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Sunday, May 9, 2010

DRINKS GLOSSARY

PRUNELLA A liqueur made from meat, plum pits, figs, and vanilla beans.

RICKEY A drink that is a cross between a collins and a sour. It consists of lime or lemon juice, club soda, and alcohol. Unlike the collins and sour, it contains no added sugar.

ROCK AND RYE A fruit juice that combines rock candy, rye whiskey and fruit slices.

RUM Rum can be made from 2 different raw materials: it can be distilled directly from the fermented juice of crushed sugar cane, or, once the sugar is extracted, it can be made from the remaining molasses. Some rums contain dunder, which is a residue from the previous distillation and makes for a more pungent product. Three main types of rum are made in the West Indies today. Very light(white or silver) rums hail from the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. These require little aging and are relatively tasteless and oderless. Golden rum, also known as anejo, though still of the light-bodied type, has more taste and pronounced character. Darker, aromatic, full bodied rums such as Myer's are produced in Jamaica. These are distilled by a slower and different fermentation process, which allows for a fuller richer, molasses like body to develop. All rum is colerless when first distilled, and those that are aged for only a year are often colored with caremel. Even heavy bodied rums that are aged in charred oak casks for as long as twenty years are subject to artificial coloring. Medium and heavy bodied rums are usually aged between two and twenty years.

RYE The oldest native American whiskey, originally manufactured in the 1600s by Scotch and Irish settlers in New York. Rye is a very full bodied drink with a pronounced character, and perhaps for that reason, it has faded in popularity in the land of its origin to the point where it lags behind all other varities of whiskey in consumption. Many people confuse rye with blended whiskey, but the two are far from being the same. Rye must be made with at least 51% rye grain, the rest being corn and barley. Rye is aged in in new charred oak barrels for at least 2 years.

SABRA An orange flavored liqueur with a hint of chocolate, from Israel.

SAKE This traditional drink of Japan, a bit on the sweet side, is commonly referred to as "rice wine", when in fact it is actually rice beer. Although it resembles a wine in taste and appearance, it is not made from grapes. It is fermented from rice and malted barley. Sake is usually served warm, as the heat brings out its superior bouquet.

SAMBUCA An Italian liqueur flavored with anise. The Italians often serve it "with flies", which is actually 3 or 4 coffee beans on top of a glass of sambucca which is then flamed.

SANGAREE Made with whiskey, gin, rum, or brandy, with port wine floated on top, or with wine, ale porter or stout, with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

SCHNAPPS The word "schnapps" (from the German Schnappen, to snap) refers to a mixture of vodka, gin, brandy or other spirit. In Scandanavia the word is snaps and almost always means Akvavit. In the U.S. the term has taken on a new meaning to identify a whole new generation of intensely flavored, sweet, inexpensive liqueurs of

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