Types of alcoholic beverages II.

a workshop by www.ThailandHotelier.com

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 Sherry
Is a type of wine originally produced in and around the town of Jerez, Spain. The town's Persian name during the
Rustamid period was Xerex (Shareesh, in Persian ‫)ﺷ ﺮﻳﺶ‬, from which both sherry and Jerez are derived. This was
because the founder of the empire, Rustam Shirzai (meaning from the city of Shiraz) wanted to produce a wine in
remembrance of the famous Shiraz wine in Iran (Persia). Spanish producers have registered the names Jerez / Xérès /
Sherry and will prosecute producers of similar wines from other places using the same name.

By law, Sherry must come from the triangular area of the province of Cádiz between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda,
and El Puerto de Santa María. However the name 'Sherry' is used as a semi-generic in the United States where it must
be labeled with a region of origin such as American Sherry or California Sherry. In earlier times sherry was known as
sack.

Sherry is a fortified wine, made in Spain from three types of grapes:

Palomino, Pedro Ximénez, and Muscat (Moscatel). Sherry-style wines made
in other countries often use other grape varieties.

Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. It is first fortified with brandy and then if
destined to be fino style a yeast called flor is allowed to grow on top. Oloroso style is fortified to a strength where the
flor cannot grow. (In contrast, port wine is fortified to a higher percentage of alcohol than sherry, effectively preventing
the growth of any yeast.)

Styles

• Fino ('fine' in Spanish) is the driest and palest of the traditional

varieties of sherry.
• Manzanilla is a variety of fino sherry made around the port of
Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
• Amontillado is a variety of sherry that has been aged first
under a cap of flor yeast, and then is exposed to oxygen, which
produces a result darker than fino but lighter than oloroso.
• Oloroso ('scented' in Spanish) is a variety of sherry aged
oxidatively for a longer time than a fino or amontillado, producing a
darker and richer wine.
• Palo Cortado is a rare variety of sherry that is fortified and
aged without flor like an oloroso, but develops a character similar to
amontillado, with some of the richness of oloroso and some of the
crispness of amontillado.
• Sweet Sherry (Jerez Dulce in Spanish) is created when one
of the preceding varieties of dry sherry is sweetened with Pedro
Ximénez or Moscatel wine. Cream sherry is a common variety of sweet
sherry.

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Aging

Immediately after fermentation, the wine is sampled and the first classification is performed. The casks are marked with
the following symbols according to the potential of the wine:

a single stroke indicates a wine with the finest flavour and aroma, suitable for fino or amontillado. These wines are
/
fortified to about 15% alcohol to allow the growth of flor.
a single stroke with a dot indicates a heavier, more full-bodied wine. These wines are fortified to about 17.5%
/.
alcohol to prevent the growth of flor, and the wines are aged oxidatively to produce oloroso.
a double stroke indicates a wine which will be allowed to develop further before determining whether to use the wine
//
for amontillado or oloroso. These wines are fortified to about 15% alcohol.
/// a triple stroke indicates a wine that has developed poorly, and will be distilled.

The wine is filled into 600-liter American or Canadian oak casks, which are slightly more porous than French or Spanish
oak. The casks, or butts, are filled five-sixths full, leaving "the space of two fists" empty at the top to allow flor to
develop on top of the wine.

Sherry is then aged in the solera system where new wine is put into wine barrels
at the beginning of a series of 3 to 9 barrels. Periodically, a portion of the wine in
a barrel is moved into the next barrel down, using tools called the canoa (canoe)
and rociador (sprinkler) to move the wine gently and avoid damaging the layer of
flor in each barrel. At the end of the series only a portion of the final barrel is
bottled and sold. Depending on the type of wine, the portion moved may be
between 5 and 30 percent of each barrel. This process is called "running the
scales," because each barrel in the series is called a scale.

So the age of the youngest wine going into the bottle is determined by the number of barrels in the series, and every
bottle also contains some much older wine.

History

Christopher Columbus brought Sherry on his voyage to the New

World and as Magellan prepared to sail around the world in 1519, he
spent more on Sherry than on weapons.

As a fortified wine, sherry is better equipped than most table wines to

survive the sea journey to the British Isles, and it was prized there.

Because sherry was a major wine export to the United Kingdom,

many English companies and styles developed. Many of the Jerez
cellars were founded by British families.

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Port wine
Is sweet, fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern part of Portugal; it takes its
name from the city of Oporto, the centre of port export and trading. Port has been made
in Portugal since the mid 15th Century.

