Beer Demystified Along with wine, beer is probably one of the oldest alcoholic beverages known to man and

the most popular one at that. All over the world, with the possible exception of France, Italy and Portugal, people guzzle beer in copious quantities. Even in India, beer is one of the fastest growing segments within the liquor industry. But it is in England and Germany where beer drinking takes on an entirely new meaning. It is, in fact, almost a religion. Consider the numerous English pubs with their individualistic styles of beers; the stein wielding barmaids at a German beer garden. It is a way of life rather than the road to destruction. You could go on a `beer trail' and drink zillion different kinds of `tap' in one evening, then wonder how the simple beer could reach heights thought unattainable. Read on to figure out the basics about beer, how it's made, what the different types of beer are, what's the best way to drink it, so on and so forth. Beer Demystified
Introduction

Ingredients / How its made "It is unjust that the hauteur which rightly attends wine should so often be permitted to overshadow beer. The two ought to be companions of honour as the principal types of fermented drink: made in the first case from the grape (or other fruits) and in the second from grain (mostly barley). Both are capable of great delicacy, and it is to the drinker's disadvantage that beer is not always explored in its great and exotic variety. Of the two drinks, beer is the more complicated to make, since the barley has first to be malted and mashed, the enigmatic hop added as an agent of flavouring and preservation, and the whole brewed before it can be fermented. That brewing is a great art has generally been appreciated in Czechoslovakia, Germany (itself a great wine-producing nation) and in Belgium. It was in danger of being forgotten elsewhere until the renaissance of interest in beer in the late 1970s. This renaissance was evident in several countries, including The Netherlands and Denmark, but was most dramatic in Britain, where the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) brought about drastic changes in the policies of large, powerful brewery companies. In the United States, imported beers introduced drinkers to less bland tastes, and encouraged a number of American brewers to revive characterful styles from the past. After decades of often damaging neglect, a new appreciation was accorded in several countries to the craftsman brewer. He benefited from the growing awareness throughout the Western world that a heritage is worthy of conservation; from the reawakening of a taste for pure and natural products; and in many instances from the `small is beautiful' philosophy propounded in the celebrated contemporary work of that name by E. F. Schumacher. Just as wines may be categorized as red, rose and white; dry and sweet; sparkling and still; and then according to region; so beers divide into definite styles. The most important distinction is based on the method of fermentation, during which some species of yeast rise to the top of the brew and others sink to the bottom. Like red wines, beers made by top fermentation are very full in flavour, and their palates are in many cases best expressed at room or cellar temperature; like white wines, beers made by bottom fermentation often have a lighter and more refreshing character, and are usually served chilled, though excessive refrigeration destroys their flavour. An extract from `The Indispensable Drinks Book' - John Doxat with Michael Jackson, Jancis Robinson, Richard Clark, Leonard Kirschen by MacDonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd. Types

Technically speaking, there are two basic styles of beer - lagers and ales - different in the type of yeast used to brew it. This is what gives ales (top fermenting yeast) its characteristic hoppy (bitter) tastes, thicker texture and darker colour. Lagers (bottom fermenting yeast) are lighter and they are what we get in India. What then is a Pilsner? A lager made in the style of that brewed in the Czechoslovakian town of Pilsen. A simple breakdown might make this easier. Lagers (3.2 - 4.5% alcohol) light-coloured lager dark lager Pilsner light/diet beer malt liquor (strong beer over 5% alcohol) Bock beer (sweet, heavy lager with a max of 3.5%alcohol) Ales (4.4 - 6% alcohol) Pale ale Brown ale Porter Stout Draught is unpasteurised beer, fresh though faintly yeasty and keeps for about a week. Ice Beer is a new addition with a curious process - the brew is brought down to freezing temperature which concentrates it, increases the alcoholic content and imparts a crisp, clean flavour to the beer. Unlike wines, most beers do not keep and are best consumed within six months (bottles). Some big international names in beers are Budweiser, Heineken, Fosters, Coors, Carlsberg, Michelob, Amstel, Guiness, Oranjeboom, San Miguel, Stella Artois, Kirin, Tiger, and Anchor amongst a host of brands. After the commercial beer boom of recent years, there has been a decided shift in the focus to small `microbreweries' both in the US as well as Europe. These small units are committed to reviving the old, individual style of beers, which have greater depth and character than the massproduced `lights'. Rather than just purely refresh, these micro beers are appreciated for their finesse and `breeding'. A concept not likely to arrive in India in the near future. How to Drink it / Food to go with./Good Cocktails After an exhaustive round of statistics and conjecture, let's get to the pleasurable side of drinking this great brew. Beer drinkers are often quite definite about the glass from which they will drink. Some love the copper/brass steins; others prefer a clear pilsner, collins or the beer goblet; still others like the squat beer mugs. I think it's nice to be able to see the rich golden colour and the rising effervescence as one drinks. For a thick, foamy head (German style), pour the beer straight down the middle of the glass from about one inch above the rim. Otherwise, tilt the glass and pour down the side, then straighten as it fills.

A chilled glass of beer on a hot summer day is about the best thing that can happen to anybody. It is a great refresher and the perfect accompaniment to almost any kind of food. There are some who think its bitter taste is foul and drown it with lemonade. And voila, a `shandy' is born. Apart from shandy there are some interesting combinations with beer and some strange ones. Highly recommended come beer and gingerale; beer and tonic; even beer and cola.
A beer chaser with a shot of whisky or Southern Comfort is terrific if lethal. And if that wasn't enough, there's `Skip and go Naked' a combination of 60ml vodka, some sugar syrup, juice of a lemon over 3-4 ice cubes in a collins glass topped with chilled beer. Add a shot of gin to that and you've got `Hop, skip and go Naked'! Howzzatt?!! Check out some more cocktails in our recipes section - Beer coff, .. , Festivals / Trails / Famous Regions Several beer festivals happen all over the world, from the famed Oktoberfest in Munich to the Great British beer festival and closer home, the Arlem beer festival in Goa. Below are details of a few of the important festivals. Write in, if you want to add your comments. Octoberfest in Munich Did you know that the Munich beer festival, popularly called the Oktoberfest is the world's largest public festival (or so at least the organisers claim) and that it began as the royal wedding of Crown

Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese in October, 1810. Nowadays the Octoberfestival is often begun in September, due to inclement weather later on. Earlier on, no beer was allowed to be sold during the festival days and it was only later that beer was allowed to be sold. The festival is officially started with the mayor broaching the first barrel of beer and the first mug is passed to the Bavarian prime minister. A great procession of people in traditional Bavarian costumes also takes place. Closer home in India, we have the Arlem beer festival sponsored by Arlem breweries. The festival is held over a period of 5 days in large grounds and beer drinking is accompanied by music and ofcourse Goan food. Great British Beer festival This is the biggest festival in the UK and claims to have more beers on sale here than in the Munich beer festival. The festival begain in North London, from where it moved to Leeds and then on to Brighton and then back to London. The festival is organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) whose commitment to ensuring the preservation of British ale is legendary. Indian Scene Not that we haven't had our share of innovation. Years ago, in the early eighties, Associated Breweries (of London Pilsner fame) launched London Stout into a market not quite ready for such adventure. It was soon shelved. They were also the first to introduce the concept of `diet' beer. This time they were just about there and the consumers were more accepting, albeit slowly. Soon after came the first cans in Seagull (Doburg Breweries) and Jubilee (UB) to a still adolescent market. Both crashed. Breweries already operate on much smaller margins than the IMFL market. Setting up a beer plant is very expensive and at this rate, the industry is likely to show no appreciable growth. It is already exaggerated at 10%. Maharashtra is the highest consumer of beer and has registered a rise from 100-lakh cases in '91 to 120 lakh cases in '96, an average growth of 3%. Draught beer is around 10% of the beer market here with all three major players enjoying a similar share. Nationally, the draught beer and canned beer shares are under 5%. The only beers that consistently fared well were the strong or fermented beers, which gave rise to the spurt in the category. Khajuraho, Haywards 2000 and 5000, and others of this ilk flourished and continue to do so. In fact, the strong beer segment is growing at a much faster rate than the mild. From a market share of 28% in 1991, it has cornered between 35 - 40% by the end of '97. In the mild beer segment, the UB group is the market leader once more with a strength of 12 breweries nationally and a market share of over 40% of the approximately 55 million case beer industry. Their two biggest brands are Kingfisher and Kalyani Black labels. Mohan Meakins with its flagship Golden Eagle and others attracts an 18 - 20% market share followed by Shaw Wallace with Haywards and Royal Challenge premium lager at around 15%. Then comes Associated Breweries with London Pilsner at 6%. Mysore Breweries with Knockout, Cobra and Pal's is a serious contender as are Arlem, Mount Shivalik and a plethora of regional brands. Sandpiper from Inertia Industries, a beer that stormed the Indian market with its aggressive marketing, was thrown by the imposition of prohibition in Haryana where its lone brewery was located. With Haryanas return to the real world, this young brand has its second lease to make it big. Our first taste of an international beer came in a can. Stroh's, the great American beer, stormed the market and within a short period has established itself as a force to reckon with. Hakke Beck in collaboration with Him Neel Breweries has yet to make a dent while San Miguel, the Fillipino giant working with Associated Breweries, is seriously making its presence felt. Its advertising campaign

though raises an eyebrow or two! Foster's, Australia's mega brand, has also thrown its hat into the ring and its logos alone have given it great visibility. The ad campaign reinforces the distinct Australian identity of the brand.

