Tasting and evaluating spirit Flashcards
What are the 4 steps in assessing a spirit using the SAT approach?
Assessing the appearance, nose, palate and then draw a conclusion.
What type of lighting is ideal for tasting spirits?
Good natural light.
Natural light helps in accurately assessing the color and clarity of the spirit.
What should the tasting environment be free of to avoid interference with the spirit’s aromas?
Strong odours such as cleaning products, air fresheners, food or tobacco.
These scents can mask or alter the true aromas of the spirit.
Why is a quiet environment important during a spirit tasting?
It is free of distractions, it alows you to focus better when assessing the spirit.
What is essential regarding space in the tasting environment?
Enough space to lay out your glasses and make notes.
Adequate space allows for a more organized and focused tasting process.
What is a clean palate ?
It is a palate without any lingering flavours from toothpaste, cigarettes, or strongly flavoured foods.
Chewing a piece of bread can help remove lingering flavours.
Why perfumes, aftershaves, or other strongly scented products should be avoided during a tasting ?
These scents can mask the aromas of the spirits.
Why is dehydration bad when assessing spirits?
Dehydration may cause nasal aroma receptors to become dry and lose sensitivity to aromas
Staying well-hydrated helps maintain sensory function.
What conditions can affect the ability to judge spirits?
Hay fever, colds, and fatigue
These conditions impact the senses of taste and smell.
Fill in the blank: Chewing a piece of _______ can help to remove any lingering flavours.
bread.
What characteristics describe a suitable glassware for tasting?
Colourless, transparent, odourless, free of residues
What features should tasting glasses have?
- Rounded bowl large enough for water
- Inward-sloping walls to concentrate aromas
What is a recommended type of glass for tasting?
ISO glass or whisky nosing glass.
What are the advantages of using the SAT to assess spirits.
Helps you writing accurate tasting notes,
Provides a common language to describe each spirit
Helps you being consistent in tasting sample.
Describe a proper environement for spirit tasting.
It is a place well lit by natural light, free of strong odour, with enough space to place the glasses and note book and well organized.
What should be noted about the appearance of a spirit?
Clarity, intensity, and color
These observations should be made before adding water.
True or False: It is possible to determine the type, quality, and maturity of a spirit from its appearance.
False
Appearance can be manipulated after distillation, making it unreliable for determining quality.
What do most consumers expect spirits to be regarding the appearance?
Clear
A hazy spirit is generally considered faulty, except for some premium spirits.
What happens to aniseed spirits when water is added?
They turn opaque and cloudy
This reaction is known as ‘louching’ and these spirits are typically consumed cloudy.
Fill in the blank: The reaction of aniseed spirits turning opaque when water is added is called _______.
louching
This phenomenon is typical for aniseed spirits.
What is a characteristic of some premium spirits regarding the lack of filtration?
They may be slightly hazy when chilled
This is due to the lack of filtration.
What is the initial appearance of all spirits when they come off the still?
Water-white and colourless
Where does the colour in a spirit come from?
Added after distillation from barrel aging, coloring added
What is the 5 point scale used to measure the color intensity?
Five-point scale. Water white, pale, medium, deep, opaque.
True or False: The colour of a spirit is an indicator of its quality.
False
What post distillation actions, leads to a pale color in spirit?
The unuse of caramel color, the aging in oak for maximum a few month, or the use of used barrel for aging.
What post distillation actions, leads to a deep color in spirit?
Maturation for a long time, maturation in new oak, addition of a lot of caramel colouring.
What does the clarity of a spirit refers to ?
is it clear or hazy/cloudy or somewhere in between.
What does the the color intensity of a spirit refers to ?
It refers to how easy it is to see through the spirit.
What is a common practice in wine tasting that is not needed for spirits? and why?
Swirling the spirit
Swirling can cause excessive alcohol evaporation, numbing the nose.
What are the 3 aspects to pay attention when nosing spirits?
Condition, intensity, and aromas characteristics
These aspects help in evaluating the spirit.
What determines whether a spirit is ‘clean’ or ‘unclean’?
The presence of faulty aromas
Faulty aromas can indicate impurities or undesirable qualities in the spirit.
What fautly aromas can give a hint that a spirit is unclean?
Solvent, wet cardboard, plastic, cheese or sweat.
What does the condition of a spirit refers to when nosing it?
Whether it is clean or unclean (faulty or not)
What are the 4 level of intensity on the nose?
Neutral, light, medium, pronounced.
Neutral usualy tends to describe vodka
In how many categories can aromas be divided in? What are they?
3 categories.
Raw material aromas
Processing aromas
Oak and maturation aromas
Which senses are used when palating a spirit?
The taste, the smell, the touch
What are the 5 taste recognizes by the tongue?
Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami
What are the steps when palating a spirit?
-Take a small sip
-Turn it around the mouth
-Hold for a few seconds
-Spit and draw air across the tongue
What ratio spirit/water is best for diluting a spirit?
1 spirit : 1 water
What are the 4 level of sweetness?
Dry, off dry, medium, sweet
Which combination of flavours give the impression of sweetness, even with the abscence of sugar?
Vanilla and fruity aromas
Liquorice (anis)
What does texture refers to when palating a spirit?
It refers to the feeling in mouth.
What question can be asked to describe the feeling in the mouth of a spirit?
-Rough,harsh, sharp ?
-Warming?
-Mouthfilling, full?
-Thin, watery?
-Smooth,silky?
What does the finish of a spirit refers to ?
It refers to how long (lenght) the pleasant aromas of a spirit persist after being spat out or swallowed, and if it is simple or complex (nature).
What to focus on or consider regarding the lenght of a spirit in the finish?
Only consider the pleasant aromas.
What can be the 2 level of complexity of a spirit regarding the finish?
Simple (only one flavour)
Complex (multiple flavours)
Drawing conclusion. What to address?
The balance
The lenght and intensity
The complexity
The expressiveness
What defines an unbalanced spirit?
One flavour dominating at the expense of the others
What makes a spirit’s flavour balanced?
It can be balanced if:
All flavour are tasted equally
or if
One flavour is more upfront without overpowering the other flavours
What is a good sign of quality in spirit?
A good lenght and complexity. AKA a good finish.
Why a short and neutral finish, is not necessary a sign of low quality.
Because a strong finish might not be the intent of the producer.
What does the expresiveness of a spirit refers to.
It refers to how much it tells about the process it went through. From the raw material to aging.
Can the spirit express what it went through?
Fill the gap. You can rate a spirit from ____ to ____. With “medium” being ___.
Poor. Outstanding. Good
Poor- acceptable- GOOD- very good- outstanding
What is a poor or acceptable spirit?
A spirit that lacks distinguishing characteristics (aroma or texture) or is unbalanced.
What is a good spirit?
A spirit that is balanced with distinct characteristics.
can be the finish, the expressiveness
What is a very good spirit?
A spirit that is well balanced, or extra level of complexity or expressiveness (especially on the finish).
What is an outstanding spirit?
It is a very good spirit, with the characteristics pushed on level higher.
very well balanced+, great finish+, expressive+
The interaction of liquid and vapours during distillation is called ?
Reflux