Port became very popular in England after the Methuen Treaty of 1703, when
merchants were permitted to import it at a low duty, while war with France deprived
English wine drinkers of French wine. The continued English involvement in the port
trade can be seen in the names of many port shippers: Croft, Taylor, Dow, Graham,
Symington. Similar wines, often also called "Port", are made in several other countries,
notably Australia, South Africa, India and the United States.

Port wine is typically thicker, richer, sweeter, and possesses a higher alcohol content than most other wines. This is
caused by the addition of distilled grape spirits (such as brandy) to fortify the wine and halt fermentation before all the
sugar is converted to alcohol. It is commonly served after meals as a dessert wine, or with cheese. In France, white
port is served as an apéritif. It has an alcohol by volume content of roughly 18% to 20%.

Wine with less than 16% ethanol cannot protect itself against spoilage if exposed to air; with an alcohol content of 18%
or higher, port wine can safely be stored in wooden casks that 'breathe', thereby permitting the fine aging of port wine.
(In contrast, wines with only a slightly lesser fortified alcohol content of 15% to 17.5% are considered to be sherry,
formerly known as 'sack'.)

Vintage

Though it accounts for around one percent of production, vintage port is the flagship wine of
all Portugal. It is made entirely from grapes of a declared vintage year. Not every year is
declared a vintage in the Douro, only those when conditions are favorable to particularly
flavorful crops of grapes. Vintage ports are aged in barrels for a maximum of 2 years before
bottling, and often require another 5 to 15 years of aging in the bottle before reaching what
is considered proper drinking age.

Since they are aged in barrels for only a short time, they retain their dark ruby color and
fresh fruit flavors. Particularly fine vintage ports can continue to gain complexity and drink
wonderfully for decades after they were bottled, and therefore can be particularly sought
after and expensive wines.

"Port" wines produced outside of Portugal may be labeled with a vintage date, but rarely possess the quality and
proven ageability of true vintage port.

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Tawny

Tawny port is aged in wooden barrels, exposing it to gradual oxidation and evaporation,
causing its color to mellow to a golden-brown after roughly ten years "in wood." Often they
have pronounced "nutty" flavors. Tawny port without an indication of age is a basic blend of
wood aged port. Aged tawny port is a blend of several vintages, with the average years "in
wood" stated on the label: 10, 15, 20, and 30 years are common. Tawny ports from a single
vintage are called Colheitas (pronounced col-YATE-ah, meaning harvest or vintage). Tawny
and Colheita ports are always ready to drink when released and do not typically benefit from
aging in bottle, although they will not degrade either. Because it has already been exposed
to oxygen, an open bottle of tawny resists oxidation the longest of all ports.

"Tawny" port produced outside Portugal is rarely aged long enough to develop a natural tawny color. Instead, it is the
result of blending "ruby" and "white" ports, or possibly the addition of caramel coloring.

Garrafeira

Garrafeira port is similar to Colheita. It is made from grapes of a single vintage, aged in wood between three and six
years and then aged in large approximately 10L glass demijohns for an extended time.

Late-Bottled Vintage (LBV)

LBV (Late-Bottled Vintage) port is intended to provide some of the experience of drinking
a vintage port but without the decade-long wait of bottle aging. In contrast to vintage port's
short time in barrel, LBV port is aged between four to six years in barrel, to mature it more
quickly. Typically ready to drink when released, LBV ports are the product of a single
year's harvest and tend to be smoother and lighter-bodied than a vintage port. LBV ports
that are filtered do not require decanting and are ready to drink at bottling. Unfiltered or
"Traditional" LBV ports require decanting like vintage ports do, and may improve in the
bottle.

Late-Bottled Non-Vintage (LBNV) or Vintage Character

LBNV (Late-Bottled Non-Vintage) is similar, but not made from a single year. The confusingly named Vintage Character
or Reserve port is similar to LBNV port. It is essentially a premium Ruby port.

Crusted

Crusted port is a blend of port wine from several years, but retains the crust otherwise restricted to vintage ports.

Ruby

Ruby port may contain wine from several vintages. Ruby ports are fermented in wood and aged in glass, which
preserves the wine's red color. It is considerably cheaper than vintage port, and can be used in cooking or to make
cocktails.

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White

White port is made from white grapes, and generally served as a chilled aperitif. It is the only one which is optionally
available dry as well.

