Traditionally, distilled spirits have undergone the crushing, fermentation, distillation and aging of raw materials. The fermented alcohol solution can be obtained using distillation equipment using distillation equipment with different boiling points (78.5 °C for alcohol and 100 °C for water), but distilled liquor is also classified as a spirit because of its high alcohol content.
Other similar to wine, rice wine, etc. because only fermentation and aging without distillation, so the alcohol content is low, the general alcohol content of less than 24% can be called beverage wine.
This article will introduce the six world-renowned distilled liquors: brandy Brandy, whiskey Whisky, vodka Vodka, Gin Gin, rum Rum, liquor Liquor and Spirits, what are their characteristics and differences?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > brandy Brandy</h1>
Unlike most people's impression of grain winemaking, the raw material of brandy is mainly grapes, as well as other different fruits. Because of the difference in raw materials, the name can also be changed, such as the use of grapes is grape brandy, the use of cherries is cherry brandy.
Brewing process: The fruit is fermented, distilled, and then aged.
Main origin: Produced in all countries around the world, but the Most famous cognac region in France, so there is also the exclusive name of cognac.
Historical origins: Brandy means "burnt wine" in Dutch, and in the early years of the Great Navigation Age, wine was an indispensable hard currency and a pleasure to satisfy the appetites of the crew, but medieval technology was not enough to ensure that wine remained fresh by sea, which made the wine produced in France spoiled and could no longer be traded.
However, there were gains and losses, and the Dutch merchants decided to distill the spoiled wines. Distilled wines not only do not deteriorate due to the long transportation process, but on the contrary, the flavor is better and the sales volume increases greatly.
Palate: Brandy has an alcohol content of between 40-43 and is golden or brighter in strong brown. Although it is a spirit, it can taste soft and elegant, and can be tasted with soda, ice cubes and even tea.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="63" > whisky Whisky</h1>
In scotch whisky, for example, distilled spirits must be obtained by distilling malt and water. Only yeast is allowed during the fermentation process, and by volume, the alcohol content must be higher than 40% and less than 94.8%.
It should also be kept in oak barrels for at least 3 years, and it is forbidden to add any other substances except water and caramel color.
Brewing process: germination, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, aging, blending.
Main origin: most of the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Canada, India and Taiwan, etc.
Historical Origins: Whisky has its earliest origins in the history of spirits, and for interest you can check out our previous article: Hyperlink to The Origin of Malt
Taste: Whisky has a large alcohol range, ranging from 40-60, with a more transparent amber and light gold color. Pure whisky can quietly feel the aroma dancing in the mouth, and adding water or ice cubes can dilute its alcohol concentration and induce a deeper and unique aroma.
However, the whisky between high and low years is inversely proportional to the measurement of water, and the lower the whisky of the year, the greater the amount of water mixed, the slighter the evaporation loss of the alcohol of the old whisky, and the overall amount of water required is less.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="64" > vodka vodka</h1>
Vodka is often drunk as pure wine in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, but its fame has expanded due to its wide range of uses in cocktails such as Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, Vodka Quinn, and Vodka Martini.
Brewing process: fermentation with grain as raw material, distillation to produce 96% concentration of alcohol liquid, and then charcoal filtration adsorption impurities, with distilled water diluted to 40-50% alcohol, no need to store.
Main places of origin: Sweden, Russia, Norway, France, Finland and other countries.
Historical Origins: Perhaps because it is too impressive for the fighting peoples to drink wine in the snow and ice, or because Russia is a vodka-producing power, some people stereotypically associate the two.
In fact, Europeans were the first to drink vodka, and its name comes from the Slavic word "Voda", which originally meant "water". Vodka appeared in early Russian dictionaries in the 19th century.
Taste: Vodka has an alcohol content of between 40-50, no color and no strong aroma. But vodka is not a waste of time when it is frozen by the hairs of the cold all year round, it is full of strength, but it will have a tasteless hot and spicy taste when it is tasted.
However, thanks to the extreme purity of charcoal filtration in the brewing process, it is the well-deserved first of the base wines in the bartending industry, and other than that, it is unremarkable.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="65" > Gin</h1>
If you call it gin, many people will be confused, seem to have heard it, and seem to be unfamiliar. Also known as gin (geneva), it can also be divided into spicy gin, old Tom gin and fruity gin according to the flavor of the wine.