Vodka Demystified There is a small section of historians who strongly support the theory that it was vodka that was in great measure responsible for the `bloody' end of the Czarist regime in Russia! The Reds, it appears, made up for lost drinking time imposed by the imperial ban of 1914 (as a war-time measure), fuelling the already existing mayhem. Crazy idea, what? Not quite. Attempts to re-impose the ban on vodka after the revolution in 1917 failed miserably with Lenin resignedly saying, "Drunkenness is better than slavery!" Vodka has its origins in Russia, but it has been distilled in Poland and Finland as well since forever. The base is usually grain (wheat, rye, corn), though in Scandinavia they use a lot of potato - and call their drink `aquavit'. In Denmark and certain parts of Central Europe it is known as `schnapps'. Schnapps and aquavit are quite often flavoured, but are drunk much in the same way as vodka is - ice-cold in small shooter glasses, and neat; accompanied by caviar and other strong fishy stuff. Ingredients / How it's made Primary ingredients Although most vodka around the world is made from rye, some are also made from potatoes and still others from molasses. As you would no doubt assume, the quality and type of the raw material has an important hand to play in what your vodka tastes like. In both Russia and Poland, the birthplaces of vodka, rye is mainly used in the production of vodka. Wheat is the other major competitor to rye, with it being the more traditional ingredient in the western world. Other parts of Eastern Europe use potatoes, while still other parts of the world use molasses. Apart from the main raw material, the other major constituent of your bottle of Vodka is water. Over 60% of your bottle is composed of water, so it's purity is of utmost importance to the taste of your vodka. Quite an elaborate purification process is undertaken, the details of which we shall not slog through here, for reasons of keeping this simple. Essentially how it's made The cornerstone of the production of most alcohol is the process of distillation, which involves the separation of the contents of the liquids and ensuring the extraction of alchohol from a low strength alcoholic liquid to make it into a stronger one. The first step in the production of vodka is the crushing or mixing of the ingredients at hand and their mixing with water. Subsequently this mixture is heated up, which converts the starch into sugar. The resultant liquid, which is thickish and sweet is called the wort. Yeast is then added to this liquid which then goes through a fermentation process and results in a further liquid, which possesses the unremarkable name of wash. This wash is then converted into raw spirit by distillation. Through repeated distillation of the spirit, the impurities in the liquid are decreased and the alcoholic level is raised. Some Cocktails : BLOODY PEPPERONE : Glass: roly poly/old fashioned. Ingredients: 60 ml White Magic Pepperone vodka, 100 ml tomato juice, juice of 1 lemon, 3-4 drops worcestershire sauce, 2-3 drops capsico sauce (optional) Garnish: salt rim, spent lime shell, slice of lime, green chilly

Method: Rim the glass with glass with salt - moisten rim with wedge of lemon, then dip in a plate of salt. Fill with with ice cubes. Drop in the used shell. Add all ingredients except the vodka and stir. Gently slide in the vodka to form a clear layer. Place the lime slice over the rim and use the green chilly for a stirrer. For a regular Bloody Mary, use 60ml unflavoured vodka with 8-10 drops of capsico sauce. MULISH MULE : Glass: large cocktail/highball Ingredients: 45 ml vodka juice of 1/2 lemon gingerale/Canada Dry dry white/sparkling wine. Garnish: strip of cucumber, mint leaves, slice of lemon and orange Method: Put 3-4 ice cubes in glass, add vodka and lemon juice. Top with gingerale and wine in equal quantities. Place mint leaves in the centre of drink, fruit slices over the rim and cucumber strip on the side.

Tequila Demystified If there ever was a spirit replete with history, mystery and intrigue, it must be tequila. Even today, years after it's arrival on bar shelves, tequila is often regarded as a strange Mexican potion containing worms, hallucinogens, et al. And these same wondrous attributes have probably contributed towards establishing tequila as the most `hip' liquor to drink. Almost everyone I meet seems to want to know where they can find a bottle of this happening liquor. Yet most are uncertain about what it really is. There seems to be a strange fascination for drinking something which might have a worm floating in it. Yuck! Does it really?? Let's discover the inside story. Tequila-like spirits have been produced in Mexico from the age of the Aztecs, long before the arrival of its Spanish conquerers in the 16th century. It was in 1795 that Jose Cuervo, under a license from the government, began distilling tequila in the region of Jalisco (which includes the town of Tequila), where there was an ample supply of the Weber blue agave `cactus'. Actually, the agave is not a cactus at all but a sort of succulent, related to the aloe and lily family! Jose Cuervo is still one of the foremost brands of tequila in the world. Ingredients / How it's made : Tequila can be made only from the `Weber blue agave' grown in a specific, government designated area of Mexico, and must conform to strict government quality controls. Tequila undergoes two distillations in pot stills (which allows it to retain the distinctive taste of the agave), is filtered through charcoal, and then bottled or aged for one to seven years. Though Mexican law stipulates that tequila must contain at least 51% blue agave, most premium, high value brands use 100% blue and say so on the bottles. But what about the worm? Actually you'll find the worm in `mescal' - another Mexican spirit similar to tequila. Mescal is not subject to the controls and restrictions that tequila is and can be distilled from all varieties of the agave cactus. The mescal worm is harmless and, despite innuendoes to the contrary, does not contain hallucinogens. Initially, burying the worm in the liquor seemed the natural thing to do (it spends its entire life in the agave). Today, it is just another sales gimmick. How to Drink it : The one drink that is responsible for elevating tequila to such great heights is the Margarita - said to have been named by a sentimental bartender in honour of this young girl who was felled by a stray bullet and expired in his arms. The drink was a runaway success. The classic Margarita is made by shaking tequila, triple sec or cointreau (clear orange liqueur) and lime juice in varying proportions with a lot of ice and strained into a salt rimmed goblet. Alternately, it can be blended with crushed ice and served `frozen'. It is

sometimes shaken and then served `on the rocks'. Make a strawberry or peach margarita with the addition of fresh fruit to the original, frozen recipe. Here's a sample of the many different ways of mixing a Margarita; a) 60ml tequila + 15ml triple sec + juice of 1/2 lime b) 30ml tequila + 15ml triple sec + juice of 1/2 lime c) 45ml tequila + 30ml triple sec + 15ml lime juice d) 60ml tequila + 30ml triple sec + 120ml lime juice + 2tsp sugar The last recipe is recommended for a frozen Margarita. Try them all and then stick to the one you like best. Maybe you might even arrive at your own special formula. Americans went nuts over the Margarita and our `phoren-returned' yuppies brought the craze back home. But the way tequila is drunk in its natural habitat is thus - a lick of salt, a neat shot of tequila and a suck of lemon. Awesome what?! I tried that in a restaurant once and they looked at me like I'd come from Mars. So I did the next best thing. I salt-rimmed my glass, filled it with ice, squeezed in a couple of wedges of lemon and sloshed the tequila in. It tasted great and I wasn't green anymore. There are crazy variations to this basic swig combo, innovatively marketed by tequila companies internationally. Pepe Lopez introduced the `Jalapeno Juice' promo which used jalapeno (a hot Mexican chilli) salt as the lick. Briefly, lick the fiery salt, shoot the tequila and generally pass out. Pecos Heat Chili Pepper tequila and TQ Hot from Hiram Walker are the other mindblowing specialities. Then there's the other great classic - the Tequila Sunrise. It's a simple variation of the Screwdriver (orange juice and vodka over ice). Switch the vodka for tequila and add some `grenadine' (pomegranate syrup). The syrup settles at the bottom, creating the sunrise effect. If you can't find pomegranate syrup, use strawberry crush. And try and use fresh orange juice. Makes a helluva difference. There are other interesting, if not very popular, tequila cocktails. Brave Bull uses 60ml each of tequila and Kahlua (coffee liqueur) poured over lots of ice, stirred and strained into a cocktail glass. Iguana is similar but adds 30ml vodka to the BB recipe. Dirty Mother is BB on the rocks topped with cold milk or cream. Tequila can also be substituted for regular spirit in a great many cocktails. Bloody Maria is a Bloody Mary with tequila, Tequini is a tequila martini. Types : Silver: Most silver tequila is filtered, brought to potable strength with demineralised water and bottled straight from the still. Ultra premium silver tequila is often left unfiltered. El Tesoro, a 100% blue agave tequila, is not diluted at all - distilled to proof. Fine silver tequilas can be surprisingly smooth and peppery. Gold: the colour of a gold tequila comes from the addition of caramel to a silver tequila and not from age. Reposados: This tequila is aged in wooden barrels for between two months to a year and are mellow enough without losing the fresh spiritness of the silver. Anejos (aneho): To be eligible for the anejo label, the tequila must be aged in oak barrels for over a year. The ageing leaves the tequila smooth and lush with a warm amber hue. Much like whisky, anejos show characteristic tannin flavours with a hint of vanilla. A deep golden colour often indicates the addition of caramel.

