VERMOUTH

Vermouth is a fortified wine, flavored with aromatic herbs and spices ("aromatized" in the trade) such as cardamom, cinnamon, marjoram and chamomile. Some vermouth is sweetened; however, unsweetened, or dry, vermouth tends to be bitter. The person credited with the second vermouth recipe, Antonio Benedetto Carpano from Turin, Italy, chose to name his concoction "vermouth" in 1786 because he was inspired by a German wine flavoured with wormwood, an herb most famously used in distilling absinthe. The modern German word Wermut (Wermuth in the spelling of Carpano's time) means both wormwood and vermouth. The herbs in vermouth were originally used to mask raw flavours of cheaper wines, imparting a slightly medicinal "tonic" flavour.

TYPES OF TEQUILA

TYPES OF TEQUILA:

There are two basic categories of tequila: mixtos and 100% agave. Mixtos use up to 49% of other sugars in the fermentation process, with agave taking up the remainder. Mixtos use both glucose and fructose sugars.

With 100% agave tequila, blanco or plata is harsher with the bold flavors of the distilled agave up front, while reposado and añejo are smoother, subtler, and more complex. As with other spirits that are aged in casks, tequila takes on the flavors of the wood, while the harshness of the alcohol mellows. The major flavor distinction with 100% agave tequila is the base ingredient, which is more vegetal than grain spirits (and often more complex).

Tequila is usually bottled in one of five categories:

Blanco ("white") or plata ("silver") – white spirit, un-aged and bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels;

Joven ("young") or oro ("gold") – is the result of blending Silver Tequila with Reposado and/or Añejo and/or extra Añejo Tequila;

Reposado ("rested") – aged a minimum of two months, but less than a year in oak barrels;

Añejo ("aged" or "vintage") – aged a minimum of one year, but less than 3 years in oak barrels;

Extra Añejo ("extra aged" or "ultra aged") – aged a minimum of three years in oak barrels. This category was established in March 2006.

PRODUCTION OF TEQUILA

PRODUCTION OF TEQUILA: Harvesting the agave plant remains a manual effort, unchanged by modern farming technologies, and stretching back hundreds of years. The agave is planted, tended, and harvested by hand. The men who harvest it, the "jimadores", possess generations of knowledge about the plants and the ways in which they need to be harvested. The jimadores must be able to work swiftly in the tight rows, pull out the hijuelos (Agave offspring) without damaging the mother plant, clear the piñas (Spanish for pineapples), and decide when each plant is ready to be harvested . Too soon and there are not enough sugars, too late and the plant will have used its sugars to grow a quiote (20–40 foot high stem), with seeds on the top that are then scattered by the wind. The piñas, weighing 40 to 70 pounds, are cut away with a special knife called a coa. They are then shredded, their juices pressed out and put into fermentation tanks and vats. Some tequila companies still use the traditional method (artisanal) in which the piñas are crushed with a Tahona (stone wheel). The musto, (Agave juice, and sometimes the fiber) is then allowed to ferment in either wood or stainless steel vats for several days to convert the sugars into alcohol. Each company keeps its own yeast a closely guarded secret

TEQUILA

Tequila (Spanish pronunciation: [teˈkila]) is a Blue Agave-based spirit made primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, 65 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands (Los Altos) of the western Mexican state of Jalisco.

The red volcanic soil in the region surrounding Tequila is particularly well suited to the growing of the blue agave, and more than 300 million of the plants are harvested there each year.

Mexican laws state that tequila can be produced only in the state of Jalisco and limited regions in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán,Nayarit, and Tamaulipas.

Tequila is most often made at a 38–40% alcohol content (76–80 proof), but can be produced between 35–55% alcohol content (70–110 proof). Though most tequilas are 80 proof, many distillers will distill to 100 proof and then cut it down with water to reduce its harshness. Some of the more well respected brands distill the alcohol to 80 proof without using additional water as a diluter.  

DRAGON BLEU VODKA

Dragon Bleu is a French brand of vodka. It is distilled and bottled in the Grande Champagne area of France from a blend of three grains:wheat, barley, and rye. Dragon Bleu is produced by French distiller Patrick Brisset, who is the former President of the International Centre for Spirits and Liqueurs (Centre International des eaux-de-vie) in Segonzac, France. Dragon Bleu is 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof). It is produced using the water of the Gensac Spring. This vodka fits into the high-priced category.

ICEBERG VODKA

Iceberg Vodka is a vodka manufactured by the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation. The vodka is produced using water from icebergs harvested off the coast of Newfoundland. Won the 2006-2007 Golden Icon Award for Best Vodka; the Golden Icon Awards are presented annually by Travolta Family Entertainment.

In 1998, the Beverage Tasting Institute gave Iceberg a 'superlative' score of 94 out of 100, ranking it second behind the acclaimed Grey Goose in a blind taste test of the world's best vodkas.

DOWNUNDER VODKA

Downunder Vodka is an 80 proof vodka distilled and bottled in Melbourne, Australia. The vodka is distilled from the molasses of Australian sugar cane.

Downunder is priced below high-priced vodkas at about the same level as Smirnoff.