Bali Hospitality's Guide to Beverage Knowledge

BALI HOSPITALITY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

BEVERAGES KNOWLEDGE
Do not sell this Book, this Book is complimentary
from Hotel Team Managers
Drs. Agustinus Agus Purwanto, MM
Chief Executive Officer

April ‐ 2009

Book One

Bali Hospitality Professional Services
April
2009
BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

TYPE OF BEVERAGES:

• Beer
• Cocktails
• Spirits
• Wine
• Non Alcoholic Beverages

A. BEER:

I. HYSTORY OF BEER:

A Brief History of Beer

The origins of beer are older than recorded history, extending into the mythology of
ancient civilizations. Beer, the oldest alcohol beverage, was discovered
independently by most ancient cultures - the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians,
Hebrews, Africans, Chinese, Incas, Tautens, Saxons and the various wandering tribes
that were found in Eurasia. These ancient peoples have left records to indicate they
not only enjoyed their beer, but considered brewing to be a serious and important
job.

In recorded history, Babylonian clay tablets more than 6,000 years old depict the
brewing of beer and give detailed recipes. An extract from an ancient Chinese
manuscript states that beer, or kiu as it was called, was known to the Chinese as early
as the 23rd century BC. Beer was enjoyed by ancient peoples at all levels of society.
Of course, some drank with more style than others. For example, the University of
Pennsylvania Museum displays a golden straw used by Queen Shubad of
Mesopotamia for sipping beer.

With the rise of commerce and the growth of cities during the Middle Ages, brewing
became more than a household activity. Municipal brew houses were established,
which eventually led to the formation of the brewing guilds. Commercial brewing on
a significantly larger scale began around the 12th century in Germany.

Although native Americans had developed a form of beer, Europeans brought their
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BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

own version with them to the New World. Beer enjoys the distinction of having
come over on the Mayflower and, in fact, seems to have played a part in the Pilgrims
decision to land at Plymouth Rock instead of farther south, as intended. A journal
kept by one of the passengers - now in the Library of Congress - states, in an entry
from 1620, that the Mayflower landed at Plymouth because We could not now take
time for further search or consideration, our victuals being much spent, especially
our beer...

The first commercial brewery in America was founded in New Amsterdam (New
York) in 1623. Many patriots owned their own breweries, among them Samuel
Adams and William Penn. Thomas Jefferson was also interested in brewing and
made beer at Monticello. George Washington even had his own brew house on the
grounds of Mount Vernon, and his handwritten recipe for beer dated 1757 and taken
from his diary - is still preserved!

II. TYPES OF BEER

1. Lager
The word lager is derived from the German verb “lagern”, which means: to store. During the
late middle ages, before the days of refrigeration, fermentation was a hit-or-miss affair,
especially during the hot summer months. To ensure a supply of beer for the summer, brewers
in the Bavarian Alps stored kegs of spring brew in icy mountain caves. As the beer slowly aged,
the yeast settled, creating a drink that was dark but clear and sparkling with a crisper, more
delicate flavour. In 1842, lager acquired its familiar golden colour when a brewery in Pilsen,
Czechoslovakia perfected a pale, bottom-fermented version of the beer. Lagers typically take
more time to brew and are aged longer than ales. Lagers are best enjoyed at cooler-than-room
temperature.

2. Bock Beer
The other bottom-fermented beer is bock, named for the famous medieval German brewing
town of Einbeck. Heavier than lager and darkened by high-coloured malts, bock is traditionally
brewed in the winter for drinking during the spring.
3. Ale
Although the term covers a fascinating variety of styles, all ales share certain characteristics.
Top-fermentation and the inclusion of more hops in the wort gives these beers a distinctive
fruitiness, acidity and a pleasantly-bitter seasoning. All ales typically take less time to brew and
age then lagers and have a more assertive, individual personality, though their alcoholic
strength may be the same. Ales are best enjoyed at room temperature or slightly warmer.


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4. Porter and Stout
Whether dry or sweet, flavoured with roasted malt barley, oats or certain sugars, stouts and
porters are characterized by darkness and depth. Both types of beer are delicious with hearty
meat stews and surprisingly good with shellfish. The pairing of oysters and stout has long been
acknowledged as one of the world's great gastronomic marriages.
5. Dry
“Dry” refers to the amount of residual sugar left in a beer following fermentation. This type of
beer is fermented for longer than normal brews so that practically all of the residual sugar is
converted into alcohol. The result is a beer which consumers describe as having a crisp flavour,
clean finish and very little aftertaste.

III. BEER GLOSSARY

This is a list of terms used when describing beers:

Abbey Kölsch

Commercial Belgian beers licensed by abbeys. Top-fermenting golden beer from Cologne.
Not to be confused with Trappist ales.
Kräusen
Adjuncts
The addition of partially-fermented wort during
Materials, like rice, corn and brewing sugar, lagering to encourage a strong secondary
used in place of traditional grains for cheapness fermentation.
or lightness of flavor.
Kriek
Ale
Cherry-flavored lambic beer.
The oldest beer style in the world. Produced by
warm or top fermentation.
Lager
Alt
The cold-conditioning of beer at around 0
degrees Centigrade to encourage the yeast to
Dark brown top-fermenting beer from settle out, increase carbonation and produce a
Düsseldorf. smooth, clean-tasting beer. From the German
meaning "to store".
Alpha acid
Lambic
The main component of the bittering agent in
the hop flower. Belgian beer made by spontaneous
fermentation.
Attenuation
Lauter tun
The extent to which brewing sugars turn to
alcohol and carbon dioxide. Vessel used to clarify the wort after the
mashing stage.


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BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

Beer Malt

Generic term for an alcoholic drink made from Barley or other cereals that have been partially
grain. Includes both ale and lager. germinated to allow starches to be converted
into fermentable sugars.
Bitter
Mash
British term for the pale, amber or copper-
colored beers that developed from the pale ales First stage of the brewing process, when the
in the 19th century. malt is mixed with pure hot water to extract the
sugars.
Bock or Bok
Märzen
Strong beer style of The Netherlands and
Germany. Traditional Bavarian lager brewed in March and
stored until autumn for the Munich Oktoberfest.
Bottle-conditioned
Mild
Beer that undergoes a secondary fermentation
in the bottle. Dark brown (occasionally pale) English and
Welsh beer, lightly hopped. The oldest style of
beer that once derived it color from malt cured
Brew kettle over wood fires. One of the components of the
first porters.
See Copper
Milk stout
Cask-conditioned
Stout made with the addition of lactose, which
Beer that undergoes a secondary fermentation is unfermentable, producing a beer low in
in the cask. Known as "real ale", closely alcohol with a creamy, slightly sweet character.
identified with British beers.
Pilsner or Pilsener or Pils
Copper
International brand name for a light-colored
Vessel used to boil the sugary wort with hops. lager.

Decoction mashing Porter

A system mainly used in lager brewing in which Dark - brown or black - beer originating in
portions of the wort are removed from the London.
vessel, heated to a higher temperature and
then returned. Improves ensymic activity and Priming
the conversion of starch to sugar in poorly
modified malts.
Addition of sugar to encourage a secondary
fermentation in beer.