Gin Demystified History : Gin is often regarded as the most specifically `English' of all spirits, and they did drink an awful lot of the stuff, but gin is, in fact, a creation of the Netherlands. It is believed that an apothecary, possibly in the sixteenth century, re-distilled a neutral spirit with juniper berries for medicinal purposes - to use as a `diuretic' and in all probability as a `cure-all' potion as they were wont to in that era. An English legend tells of how their troops, sent to the Low Countries by Queen Elizabeth in 1585 to fight against Philip of Spain, came back marvelling at the `Dutch courage' shown by their partners-in-war, and carrying it with them in `bottles'! The English soon began distilling it themselves. A century later, in 1688, with the accession of Dutch William to the English throne, gin became truly the patriotic spirit to drink. How to Drink it / Food to go with/Good Cocktails Cocktails: The Gin Classics. One cannot talk of gin without referring to that greatest and most noble of all cocktails - the Martini. The drink that inspired many an over-worked executive to succumb to being pleasantly aenesthetised at `Martini lunches'. The Martini is one of the few survivors of the old days, as copiously drunk today as it was then. The Singapore Sling is another all time favourite - created by the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, to cool the expats out to colonise the natives. Then the much misunderstood Gimlet. Now guys, a Gimlet is a classic cocktail which combines gin and lime cordial, stirs with a lot of ice and strains into a cocktail glass to be drunk straight. What? No soda? Fat chance! If you add soda, its not a Gimlet anymore, just a gin, lime cordial and soda or a `gin and lime'. If you like it nice and tangy, you want a Tom Collins - gin, fresh lime juice (generous quantity), sugar and soda in a tall glass over ice. And of course there's gin and tonic, that most basic yet incredibly popular drink. All you do is fill a tall glass with ice, squeeze two wedges of lime and drop the used shells in, pour in a decent measure of gin and top with tonic. Then latch on to the glass and don't let it out of your sight. A perfect hot-weather mate. Switching regular gin with orange or lemon gin, makes for pleasant drinking. Popular brands of gin include Booths, Blue Riband, Forbes, Mansion House and the recently introduced Gilbey's - the first international label in gin. Flavoured gins are suddenly flooding shop-shelves - Blue Riband Duet (lime), Tango (orange) and Pinada (yucky pineapple); Kedia's `Fruit Punch' flavoured gins have an interesting ginger gin and `chalta hai' mango, orange and lemon gins. Their bottles come dressed with a tag spewing fairly puerile limericks. A Recipe or Two : Its back to real business then - preparing for the rising mercury with two of the most refreshing thirst-busters. SINGAPORE SLING: GLASS - collins INGREDIENTS 60ml gin juice of 2 lemons 3 teaspoons powdered sugar 1 tablespoon cherry brandy soda water to top GARNISH fruit stick (pineapple&cherry) TO MAKE: Put cherry brandy in glass. Fill 3/4 glass with ice cubes. Blend the sugar with the lemon juice and add to the glass along with the gin. Gently top with soda. Place the fruit stick in the drink. GREEN ORCHID GLASS: highball INGREDIENTS: 60 ml gin 2 teaspoons mint liqueur 2 wedges fresh lime tonic to top GARNISH: used lime shell, orange slice/peel TO MAKE: Fill glass with ice. Squeeze in the lime and drop the used shells in. Por in the gin and liqueur. Top with tonic. Garnish with the orange.

Types : Dutch gin, generally known as Holland gin (genever at home) differs quite radically from English gin, both in flavour as well as the way in which it is drunk. Holland gin is heavier and more flavourful as it is distilled along with its aromatic ingredients unlike London gin, which is lighter, drier and subtly flavoured. The aromatics (juniper berries, corriander, citrus peel, etc.., in secret combinations specific to individual brands) are steeped in a neutral spirit and not distilled to achieve its distinctive flavour. The Dutch drink their genever like the Russians drink vodka - ice-cold, neat with strong, fishy hors d'oevres. The Brits drink them in cocktails and tall drinks. The preferred base for this spirit is either barley, maize or molasses. This spirit is then flavoured and each manufacturer uses his own unique ingredients although juniper is always normally included. These flavourings are referred to as "botanicals". The first step in the production of gin is normally the dilution of the spirit by the addition of water to reach the required strength. The flavouring ingredients are then added to the spirit in a still, which is then heated to remove essential oils from the botanicals.

Scotch Introduction: From its earliest days, scotch has been known for its curative and creative properties. It evolved into a unique cultural icon of the people who savoured it. Who can ever forget the distinctive bottle of VAT 69 in a Hindi movie. Today scotch is enjoying yet another revival as a cultural icon. Legend has it that the ancient Celts knew how to distill grains at least as far back as 800 B.C. Given that they lacked the climate to grow the more fragile grapevines, they used cereals such as barley and rye. Those Celts viewed their fiery brew as a gift from their gods that literally brought the dead to life and warmed even the coldest spirit. In fact, in Celtic whisky is called "uisge beatha" (ooshka baha)-the water of life. What is Whisky ? A spirituous liquor distilled from a fermented mash of grains, usually rye, barley, oats, wheat, or corn, and matured in wood casks, usually for three or more years. Inferior grades are made from potatoes, beets, or other roots. From Scotland and Ireland in the 1400's, to the United States and Canada during Colonial times and to the rest of the world as its popularity grew, Scotch has become a popular libation for any occasion. Yet each culture has placed its stamp on this "aqua vitae" and each is sought out for its particular character. How it's Made or The Devil is in the Detail The basis of every scotch whisky is barley. During the malting process, barley is soaked in water for two or three days, then spread out to germinate for a week or so. During germination, enzymes turn the starch in the barley into soluble sugars - which is nice. When the green malt begins to sprout, it is dried in a "kiln" to halt the germination process. The peat that is traditionally used to fire the drying process gives the malted barley its characteristic taste. Malts from the island of Islay, for example, derive a very distinct peaty

character from the 'reek' (= peat smoke).

At the mashing stage hot water is added to the 'grist' (= milled malt) in a large vessel called a mash tun. Here, the starch in the barley is converted further into fermentable sugars. The liquid that is drained off as a result of this process is called the ' wort', which later will grow into whisky. During the fermentation the sugars in the wort are converted into alcohol by the addition of special yeast strains in a fermentation vessel, the 'Wash Back'. After 2 to 4 days, the result is the fermented 'wash' (7 to 10 Alc.%). During the distillation stage of producing a single malt, the wash is boiled in a copper 'wash still', and distilled two (or even three) times. Alcohol boils more rapidly than water, so the vapors from the still can be collected as they condense back to alcohol. This first distillation produces 'low wines' , around 10 - 20 Alc. %

It is said that the shape and size of the copper pot still have a great influence
on the whisky. The shape of the pot stills is sometimes the most characteristic part of a distillery

The second distillation often occurs in a special, smaller 'spirit still' . Within every distillation, the liquor is divided into three 'cuts' of which only the second, 'the heart of the run', will be used. The first fraction ('heads') and last fraction ('tails') will be re-distilled together with the next batch of low wines. Finally, at the maturation stage, the heart of the run (a clear liquid of up to 70 Alc. %) chosen by the 'stillman' is stored in oak casks for a minimum of three years. This minimum is set by law, but usually the malt gets a chance to develop much longer. You can read more about this in Aging and Maturation. Very often,the whisky is "chill filtered" before bottling.The only reason for this bump in the production process is that a single malt becomes a little hazy when it's refrigerated. Unfortunately, this filtering also means that the original taste and texture of the malt is damaged to some extent. A barrel of malt whisky usually contains some 500 litres of spirit. As a result of evaporation, the rough spirit will annually lose up to 2 percent alcohol while it matures. This means that after 12 years there are only about 400 litres left. The "street value" of a barrel of a good standard single malt is around 20,000.Euro's / U$ Dollars.

