Basic Beverage Knowledge

Basic Beverage Knowledge

Aperitif
French –“ Appetizer”. A short, usually bitter drink of aromatic fortified wine serve before meals to whet the appetite.
Examples are:

Campari – Italy. Slightly bitter taste leaving a clear palate and fine appetite.

Cinzano – Italian Vermouth. An aromatic white wine flavoured with herbs, roots, berries and seeds.
Cinzano Rosso: Italian sweet vermouth. * Rosso means red in Italian.
Cinzano Bianco: Sweetest of the vermouth made in Italy. * Bianco means white in Italian.
Pernod – An unsweetened aniseed flavoured liqueur / spirit.
Dubonnet – French. Contains quinine (tonic) and bitter bark. Comes in red/ blond/ white. The blond being lighter and dried than the red.
Fernet Branca – Italian.

Gin
Gin is from the distillation of grain, barley or maize with the additional of juniper berries for flavor.Examples are:Beefeaters
Bombay Sapphire
Gordon

Vodka
A neutral spirit distilled from grain (seldom from potatoes as commonly thought) which is filtered through activated carbon to remove any taste of the spirits. Colorless, no aroma or taste, no flavoured.
Examples are:
Smirnoff
Stolichnaya
Absolut Blue / Citron / Kurant / Peppar

Rum
Distilled from the fermented of sugar cane juice and sugar cane molasses.
Dark Rum often have caramel added color.
Examples are:
Bacardi – Light Rum
Myers – Dark Rum
Captain Morgan – Dark Rum

Tequila
Mexican liquor, principally made from a cactus plant called Mescal, a special variety grown in the state of Jalisco.
They are labeled in two varieties – white and gold labels. The white label is colorless and the gold label is light amber as a result of aging in oak barrel.
Examples are:
Camino Gold
Mariachi
Jose Cuervo

Cognac
French. Brandy distilled from grapes grown in the Charente district (principal city: Cognac).
Strictly controlled by law, only brandy from this defined area may be called Cognac. Thus, all Cognacs are brandy Cognac – nor is all brandy produced within the Cognac district call Cognac.
Cognac takes on color from the tannic acid of the oak casks in which it matures (the longer the better).
Grading and Terminology:
3 stars, aged for 3 years

VSOP: Very Superior Old Pale, aged for 6 years
XO: Extra Old, blend of cognacs between 20 – 130 years
Examples are:
Martell Cordon Bleu
Remy Martin
Hennessy
Remy Martin Louis XIII
Otard
Armagnac
French. A good brandy from thee Gascony province that cannot be called Cognac because of where it is produced.
Grapes used similar to Cognac and made the same way as Cognac, except it is aged in Gascony oak cask.
Grading : Stars, VS, VSOP, XO
Example are:
Samalens
Calvados

Whisky

Distilled from a fermented mash of grain, usually corn, rye, barley or wheat and placed in oak barrels to age. At that time, it is colorless; it is during the aging process that whiskey obtains its characteristic amber color, flavour and aroma.

Types of Whisky

Scotch Whisky is made predominantly of barley grain. It’s smoky flavor comes from the peat fires to which the green barley malt has exposed.
Examples are:
Chivas Regal
Cutty Shark
J&B
Johnnie Walker Black
Dewar’s White Label

Irish Whisky

is made predominantly of barley grain, but unlike Scotch, it is not exposed to burning peat, and so does not have the smoky flavor of scotch.
Examples are:
John Jameson

Canadian Whisky

is a blended Whisky made from rye, corn, and barley blended with neutral grain spirits. It is light in flavor and predominantly corn grain-blended whisky.
Examples are:
Canadian Club
Seagram’s V.O.

American Whisky

Bourbon Whisky
is made of several grains most predominantly of corn, about 60%, the balance is rye and barley.

Liqueur

They are used interchangeably to designate the sweetened, flavored alcoholic drinks made by the additional of fruits, herbs, seeds and sugar.
Examples are:
Amaretto: Italy : Brandy, Almond and herds
Baileys : Ireland : Creamy Irish Whisky, flavoured with chocolate.
Cointreau : France : Brandy, Orange peel.
Grand Marnier France: Brandy, orange curacao.
Kahlua: Mexican: Brandy, coffee beans.
Sambuca : Italy : Whisky, anise and herbs.
Tia Maria: West Indies : Jamaica Rum, coffee extract and spices.
Frangelico: Italy: Brandy, hazelnut flavour.
Drambuie: Scotland: Whisky, honey, herbs & spices Midori : Japan: Whisky, melon
Benedictine: France: Brandy, herbs & spices
Southern Comfort: America: Whisky, orange flavoured
Malibu : Jamaica: Rum, coconut flavored

Beer

Beer are brewed and fermented from malted barley and cereal grains flavoured with hops.
Components of Beer.
Cereals – barely is most common, those chosen for brewing of beer are those with low protein. (High protein causes cloudiness).
Water – Beer contains 85% and above of water. Types of water used will have a great deal to do with the beer quality.
Hops – to give the bitter flavor and aroma it imparts, act us preservative giving beer longer life.
Yeast – yeast must be carefully cultured and must be pure, a change in yeast will result a different character of beer.
Examples are:
Anchor – Malaysia
Beck’s – Germany
Carlsberg – Denmark
Kirin – Japan
Sapporo – Japan
Heineken – Holland
Tiger – Singapore
Fosters – Australia
San Miguel – Philippines
Budweiser – USA
Corona Extra – Mexico
Guinness Stout – Ireland * Dark, very malty, and rather bitter, stout has roasted barley added to it for color and flavor.