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BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

Dry-hopping Reinheitsgebot

The addition of a small amount of hops to a Bavarian beer law of 1516 (the "Purity Pledge)
cask of beer to improve aroma and bitterness. that lays down that only malted grain, hops,
yeast and water can be used in brewing. Now
covers the whole of Germany.

Shilling
Dunkel
Ancient method of invoicing beer in Scotland on
A dark lager beer in Germany, a Bavarian strength. Beers are called 60, 70 or 80 shilling.
speciality that predates the first pale lagers.

Sparging
Entire
From the French esparger, to sprinkle;
The earliest form of porter, short for "entire Sprinkling or spraying the spent grains in the
butt". mash tun or lauter tun to flush out any
remaining malt sugars.
Ester
Square
Flavor compounds produced by the action of
yeast turning sugars into alcohol and carbon A traditional, open fermenting vessel.
dioxide. Esters may be fruity or spicy.

Steam beer
Fining
American beer style saved by the Anchor
Substance that clarifies beer, usually made from Brewery in San Francisco.
the swim bladder of sturgeon fish; also known
as isinglass.
Stout
Framboise or Frambozen
Once an English generic term for the strongest
("stoutest") beer in a brewery. Now considered
Raspberry-flavored lambic beer.
a quintessentially Irish style.

Grist Trappist
The coarse powder derived from malt that has
Ales brewed by monks of the Trappist order in
been milled or "cracked" in the brewery prior to
Belgium and The Netherlands.
mashing.

Union
Gueuze
Method of fermentation developed in Burton-tn-
A blend of Belgian lambic beers.
Trent using large oak casks.


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Helles or Hell Ur or Urtyp

A pale Bavarian lager beer. German for original.

Hop (Lat: Humulus Lupulus) Weizen or Weisse

Herb used when brewing to add aroma and German for wheat or white beer.
bitterness.

Wort
IBU
Liquid resulting from the mashing process, rich
International Bitterness Units. An in malt and sugars.
internationally-agreed scale for measuring the
bitterness of beer. A "lite" American lager may
have around 10 IBU's, an English mild ale
around 20 units, an India Pale Ale 40 or higher,
an Irish stout 55 to 60 and barley wine 65.

Infusion

Method of mashing used mainly in ale-brewing
where the grains are left to soak with pure
water while starches convert to sugar, usually
carried out at a constant temperature.

IV. MANUFACTURING OF BEER

Brewing is fundamentally a natural process. The art and science of brewing lies in
converting natural food materials into a pure, pleasing beverage. Although great
strides have been made with the techniques for achieving high-quality production,
beer today is still a beverage brewed from natural products in a traditional way.
Although the main ingredients of beer have remained constant (water, yeast, malt and
hops), it is the precise recipe and timing of the brew that gives one a different taste
from another. The production of beer is one of the most closely supervised and
controlled manufacturing processes in our society. Apart from brewing company
expenditures on research and quality control designed to achieve the highest
standards of uniformity and purity in the product, the production of beer is also
subject to regular inspection and review by federal and provincial Health
Departments. Substances used in the brewing process are approved by Health
Canada. On average, a batch of beer will take about 30 days to produce. To be more


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specific, brewing takes nine and a half hours, while fermentation and aging combined
take between 21 and 35 days for ales and lagers respectively.
1. Water
Pure water is an essential ingredient in good beer and brewers pay scrupulous
attention to the source and purification of their brewing water. The water used in
brewing is purified to rigidly-set standards. If it does not have the proper calcium
or acidic content for maximum activity of the enzymes in the mash, it must be
brought up to that standard.
2. Malt
Barley is used to make brewers' malt. At the malting companies, barley is soaked,
germinated (sprouted), then dried and/or kilned/roasted to arrest further growth.
During the period of controlled growth in the malting plant, specific barley
enzymes are released to break down the membranes of the starch cells that make
up most of the kernel. But these are internal changes only; apart from a slight
change in colour, the external characteristics remain essentially unchanged. When
the malt leaves a malting plant, it still looks like barley.
In the brewery, the malt is screened and crushed rather than ground to flour in
order to keep the husks as whole as possible. This process not only prevents the
extraction of undesirable materials from the husks but also allows them to act as a
filter bed for separation of the liquid extract formed during mashing.
3. Mashing
Malt is added to heated, purified water and, through a carefully controlled time
and temperature process, the malt enzymes break down the starch to sugar and the
complex proteins of the malt to simpler nitrogen compounds. Mashing takes place
in a large, round tank called a "mash mixer" or "mash tun" and requires careful
temperature control. At this point, depending on the type of beer desired, the malt
is supplemented by starch from other cereals such as corn, wheat or rice.
4. Lautering
The mash is transferred to a straining (or lautering) vessel which is usually
cylindrical with a slotted false bottom two to five centimetres above the true
bottom. The liquid extract drains through the false bottom and is run off to the
brew kettle. This extract, a sugar solution, is called "wort" but it is not yet beer.
Water is "sparged" (or sprayed) though the grains to wash out as much of the
extract as possible. The "spent grains" are removed and sold as cattle feed.
5. Boiling and Hopping
The brew kettle, a huge cauldron holding from 70 to 1,000 hectolitres and made
of shiny copper or stainless steel, is probably the most striking sight in a brewery.
It is fitted with coils or a jacketed bottom for steam heating and is designed to boil


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the wort under carefully-controlled conditions. Boiling, which usually lasts about
two hours, serves to concentrate the wort to a desired specific gravity, to sterilize
it and to obtain the desired extract from the hops. The hop resins contribute
flavour, aroma and bitterness to the brew. Once the hops have flavoured the brew,
they are removed. When applicable, highly-fermentable syrup may be added to
the kettle. Undesirable protein substances that have survived the journey from the
mash mixer are coagulated, leaving the wort clear.
6. Hop Separation and Cooling
After the beer has taken on the flavour of the hops, the wort then proceeds to the
"hot wort tank". It is then cooled, usually in a simple-looking apparatus called a
"plate cooler". As the wort and a coolant flow past each other on opposite sides of
stainless steel plates, the temperature of the wort drops from boiling to about 10 to
15.5 °C, a drop of more than 65.6 °C, in a few seconds.
7. Fermentation
The wort is then moved to the fermenting vessels and yeast, the guarded central
mystery of ancient brewer's art, is added. It is the yeast, which is a living, single-
cell fungi, that breaks down the sugar in the wort to carbon dioxide and alcohol. It
also adds many beer-flavouring components. There are many kinds of yeasts, but
those used in making beer belong to the genus saccharomyces. The brewer uses
two species of this genus. One yeast type, which rises to the top of the liquid at
the completion of the fermentation process, is used in brewing ale and stout. The
other, which drops to the bottom of the brewing vessel, is used in brewing lager.
In all modern breweries, elaborate precautions are taken to ensure that the yeast
remains pure and unchanged. Through the use of pure yeast culture plants, a
particular beer flavour can be maintained year after year. During fermentation,
which lasts about seven to 10 days, the yeast may multiply six-fold and in the
open-tank fermenters used for brewing ale, a creamy, frothy head may be seen on
top of the brew. When the fermentation is complete, the yeast is removed. Now,
for the first time ,the liquid is called beer.
8. Cellars
For one to three weeks, the beer is stored cold and then filtered once or twice
before it is ready for bottling or "racking" into kegs.
9. Packaging
In the bottle shop of a brewery, returned empty bottles go through washers in
which they receive a thorough cleaning. After washing, the bottles are inspected
electronically and visually and pass on to the rotary filler. Some of these machines
can fill up to 1,200 bottles per minute. A "crowning" machine, integrated with the
filler, places caps on the bottles. The filled bottles may then pass through a
"tunnel pasteurizer" (often 23 metres from end to end and able to hold 15,000