Brewing process: Traditional gin is made from barley, rye and grain, crushed, saccharified, fermented, distilled and blended. Some national distilleries will add some mashed spices to the raw materials to add a distinctive flavor, which is a synthetic brewing method.
Main origin: United Kingdom
Historical origins: Gin originally belonged to dutch specialties, but in medieval Europe, the royal succession was turned over and over again, but it was still a large number of nobles, you pushed me, the Glorious Revolution broke out in Britain, the constitutional monarchy was in jeopardy, and the new emperor Charles II was left unrestrained after the fall.
William, a male nobleman from the Netherlands whose mother was Princess Mary and whose father was the ruling prince of the Netherlands, was taken the position of king as a Prince of England, known as William III.
He vigorously developed the wine industry, introduced French brandy, Scotch whisky, and moved the Dutch gin distillery to the United Kingdom, so the nationality of gin quietly changed.
Taste and flavor: The alcohol content of gin is generally around 40-52, colorless and transparent, but it can smell fresh wine. Similar to vodka, it is widely used in cocktails.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" > rum rum</h1>
Under the situation of grain raw materials balancing the wine industry, rum with sucrose as the main ingredient stands out from the crowd, so it also has a sweet nickname: sugar wine.
Brewing process: The raw materials are mostly sugarcane juice and honey or sugar juice. Crush and dilute the raw materials, ferment, distill at one time, age for a second distillation after some time, seasoning.
Main production areas: most countries in the Western Hemisphere, the Americas and some island countries in Africa.
Historical origin: Rum originated in Cuba, is made by the master winemaker to use the raw material of sugarcane honey to make sugar cane shochu into white oak barrels, and then after years of careful brewing, so that it produces a unique, unparalleled taste, thus becoming a cuban people like to drink a kind of wine.
However, the sugarcane used by the indigenous people to make wine was not native to the Americas, but was brought to the American continent by Columbus's second trip.
Taste and flavor: Rum alcohol content between 38-50, wine color is different, some are dark amber, some can also be colorless, perhaps because of the raw materials, always smell so sweet and rich.
Like vodka, most people prefer to drink it traditionally, or as a cocktail, and it's perfect to accompany dessert pastries.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="67" > liquor Liquor and Spirits</h1>
Baijiu can also be called "Chinese Baijiu", and there are many kinds of common names in China, sorghum wine, shochu, old white dried or burnt knife.
Everyone is familiar with the national liquor Maotai, mostly using domestic sorghum koji, which belongs to the sauce-flavored liquor.
Brewing process: raw materials taken from wheat sorghum, high temperature koji, fermentation, distillation, storage. Lu-type wine is stored for at least 3 to 6 months, mostly for more than one year. The storage period of Fen-type wine is about one year, while Mao-type wine is required to be stored for more than three years.
Main origin: Chinese mainland Guichuan area.
Historical origin: As early as the Tang Dynasty, liquor has appeared in historical records. Li Zhao's (806 AD) wrote in the Supplement to the History of the State: "Wine has the burning spring of Jiannan". Yong tao (834 A.D.) Shi Yun: "Since arriving in Chengdu, the shochu fever has not been thought of, and I have entered Chang'an."
Before the new China, the people had always shouted "sorghum wine", and later unified the name "baijiu". The definition of liquor is: all kinds of liquor brewed by cooking, saccharification, fermentation, distillation, aging and blending with koji and mother liquor as saccharification fermentation agent, using starchy (sugar) raw materials.
Taste and flavor: The alcohol content of liquor is between 38-65, divided into height and low, and the minimum can be as low as more than 20 degrees. Most of the wines are colorless or slightly light yellow, but mainly according to the aroma type to divide the flavor, the main aroma types are sauce, fragrance, strong fragrance, rice fragrance, phoenix fragrance and so on.
postscript
Distilled spirits were first brewed in the 12th century, but they were not intended for drinking at the time, as is the case with alcohol lamps commonly used in laboratories today, as a combustion accessory. Vodka, for example, was used as a solvent in medicinal products in medieval Poland.
But what most spirits enthusiasts acknowledge is that whisky of the earliest origin was called the "water of life" when it was born in the hands of the Celts, and today, this "water of life" can still drive many people crazy.
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