Grain Whisky is produced by a largely industrial process. Its raw ingredients are Barley and other grains such as corn or maize. What is produced is a white spirit with very little flavour. The spirit is placed in oak casks and only when it has been stored for three years can it legally be called Whisky. Grain Whisky is generally regarded as the bulking agent for Blended Whisky with the character of the Blend

coming from the Malt Whisky which is mixed with it. AGING and MATURATION

Aging is a fairly complex process, which adds richness, flavour and texture to
whisky. It is surrounded by a lot of mystique and people who oversee this process are really valued. During aging the spirit loses some of its harshness and acquires the natural aromas of its environment. Thus a whisky that is aged near the sea may be different from one aged near a mountain meadow. Flavours can also result from the cask itself. Thus a whisky which is aged in a cask that previously contained sherry would taste different from one that was aged in a rum cask. Whisky matures only in casks and not in bottles. So all of you who've bought a bottle of Cardhu 10 years old four years ago and are hoping that age will do something to your liquor, please drink it now. In Scotland and Ireland the spirit has to be at least three years old to be called Whisky.

Originally Casks were used to just store whisky and the property of whisky to improve with age could only be appreciated by those who bought and stocked large amounts of casks. Scientific maturation only began in the 19th century. The oak wood is used for casks that are used for aging and distilleries may own thousands of casks. Scotland has few sources of wood (during the infamous Clearances, reluctant clansmen were displaced by the simple expedient of the laird burning the wooden roof beam of their houses) and most wood is imported. With the depletion of forests in England, the Whisky manufacturers had to look elsewhere. In those days it was trendy for the English upper classes to consume sherry and empty sherry casks were available in plenty. Not only were these cheap (which is what may have attracted them to the Scots in the first place) they also imparted a rich flavour to the spirits which were aged in them. As sherry consumption decreased, sherry casks were replaced with casks that had been used to age Bourbon. And that's how air, water, earth and fire transform into the "water of life" you can find at a store near you. Just like a fine wine, a single malt whisky is formed by a lot of different influences, like the kind of water at the distillery, the shape of the pot stills, the type of wood that is used for maturation and the time that the spirit stays in the barrel. Different malt whiskies reach their best quality at different ages. When the distillery or private bottler decides the malt has matured to the appropriate age, it is diluted to the correct strength (40% minimal) and then bottled. Unlike wine, malt whisky does not age or change once in the bottle. A lot of single malts leave their distillery of birth at the age of 10 or 12 years, but some are stored for 40 years or more. Wood is a major factor in the development of a single malt. Not only the type of wood (American or European oak, etc.) is important; the history of the

wood plays an even bigger part in the process. Has the cask contained sherry, bourbon, port or even wine before? Is it a first-fill, second-fill or refill? What's the size of the barrel, and (how often) has it been charred? These details all play a part in the casked maturation of a single malt. The Whisky Producing Regions

Pronounciation of Scotch Names >Aberlour - Aber-lower >Auchentoshan- Ochentoshen >Auchroisk- Othrusk >Bruichladdich- Brew-ichladdie >Bunnahabhain- Boon-ahavun >Caol Ila- Kaal-eea >Cardhu- Kar-doo >Clynelish- Klyn-leesh >Dailuaine- Dall-Yewan >Drumguish- Drum-oo-ish >Glen Garioch- Glen Gee-ree >Glenmorangie- Glen-Mranjee >Knockdhu- Nock-doo >Laphroaig- La-froyg >Ledaig- Led-chig >Pittyvaich- Pitt-ee-vay-ich >Strathisla- Strath-eye-la >Teaninich- Tee-an-inich >Tomintoul- Tomin-towel >Tullibardine- Tully-bard-eyen Whisky types can be clubbed by region of production. These distinctions would however emerge only if you were to sample Single Malts as Blends tend to marry different flavours. The main regions that you are likely to run into when you hit the Malt trail are :1. Speyside 2. 3. 4. Kintyre peninsula 5. Lowland ............................................................................ 1. Speyside The important region of 'Speyside' is a modern sub-division of Highland. Prior to World War II many of the distilleries in this area adopted the appellation 'Glenlivet' (which is a small glen on Speyside) - by tagging it onto the distillery name. The whiskies of Glenlivet had established a reputation by the 18th century - even though they were made outside the law! Today over half of Scotland's malt whisky distilleries are on Speyside, and as a result the region itself has been carved up by commentators, either according to the rivers running through it or by its principle districts. The latter course has been adapted and the whiskies made in or around Elgin, the Upper Spey, Dufftown and Glenrothes, will

(Campbeltown)

Highland Islay

be considered as well as Glenlivet itself. 2. The Highlands This is the predominant geographical feature of Scotland and also the biggest area in terms of production of Scotch Whisky. The main areas of production are centered around the Eastern Highlands (between Inverness and Aberdeen) and Speyside (now a separate "region') may be the capital of whisky production. The Western Highlands have few distilleries and Oban, which is one of the world's best known Single Malts originates here. The Northern Highlands have some distilleries as well and Glenmorangie and Highland Park (the northernmost distillery in the world) are from this region. 3. Islay The Island of Islay (pronounced 'Eye-la') is the southernmost of the Western Isles, and lies on the eastern side of Kintyre. It is flat and green and very largely composed of peat - the water on the island is brown with it. Winter gales drive salt spray far inland, and this saturates the peat, which is dried again by the briny, seaweedy breeze. All these characteristics go into the whiskies of Islay, to a greater or lesser extent. Lagavulin is the pick of the pack from here. 4. Kintyre peninsula (Campbeltown) The Kintyre peninsula - that long green finger which points towards Ireland - is the most southerly point on the West Coast. It was a haven for illicit distillers in days gone by. Some go so far as to claim that the art of distilling arrived here with the first Gaels from Ireland, in the 6th century. Campbeltown, the only township of any size in Kintyre, was certainly one of the first centres of commercial distilling, and Campbeltown whiskies themselves had a reputation to rival Speyside. Between 1880 and the 1920s, there were thirty-four working distilleries here, producing some 2 million gallons of spirit per annum. Campbeltown vied with Elgin as 'the whisky capital'. Today there are only two distilleries, Springbank and Glen Scotia. 5. Lowland The region embraces the mainland of Scotland south of the Central Belt (a line drawn between the Forth and Loch Lomond). There was a time, in the 1850s, when every town of any size in the Lowlands had its distillery, to supply the English market as well as local demands. For the style of Lowland whisky is much lighter than Highland, with little or no peating, and this had much broader appeal. By the 1880s almost the entire production of the Lowland distilleries went for blending: today, it is possible (and more cost effective) to create Highland malts with a light character to suit the requirements of blenders. The principal distilleries are Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie.

The Way to Wine- How grape become Wine "God only made water, but man made wine." --Victor Hugo Introduction : Before we move forward, lets spend a little time understanding the fundamental difference between the approach of an Old World producer (say a Frenchman) and a New world winemaker (say a Californian). The Californian came to the entire process of winemaking with a completely open mind. No weight of tradition lay on his shoulders. The focus was on the process of winemaking, the scientific approach to grape-growing and clear communication to the final consumer about the wine. This led to the creation of ultra modern facilities. Grape growing techniques (the mecca of this is the University of California at Davis) acquired a lot more science. Marketing focused entirely on the grape variety and the winemaker. Wine-makers became superstars and the consuming public, long lost in the maze of Old World labels, became more knowledgeable about the grape that they were consuming. The Frenchman on the other hand believed that the most important factor in the production of wine was all those elements, which influenced the growing of the grape. The soil of the vineyards, the micro-climate, the skill of the grape grower and so on. This according to them is what resulted in one wine being better or worse than another.

The analogy here would be your grandfather saying that the mangos from one village being better than those from another. There are a lot of merits on both sides. The Old World has definitely benefited from adopting modern methods. In the New World there is an increasing realization that differences in grape-growing conditions do result in differences in the wine. The Way to Wine- How wine is made
White wine making Red wine making Rose wine making

We'll keep this as laymanesque as we can. As grapes grow, they get riper (like all fruits). This means that the sugar level keeps increasing. This is what causes a ripe fruit to be sweeter than an unripe one. Grapes need a moderate climate, long ripening periods and no rains before harvest to really give their best. These factors combine to determine if a year is a vintage year or not. As the grape ripens, the winemakers will check regularly to see if the correct sugar levels are reached. The winemakers would ideally like the grape to remain on the vine as long as possible in order to maximize ripeness. The wine-grower on the other hand would like to bring the crop in quickly. This is due to the fact that rain during the harvest is likely to make the grape watery and therefore impact the resultant wine.