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bottles) where the temperature of the beer is raised about 60 °C. for a sufficient
length of time to provide biological stability, then cooled to room temperature.
Emerging from the pasteurizer, the bottles are inspected, labelled, placed in
boxes, stacked on pallets and carried by lift truck to the warehousing areas to
await shipment. Also in the bottle shop may be the canning lines, where beer is
packaged in cans for shipment. Packaged beer may be heat-pasteurized or micro-
filtered, providing a shelf-life of up to six months when properly stored. Draught
beer, since it is normally sold and consumed within a few weeks, may not go
through this process. The draught beer is placed in sterilized kegs ready for
shipment.

B. COCKTAILS

I. What is a Cocktail?

Drinks akin to cocktails first appeared sometime during the 16th century, but
cocktails, as we know and use the term, was first introduced by American
bartenders in the 1920ies.
The reason the cocktail made it big in the happy '20ies, was the prohibition, when
producing and imbibing of alcohol was made illegal. As good as all spirits available
was of a rather dubious quality and tasted accordingly. Thus, the bartenders,
accommodating as always, started to mix the spirits with various fruit juices and
other flavorings to make it more palatable. Later, the cocktail lost its popularity
most places, the United States being the main exception.
The last few years, however, the cocktail has reclaimed lost ground everywhere,
especially in southern Europe and other places that are full of tourists. Cocktails
usually consist of three different 'classes' of ingredients.
• The first, the base, is most often some sort of spirit, like vodka, whiskey, or
tequila. Occasionally, such as in many punches, some sort of wine is being
used as a base.
• The second, the main flavoring, is added to bring out the aroma of the base
and to modify its taste. The main flavoring is often such as Vermouth,
various fruit juices, wine, or even eggs or cream.
• The third, the special flavoring, is added to enhance the taste of the base, and
often also adds the color to the cocktail. Common special flavorings include
Grenadine, Blue Curacao, and others.


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Most cocktails are also decorated in some way, usually with fruit slices, orange
peel, cocktail sticks, mint twigs, etc. (see section below).

II. Equipments

Many different contraptions are manufactured for the making of cocktails. Some of
these are useful, some can be definitely nice to have, and still others are totally and
utterly useless. It is up to you to decide exactly what your cocktail equipment should
be, but some things are essential.
First out of the essentials is the cocktail shaker. There are two basic types of shakers
available. A European cocktail shaker is usually made out of metal, or glass with a
metal top. It is, basically, a container which holds about half a liter, fitted with a top
which closes tightly around the upper edges of the container. This top also has a
smaller top, usually fitted with a built-in strainer, through which the shaken cocktail
is poured. American shakers, however, consist of two cones about the same size.
One is often often made of glass, and the other is metallic. These cones are held
together to form a closed container, and the shaken cocktail is poured from either
one. Most American shakers do not have built-in strainers, so if you use an
American shaker, using a separate strainer is a good idea.
Measures, also known as jiggers, are also essential. Jiggers are most often made of
metal, but glass jiggers are common, as well. The standard measurements of a jigger
can vary widely, depending on where you are. In the recipes in the following
articles, I will use a standard jigger of 30ml (appx. 1 fl oz).

In addition to the equipment mentioned above, you will find that things like these
are nice to have, as well: Ice bucket, jugs, electric blender, bowls, etc. You should
also have access to ordinary kitchenware, such as knives, corkscrews, chopping
board, etc. You will also need stirrers (also known as swizzle sticks), straws,
toothpicks, serviettes and cloths.

III. Glasses

Cocktail glasses come in four different basic types:
• First, there are the glasses known as rocks glasses, also known as tumblers.
These glasses are usually short and broad glasses, with straight or slightly


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sloping sides. They normally hold about 125ml and are used for spirits with
ice, fruit juices and short drinks.
• Second, there is the highball glass. These glasses are usually of medium
width, and are tall with straight or slightly sloping sides. They normally hold
between 200 and 300ml and are used for long drinks with ice.
• Third, the champagne glasses are of two different kinds. The most common,
the champagne flute, is a tall and narrow glass with a stem. Champagne
flutes have thin-glassed sides, and the long, tapering sides can curve both
inward and outward. A champagne flute holds approximately 150ml. The
second type of champagne glass is the less-known champagne saucer. The
champagne saucer is a broad and shallow glass with a stem. The broadness
and shallowness of the glass make the champagne loose its fizz quickly, and
the glass is therefore less popular than it once was. It is still, however, in use,
and such cocktails as the Margarita use exclusively such glasses.
• Fourth is the group known as cocktail glasses. These are the classic cocktail
glasses; stemmed and with sharply sloping sides, making it Y-shaped when
seen from the side. The classic cocktail glass holds about 90ml and is best
suited for short, strong drinks.
In addition to these glasses, some drinks, such as the Pina Colada, have special
glasses. Unless you are really serious about mixing your cocktails, you don't really
need to buy such glasses. Use glasses you already have instead. There are also other
glasses available that will work just fine with cocktails. Use your imagination, but
remember that plastic glasses (or shakers, jugs, mixing glasses, or other such
equipment for that matter) should NEVER be used with cocktails, as it will make
the cocktail taste of plastic. A cocktail is supposed to have a refreshing taste, not to
taste like the inside of a used plastic bag.

