Rum is something of an oddity among distilled spirits in that its final form varies so widely. Rum is, in a sense, bipolar. Rum can be clear or dark brown with an alcohol content that varies by as much as… Read more ›
Parsley has a cousin that might surprise you: anise, which imparts the flavor we think of as licorice. Anise is the cornerstone of the liqueur anisette and over a dozen others from all over the world. Anise liqueur was developed… Read more ›
Spirits made from grains such as corn, barley, and rye date back a few thousand years—ancient Egyptians enjoyed a form of beer, for example. Whiskey, however, is of more recent origin. Although whiskey has been made for centuries, few people… Read more ›
Bourbon is a subtype of whiskey. For whiskey to be bourbon whiskey, it must be distilled from a grain base of at least 51% corn. More importantly, it must also be made in the United States. One can make whiskey anywhere,… Read more ›
Like many drinks containing alcohol, cordials and liqueurs were initially considered medicine. The spirits conveyed herbal concoctions muddled by humble, yet highly educated monks for a range of healing purposes. Although recipes for proto-liqueurs have been discovered on walls in Egyptian… Read more ›
The grapes used for making brandy vary according to the geographic region of the spirit’s production, as do refinements to the process. Sherries, for example, range from sweet to dry, and none of them taste like Cognac. However, but the… Read more ›
Most of your favorite alcoholic beverages are either distilled or fermented. Brandy, however, is a glorious join of both production methods. Like wine, brandy, in its initial phases, is a fermented fruit product; later, the fermented juice, a crude wine,… Read more ›
Water, ethanol, and trace amounts of flavor doesn’t sound like the recipe for one of the world’s most beloved spirits, and yet those are the simple ingredients of Vodka. Although the spirit was an oddity outside Euope until the mid 1900′s,… Read more ›
Brandy begins life as a wine. Its name derives from the Dutch term brandewijn which, literally translated, means “burnt wine.” However, following the initial phases of making the rough wine, the production of brandy diverges, taking its own course and… Read more ›