Hence once everyone agrees to harvest, it becomes race against time. This is common for all wines. The distinction between wines- white, red, rose and sparkling is due to the differences in the subsequent processes. White wine making

White wine can be made from grapes that are either white or red. That's because the colour of the wine comes from the pigment in the skin of the grapes and if the winemaker removes the skin before the wine is made (i.e. the juice is fermented) the grape will remain white. After the grapes are picked they are de-stemmed and crushed in a large machine. The juice now called free run juice is run off separately. The stems and the skins are then pressed to get more juice and then left behind. Next the juice is fermented. Fermentation is a process whereby the yeast converts the sugar in the juice into carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide escapes and the alcohol remains. The resultant liquid (called must) is aged for a while longer to let all the sugar turn into alcohol.

The Bottling Hall

The yeast cells die and fall to the bottom of the fermenting vessel and are called "lees". Normally these are removed by letting them settle to the bottom and draining off the clear juice (a process called racking). Some winemakers will let them be and these are those wine which will have "aged on its lees" on the label (sur lie in French). The wine now has to age. For most white wine this is done in steel vats so that the flavours of the wine come through. A lot of Chardonnay though is aged in oak barrels. The wine will then be racked (if not done already) and fined- a process whereby all extra floating particles are removed. It is then bottled and may be aged further or drunk. Red Wine making Red wine is made with the same process except for one basic difference. The skins of the grape are not removed until the juice is fermented. The juice, therefore, spends much longer in contact with the skins. This results in two things. The colour, from the pigments in the skin, get into the juice. More importantly, since the skins contain a lot of tannins, these too get transferred to the wine.

Vat Room

Tannins are those substances, which leave your mouth feeling dry when you drink strong black tea. They are important to wine as they help it age. When the fermentation is over the skins are separated. Makers of fine wines will keep it for another week or so. After this all the other processes are similar to those of white wine except that red wines are normally aged in oak Rose Wine making Rose wine is made in one of two ways. In the first method, the red grapes are crushed and the skins are kept with the juice for a very short while. The rest of the process is normal. The other way is to blend a little red wine with the white. Methode Champenoise - making sparkling wine It is said that, because of marauding barbarians, monks hid their liquid provisions in barrels in underground rooms, thus giving us the wine cellar. Most European monasteries had a clos, an enclosed vineyard, for producing wine. Monks were the major contributors to viticulture. Martinmas is the feast day of Saint Martin, a monk

of the Middle Ages, one of the first viticulturists. In 1638 the Prignon family had a child they named Pierre. When Pierre turned 20 he took the vows of the Benedictine monk. History was soon to be made. Pierre, known for his brilliant mind, was made administrator of the monastery of Hautvillers. With the assistance of Brother Phillipe (Pierre had lost his eyesight) he caused the vineyard to put forth a rich yield. Their wine was in high demand.

Blanc de blancs, a white dry fruity wine from white grapes, only turned out if there was enough sunshine during the summer months. Profits would drop if Dom Prignon failed to produce this wine so he set about to make the same quality white wine from black grapes. Now Dom Prignon was endowed with a keen sense of smell and palate. Says Dom Groussard, 'he could tell at once what grapes came from which vineyards, and that the wine of one could be mixed with the wine of another, and he was never mistaken.' Dom Prignon knew of the particular characteristic of the white wine of A, the wine of Champagne. It became effervescent with a second, short-lived fermentation. It still contained some yeasts, which remained dormant in cold weather. Under the influence of the warmth of spring, when the sap begins to work in the vine, the yeasts wake and proliferate. There is as much fermentation as the sugar present in the wine will produce.
Dom Prignon sought to induce this second, accidental fermentation of the wine of Champagne at a given time, regulate it and keep its effervescence in the wine. When 60 years old he succeeded, producing Champagne as we know it today. It was wildly successful. A very small amount of sugar is added to the wine in cask to feed it and start the second fermentation. Then it is bottled. The bottles are left stacked for months or years. When fermentation occurs a sediment of yeasts collects along the lower side of the bottle. To remove the sediment without letting the gas escape the bottles are laid on the diagonal. Every day for a season each bottle is gently shaken by hand in the technique of remuage(also called "Riddling"), so that the sediment will slip towards the neck, whence it will be expelled by the process of dgorgement, now performed at a very low temperature which freezes the deposit. The frozen sediment shoots out when the bottle is very briefly opened. The dryness of the wine depends on the amount of syrup, old wine and eau-de-vie that is added before the bottle is stoppered with the mushroom-shaped cork. The syrup is crystallized sugar. 0 to less than 1.5 per cent is brut, sec if 2 to 4 per cent, and doux if 8 to 12 percent. Then, fashion was for champagne doux. Dom Prignon died in 1715 and was buried among his vines. During the Revolution the abbey of Hautvillers was destroyed, but the church and Dom Prignon's tomb remain. Today, Mot et Chandon, the firm which bought the walls and vineyards of Hautvillers in 1794, give the name of Dom Prignon to their best champagne. Opening a bottle of wine : Alternatively subtitled - extracting the cork A good wine like people of blue blood is not into mingling, and especially with the cork whom it's kept at arms distance for many a year. So, the primary skill in opening a bottle is to remove the cork and remove it in such a way that you are able to use it to plug the mouth of the bottle again without it being in a million pieces.

Foilcutter

The first step is to remove the foil covering the top of the bottle. If you have one, then use a foilcutter. The way to use this tool is to twist it around the top of the bottle and the four circular blades neatly slice through the covering capsules so that the top part of the capsule can easily be removed. Else use a knife to make a thin incision in the foil covering the top of the bottle, then peeling it off. Next wipe any dust or dirt off the bottle with a cloth or wet paper towel (especially the rim).

Now onto the cork. Remember that the cork has originally been inserted into the mouth of the bottle by compressing it and then when it enters the mouth of the bottle it expands to embrace the neck. Therefore extracting a cork requires applying a certain amount of leverage on it. After all it was Archimedes who said in around 240 BC, "Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I will move the earth." He probably had just invented the latter day version of the corkscrew when he made this statement. The standard version of corkscrew which is used is based on research conducted by Leon D. Adams of the Wine Institute in San Francisco, and a famous physicist, Dr. Leonard B. Loeb. They published a seminal paper on the subject called "Corkscrews that work", in the Wine Review, May, 1946. Read it whenever you want to go to sleep. The way to use this kind of corkscrew is to keep screwing the screw into the cork, with all the time the 2 parallel "wings" of the corkscrew rising until they are parallel with the screw and have reached their maximum height of ascension. Now bring both wings down and you shall see the cork rise. If the cork has not risen sufficiently for you to remove it then repeat the above procedure. This may have the detrimental impact of harming the cork however so it's best to get it done with the first time around. How to Open a bottle of Champagne : Method A - The Quiet Plop : The most important thing to bear in mind is that there is a certain amount of carbon dioxide in a bot of sparkling wine which causes considerable pressure to build up in the bottle, therefore the cork if released inappropriately can lead to at least the loss of an eye. How to: 1. You'll find that the top of most champagne bottles is covered by this thin foil. First step is to take out a knife and neatly make a thin cut around the base of the cap, thus freeing the foil. 2. Secondly you may have observed the wire cage which encases the cork and holds it back. Very carefully twist the loop of the wire cage and keep twisting until the loop is freed off the bottle. At all times keep a gentle hold on the cork. 3. Next hold the bottle at a 45 degree angle (sketch of champagne bottle at 45 degree

angle) and rotate the bottle while holding the cork firm. Theoretically this is supposed to be done gently but firmly. After a period of time you'll find that the cork pops out gently. That process undertaken, now pour a little wine into each glass and let the bubbles settle before coming back and pouring the rest Method B - The Flying Cork : This is guaranteed to please relatives by marriage and may partially make up for the fact that the apple of their eye is marrying a guy running a liquor site. Follow Method A till step 3. The fundamental differences is that now instead of quietly removing the cork with the bottle at an angle, make sure the bottle mouth is facing the ceiling (i.e. straight-up) and propel the cork out with your thumb of the hand holding the cork. The result is very gratifying. Storing Wine : Lets clear one thing up first there's storing wine and there's storing wine. The first type of storing is for a casual drinker who's bought a bottle or two here and there and wants to make sure he's going to get the best out of it when he finally decides to drink it. The second type of storing is for someone who's building a cellar and is systematically laying away cases of wine for to age and increase in value for future consumption or sale or both. The essential principles of storage are the same in both the cases; only the degree of effort and expense will differ. Another thing to clear up (which may earn us volleys of abuse from true wineys) is that white wine doesn't really need to be stored for great lengths of time and can be consumed fairly quickly after purchase. It's red wines, which greatly benefit from storage. That bit cleared up, lets start with for want of a better expression, what we call the Casual Storer. Casual storer : You've bought a bottle of wine and don't intend to drink it immediately. That said, it's best to buy wine at least a week before you actually drink it so that it has a chance to rest. So you're wondering whether to plonk it into the fridge or keep it with the rest of your booze, which are stored horizontally. Do neither; find a cool, dry part of your house. If you're willing to shell out a few hundred rupees buy a wine rack (which you'll find made out of pressed wood or corrugated iron), else make do with a cardboard box and store the wine on it's side. The reason for storing the wine on its side is to ensure that the cork remains in contact with the wine, which will keep the bottle airtight. The moment you keep the bot upright you run the risk of the cork