IV. Mixing a Cocktail

Not all cocktails are made in the same manner. Just as the ingredients may vary,
there are several ways in which to mix a cocktail. The most frequently used methods
are the following:
• Shaking: The cocktail is mixed by hand in a cocktail shaker. The shaker is
first filled three quarters with ice, preferably cubes, as crushed ice will tend
to melt and dilute the cocktail. The ingredients are then poured on top of the
ice, in order of alcohol content (highest first). When shaking a cocktail, hold
the shaker in both hands, one hand on the top and the other supporting the
base of the shaker, and shake vigorously. When water has begun condensing


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on the outside of the shaker, the cocktail is sufficiently chilled, and the
cocktail should immediately be strained into the glass. In general, shaking
creates a colder cocktail than stirring does, but also a cloudier one.
• Stirring: The cocktail is stirred with a glass or metal rod in a mixing glass,
before the cocktail is strained into a glass. As with shaking, crushed ice
should not be used, and water condensing on the outside shows that the
cocktail is finished.
• Blending: An electric blender is used to mix fruit juices, alcohol, fruit, etc.
Blending is an excellent way of mixing ingredients which do not blend
easily in any other way. Blend the cocktail till it has reached a smooth
consistency. If the recipe requires ice, add crushed ice last, but be careful not
to add too much, as the cocktail may be watered down. Blending is a much
disputed method of mixing a cocktail, and in general, blending should be
avoided unless the recipe demands it.
• Building: When building a cocktail, the ingredients are poured into the glass
in which the cocktail will be served. Usually, the ingredients are floated on
top of each other, but occasionally, a swizzle stick is put in the glass,
allowing the ingredients to be mix

V. Decorating Cocktails

Almost all cocktails are decorated in one way or another, most often with some kind of
fruit, but no matter the exact decoration, cocktail sticks are almost always invaluable.
Cocktail sticks come in two types; Wooden and plastic. Wooden sticks are most often
used, and are suited for just about any kind of cocktail, but they cannot be reused.
Plastic sticks, however, should be carefully used, as they tend to give the cocktail a
slightly artificial appearance. Unlike wooden sticks, plastic ones can be reused, but
should be carefully washed and boiled first.
Cocktail sticks are, whatever the type, used for spearing slices of fruit, cherries, and just
about anything else you care to decorate your cocktails with. Straws are also essential
and go well with highballs. Straws should not be reused. The traditional cocktail garnish
is, however, the red Maraschino cherries. These are used in just about any kind of
cocktail, and are now also available in green, yellow and blue. In addition to this, slices
of fruit, strips of orange or lemon peel, mint twigs, etc. can also be used.
One often used method of decorating cocktails is that which is called frosting. Frosting
leaves an edge of sugar, salt, cocoa, or any other fine powder, on the rim of the glass.
There are several ways to frost glasses, and one of the most frequently used of them is
this: Rub the rim of the glass with a slice of orange or lemon, then submerge the rim in


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sugar or salt (or any other powder), just so that it lines the top of the rim. Other methods
use egg white or other substances for 'gluing' the powder to the glass. For a more
colorful frosting, use small drops of food coloring in the powder. With some cocktails,
such as the Margarita, frosting is a 'standard' decoration.

VI. Tips and Tricks

1/2 oz. of liquor is equal to 1 count, assuming you are using a pourer on your bottles. To
measure 1 1/2 oz. of liquor, count "1001...1002...1003" as you are pouring. After a
while, you should be able to do it by eye.
• To make highballs, fill glass two-thirds full of ice before adding liquor. Always
pour liquor in before the mixer. Do not stir drinks containing carbonated mixers.
• To make cocktails, low balls, and other shaken or stirred drinks, fill shaker half-
full of ice. For low balls, fill the glass about half-full of ice before pouring drink.
• Most shaken drinks which contain light cream can also be made as blended
drinks, substituting vanilla ice cream for the light cream.
• To make blended drinks, first fill blender half-full of ice. If necessary, add more
ice as you are blending.
• Always keep fruit juices and other mixers refrigerated.
• In fruit drinks, e.g. strawberry margaritas always use fresh fruit, not frozen Bar
terms.

V. BAR TERMS

Mixing
When using a cocktail shaker there is one golden rule to remember. Always put the ice
in the shaker first, and the liquor last. This is to ensure that all ingredients are properly
chilled by the ice when they are poured over the ice, and by adding the liquor last you
reduce the chance of dilution.

Stirring
A drink that is stirred instead of shaken will retain its clarity and be free of ice chips.
Drinks based on clear liquors, like a Martini, should always be stirred and not shaken
(don't listen to James Bond when he order his Martini "shaken, not stirred").
When stirring a cocktail you should stir it enough to mix the ingredients, but not stir it


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too much. If you stir too much the ice will begin to dilute the liquor. A general rule is
that 10-15 stirs will be sufficient for proper mixing.

A drink containing carbonated beverage(s) should be stirred gently and briefly to retain
the sparkle.

Shaking
Instead of stirring, you can shake the drink. This will mix the ingredients more than
stirring, but will also result in a less clear drink. Drinks that contain ingredients that are
hard to mix, such as cream, fruit juices and eggs, should be shaken vigorously to ensure
that the ingredients has been well mixed.

Blending
Use an electric blender to mix fresh fruit, liquor, juices and ice instead of using a
shaker. Not too popular everywhere, but perfect for making frozen cocktails or to blend
ingredients that are otherwise impossible to mix.

Floating
The purpose of floating is to keep each ingredient in the drink in separate layers that do
not mix with the others. This will create a drink with separate layers, and this is why
floating often is referred to as layering.

The easiest way to float one liquor on top of another is to use a demitasse spoon,
holding it over or in the glass and slowly trickle the ingredient over the back of the
spoon.

Muddling
Muddling is a simple mashing technique for grinding herbs, such as mint, smooth in the
bottom of a glass. You can use a wooden muddler that you buy in a bar supply store or
buy a bar spoon with a muddler on the end. It crushes the herbs, much as the back of a
soup spoon might, without scaring the glass.

Frosting
To frost a glass, first dip it in water and then put it in the freezer for half an hour or so.
Also note that metal and silver mugs and cups will frost better than glasses.


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Standard Bar Measurements (US) Metric Conversions
1 part = any equal part 1 fluid ounce (oz) = 29.573 milliliters
1 dash/splash = 1/32 ounce 1 quart (qt) = 9.4635 deciliters
1 teaspoon (tsp) = 1/8 ounce 1 gallon (gal) = 3.7854 liters
1 tablespoon (tblsp) = 3/8 ounce
1 pony = 1 ounce 1 milliliter (ml) = 1/30 ounce
1 jigger/bar glass = 1 ½ ounces 1 centiliter (cl) = 1/3 ounce
(*)
1 shot = 1 ½ ounces 1 deciliter (dl) = 3 1/2 ounces
1 snit = 3 ounces 1 liter (l) = 34 ounces
1 wineglass = 4 ounces
1 split = 6 ounces
1 cup = 8 ounces
1 pint (pt) = 16 ounces
1 quart (qt) = 32 ounces
1 fifth = 25.6 ounces (1/5 gallon)
1 gallon (gal) = 128 ounces


Other Measurements

English

Metric

Fifth = 4/5 Quart = 1/5 Gal. = 25.6 oz => 750 ml = 25.5 oz
Pint (pt) = 1/2 Quart = 16.0 oz => 500 ml = 17.0 oz
Half-Pint    = 8.0 oz => 200 ml = 6.8 oz
Half-Gallon = 64.0 oz => 1750 ml = 59.7 oz
Quart = 32.0 oz => 1000 ml = 34.1 oz

(*)
A "shotglass" is usually 1.5 ounces, but sometimes 2 ounces with a measuring line at
1.5 ounces. You can also buy (in US) "short shot" glasses or "pony shots" which are 1
ounce. Pony shots are usually used with martinis, manhattans, and rob roy.