Grapes and the "Port" Appellation

Red port can be made from many types of grapes (castas), but the main ones are Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz
(Tempranillo), Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional. White ports are produced the same way as red ports, except
that they use white grapes—Esgana-Cão, Folgasão, Malvasia, Rabigato, Verdelho, and Viosinho.

While Porto produced in Portugal is strictly regulated by the Instituto do Vinho do Porto, many wines in the U.S. use the
above names but do not conform to the same standards. Thus each genuine port style has a corresponding, often very
different, style that can be found in wines made outside Portugal.

Vintages

There is rarely universal agreement on the quality of the wine produced from a given year, and in some years a single
producer may be alone in declaring a vintage. However, occasionally the harvest of a year is so good that all the major
producers declare a vintage, and it is in these years that the port that is produced can last for over forty years,
commanding high prices at auction.

Traditions

There is a unique body of English ritual and etiquette surrounding the consumption of port,
stemming from British naval custom.

Traditionally, the wine is passed "port to port" -- the host will pour a glass for the person seated
at their right, and then pass the bottle or decanter to the left (to port); this practice is repeated
around the circle.

If the port becomes forestalled at some point, it is considered poor form to ask for the decanter
directly. Instead, the person seeking a refill would ask of the person who has the bottle: "do
you know the bishop of Gloucester?" (or some other English town). If the person being thus
queried does not know the ritual (and so replies in the negative), the querent will remark "He's
an awfully nice fellow, but he never remembers to pass the port".

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Calvados
is an apple brandy from the French région of Lower Normandy

History

Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known Norman
distillation was carried out by ‘Lord’ de Gouberville in 1554, and the guild for cider distillation was created about 50
years later in 1606. The appellation contrôlée regulations officially gave calvados a protected name in 1942. After the
war many cider-houses and distilleries were reconstructed, mainly in the Pays d'Auge. Many of the traditional
farmhouse structures were replaced by modern agriculture with high output. The calvados appellation system was
revised in 1984 and 1996. Pommeau got its recognition in 1991; in 1997 an appellation for Domfront with 30% pears
was created.

Process of fabrication

The fruit is picked and pressed into a juice that is fermented into a dry cider. It is then distilled into eau de vie. After two
years aged in oak casks, it can be sold as Calvados. The longer it is aged, the smoother the drink becomes. Usually
the maturation goes on for several years. A half-bottle of twenty-year-old Calvados can easily command the same price
as a normal-sized bottle of ten-year-old Calvados.

A calvados pot still

The appellation of AOC calvados authorizes double distillation for all calvados but it
is required for the AOC calvados Pays d’Auge.

Double distillation is carried out in traditional alembic pot-still ‘l'alambic à repasse’

or ‘charentais’. Gives complex, delicate and rich fruity aromas with potential for
longer aging.

Single continuous distillation in a column still. Gives a fresh and clean apple flavour
but less complex flavour to evolve with longer aging.

Producing regions and legal definitions

Like most French wines, Calvados is governed by appellation contrôlée

regulations. There are three appelations for calvados:
The AOC calvados area includes all of the Calvados, Manche, and Orne
départements and parts of Eure, Mayenne, Sarthe, and Eure-et-Loir.
AOC calvados makes up for over 70 percent of the total production.
Minimum of two years ageing in oak barrels.
The terroir, geographical area, is defined.
The apples and pears are defined cider varieties.
The procedures in production like pressing, fermentation, distillation and ageing is
regulated.
Usually single column distillation.

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• The more restrictive AOC calvados Pays d'Auge area is limited to the east end of the département of
Calvados and a few adjoining districts.
o Extensive quality control - the basic rules for AOC calvados together with several additional requirements.
o Ageing for minimum of two years in oak barrels.
o Double distillation in an alembic pot-still.
o Produced within the designated area in Pays d'Auge.
o A minimum of six weeks fermentation of the cider.
o Flavour elements are controlled.

• AOC calvados Domfrontais reflects the long tradition of pear orchards in the area, resulting in a unique fruity
calvados. The regulation is similar to the AOC calvados and the column still is used.
o A minimum of 30 percent pears from the designated areas is used.
o A three-year minimum of ageing in oak barrels.
o The orchards must consist of at least 15 percent of pear trees (25 percent from the sixteenth harvest).

• Fermier ‘farm-made’ calvados - some quality minded producers both inside and outside the Pays d’Auge
make ‘calvados fermier’, which indicates that the calvados is entirely made on the farm in a traditional
agricultural way according to high quality demands.