shriveling up and air entering the bot. With air comes bacteria and before you know it your wine will be a genetically modified organism. Observing and Smelling : All liquor where you wish to smell and sip should be had in tulip glasses as the aroma is caged in here (this includes Single Malt whiskies). Wines should be filled to one-third of the glass. First, the colour. Hold up the glass against a white surface. A red wine will be lightest red to almost brown. A rose' will be pinkish and a white wine will be anything from pale yellow to deep gold. In both red and white wines, colour is an indication of body (intensity of flavor). The lighter the colour the lighter the body and vice versa. In wines as in diamonds, colour and clarity are measures of soundness. After this visual treat it is time for the olfactory appraisal. Hold the base or the stem of the glass and twirl the glass. The wines should swirl about and release its bouquet. Raise the glass and smell it. You will over time learn to recognize the smell that is technically called aroma- the smell of the grape rather than the wine. In doing so, you may follow one of two schools of thought, the first opting for a quick first impression sniff followed by a deeper one, the second opting for a deeper sniff the first time around. A couple of helpful tools to help you out with this process Useful Sites have been produced by the French (Le Nez due Vin, which literally means the nose of wine and is a set of boxed sets of 1. wine aroma concentrated smells) and the Americans (Professor A.C. wheel Noble of the University of California, Davis) who've 2. Le Nez du Vin produced a wine aroma wheel for ready reference when you're sniffing your way around. Aromas : The normal types of aromas you can expect to find are : 1. Herbs and spices 2. Flowers 3. Fruits 4. Smells associated with deserts 5. Earthy, woody scents 6. Unpleasant smells

Tasting & Drinking : Tasting There is more hype per square inch to wine tasting than to any other activity relating to anything to do with your mouth (with the possible exception of kissing). I remember attending a wine-tasting workshop that was organized by Alliance Franaise, where the entire process was imbued with an almost ecclesiastical ritual. I came away very psyched. Later a friend's father who has been into fine wines for

decades did much to demystify the whole thing. Remember, you are the best judge of what you like. So begin by sticking to one wine and drinking it regularly. You will become familiar with one wine and when you taste another one you'll be able to make out the difference. Take in a small amount and run it over your tongue before swallowing it. Let the aftertaste develop. Most experts agree that this is the most distinctive part of the wine. Also see :- Tasting Terms. Drinking Say you are at a restaurant, the chances are you will be presented a red wine at room temperature. Don't be embarrassed to ask the steward to cool your bottle. And if he gives you a supercilious "don't you know red wine is drunk at room temperature? " look - let him have it on the jaw, it your money. I will go as far as to say, mildly cool (10 minutes. in a wine bucket to about 18-20 degrees C) even the best wine while it breathes and you'll be surprised. The aromas of a wine's bouquet are released according to their volatility and the temperature at which they are served. Served too cold, it will release little, if any bouquet. Served too hot, there is danger of oxidation, destruction or a combining of the highly volatile aromas or a loss of the aromatic elements. Warm red wine, unless drunk as mulled wine, can taste flat and indifferent. Wine Red wines (foreign) Red wines (Indian) Sweet whites and sparkling Young whites Best white wines Temperature Dos and Don'ts : First of all, "room" temperature is not necessarily bringing a wine to the temperature of the room, especially when this temperature can be more than 20 C. In fact, it means bring a wine to a temperature 16/17 C. On the other hand, it is wrong to think that only an opened bottle can be brought to room temperature since heat exchanges occur through the bottle also. The lower the temperature is, the more wine tannins are highlighted. This explains why red aged/wines, full-bodied wines have to be brought to room temperature. If they are chilled too much they may end up tasting like only light red wines should be cooled. The higher the temperature is, the more mellow character of a wine seems heavy, the acidity "biting". This explains why dry and mellow white wines are cooled. Carbon monoxide has a tendency to burst out with more violence when the temperature is high. Champagne and other sparkling wines are served very cold so that gases are barely perceptible and therefore the wine pleasant. Buying Glasses : Temperature (degrees centigrade) 14 to 20 14 to 16 ~5 5-10 12-15

Still wines As in several other sections of this feature here too, the wine glass you choose to buy / drink your wine from depends upon the extent to which you're steeped in wine lore. On one hand you have Georg Riedel from Austria, who is a firm believer that wines made from different grape varietals should be drunk from glasses with different shapes, the theory being that the shape of the glass both dictates the way in which the aroma hits your nose as well as the way in which the drops of wine hit that "sweet spot" on your tongue. For e.g. for Bordeaux there may be a large tall glass with a slight taper.

A Riedel Bordeaux glass

On the other hand you have the school of thought, which believes in the APV (all purpose wine glass for the uninitiated). Riedel make a glass for them too, it's called the Gourmet glass
A Riedel All Purpose Glass : The gourmet glass

In general here are some of the guiding principles you should follow while buying wine glasses: 1. Make sure the glass is made from good quality lead crystal. 2. The glasses quality is also marked by its slenderness and by the number of facets you see reflected 3. The bowl of the glass should be round to bring the wine in contact with oxygen and thus release it's aromas. 4. Ideal bowl size is around 12 ounces (for red wine) and around 8 ounces (for white), so that you can safely fill 2/3ds in and swirl away to glory. 5. At the top it should taper inwards to prevent the aroma from escaping 6. Make sure that the stem of the glass is long and thin so that your hand doesn't inadvertently end up warming the bowl 7. Ensure that the rim is thin so that the wine flows smoothly on to your tongue. Caring for your glasses Wash them by hand, rinse thoroughly and dry with a cloth, which is free of lint. Make sure that the cloth has no scent from that flavoured Surf you bought last week. If need be, rinse the glass before using it, to save odours from wherever you're storing it to enter. Sparkling wines Sparkling wine should always be served in a flute as opposed to a saucer.

Champagne flute

The reason being that a flute preserves the bubbles (and the bouquet) whereas a saucer lets them dissipate quickly. The choice is clear. After all isn't it called bubbly for nothing.
Champagne saucer

Tasting Terms (or How to Scam the world into thinking that you are a Wine Geek) : As you get to know more about wine, you will encounter a blizzard of words, which are guaranteed to confuse and dismay. Worry not. Every field of human activity tries to make the newcomer feel like a piece of cheese and the world of Wine has converted this into an art form. Bone up on the list that follows. You can impress who ever you may wish to by seeming to be a wine geek. Increasing you'll realize that the brute majority of wine drinkers in India are on the same word-dropping trip that you are on. Then it'll become interesting. You can happily indulge in all the normal one-up-manship games, which make us Indians, such a great nation.

Read On
Acidity- Does not refer to a common digestive condition in India, but to a positive quality in wine. It does not mean that the wine is sour, but that it possesses a degree of tartness. Aftertaste- The lingering flavour a wine leaves in your mouth after you swallow it. The longer it lasts, the better the wine. Balance- The major components of fruitiness, acidity and alcohol will all be in harmony in the good wines. None of these elements will be overpowering. Chewy- A term used to describe a rich red wine with the right amount of tannin in them. Also called "big" or "meaty". Tannins are these chemicals which are present in the skin of the red grapes and which give red wine its longevity. Cooked- This means that the wine tastes coarse like stewed or over-cooked fruit. It's a negative aspect. Corked- A distinctive musty smell. If you get a bottle that is corked, it means that the wine has had it. Crisp- Normally used for white wine, it indicates a fresh, clean quality. Fruity- When the flavour of the grape is evident in the wine. One way of checking out what we mean is to put a very small quantity of vodka (say 5 ml) into a glass of Tropicana grape juice. A positive attribute. Flowery- Tastes of flower blossoms (so they say- the only flower I remember having consumed is cauliflower). Green- Tastes like unripe fruit. Mean. Or thin. Low on fruit or flavour (like most Indian wines). Nose- Literally the smell. It may be called the aroma in young wines or the bouquet in mature wines. Oaky- Good quality wines may be aged in oak barrels. The flavour of the wood in the barrels rubs off ob the wines. Normally a positive attribute, unless its overdone. Tannic- A trait in red wines. It is a very harsh astringent quality often found in young red wines. Imagine drinking strong black tea. There is this harsh sensation at the sides of you mouth. That is tannins at work.