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VI. Setting up a bar
Basic set of tools
When setting up a bar, you will need quite a lot of equipment. The following is a list of
basic bar equipment you should have in your bar to allow you to make most drinks. You
may also want to take a look at the list of additional equipment that will make life behind
the bar a bit easier too.
• Bottle opener
• Corkscrew
• Can opener
• Measuring cups and spoon set
• Bar spoon with long handle and muddler on the end
• Juice squeezer
• Electric blender
• Cutting board and a sharp knife
• Ice bucket with an ice tong
• Mixing glass
• Shaker and strainer
• Bottle sealers
• Towels
• Boxes/jars to store garnishes in
• Glassware
You will have to buy new supplies of the following equipment regularly.
• Cocktail napkins and coasters
• Swizzle sticks
• Straws, both long and short ones
• Cocktail picks
• Sugar and salt (for coating rim of glasses)
Additional equipment
In addition you may wish to buy some other equipment to make things a bit easier and to
be able to make additional drinks.
• Ice crusher, preferably electric
You can crush ice manually, but with an electric crusher, it will be a whole lot easier
than using a hammer.


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• Wooden muddler
• Ice pick or chipper
• Vegetable peeler or a twist cutter for fruit peels
• Ice scoop
• Funnel
• Nutmeg grater
• Glassware
When operating a bar, whether it be in-house or a business, you need to have certain
types of glasses. The right glass can enhance the drink you are serving, making you
look even better. You really do not want to serve wine in a coffee cup, a cocktail in a
beer mug, and you definitely don't want to serve an Alabama Slammer in a sherry glass.
Get the point?

Different glasses
• Beer mug
• Beer pilsner
• Brandy snifter
• Champagne flute
• Cocktail glass
• Coffee mug
• Collins glass
• Cordial glass
• Highball glass
• Hurricane glass
• Irish coffee cup
• Margarita/Coupette glass
• Mason jar
• Old-fashioned glass
• Parfait glass
• Pitcher
• Pousse cafe glass
• Punch bowl
• Red wine glass


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• White wine glass
• Sherry glass
• Shot glass
• Whiskey sour glass
Glass accidents
When you are around any bar, home or business, you need to be concerned for yourself
and your guests. Here are a few tips about accidents and what to do:
• Always use an ice scoop and not the glass itself. Tiny slivers of glass always chip
off when dipped into an ice well and your glasses become unclear after a while
• If you accidentally break a glass near ice, always throw away all the ice. When
glass shatters, pieces go everywhere. You really don't want pieces of glass in
your drink.
• Never take a hot glass and add ice into it. This can cause the glass to shatter due
to thermal shock. Be careful about this.
• Mechanical shock occurs when you clank two glass together. One of the glasses
will almost always break.
If you carry the glasses by the stem or the base you avoid fingerprints where
people drink from, and you will have more support carrying the glass.

VII. The History of the Cocktail Shaker

Antecedents of the cocktail shaker can be traced to 7000 BC in South America where
the jar gourd was valued for its use as a closed container. Ancient Egyptians in 3500
BC knew that adding spices to their grain fermentations before serving made them
more palatable. A forerunner of the cocktail? Well, archaeologists have yet to find a
hieroglyphic list of cocktail recipes inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops. But we do
know in 1520 Cortez wrote to King Charles V of Spain from the New World of a
certain drink made from cacao, served to Montezuma with much reverence, frothy
and foaming from a golden cylinder.
By the late 1800s, the bartender's shaker as we know it today had become a standard
tool of the trade, invented by an innkeeper when pouring a drink back and forth to
mix. Finding that the smaller mouth of one container fit into another, he held the two
together and shook "for a bit of a show."


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BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

At the turn of the century, New York City hotels were serving the English custom of
5 o'clock tea and it was a short leap to the 5 o'clock cocktail hour with shakers
manufactured for home use looking very much like teapots.
In the 1920s martinis were served from sterling silver shakers by high society while
the less affluent made do with glass or nickel-plated devices. The Great War was
over and sacrifice was replaced by a euphoria marked by party-going and a frenzied
quest for pleasure. The mixed drink and cocktail shaker was powered by Prohibition.
People who had never tasted a cocktail before were knocking on speakeasy doors.
The outlaw culture had a powerful pull. Flappers with one foot on the brass rail
ordered their choice of drinks with names like Between the Sheets, Fox Trot, and
Zanzibar, liberated more by this act and smoking in public than by their new voting
rights.
The International Silver Company produced shakers in the form of the Boston
Lighthouse and golf bags, as well as, traditional shapes. There were rooster- and
penguin-shaped shakers, and from Germany zeppelin and aeroplane shakers. Many
of these shapes were not entirely capricious. The rooster, or "cock of the walk," for
example, had long served as a symbol for tavern signs. The penguin with its natural
"tuxedo" symbolized the good life. The Graf Zeppelin had become the first
commercial aircraft to cross the Atlantic - an 111-hour non-stop flight that captured
the attention of the world.
Such ingenious designs were all the rage, cocktail shaker skills and drink rituals were
as important in the Jazz Age lifestyle as the latest dance steps. Colorful cocktails
with sweet mixes stretched out the supply of illicit alcohol and helped disguise the
taste of homemade hooch. While gin, easier to duplicate than rye or scotch, became
the drink of choice and the martini society's favorite.
But the real popularity explosion of cocktail shakers occurred after the repeal of
Prohibition in 1933. Now they were featured frequently on the silver screen, shakers
and accoutrements part of every movie set. Stars were constantly sipping cocktails
when they weren't lighting each others' cigarettes, both de rigueur symbols of
sophistication. Nick and Nora Charles, the delightfully sodden couple that poured
their way through endless martinis in The Thin Man series, knew how to shake a
drink with style, as did the tens of thousands of Americans who shook, swirled, and
swilled cocktails by the shaker-full in the years following the repeal of Prohibition.
Movie fans watched Fred and Ginger dance across the screen, cocktail glass in hand,
and wanted their own symbol of the good life to shake themselves out of the
Depression that gripped the country.
The Art Deco movie set aesthetic was perfect for the Depression-driven cocktail
shaker. To meet popular demand, machine age factories, geared for mass production,