The age is mentioned with a certain choice of words and refers to the youngest part of the blend. Some choose to
indicate the minimum age in years instead. A blend often contains parts of older calvados. Among higher quality
calvados the oldest part of the blend is sometimes much older than mentioned below.

• ‘Fine’, ‘Trois étoiles *** ‘Trois pommes’ - 2 years old.

• ‘Vieux’ - ‘Réserve’ - 3 years old.
• ‘V.O.’ ‘VO’, ‘Vieille Réserve’, ‘V.S.O.P.’ ‘VSOP’ - 4 years old. Often sold
older.
• ‘Extra’, ‘X.O.’ ‘XO’, ‘Napoléon’, ‘Hors d’Age’ ‘Age Inconnu’ - 6 years old.
Often sold much older.
• ‘1973’ (millesime) - The vintage year (the year of distillation).

Tasting

Calvados is the basis of the tradition of le trou Normand, or "the Norman hole". This is a small drink of Calvados taken
between courses in a very long meal, sometimes with apple sorbet, supposed to re-awaken the appetite. Calvados can
be served as aperitif, blended in drinks, between meals, as digestive or with coffee. Well-made calvados should
naturally be reminiscent of apples and pears, balanced with flavours of ageing. You will notice that the less aged
calvados distinguishes itself with its fresh apple and pear aromas. The longer the calvados is under the influence of
oak, the more the taste resembles that of any other aged brandy. Older calvados get the colour of gold, darker brown
with orange elements and red mahogany. The nose and palate is delicate with concentration of aged apples and dried
apricots balanced with butterscotch, nut and chocolate aromas.

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Cachaça

(also called pinga, branquinha, maldita, caninha, caxaca, caxa,

aguardente, cana or chacha) is the most popular distilled alcoholic
beverage in Brazil, made from sugarcane juice (also called garapa).
The legal definition of cachaça says "cachaça is the product of the
distillation of the fermented sugarcane juice, with alcohol strength
between 38% and 51% by volume. Up to 6 gr per liter of sugar can be
added".

Cachaça is often said to differ from rum in that it made from sugarcane juice while rum is made from molasses.
However, as with many other simplified or simulated manufacturing processes (to save money) a number of rum
distillers use sugarcane juice instead of molasses to make their rums, and then add other ingredients to simulate the
effect the molasses would have had on the product.

Cachaça is the 4th most distilled spirit of the world (after vodka, rum and soju, in that order), with 1.3 billion liters
produced each year. Only 1.5% of this production is exported (mainly to Portugal, Paraguay and Germany). Outside
Brazil, cachaça is used almost exclusively as an ingredient in tropical drinks, with the caipirinha being the most popular.

Production

There are two types of cachaça: artisanal and industrial.

Artisanal cachaças are produced by thousands of small mills spread all over the country, with Minas Gerais's state
respected as the best source. Traditionally, the fermentation agent is a maize flour called "fubá" and the distillation unit
is a copper pot still. The cachaça comes from the pot stills in 3 batches: "head", "core" and "tail". Most of the makers
take only the "core", discarding the other two which have undesirable components.

Then the cachaça is either bottled or stored in wood barrels for ageing. The cachaça is aged in barrels made from a
great variety of native or exotic trees. Makers of artesanal cachaça usually bottle their own product, selling directly to
the market (consumers, bars, restaurants, supermarkets, etc.). Domestically, artisanal cachaças are mostly drunk
straight by consumers from the higher economic classes of society, or made into caipirinhas with sugar and lime.

Industrial cachaças are made by medium-sized and big mills mostly located in the countryside of the São Paulo and
Ceará states. The industrial cachaça makers use column stills to process the fermented sugarcane juice. The product
is then sold as a raw material to cachaça bottlers such as "51", "Velho Barreiro", "Tatuzinho", "Pitu", "21", "Colonial".
The bottlers adjust the cachaças to their standards by adding or removing components. Most of the time, industrial
cachaças are not aged, being drunk straight by the lower economic classes. There are exceptions such as brands
Ypioca and Sapupara, whose cachaça is 100% produced from their own estate and then aged in wood barrels.

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History

Cachaça was invented by the first Portuguese settlers of Brazil, in the region around the town of São Vicente,
sometime between 1532 and 1548. Workers at local sugar mills first discovered that the sugarcane juice (garapa),
cooked and left standing, would "sour" (ferment) and turn into a mild alcoholic beverage. The product, disparagingly
named cagaça, was consumed by slaves, as a cheap substitute for the Indians' cauim. Soon someone had the idea of
distilling it, and thus cachaça was born.

