Cognac / Armagnac / Brandy / Eau-de-Vie / Calvados
(this is an article on Brandy as its Chinese New Year, I'm sure Brandy will be consumed a lot over the next few days)
Eau de Vie / Calvados
Origin: France
Proof: 80 % - 100 %
Raw material: Various Fruits
A spirit distilled from a fermented mash of fruits of i.e. grapes, pears or apples are the most popular, this is a basic description of an Eau de Vie. Eau de Vie is French for “water of Life” The Fruit is first fermented in to a wine and then distilled and only the middle part of the distillation is used. The head is the first vapours to condense are discarded and tails the later vapours are also discarded as they contain methanol, propanol and butanol. all distillers are looking only for ethanol
This spirit is clear after distillation and after distillation only water is added to reduce alcohol no added sugar or colourings is allowed. Between distillation and bottling they won’t be aged for any significant time just rested.
Eau de Vie's are not liqueurs because they are not a base spirit with added with sugar or fruit juice and they are not a Brandy because they are not aged.
Hint “A very strong spirit and very delicious, drink as you would any distilled spirit”
Famous Eau de Vie
Most popular Eau de Vie's are Poire(pear), Framboise(raspberry), Kirsch(cherry), Peche(peach), Pomme(apple), Miabelle(plum) and grappa and Marc are forms of Eau de Vie.
My own favourite Eau de Vie
My favourite Eau de Vie is Pomme de Prisonaire A Calvados from France.
151 Mist Cocktail
(the only way you can enjoy 151)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Brandy
Cognac / Armagnac / Brandy / Eau-de-Vie / Calvados
(this is an article on Brandy as its Chinese New Year, I'm sure Brandy will be consumed a lot over the next few days)
Brandy / Armagnac / Cognac
Origin: France & the World
Proof: 80% - 100%
Raw material: Distilled Grape wine
People say the best brandy comes from cognac, as the name of the brandy. The grapes (Ugni Blanc) in Cognac region don’t make such a good wine but they make an excellent brandy. Cognacs are distilled twice and are stored in Limousin or Troncais oak for not less than two years. There are a few different ages of cognac, *** one year old, VSOP 4 years old and XO 5 years old. There are some lovely brandies made around the world and in any part of the world where grapes are grown for wine there will probably be brandy made 99 % of the time. Brandy is distilled wine so if you’re a wine maker you can set yourself up to distill brandy quite easy.
Armagnac is another type of Brandy made in France from an area in the south west of France and this area too makes fine Brandy with a longer history than Cognac. It is more an artisanal brandy and is gernerally single distilled in an Armagnac still and then aged, blended and graded much the same way as Cognac.
There are good Brandy’s from Spain, Italy, America, Australia, South America and many more around the world and of course to make brandy it’s not cheep so when you see a cheep one on the shelf be careful as the origins might be vague with Brandy stick to what you know.
Laws around the world in wine producing countries vary so does the making of brandy. It can be made in Pot stills or continuous stills it must be aged minimum 2 yrs to minimum 4 yrs in some countries. Some history books say that Brandy was created due to a mistake. When the traders used to carry wine from France to Holland and other European countries it was thought that wine takes up so much space so they used to distill it first to remove the water and then add it when they got to the ports in Holland this way they found they could carry double the cargo of wine but soon the Dutch found that the distilled wine was as enjoyable and lasted longer, so thought it should be left alone as it had started to age a little on the journey. It was called Brandewijn “burned wine” which the name eventually became Brandy, it’s the best story, but is it true “that’s up to you, but it’s a nice story. Others say it’s very simple that wine was of low alcohol and the wine lost all its qualities on the voyages to its destinations so the traders decided to distill it when it arrived at its destination. They are both the same or very similar stories really, but any how probably the French started to distill the wine first themselves before they sold it and it wasn’t long before the whole area of Cognac was growing grapes for Brandy not wine.
Some famous names of Cognac are not descendents of France. Jean Martell came from Jersey, UK to Cognac in 1715, Richard Hennessey came to Cognac from Cork, Ireland and set up in 1765, Thomas Hine came from Dorset, England, Jean-Antoine Otard de la Grange was a descendent of a Scottish Family that had gone in to exile with James II and he set up Otard in 1799.
