the flavor compounds. Since potato vodka producers often aim for a distinctive taste profile, they might leave in some of these flavor elements, resulting in a fuller-bodied vodka.
Examples of Corn vodka
Tito’s
Nikka Coffey Vodka
Prairie Organic
3 examples of Potato vodka
Chopin
Luksusowa
Chase English Potato Vodka
2 examples of Grape vodka
Ciroc
Hangar One (grapes and wheat)
Navy strength gin
Navy strength gin is an overproof bottling, which can read as spicy or fiery, but stands up well in mixed drinks.
Navy strength is 114 proof (57% ABV), the minimum proof required so that if the gin were to spill on gunpowder, the powder would still light
Sloe gin - flavoring? 2 major brands?
gin flavored with blackthorn berries and sweetened with sugar
brands: Sipsmith Sloe Gin, Hayman’s of London
Netherlands Vodka- 2 major brands?
Ketel One (wheat)
New Amsterdam
Swedish Vodka - 2 major brands?
Absolut
Svedka
Polish vodka - 2 major brands?
Belvedere (rye)
Luksusowa (potato)
Chopin (they make potato, wheat, and rye)
French vodka - 2 major brands?
Ciroq (grapes)
Grey Goose (winter wheat from Picardy)
Jean-Marc (wheat)