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BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

began turning them out in droves. Fashioned from the high-tech materials of the day,
chrome-plated stainless steel shakers with Bakelite trim replaced those of sterling
silver and were advertised as "non-tarnishing, no polishing needed." The great glass
companies, such as Cambridge, Heisey, and Imperial, leaped into action. Stunning
etched and silk-screened designs were created, often in brilliant hues of ruby or
cobalt. Industrial design was at the height of popularity and superstar designers such
as Russel Wright, Kem Weber, and Lurelle Guild created streamlined modern
masterpieces, many in the shape of the new deity of architecture, the skyscraper. If
there is a definitive classic it would have to be the sleek 1936 chrome-plated
"Manhattan Skyscraper serving set" by master industrial designer Norman Bel
Geddes, sought by collectors of today as the perfect mix of form and function.
By the end of the decade, shakers had become standard household objects, affordable
to all. Every family had at least one shaker on the shelf. There were now cocktail
shakers in the shape of bowling pins, dumbbells, town criers bells, and even in the
shape of a lady's leg. The cocktail party had influenced fashion, furniture, and
interior design. Coffee tables were now cocktail tables, and the little black dress,
designed by Coco Chanel, went from fad to fashion, and is now an institution.
At the beginning of the 1940s, the Depression ended, but not in the way most had
hoped. It ended on December 7, 1941. The golden era of the cocktail shaker was
over, and America's involvement in World War II began. All metal went to the war
effort. Companies that once made cocktail shakers, now made artillery shells. After
the war, few thought of the shakers. We were in the atomic age, thinking of jet-
propelled airplanes, a thing called television, and new cars with lots of chrome.
In the early 1950s, a brief renewal of interest in cocktail shakers occurred when new
homes featuring finished basements, called "roc rooms," were equipped with bars.
But the push-button age had taken the fun out of mixing drinks. Shakers came with
battery-powered stirring devices. Worse yet, electric blenders became popular; drop
in some ice, add the alcohol of your choice, a package of "redi-mix," flick a switch
and.... Gone were the rites and rituals, the showmanship, the reward for effort. Small
wonder, then, that these elegant stars of the 1930s were forced into retirement.
And there they sat - in attics and closets nationwide - waiting to be recalled to life.
Over 50 years have passed now, and one can faintly hear the clink of ice cubes as
shakers are, once again, a symbol of elegance.


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C. SPIRIT & LIQUOR

I. Stocking your bar

You cannot make drinks out of the equipment, so you'll probably want to buy a
selection of liquors and mixers too. It is impossible to make a list that "fits all"
without including every possible liquor in the World, but here are a few guidelines
on what to buy.
You should always choose your bar stock to suit your guests. Young people often
prefer the more exotic drinks, so you will need various fruit juices and flavored
liqueurs instead of the darker liquors (like whiskey) older people often prefer.
It is likely you will experience requests for drinks you cannot make, but that happen
to almost every bar now and then. You can add new liquors to your bar stock later,
and should learn how to mix what you have in the meantime.
A well stocked bar should have the following, but you should consider the number
and type of guests you expect before buying.
• Gin (dry)
• Vodka
• Rye (or Canadian whiskey)
• Bourbon
• Scotch whiskey
• Rum (light)
• Vermouth (dry and sweet)
• Tequila
• White and red wine (dry)
• Beer (lager)
• Cognac (or other brandy)
• Different liqueurs:
o Advocaat (somewhat like brandy eggnog)
o Amaretto (almond)
o Anisette (anise)
o Benedictine (herbs)
o Chambord (black-raspberry)


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o Chartreuse (herbs)
o Contreau (oranges, like curaçao)
o Crème de Cacao (cacao)
o Crème de Cassis (blackcurrant)
o Crème de Menthe (mint)
o Crème de Violette (lavender)
o Crème Yvette (violets)
o Curaçao (oranges)
o Galliano (herbs and spices)
o Godiva (chocolate)
o Goldwasser (herbs and spices, flecked with gold leaf bits)
o Grand Marnier (champagne and curaçao)
o Irish Mint (whiskey and cream)
o Kahlúa (coffee)
o Kümmel (caraway)
o Mandarine Napoléon (tangerine)
o Midori (melon)
o Ouzo (anise)
o Peter Heering (cherry)
o Prunelle (plum)
o Sabra (orange and chocolate)
o Sambuca (wild elderberries)
o Southern Comfort (peach)
o Strega (orange and spices)
o Tia Maria (coffee)
o Triple Sec (oranges, like curaçao)
In addition to the liquors, you will need different mixers, flavorings and garnishes.
• Club soda
• Tonic water
• Ginger ale
• 7-Up or Sprite
• Cola


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• Juices:
o Tomato juice
o Orange juice
o Pineapple juice
o Cranberry juice
o Grapefruit juice
• Bitters
• Grenadine
• Maraschino liqueur
• Worcestershire sauce
• Tabasco sauce
• Milk
• Coffee
• Heavy cream
• Cherries (maraschino)
• Green olives (small)
• Cocktail onions
• Lemons, limes and oranges
• Sugar, salt and pepper.
Fruited Ice Cubes

Suggested Fruits Beverage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lemon slices Iced tea
Strawberries, raspberries, Lemonade
lemon or lime slices
Pineapple chunks; grapes; Punch
strawberries; raspberries;
maraschino cherries;
mandarin oranges; orange,
lemon or lime slices
Lime slices, strawberries, Ginger ale


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raspberries
To make fruited ice cubes, fill an ice-cube tray halfway with water; freeze until firm,
about 1 1/2 hours. Place one or two pieces of desired fruit in each section of the tray.
Fill with water; freeze until firm, about 1 1/2 hours. If desired, substitute lemonade
or a light-colored juice for the water.

II. Gravity Chart

When making layered drinks, also known as a Pousse Cafe, you'll need to know which
ingredients are heavier than the others. The technique is simple; the heaviest liquor is
poured into the glass first, and the lighter ones are layered carefully on top with the
lightest one on top.
This table lists some common liquors, along with their Specific Gravity that is the weight
of the liquor relative to water. Higher values indicate heavier liquor.

Name Gravity Color
Southern Comfort 0.97
Tuaca 0.98 Amber
Water 1.00 White
Green Chartreuse 1.01 Green
Cointreau 1.04 White
Peach liqueur 1.04 Dark amber
Sloe gin 1.04 Deep red
Kummel 1.04 White
Peppermint schnapps 1.04 White
Benedictine 1.04
Brandy 1.04 Amber
Midori melon liqueur 1.05 Green
Rock and Rye 1.05 Amber
Apricot brandy 1.06 Amber
Blackberry brandy 1.06 Dark red
Cherry brandy 1.06 Dark red
Peach brandy 1.06 Dark amber
Campari 1.06 Red
Yellow Chartreuse 1.06 Yellow
Drambuie 1.08
Frangelico 1.08


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Orange Curacao 1.08 Orange
Triple sec 1.09 White
Tia maria 1.09 Brown
Apricot liqueur 1.09 Amber
Blackberry liqueur 1.10 Dark red
Amaretto 1.10 Light brown
Blue Curacao 1.11 Blue
Cherry liqueur 1.12 Dark red
Galliano 1.11 Golden yellow
Green Crème de Menthe 1.12 Green
White Crème de Menthe 1.12 White
Strawberry liqueur 1.12 Red
Parfrait d'Amour 1.13 Violet
Coffee liqueur 1.14 Dark brown
Crème de Banane 1.14 Yellow
Dark Crème de Cacao 1.14 Brown
White Crème de Cacao 1.14 White
Kahlua 1.15 Dark brown
Crème de Almond 1.16
Crème de Noyaux 1.17 Bright red
Anisette 1.17 White
Crème de Cassis 1.18


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III. WHISKY

Single Malt

For a whisky to be called a single malt, it must have been made using malted barley (see
'Making Whisky') and come from one distillery, although single malts will most likely
have come from more than one cask within the distillery. These whiskies are the most
prized by whisky drinkers and Royal Mile Whiskies specialize in single malts.