Hint: “Don’t mix an expensive Brandy with anything; use a lower quality 3 stars or VSOP for cocktails if you want to mix a Brandy Cocktail, the quality of 3 star and VSOP is very good for mixing. In Asia is best to go with a Cognac for cocktails as some imported brandies from countries other than France sometimes don’t travel well in my opinion”
Popular BrandsHine, Hennessey, Martell, Courvoisier, Remy Martin, Bisquit, Camus, Otard
Famous Brandy Cocktail HistoryIt could be the Brandy Alexander, the Side Car or the Brandy Crusta. Brandy Crusta I think is the most famous and passed the test of time. It was first listed in Jerry Thomas – how to mix drinks 1862, but the first recorded cocktail and a Brandy cocktail too, was the Sazerac and that was originally made with Cognac before becoming a bourbon cocktail.
My own or favourite Brandy CocktailI have never created a Brandy cocktail, but I have a favourite it is the Embassy Cocktail. It was created during the 1930’s in Hollywood Club, Hollywood.
Proof: 80% - 100%
Raw material: Distilled Grape wine
People say the best brandy comes from cognac, as the name of the brandy. The grapes (Ugni Blanc) in Cognac region don’t make such a good wine but they make an excellent brandy. Cognacs are distilled twice and are stored in Limousin or Troncais oak for not less than two years. There are a few different ages of cognac, *** one year old, VSOP 4 years old and XO 5 years old. There are some lovely brandies made around the world and in any part of the world where grapes are grown for wine there will probably be brandy made 99 % of the time. Brandy is distilled wine so if you’re a wine maker you can set yourself up to distill brandy quite easy.
Armagnac is another type of Brandy made in France from an area in the south west of France and this area too makes fine Brandy with a longer history than Cognac. It is more an artisanal brandy and is gernerally single distilled in an Armagnac still and then aged, blended and graded much the same way as Cognac.
There are good Brandy’s from Spain, Italy, America, Australia, South America and many more around the world and of course to make brandy it’s not cheep so when you see a cheep one on the shelf be careful as the origins might be vague with Brandy stick to what you know.
Laws around the world in wine producing countries vary so does the making of brandy. It can be made in Pot stills or continuous stills it must be aged minimum 2 yrs to minimum 4 yrs in some countries. Some history books say that Brandy was created due to a mistake. When the traders used to carry wine from France to Holland and other European countries it was thought that wine takes up so much space so they used to distill it first to remove the water and then add it when they got to the ports in Holland this way they found they could carry double the cargo of wine but soon the Dutch found that the distilled wine was as enjoyable and lasted longer, so thought it should be left alone as it had started to age a little on the journey. It was called Brandewijn “burned wine” which the name eventually became Brandy, it’s the best story, but is it true “that’s up to you, but it’s a nice story. Others say it’s very simple that wine was of low alcohol and the wine lost all its qualities on the voyages to its destinations so the traders decided to distill it when it arrived at its destination. They are both the same or very similar stories really, but any how probably the French started to distill the wine first themselves before they sold it and it wasn’t long before the whole area of Cognac was growing grapes for Brandy not wine.
Some famous names of Cognac are not descendents of France. Jean Martell came from Jersey, UK to Cognac in 1715, Richard Hennessey came to Cognac from Cork, Ireland and set up in 1765, Thomas Hine came from Dorset, England, Jean-Antoine Otard de la Grange was a descendent of a Scottish Family that had gone in to exile with James II and he set up Otard in 1799.
Hint: “Don’t mix an expensive Brandy with anything; use a lower quality 3 stars or VSOP for cocktails if you want to mix a Brandy Cocktail, the quality of 3 star and VSOP is very good for mixing. In Asia is best to go with a Cognac for cocktails as some imported brandies from countries other than France sometimes don’t travel well in my opinion”
Popular BrandsHine, Hennessey, Martell, Courvoisier, Remy Martin, Bisquit, Camus, Otard
Famous Brandy Cocktail HistoryIt could be the Brandy Alexander, the Side Car or the Brandy Crusta. Brandy Crusta I think is the most famous and passed the test of time. It was first listed in Jerry Thomas – how to mix drinks 1862, but the first recorded cocktail and a Brandy cocktail too, was the Sazerac and that was originally made with Cognac before becoming a bourbon cocktail.
My own or favourite Brandy CocktailI have never created a Brandy cocktail, but I have a favourite it is the Embassy Cocktail. It was created during the 1930’s in Hollywood Club, Hollywood.
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