What

Affects

How

Drunk

You

Get

When you have been drinking, your blood and alcohol concentration depends upon how much you have drunk and how quickly you drank it. Other factors that affect concentration are: Your size If you are small, your blood volume is much less than that of someone who is larger. You are, therefore, likely to be affected more by the same amount of alcohol than someone much larger than you. Your water level If you are dehydrated, alcohol will have a much greater effect than if your body's water concentration is normal. This is why drinking alcohol in the summer or after exercise will affect you more. Your gender Women are generally smaller than men and they also have proportionately less body water. Therefore, they are more easily affected by alcohol. The amount of food in your stomach If you drink one unit of alcohol on an empty stomach, almost all the alcohol will be absorbed within an hour. However, if there is food in your stomach this process will be slowed down, and the alcohol will reach your brain and other parts of your body more slowly. How often you drink People who drink regularly become less affected by alcohol as their bodies get used to it. They then need to drink more for it to have the same effect. This is called developing a tolerance to alcohol.

Top 10 Ways To Turn Down A Drink : "No, thanks!" ( No explanation necessary; your response can be short, sweet and direct. ) "I've had enough" ( Again : short, to the point and completely acceptable. ) "Thanks, but I've got a ton of work to do later." "I'd rather get my own, thanks." "I'm allergic to alcohol." "I'm driving tonight." "I have an important meeting tomorrow." "I'm OK for now." ( Keep a half-filled cup with you, whether you are drinking or not. ) "No thanks, I'm taking medicines that I can't drink with." "I'm dieting....alcohol's got too many calories."

Try Saying No with a different twist : With an invitation... Leave the option open for the future. "Not now, but maybe later"...."Another time". With a friend... Plan with a friend beforehand what each of you will or will not do, stay with the plan, and stick together. The decision to drink less then becomes kind of a team effort. With an exit... Plan to physically relocate in case you feel you are in an uncomfortable situation. Have a quick one liner up your sleeve, like... "No thanks, I'm still a little partied out from New Year's". "You know what your problem is ? You think too much about others. It's time you start making yourself and your needs a top priority". "Why - do I seem sober ?".

Safety And Control Tips 1. Set a 'Party Safe' goal for how many drinks you are going to have. Tell a friend the limit, count your drinks and stick to your goal. 2. Remember the word HALT. Don't drink if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. 3. Don't gulp your drinks; you'll get drunk faster. Drink slowly and make it last. Or dilute your drinks. 4. Don't drink on an empty stomach. Always eat before you drink...a full meal. 5. Alternate between alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. Bring your own nonalcohol drink. 6. Don't encourage or approve reckless and irresponsible behaviour caused by intoxication. 7. Before you celebrate, designate. Remember to alternate the designated driver spot with friends. 8. Remember saying "No" is absolutely fine. Handling A Medical Emergency When you are at a party, and someone passes out, the tendency is to laugh about. Things might not be so funny, however. Alcohol poisoning, which is where the unconsciousness comes from, can have more long-lasting effects, and even in cases be fatal. Danger Signs 1. Try to wake the person : Are they unconscious ? Do they respond to pinching of the skin or shouting their name ? 2. Check their skin colour and temperature : If the person is pale or bluish, or if the skin is cold or clammy, they may not be getting enough oxygen. 3. Check their breathing : If the person is breathing irregularly, with a few breaths and then nothing for a while, or if they are breathing very slowly or shallowly, this a sign that medical attention is necessary. What Do You Do? 1. Seek emergency medical help if your friend shows any of the above signs. 2. Turn the person on their side and leave them only if necessary to call for medical assistance. If the person is on his or her side they may not choke if they get sick and vomit. Don't let them roll over onto their back. What Shouldn't You Do? 1. Don't assume your semi-conscious or unconscious friend will be OK sleeping it off. 2. Don't let fear about how your friend may respond tomorrow prevent you from acting and getting help when they need it. It may be the greatest thing you could ever do in the name of friendship. 3. By the way, the best way to handle the situation is to stop it before it happens to a friend or to yourself. Cool Party, Responsible Host Having as party can be great fun, especially when everyone thinks you are a cool host or hostess. However, if you truly are a good host, you know that the responsibility for the well-being of your guests is yours entirely. (In some countries, the host of the party is legally liable for the actions of his or her guests. Here, your conscience will have to pay.) To make sure that the effects of alcohol consumption do not take an unpleasant toll, keep these tips in mind for a cool party with a responsible host.

Have a responsible person who does not drink take care of the bartending. Do not leave it to a paid server alone. If you do have a professional bartender, make sure s/he is trained in how to be a responsible one. Use peg measures for pouring drinks, so everyone gets normal-sized drinks. Make sure people who are being served are not already inebriated. Serve healthy snacks that contain carbohydrates so that people don't drink on an empty stomach. Serve dinner early so that people can eat and then drink for as long as they like. Let people know early on in the party that you believe in being a responsible host/hostess. Make sure that there are plenty of attractive options for non-drinkers. Most people overlook teetotaler guests. Do not let intoxicated persons leave your party in the driving seat. Keep their car keys and get them a taxi instead. Or have a friend who's sober drop them home. Or get them to stay the night. Don't let them drive. Promote the designated driver system. Give guests who are the designate drivers at your party special identification and treat them as special in creative ways. Instruct servers not to serve them any alcohol, and reward them in some way that makes other people appreciate their role. When someone declines a drink, respect their choice and don't pressurize. People must have the option of not drinking if they don't want to. Prevent people from gulping down their drinks too fast. Remember, your liver can handle only one 'standard' drink per hour on an average -- drinking at a faster speed is more likely to get you inebriated. Do not condone or encourage any excessive alcohol consumption. It isn't 'cool' to see people kill themselves or others. Or even make fools of themselves. If you are a real friend, you will try to prevent this from happening.

Do You Have A Problem ? Sometimes people wonder: Do I drink too much ? Am I in control of my drinking ? Am I setting myself up for drinking-related problems ? The following questions are designed to help you identify drinking habits that may cause problems for you. Answer honestly; no one but you will know the score. 1. Have you left office early so you can party or just drink? 2. Have you missed work or been late because of a hangover? 3. Have you done poorly at some project, meeting or interview because you drank too much the night before ? 4. When drinking, have you ever done something for which you were later sorry or embarrassed ? 5. Have you ever 'blacked out' while drinking ? A blackout is not just a memory loss -- that happens in intoxication also -- but "memory loss for a period when the patient was not outwardly intoxicated ( shivering, unsteady etc. ) and was to all extents and purposes behaving 'normally', yet does not remember what he/she did/said!" 6. Do you frequently drink until you are drunk? Do you drink to get drunk ? 7. Do you find that most of your friends also drink a lot? 8. Have you ever had problems with friends, family, colleagues, superiors, or the law as a result of drinking? 9. Is drinking affecting your reputation? 10. Does it bother you when other people say you drink too much ? 11. Do people say that you "Can hold a drink well" or put down large amounts without getting intoxicated ? This is not something to be proud of but rather an alarming warning sign! If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, stop and think for a moment. You may be doing yourself some harm. Maybe it's time to talk to someone, get some information.A good rule of thumb to keep in mind : What CAUSES a problem IS a problem.

Drinking Can Hurt Your Baby When you are pregnant, your baby grows inside you. Everything you eat and drink while you are pregnant affects your baby. If you drink alcohol, it can hurt your baby's growth. Your baby may have physical and behavioural problems that can last for the rest of his or her life. Children born with the most serious problems caused by alcohol have foetal alcohol syndrome. Children with foetal alcohol syndrome may : Be born small; have abnormalities of the head. Have problems eating and sleeping. Have problems seeing and hearing. Have trouble following directions and learning how to do simple things. Need special teachers and schools. Have trouble getting along with others and controlling their behaviour. Need medical care all their lives.

Drinking And Driving Don't Mix Many of the effects of drinking alcohol that make people feel relaxed and happy also affect how well they can drive; their chances of having a road accident are much higher. Drinking alcohol affects the body in the following ways: You cannot coordinate and control your muscles as well as you can normally. It takes longer to react, so it is more difficult to deal with something happening on the road that you didn't expect. You are less able to judge speed and distance. Alcohol can also affect people's judgements and emotions. When they have been drinking, people often think they are fit to drive when they are not or think that they are driving much better than they really are. They often feel more daring and reckless, making them more likely to drive much faster.

