Vodka, flavoured spirits & aromatized wines Flashcards
What are the raw materials used in vodka making?
Anything from agricultural origin: Barley, rye, corn, wheat, Potato, grapes, fruits, etc …
At what minimum abv is vodka distilled ?
95% ABV
There are 2 styles of vodka, what are they?
Neutral, Characterful
Which countries are famous for vodka?
Eastern European & Scandinavian countries : Russia, Poland, Sweden, Finland
The flavours that are added to spirits can be divided into two types, what are they?
Natural, other.
Natural: fruits or botanical
What flavour are associated with traditional Vodka from eastern Europe?
Honey, fruit, spice, Bison grass
What are the 3 most used ways of adding natural flavour to a spirit?
Maceration (with botanical) or re-distillation (with botanicals) or adding purchased natural flavouring
How premium vodka producer add flavouring to their spirit?
through maceration and/or re-distillation using natural products (fruits/botanical)
Why would a producer choose to use artificial colouring in spirit production, rather than natural coloring?
Colour extracted from plant are unstable, therefore consistency of color between bottle/batch may differ.
What is Gin and what are the common ingredients used to flavour it?
GIn is a neutral spirit macerated with juniper berries and other botanical before being re-distilled.
Common ingredients: angelica roots, orris roots, coriander seeds, citrus peel
Most botanical are distilled individually rather than in batch, why is that?
Individual distillation offers a purer and more accurate flavour profile.
When distilled together they interact within each other, flavours are unpredictable, or the spirit develop unwanted aromas.
How are botanical vapor infused spirit are made?
A basket of the botanical is put in tube connecting the still to the condenser. The vapours go through the botanical extracting the aromas.
These still are refered to “Carterhead still”. Bombay Saphire use those type of still.
What techique can be used in making a re-distilled gin to create a lighter style of spirit?
A basket of botanical between the still an the condenser to vapour infuse the spirit.
What type of still is sometimes used in re-distillation to capture delicate aromas of some botanical ? eg: cucumber
A vacum still
What is the advantage of a vacuum distillation using a vacuum still?
Liquids boil at a lower temperature in a vacuum. Therefore the lower temperature allows flavours to be extracted without damaging them.
Which techniques (3) are used to make gin?
-Distil botanicals individually, and blend them together
-Batch distillation: Mix all botanicals with the diluted base spirit in a pot still
-Place all botanicals in a basket above the diluted base liquid (carterhead still)
What is “cold compounding”?
It is adding flavouring (essential oil extract) to a spirit
It is cheaper than re-distilling it
There are 2 styles of Gin, what are they?
-Juniper forward
-Contemporary (botanical forward)
The terms “distilled Gin” appears on the label of a bottle. In the EU what does that mean? In the USA?
EU: Flavours may have been added post re-distillation
USA: Flavours come from re-distillation
The terms “London dry Gin” appears on the label of a bottle. What does that mean?
The flavours only come from the re-distillation & no sugar was added to the spirit.
The terms “Old Tom” appears on the label of a bottle. What does that mean?
Sugar or liquorice flavouring has been added to the spirit, the Gin is Sweet.
Yes or no, does Absinthe louch?
Yes it is an aniseed spirit.
How are aniseed spirit made?
The botanical are macerated to a neutral spirit (separately or together) then strained or distilled
They are usually unaged
Coloring are usually added
There are 2 famous styles of aniseed spirit, what are they?
Pastis & Absinthe
Alongside aniseed, fennel, star anise, which other flavouring MUST producers of pastis use?
Liquorice
What is the required raw material in producing Aniseed spirit. What are the other ingredients that can be used?
Anise seed must be used.
Other ingredients: fennel, star anise, liquorice
What difference is there between Pastis and Absinthe?
Both are aniseed spirit but
-Absinthe is not sweetened unlike Pastis
-Wormwood has to be one of the botanical used (for pastis it’s liquorice)
-Absinthe is bottled at high ABV (50-75%)
Absinthe should be diluted to around 14%abv when consumed as intended by the distiller.
How are Bitter spirit made?
Through maceration (neutral spirit + Bitter botanicals)
Bitter botanicals commonly used are : orange, artichoque, quinine, gentiane, etc …
What is often added to spirits containing bitter botanicals (quinine, gentian) to balance the bitterness
Sugar
What are liqueurs ?
Those are sweetened flavoured spirit
Most start with a neutral spirit, but characterful spirit can also be used. Fruits and cream can be used as flavouring.
Grand Marnier: Cognac, Drambuie: Scotch whisky, kahlua: Rum, Amaro nonino: Grappa
How to make aromatized wine?
Make a tinctures (macerate) or a distillate (distill) using botanicals, then blend it with the base wine
Name a few types of aromatized wine and the botanical they contain
Vermouth (wormwood), quinquina (quinine), americano (wormwood & gentian)
The vast majority of vermouth is made using ____ wine. Most producer choose to use a ____, ___ acidity ,____ grape variety.
White, neutral, high acidity, white
Distilled alcohol is often added to aromatized wine, what range in ABV will the final liquid be
14.5% - 22% abv
In European law, which botanical must be used in vermouth production?
Wormwood
In European law, which botanical must be used in Quinquina/chinato production?
Quinine
In European law, which botanical must be used in Americano production?
Wormwood & Gentian
What botanical characteristic is common to aromatized wine?
Bitterness
Why are most aromatized wine sweetened?
To balance the bitterness
What gives most red vermouth their color?
Caramel colouring