Drinking cachaça

The traditional way to drink cachaça is to sip it gently in a very small glass (approx. 50ml) tasting every bit. Cachaça is
best tasted slowly and some cachaça tasters let the drink linger inside their mouths in order to savor the aftertaste.

An alternative way to drink cachaça is to put it inside a short and slim glass called martelinho ("little hammer"), and
drink in one single shot. Often some lime juice is added to the cachaça. Bits of brown sugar cake (rapadura) are
sometimes eaten between glasses

Cachaça is commonly consumed as caipirinha ("little country girl"), a popular Brazilian cocktail containing crushed lime,
ice, and sugar. Usually they are simply served on ice but can also be served frozen, much like margaritas.

1 lime

2 ounces of cachaça

Sugar to taste

Ice cubes

Wash the lime and roll it on the board to loosen the juices. Cut the lime
into pieces and place them in a glass. Sprinkle with the sugar and crush
the pieces (pulp side up) with a pestle. (We have a long, wooden one
from Brazil, made specifically for this purpose.) Just enough to release
the juice, otherwise it'll get bitter. Add the cachaça and stir to mix. Add
the ice and stir again. It is delicious and potent!

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Vermouth
is a fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and spices ("aromatized" in the
trade) in recipes that are closely-guarded trade secrets. Its inventor, Antonio
Benedetto Carpano from Turin, chose this name in 1786 because he was inspired
by a German wine fortified with wormwood, a herb most famously used in distilling
absinthe. The modern German word Wermut means both wormwood and
vermouth. The herbs were originally used to mask raw flavors of cheap wine,
imparting a slightly medicinal "tonic" flavor.

There are three styles of vermouth, in order from driest to sweetest: dry, sweet/red,
and bianco/white. The sweet red vermouth is drunk as an apéritif, often straight up,
as well as in mixed drinks like The Manhattan. Dry white vermouth, along with gin
or vodka, is a key ingredient in the mixing of martinis, in proportions that may
account for the lackluster sales of dry white vermouths. Sweet red vermouth is
combined with whiskey and a Maraschino cherry to create a "Manhattan cocktail."
A sweet white vermouth is also made.

Bénédictine
is a brandy-based herbal liqueur beverage produced in France. Its recipe contains
27 plants and spices, and has a cognac base.

It is believed that Bénédictine is the oldest liqueur continuously made, having first
been developed by Dom Bernardo Vincelli in 1510, at the Benedictine Abbey of
Fécamp in Normandy. Production of the liqueur was ceased by the monks in the
nineteenth century, taken over by a private company founded in 1863 by Alexandre
le Grand, which continues to produce the liqueur today.

The recipe is a closely-guarded trade secret, ostensibly known to only three people
at any given time. So many people have tried (and failed) to reproduce it that the
company maintains on its grounds in Fécamp a "Hall of Counterfeits" (Salon de
Contrefaçons) displaying bottles of the failed attempts.

Every bottle of Bénédictine has the initials D.O.M. written on the label. This stands
for "Deo Optimo Maximo", or in English, "To God, most good, most great."

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Jägermeister
(German for master of the hunt in the sense of "expert" or "committed" hunter) is a
strong (70-proof; 35%) liqueur flavored with herbs (similar to Danish stomach
bitters such as Gammel Dansk, the Hungarian Unicum, or Czech liqueur
Becherovka ). The exact list of the 56 herbs used is kept secret. Although licorice is
a major component of its flavor, it is not as predominant in Jägermeister as it is in
true licorice-flavored liqueurs.

Jägermeister is the main product of Mast-Jägermeister AG. The company's

headquarters are in Wolfenbüttel, south of Braunschweig, Germany. The company
was founded in 1878 by Wilhelm Mast. In 1934, the recipe for the herbal liquor was
developed, and the product was introduced to the German market in 1935. The
original purpose of this concoction was medicinal; being used to cure everything
from an incessant cough to digestive problems. In Germany, it is still widely
recognized as a digestive and is kept in many German households for such
purposes. Beginning in 1970, it was exported to 60 countries.

Fernet Branca
is a bitter, aromatic spirit made from over 40 herbs and spices, including myrrh,
rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and saffron, with a base of grape alcohol.
The recipe is a secret, and was created by the young Maria Scala in 1845 in Milan
as a medicine. Scala's name became Maria Branca through marriage, and the
product's name was born. The Fernet Branca is still produced in Milan by the
company Fratelli Branca, overseen by the Branca family, though the recipe of the
Italian product differs slightly from that of American bottles due to restrictions on
opiates.