Single Cask Malt

Due to the individual nature of each cask, a whisky from one cask can differ quite
dramatically from the next. In typical single malt, what you are drinking is from a group
of casks that have been combined to provide the flavours that best match the character of
the malt named on the label. Achieving a consistency over the years is one of the great
skills of the master distiller – the customer needs to know that when she enjoyed 10 year
old Talisker, if she buys a bottle again, it’s going to taste as expected.

The other side of the coin is the individuality of single casks. Some selected casks will
have unique characteristics that make them ideal candidates for single cask bottlings. As
a result, you will often see limited edition bottlings with the bottle number and cask
number on the bottle, offering something a little more unique than standard bottlings.

Vatted/Blended Malt

Simply a combination of single malts from different distilleries in a single bottling.
Following controversy in late 2004, the Scotch Whisky Association changed the
category of Vatted or Pure Malt to Blended Malt, supposedly to avoid future confusion.
Not everyone was happy about it, but hopefully the name Blended Malt will stick! The
key point to remember is that a Blended Malt contains no grain whisky, whereas a
traditional blend contains a combination of malt and grain whisky (see below). Johnnie
Walker Green Label and Compass Box’s Eleuthera are both excellent examples of
vatted/blended malts.


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Grain Whisky

While malt whisky is made using purely malted barley, grain whisky uses only a small
proportion of barley, together with other cereals such as wheat or maize. This has the
first effect on the whisky produced. The second difference is the way it is then made.
Malt whisky is made using the pot-still for distilling whisky (see 'Making Whisky' for a
description and a picture of pot-stills), which, while it produces great whisky, is quite
inefficient. Grain whiskies, on the other hand are made using the more modern, efficient
system of the 'Coffey', or 'Patent' still, which works continuously rather than in batches.
It is therefore cheaper and quicker to produce grain whisky than it is to produce malt
whisky.

Blended Whisky

Most whisky drunk across the world is blended whisky. Famous Grouse, Bells,
Teachers, Whyte and Mackay and Johnnie Walker are a few of the most famous names.
The whisky blender will use a base of perhaps 50%-60% grain whisky then add a
combination of malt whiskies from several malt whisky distilleries. It allows the blender
to combine different elements of various whiskies together to create a flavour he is
looking for. While blends tend to be viewed as being inferior in quality to single malts,
there are some excellent blended whiskies available that should not be ignored.

Age

An often recognised mark of a whisky is its age. Marketing men use the age of an older
whisky as a badge that somehow indicates its quality. What it is more likely to indicate
is the effort spent in making it (time) and the rarity value that it holds however. 12 year
olds will sometimes be chosen over an 18 year old, while in other cases, a 25 year old
might have flavours and qualities that its younger counterparts cannot get close to.
Whether the older the whisky is automatically better varies from one whisky to the next,
depending on the individual qualities of each whisky and the way that they were made,
before being bottled. On the whole, it's best not to make the mistake of assuming that
older whiskies are always better.


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Vintage

The year that the cask has been filled is increasingly being seen on packaging, so that
you know what you year the whisky in the bottled was produced. Macallan Gran
Reserva, the Classic Malts Distillers Edition bottlings and all single cask bottlings and
many others display the vintage.

Cask Strength/Regular ABV

Before most whiskies are bottled, water is added to bring the alcohol content down to a
level where it can be drunk without inflicting pain on yourself. Just try drinking a cask
strength malt at around 60% ABV (alcohol by volume) and see for yourself! As a result,
most whiskies are bottled at around 40% or 43% ABV. Some whiskies are bottled at
cask strength, however. If you do buy a cask strength whisky, it will tend to be more
expensive, to reflect the increased volume of whisky there will be once it is watered
down.

Chill-filtration

Before being bottled, most whisky is chill-filtered. This process involves (as the name
suggests) cooling the whisky and straining out trace elements. The result is that no
sediment or particles can then find their way into the bottle. Also, whisky will naturally
go cloudy when water is added (particularly as the alcohol volume drops below 46%
ABV). Chill-filtration prevents this clouding. By removing these trace elements, you
may end up with a whisky that is easier on the eye, but you also lose some of the
flavours of the whisky. As a result, many single cask bottlings available are non chill-
filtered and some distilleries have moved over to using no chill-filtration at all, such as
Ardbeg.

Volume

The standard size of whisky bottling is 0.7 of a litre, or 70cl in the UK. Half sizes at 35cl
are also produced as are 5cl miniatures by most distilleries. More unusual sizes you will
find are 20cl, 50cl, 75cl 1 litre and 2 litres amongst others.


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Single/Double Matured

All Scotch must be matured in oak casks for a minimum of three years. Using casks
made from newly cut oak is not an option however. New casks give off strong woody
flavours that can ruin the flavour of whisky. Therefore the casks used are 'second hand',
most having been used to store either sherry or bourbon first for a good period of time.
In some cases, the distillery will buy the wood that is used to make the casks, then ‘rent’
the casks to bourbon or sherry producers before taking them back, the casks having spent
the first stage of their lives with bourbon or sherry maturing within them. Glenmorangie
are one of the companies who do just this in order to ensure that they achieve the level of
quality they are looking for in their casks.

A whisky may sit in the cask it was initially poured into for its lifetime before being
bottled. The life of a whisky may not end once it leaves its first cask mind you. More
and more distilleries are now experimenting with casks that have been used to hold other
spirits as a second stage of the maturation process. Casks that have once held
chardonnay, port and madeira are just a few of the options that distilleries have tried
successfully.

Distillery Bottled/Independent bottled

Most bottles of malt that you find are bottled by the distillery that created the whisky.
There are also numerous independent bottlers, including Royal Mile Whiskies, that will
buy casks of whisky from a distillery in order to bottle it themselves. The result is that as
each cask varies slightly, each individual bottling is slightly different from the next, each
having their own character. Other major independents who we buy whisky from include
Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory, Compass Box, Murray McDavid, and Hart Brothers.
We feature whiskies from all of these independents on the site, especially our own!

What is a single whisky?

A single whisky is the product of one particular distillery.


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What is meant by saccharify?

To saccharify means to convert to sugar. In whisky distilling it refers to the process
which takes place during the malting and mash-tun stages by which enzymes in the
malt, referred to as diastase, turn the starch in the cereals into sugar ready for the
fermenting action of the yeast.

What is diastase?

When conditions of temperature and moisture favour germination, the embryo and
associated parts of the barley grain secrete a mixture of enzymes commonly known as
diastase. These act to modify and make soluble the starch in the barley, thus preparing
it for conversion at a later stage to maltose.

What is wort?

Wort is the liquid drawn off the mash-tun in which the malted and unmalted cereals
have been mashed with warm water. Wort contains all the sugars of the malt and
certain secondary constituents. After cooling, it is passed to the fermenting vats. In
Malt distilleries the cereals are all malted; in Grain distilleries a proportion only is
malted, the remainder being unmalted. In some cases, Grain distilleries do not separate
off wort, passing the complete mash to the fermentation vessels.