The legal limit As per the Indian Motor Vehicles Act 1988, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 30mg in 100 ml of blood is illegal anywhere in India. In the USA and many countries in Europe the limit is 10 mg in 100 ml of blood. They are much stricter. This limit was chosen becuase there is a much higher risk of having an accident above it; but even at the legal limit you could be more likely to have an accident than if you hadn't drunk at all! There are no safe guidelines on how much you can drink before you go above the limit because, as we already know, the amount is very different for each person. So the safest thing is not to drink any alcohol at all before driving. The 'Topping-Up' Effect Alcohol is removed from the body at a steady rate by the liver. A person who has been drinking during the day might, towards the evening, be feeling much more sober, but he could still have a reasonably high concentration of alcohol in his blood. So much so that just one more drink in the evening may be enough to put him over the legal limit. This is known as the topping-up effect. The topping-up effect, means that it isn't what you have just drunk that matters - it is the total amount drunk that matters - it is the total amount drunk over the previous 12 hours or more. The fact that alcohol is removed from the body so slowly has another important effect. If someone has had a binge-drinking session, it could be well into the next afternoon before all the alcohol has been removed from the body. This means that many people who drive to work in the morning, after a heavy drinking session the night before, are over the limit and their judgement on the roads is likely to be affected.

Avoiding Drinking and Driving Most drinking and driving happens when people are trying to get home late at night after going out to a club or party. If you can't avoid driving make sure you stick to soft or non-alcoholic drinks. With a little planning, it is possible to avoid getting into a situation where you and others are tempted to take a chance. If you think you are going to drink you can, for example: Leave your car or motorcycle behind and go with a driver who is not drinking. Use public transport. Arrange to come home by taxi. Organise somewhere to stay if you can't arrange for a lift home. Take it in turns to be the 'designated driver', if you are a member of a regular group.

If you are giving a party, make sure you have some non-alcoholic drinks for drivers. Finally, if someone who has been drinking looks as if they are going to drive home, you should do your best to prevent them, even confiscating their car keys if necessary. Remember -- people's lives.

Cocktail Recipes 007 by Shatbhi Basu INGREDIENTS :

90 ml Vodka. 15 ml Vermouth/ Dry white wine.

PREPARATION :
Fill glass with ice cubes. In a Cocktail Shaker, put 3-4 ice cubes, add both ingredients and shake for 8-10 seconds. Strain the drink into the ice-filled glass. Drop in the lemon peel. Spear the olive on a stirrer and place across the rim of the glass. Garnish : Twist of Lemon peel and Green olive.

fraud Mocktail by Arun Kumar INGREDIENTS :

1 jigger vodka. 2 jiggers beer. 1 jigger Khus syrup.

Glass Type

Collins Soda for topping up.

PREPARATION :
Serve in a prechilled collins glass and boost up your spirits

Alcoholic gola sherbet by Harshad

The recipe was born during my college days, when we were short of cash and often had to rely on the gola wala to provide us the mixtures instead of soft drinks.

INGREDIENTS :
Vodka Pineapple juice Sugar syrup

PREPARATION :
Form Golas from crushed Ice. Squeeze lots of lime on the golas and pour a spoon ful of sugar

syrup on each of the golas. Form a mixture made of Rum or Vodka with a little bit of pineaaple juice (preferably syrup). The mixture should be a little viscous. Pour the mixture on the golas and serve.

Arrowhead by Shatbhi Basu

Strange Brewer : Shatbhi is Tulleeho's resident bon vivant. To ask her a question - go to Ask Shatbhi.

Glass Type

INGREDIENTS :
30 ml Vodka. 30 ml Archer's Peach Schnapps. 2 tablespoons Campari 3 wedges of fresh lime Soda and tonic to top. Collins

PREPARATION :
Put the Campari in glass. Fill glass with ice cubes. Pour in the vodka and schnapps. Squeeze in the lemon wedges and drop the used peel in. Top with half soda and half tonic. Float the slice of orange and place starfruit slice over the rim. Garnish : Slice of orange, Starfruit slice

Anal fury by L.S.

Drank it and shat myself

INGREDIENTS :
30 ml Smirnoff Vodka 2 shots of Peppermint 1 shot of Aftershock 30 ml tomato juice 1 tablespoon of Tabasco Crushed seeds of green chilly

PREPARATION : Bad Habit by Dale Dahlstrom INGREDIENTS :

1/2 Shot Smirnoff vodka 1/2 Shot Archer's Peach Schnapps Glass Type

PREPARATION :
In a Shot Glass put one half Smirnoff and one half Archer's Peach Schnapps and shoot

Shot

Beercoff by Ramesh Parthasarthy

Strange brewer : Ramesh is a software engineer with an interest in java beans, applets and brandy.

Glass Type

INGREDIENTS :
60 ml. Smirnoff Vodka.

Chilled Beer. 4-5 drops Tabasco.

PREPARATION :
Add ice and the slice of lime in a tall glass. Pour the Vodka and add the Tabasco. Top up with chilled beer. Enjoy. Garnish : Slice of lime.

Black Magic by Shailesh Nigam

Necessity is the mother of invention they say. I discovered the inventor in me one late evening, when a couple of friends dropped by uninformed. I got together whatever was available in the house and put some of my creativity to action. Voila, The drink was dynamite! When friends asked what it was called, the first name that came to mind was - Black Magic. Surely is. Cheers!

INGREDIENTS :
60 ml Smirnoff Vodka 30 ml grape juice Coke 2 teaspoons of coffee Half lime

PREPARATION :
Pour the grape juice in a cocktail shaker. Add coffee. Shake well to mix both. Pour in the Smirnoff slowly, shaking gently. Take a glass and fill half of it with ice cubes. Pour the shaker's contents into the glass. Top it up with Coke. Squeze the half lemon, and you're ready for a miracle.

Bloody Mary INGREDIENTS :

60ml vodka. 100ml Tomato juice. Juice of 1 lime. 3-4 drops of Worcestershire Sauce 8-10 drops of Tabasco sauce

PREPARATION :
Rim the glass with salt. Fill it with ice cubes. Drop in the spent shell. Add all ingredients except the vodka and stir. Gently slide in the vodka to form a clear layer. Place the lime slice over the rim and use the celery stick or green chilly in place of a stirrer. Garnish : Salt Rim, Spent Lime Shell, Lime Slice, Long Celery Stick or Green Chilly.

Booze Tumble by Pervin

I WAS CHALLENGED TO DO IT DURING A PARTY - I TOOK UP THIS CHALLENGE AND REMAINED ON MY OWN TWO FEET AT THE CLOSE OF THE PARTY.

INGREDIENTS : PREPARATION :

BLEND SEVEN DIFFERENT BOOZES IN A SINGLE GLASS. ADD A SHOT OF LIME JUICE TO IT AND GULP THIS DOWN IN ONE SHOT. THE SEVEN ARE : BEER, WHISKEY, RUM, VODKA, WINE, BRANDY AND GIN.

Bullshot by Shatbhi Basu

Strange Brewer : Shatbhi is Tulleeho's resident bon vivant. To ask her a question - go to Ask Shatbhi

Glass Type

INGREDIENTS :
45ml Smirnoff. 15ml lime juice. 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce. 6-8 drops Tabasco(optional). Beef consomme/bouillon to top. Highball

PREPARATION :
Salt rim the glass. Fill with ice cubes. Pour in the consomme and seasonings and stir. Add Smirnoff and stir again. Garnish : Garnish with slice of lime or a celery stick or both.

Caribbean Wedding by Oliver Philpott

Can't remember - it seemed to do its job!

INGREDIENTS :
1 shot of Smirnoff Vodka 60 ml of Champagne Top up with mango juice and lemonade

PREPARATION :

Chilli Mocker by Girish

All this while there was only bloody mary which was considered to be a spicy vodka drink till CHILLI MOCKER was invented.

Glass Type

INGREDIENTS :
60 ml Smirnoff vodka Khus syrup Soda to top Highball Glass with salted rim Highball

PREPARATION :
Fill the salted rimmed glass with ice. Add 60 ml Smirnoff Vodka and 20 ml Khus Syrup. Slit a Green chilli and garnish the rim of the glass so that half the chilli is in the glass. To serve top it with Soda and serve. Garnish : Green Chilly

Chuck De Phattey by Hari Om Goswami INGREDIENTS :

Glass Type

20 ml Whisky 20 ml Smirnoff Vodka 20 ml White rum 20 ml Dark rum 20 ml Peach 20 ml Blue Curacao, 10 ml Fresh Lime, 10 ml Sugar Syrup, Limca

PREPARATION :
Fill ice cubes in a large decanter till the top, then add all the ingredients. Top up with limca and garnish with a pineapple slice and a cherry. Garnish : Pineapple Slice & a Cherry Decanter