Fernet Branca is usually served as a digestif after a meal, but may also be enjoyed
with coffee and espresso, or mixed into coffee and espresso drinks. It may be
enjoyed neat at room temperature or on the rocks (with ice). In America it might be
served as a shot, followed by a ginger ale back (also known as a chaser).

Widely popular in Argentina, it is often mistaken as a national beverage. The most

common preparation is with Coca-Cola. To make a Fernet and Coke, use a tall
glass filled with ice (tubo). Then pour the Fernet up to 2/3 of the glass, top off with
Coke. Serve with the can of Coke and a straw. More recently, it has become very
popular in San Francisco, which now consumes more Fernet per capita than any
other locale in the world.

Because of it's mysterious list of ingrediants, there are a number of home remedies
that call for Fernet Branca, including treatment of menstral and gastro-intestinal
discomfort, hangovers.

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Sake
Sake is produced by the multiple parallel fermentation of polished rice. The process
of milling removes the protein and oils from the exterior of the rice grain, leaving
behind starch. A more thorough milling leads to fewer congeners and generally a
more desirable product. Multiple fermentation means that there are multiple steps
in the fermentation process - the starch is converted to sugar by enzyme action,
and then the sugar is converted to alcohol by yeast. This is typical of beverages
created from starchy sources, such as beers. However, sake brewing differs from
beer brewing in 2 significant ways. In sake brewing, enzymes for the starch
conversion in sake come from the action of a mold called koji, but in beer brewing
the enzymes come from the malt itself. In sake brewing, the multiple processes of
fermentation occur simultaneously in the same step, while in beer these processes
occur in different, serial steps.

After fermentation, the product is heavily clouded with grain solids and is generally
filtered, except in the case of nigori sake. Generally, the product is not aged
because consumers prefer the flavor of the fresh product, which degrades quickly
in the presence of light, air, and heat. However, a few varieties of aged sake serve
a niche market.

Pimm's
is a brand of alcoholic beverages now owned by Diageo. Its most popular product
is Pimm's N°1, a gin-based beverage that can be served both on ice or in cocktails.
The recipe of Pimm's N°1 is secret; it has a dark tea color with a reddish tint, and
tastes subtly of spice and citrus fruit. A close approximation to Pimm's N°1 can be
prepared by mixing one measure of gin with one measure of red vermouth and half
a measure of triple sec, although this will lack the spices that give Pimm's its
distinctive flavour.

There are five other Pimm's products besides N°1. The essential difference among
them is the base alcohol used to produce them: N°1 is based on gin, N°2 on
whisky, N°3 on brandy, N°4 on rum, N°5 on rye and N°6 on vodka. At present the
only variants aside from N°1 still in production are N°s 6 and 3 (recently marketed
as "Pimm's Winter"), both of which are made in much smaller quantities than N°1.

History and culture

Pimm's was invented in the 1840s, by James Pimm, the owner of an oyster bar in
the City of London. Pimm offered the tonic (a gin-based drink containing quinine
and a secret mixture of herbs) as an aid to digestion, serving it in a small tankard
known as a 'No. 1 Cup', hence its subsequent name. Pimm's was commercially
marketed in 1859.

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Southern Comfort,
sometimes referred to by the syllabic abbreviation SoCo, is a fruit, spice, and
whiskey flavored liqueur produced since 1874. It was founded by bartender M.W.
Heron in a small bar in New Orleans, Louisiana. He moved to Memphis,
Tennessee in 1889, patented his famous creation, and began selling it in sealed
bottles with the slogan "None Genuine But Mine" and "Two per customer. No
Gentleman would ask for more." Southern Comfort won the gold medal at the 1904
World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

Southern Comfort is available as 100 proof, 70 proof, or 76 proof. It is often

erroneously thought to be bourbon whiskey based—it is actually neutral grain
spirits based. Southern Comfort Reserve however is a blend of Southern Comfort
and 6 year old Bourbon and is 40 percent alcohol.

Pastis
is an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France, typically containing 40-45%
alcohol by volume, although there exist alcohol-free varieties.

Pastis is normally diluted with water before drinking (generally 5 volumes of water
for 1 volume of pastis). The resulting decrease in alcohol percentage causes some
of the constituents to become insoluble, which changes the liqueur's appearance
from dark transparent yellow to milky soft yellow. The drink is consumed cold, with
ice, and is considered a refreshment for hot days. Ice cubes can be added after the
water to avoid crystallization of the anethol in the pastis. However, many pastis
drinkers refuse to add ice, preferring to drink the beverage with cool, spring water.