What is wash?

The wort or mash technically becomes wash as soon as yeast is added to start
fermentation. However, the term is usually used to refer to the liquid at the end of the
fermentation. It is the wash which forms the raw material of the first distillation in the
Pot Still process and of the only distillation in the Patent Still process.


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BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

What is the pot still distillation?

Malt Whisky is distilled twice - although a few distilleries may undertake a third
distillation - in Pot Stills which resemble huge copper kettles.

The spirit is driven off from the fermented liquid as a vapour and then condensed back
to a liquid.

In the first distillation the fermented liquid, or wash, is put into the Wash Still, which is
heated either directly by fire or by steam-heated coils.

At this stage the wash contains yeast, crude alcohol, some unfermentable matter and
the by-products of fermentation. During the process of boiling the wash, changes take
place in its constituents which are vital to the flavour and character of the whisky.

As the wash boils, vapours pass up the neck of the still and then pass through a water-
cooled condenser or a worm, a coiled copper pipe of decreasing diameter enclosed in a
water jacket through which cold water circulates.

This condenses the vapours and the resulting distillate, known as low wines, is
collected for re-distilling. The liquor remaining in the Wash Still is known as pot ale or
burnt ale and is usually treated and converted into distillers’ solubles for animal feed.

The low wines are distilled again in the Spirit Still, similar in appearance and
construction to the Wash Still but smaller because the bulk of liquid to be dealt with is
less. Three fractions are obtained from the distillation in the Spirit Still. The first is
termed foreshots, the second constitutes the potable spirit, and the third is called feints.
The foreshots and feints are returned to the process and redistilled in the Spirit Still
with the succeeding charge of low wines. The residue in the still, called spent lees, is
run to waste.


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In the case of the Spirit Still, the design of the still, the height of the head (or top) of
the still and the angle of the wide-diameter pipe or lyne arm, connecting the head to the
condensing unit, are all very important and have an effect on the distillate.
The Pot Still has changed little in general design over the centuries.

What is patent still distillation?

Unlike Malt Whisky, Grain Whisky is distilled in a continuous operation in a Patent
Still. This is sometimes known as the Coffey Still, after Aeneas Coffey, who developed
it in 1831.

Steam is fed into the base of the analyser and hot wash into the top. As the two meet on
the surface of the perforated plates, the wash boils and a mixture of alcohol vapours
and uncondensed steam rises to the top of the column. The spent wash runs down and
is led off from the base.

The hot vapours enter the rectifier at the base and as they rise through the chambers
they partially condense on the sections of a long coil through which wash is flowing.
The spirit vapour condenses at the top of the rectifier and is run off through a water-
cooled condenser to the spirit safe and on to the spirit receiver. Once the spirit begins
to be collected it runs continuously until the end of distillation.

Because of the rectifying element present in this process the distillate is generally
lighter in aroma than most Malt Whiskies. It consequently has a milder character and
requires less time to mature.

What is the worm?

The worm and its surrounding bath of cold running water, or worm-tub, form together
the condenser unit of the Pot Still process of manufacture. The worm itself is a coiled
copper tube of decreasing diameter attached by the lyne arm to the head of the Pot Still
and kept continuously cold by running water. In it the vapours from the still condense.


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Fed by the still, it in turn feeds the receiving vessel with the condensed distillate.
The worm is being replaced gradually by the more modern tubular condenser.
What are low wines?

This is the name given to the product of the first distillation in the Pot Still process of
manufacture. It is the distillate derived from the wash and contains all the alcohol and
secondary constituents and some water. It forms the raw material of the second
distillation, which is carried out in the Spirit Still. The feints and foreshots are added to
the low wines when the Spirit Still is charged.

What is pot ale?

Pot ale, alternatively burnt ale, is the liquor left in the Wash Still after the first
distillation in the Pot Still process. It is the residue of the wash after the extraction by
distillation of the low wines.

IV. BRANDY

A. ARMANAC

HISTORY OF BRANDY

The origins of brandy are unclear, and tied to the development of distillation.
Concentrated alcoholic beverages were known in ancient Greece and Rome and may
have a history going back to ancient Babylon. Brandy as it is known today, first began to
appear in the 12th century and became generally popular in the 14th century.
Initially wine was distilled as a preservation method and as a way to make the wine
easier for merchants to transport. The intent was to add the water removed by distillation
back to the brandy shortly before consumption. It was discovered that after having been
stored in wooden casks, the resulting product had improved over the original wine.


April
2009
BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

ARMAGNAC
Armagnac, the region of France, has given its name to its distinctive kind of brandy or
eau de vie, made of the same grapes as Cognac and undergoing the same aging in oak
barrels, but without double distillation. Armagnac production is overseen by a Bureau
National Interprofessionel de l'Armagnac (BNIA).

Armagnac is the only true rival to Cognac for recognition as the finest producer of
brandy in the world. Along with Cognac and Jerez in Spain, it is one of only three
officially demarcated brandy regions in Europe.

Its quantity of production is significantly lower than that of the Cognac region; for every
six bottles of Armagnac sold around the world there are one hundred bottles of cognac
sold.
Armagnac has been making brandy for around 200 years longer than Cognac.

Geography
The Armagnac region lies between the Adour and Garonne rivers in the foothills of the
Pyrenees. A part of this historical region is permitted to grow the grapes that are used in
the manufacture of brandy that may be labelled with the Armagnac name. This area was
officially demarcated when Armagnac was granted AOC status in 1936.
The official production area is divided into three districts which lie in the departements
of Gers, Landes and Lot-et-Garonne. These are:
• Bas Armagnac - the largest area of production
• Tenarèze
• Haut Armagnac
Each of these areas is controlled by separate appellation regulations. Although the term
bas means "lower" in French, the best armagnacs are principally produced in Bas
Armagnac.

Production
The region contains 40,000 acres of grape-producing vines.
The production of Armagnac differs in several ways from that of Cognac. Armagnac is
only distilled once and at a lower temperature to Cognac, meaning that the former retains
more of the fruit character, whereas Cognac's second distillation results in greater
balance. Armagnacs are aged for longer periods than Cognac, though this has little


April
2009
BEVERAGE KNOWLEDGE

impact on the grape once it has been distilled. Armagnac is aged in black oak giving
them darker characteristics than Cognac.
Aging Requirements for Armagnac are
• Three star — 2 years
• VS — 3 years
• VO, VSOP or Reserve ADC — 5 years
• Extra, XO, Napoleon or Vieille Reserve — 6 years
• Hors d’Age — 10 years

Grapes
Ten different varieties of grape are authorised for use in the production of Armagnac. Of
these, four form the principal part:
• Ugni Blanc
• Folle Blanche
• Baco 22A
• Colombard
The remaining varieties include Jurançon and Picquepoul.

Producers
The main producers of Armagnac are:
• Sempe
• Larressingle
• De Montal
• Cerbios
• B. Gelas
• Samalens
• Darroze
• Laberdolive
• Marquis de Caussade
Janneau


Bali Hospitality's Guide to Beverage Knowledge

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