Amaretto
(Italian for "a little bitter") is a type of alcoholic beverage originating from Italy,
namely a liqueur flavored with almonds, or the almond-like kernels from apricots,
peaches, cherries etc.

The most popular brand is Amaretto Di Saronno ("from Saronno"), an amber-red

liqueur made from apricot stones, with a characteristic bittersweet almond taste,
containing 28.0% ethanol (56 proof).

The original concoction was probably grape brandy in which apricot kernels were
left to infuse. Today, almond extracts, along with apricot kernels and seeds, are
steeped in brandy. The resulting drink is sweetened with sugar syrup (also known
as gomme syrup) and colored to a deep, caramel brown. It can be said that the
taste of Disaronno resembles a kind of liquid marzipan.

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Kahlúa
is a famous Mexican coffee liqueur. It is heavy and sweet, with a very distinct taste
of Mexican coffee, which gives it a dark brown colour. It has been produced by
Allied Domecq which was acquired in 2005 by Pernod Ricard.

Alcohol content: formerly 26.5%, recently lowered to 20% in most markets to be

more compatible with liquor laws. In 2003 a higher-priced premium product called
Kahlúa Especial became available in the United States after previously being
offered only in the Duty-Free market. Made with Arabica coffee beans, it has an
alcohol content of 35% with lower viscosity and sweetness.

Tia Maria
is the brand name of an alcoholic drink. Produced by the industry giant Allied
Domecq, Tia Maria is a "liqueur spirit" which resembles a coffee liqueur such as
Kahlúa, which is also produced by Allied. Unlike Kahlua, Tia Maria is made in
Jamaica using Jamaican blue mountain coffee beans. It can be consumed pure
and on the rocks, but is also frequently used as an ingredient for cocktails, with
coffee, or in desserts (such as the layered liqueur-whipped-cream-and-cookie
confection known as Tia Maria torte). It is an ingredient in the popular cocktail
called the terry. This consists of orange juice and tia maria.

Kirschwasser
(pronounced with the w as a v sound, like kirschvasser), often known simply as
Kirsch, is a clear brandy made from double distillation of the fermented juice of a
small black cherry. It is colorless because it is not aged in wood. The cherries used
recently can be either sweet or sour, but in the past the sour morello cherry was
used with the pit crushed down. The morello cherry was originally grown all around
the Black Forest so that is believed to be where the drink originated from.

Campari
is a branded alcoholic beverage (between 20-24% alcohol by volume) introduced in
Italy in 1860 by Gaspare Campari: it is a mild bitters-type apéritif, often drunk with
soda, orange juice, or in mixed drinks. Though the recipe is a proprietary secret, its

characteristic flavor is bitter orange peel. There is an Italian soft drink,

Chinotto which has a similar flavour and it seems likely the Chinotto fruit could form
part of the flavouring of Campari. Campari's bright red color comes from natural
carmine, which is derived from cochineal, which is used in other Italian alcoholic
drinks, as for example Alchermes.

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Baileys Irish Cream
(the registered trade mark omits the apostrophe), is an Irish whiskey- and cream-
based liqueur, made by R. J. Bailey & Co. of Dublin, Ireland. It has a declared
alcohol content of 17% alcohol by volume (ABV).

Baileys was created by a team of people from IDV (International Distillers and
Vintners) and a new product development company called I&D. Bailey's is
produced from Irish whiskey, cream and coffee flavoring, it has an enticing
almond,hazelnut/nutmeg aroma and a rich, smooth, sweet taste.

Triple sec
is a colourless, orange-flavoured liqueur used in thousands of mixed drinks and
recipes as a sweetening and flavouring agent. The orange flavour comes from the
dried peels of prematurely-picked oranges that grow natively on the island of
Curaçao, and tend to be more bitter than other oranges. The peels then macerate
in alcohol to disperse the flavour.

The word sec would normally mean "dry" in the French language, implying a lack of
sweetness; but sec, in this case, means distilled, explaining the colourless
appearance of the liqueur from the three-stage process, as well as the un-implied
sweetness. The original triple sec is Cointreau, a liqueur developed by Adolphe and
Edouard-Jean Cointreau in France. It is very similar to an undistilled liqueur called
Curaçao, which comes from the island of Curaçao using the bitter Laraha orange
peels. Though the two liqueurs are akin to one another, Curaçao dates from 1886,
while Cointreau dates from 1849.

Advocaat
is a rich and creamy Dutch liqueur made from a blend of egg yolks, aromatic spirits,
sugar, brandy, and vanilla. It has a smooth, somewhat bland taste (not unlike
almonds), and contains 15% alcohol (proof 30).

The drink's origins are with Dutch settlers in South America. There, they mixed a
thick beverage using the whipped flesh of avocados. When they attempted to
duplicate the drink in Holland, egg yolk was substituted for the exotic fruit. The
name advocaat is derived from Dutch words for the avocado fruit.

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Crème de Cassis
is a blood-red, sweet, blackcurrant-flavored liqueur, and is an ingredient of Kir, an
apéritif. The modern version of the drink first appeared in the Burgundy region in
1841, displacing "Ratafia de Cassis" from prior centuries. It is made from
blackcurrants crushed into refined alcohol, with sugar subsequently added. While
Crème de Cassis is a specialty of Burgundy it is made in other cities of France,
Luxemburg and Quebec.

The quality of Crème de Cassis depends on the variety of fruit used as well as
content of the berries and the fabrication process. With the label "Crème de Cassis
de Dijon" one is guaranteed berries from the commune of Dijon. An
Interprofessional Syndicate has tried since 1997 to obtain an "Appellation d' Origine
Contrôlée" for "Crème de Cassis de Bourgogne" which would guarantee both the
origin and variety of fruit, as well as the number of berries in the recipe used in the
manufacture.

Grappa
is a fragrant grape-based spirit of between 40% and 60% alcohol by volume (80 to
120 proof), of Italian origin. It is made by distilling pomace, i.e., grape residue
(primarily the skins, but also stems and seeds) left over from winemaking. It was
originally made to prevent wastage by using leftovers at the end of the wine
season. It quickly became commercialised, mass-produced, and sold worldwide.
The flavour of grappa, like that of wine, depends on the type and quality of the
grape used as well the specifics of the distillation process.

In Italy, grappa may be added to espresso coffee to create a caffè corretto. Another
variation of this is the "amazza caffè" (literally, "coffee-killer"): the espresso is drunk
first, followed by a few ounces of grappa served in its own glass.

Most grappa is clear, indicating that it is an un-aged distillate, though some may
retain very faint pigments from their original fruit pomace. Lately, aged grappas
have become more common, and these take on a red-brown hue from the barrels
in which they are stored.

Grand Marnier
is a liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is a kind of triple
sec, made from a blend of true cognacs, distilled essence of orange, and other
ingredients.

Grand Marnier is about 40% alcohol. It is produced in several varieties, most of

which can be consumed "neat" or can be used in mixed drinks.

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Drambuie
is a honey- and herb-flavored golden scotch whisky liqueur made from aged malt
whisky, heather honey and a secret blend of herbs and spices.

It is produced in the Isle of Skye, Scotland, and can be drunk straight, on ice, or
used as an ingredient in a mixed drink, such as the Rusty Nail cocktail.

The alcoholic content of this liqueur is 40% (80° proof).

Sambuca
is an elderberry and anise-flavoured, usually colourless liqueur. It is often referred
to as white sambuca in order to differentiate it from derivative spirits that are deep
blue in colour (known as black sambuca) or bright red (red sambuca).

A traditional Italian preparation is sambuca con mosca (literally, "with flies");

sambuca served with three coffee beans representing "health, wealth, and
happiness", dropped into the drink.

A flaming sambuca is typically made by lighting the drink in a shot glass and
allowing it to burn. The flame should be extinguished before all the alcohol has
burnt off and the shot is drunk once it has cooled enough so it does not burn the
mouth.

Cherry Heering
a proprietary brandy based liqueur flavoured with cherries which is often referred to
simply as Peter Heering in cocktail recipes. Invented in the late 1700s or the early
1800s by Peter Heering. It is dark red and has a flavor of black-cherries that is not
overly sweet. The manufacturing company, Peter F. Heering, was founded on
December 1st 1818.

Midori
MIDORI is the premium quality liqueur, vibrant green in color, with a light,
refreshing taste of melon. MIDORI is very versatile: it mixes well with juices, mixers
and white spirits. This means MIDORI can be used to mix a wide range of delicious
long drinks and cocktails. MIDORI is the premium mixer for sociable young adults
who want more excitement and life in their drinking experience.

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