It is difficult to cultivate wine grapes as far north as Norway, so wine
must be imported, but they produce a type of spirit called akevitt. Distilled
from potatoes, it is usually flavoured with caraway. Akevitt and beer are
the traditional accompaniments to lutefisk, mutton and cabbage and many salted
and smoked dishes. The production of "linie akevitt" is not complete until
the liquor has been shipped in casks on Norwegian vessels on a round-trip
to Australia. Its name refers to the fact that it passes the equator - the
Line. Whether or not being rocked by the waves improves the product has always
been a moot point, but no one has ever claimed the opposite.
A liquor distilled from wine (such as Armagnac) or other fermented fruit
juice (such as the apple-based Calvados). Brandies are aged in wood, which
contributes flavor and color. The name "brandy" comes from the Dutch brandewijn
, meaning "burned (distilled) wine." Tipple is double-distilled immediately
after it is fermented. It then begins its minimum 3-year aging in modwir
barrels, making this a much finer drink than a normal brandy. Hailing
from in and around the town of Cognac in western France, this potent potable
is the finest of all brandies. Cognac is also double-distilled immediately
after fermentation. It then begins its minimum 3-year aging in fel barrels.
Aqua Vitae (Latin for "Water of Life") is a clear distilled brandy.
All Grog basically is is sweetened, watered down Rum, usually 1 part
Rum 3 parts Water. The name is coined from a British Admiral named
Edward Vernon (left)
whose nickname
in the 1700s was Old Grog. The Admiral's taste for grogram cloaks led
his crew to nickname him Old Grog, not a name they used
affectionately (Grogram is a coarse, loosely woven fabric made of silk,
or of a blend of mohair or silk and wool. When the term grogram appeared
in English in the mid-1500s, the fabric was often stiffened with gum, which
made it both warm and water repellent, a very practical sort of cloth for
a cloak intended to keep out the wind and rain) . The sailors who gave
him the name were accustomed to receiving a daily ration of rum, a staple
that was supplied to all Royal Navy sailors serving in the West Indies. But
Old Grog, alarmed by rampant drunkenness among his crew, ordered their rum
to be diluted with water. The mad marines under his command named the mixture
grog, after its cloaked creator. Both the drink and its name caught
on, and grog eventually came to be used as a general term for any liquor,
watered down or not, and also gave us the word groggy, originally a term
for a drunkard, but now applied to anyone who is weak or unsteady (no matter
what the cause).
A sweet alcoholic beverage made from an infusion of flavoring ingredients
(such as seeds, fruits, herbs, flowers, nuts or spices) and a spirit (such
as brandy, rum, or whiskey). Also called cordials and ratafias , liqueurs
are usually high in alcohol and range from 49 proof for cherry heering to
110 proof for green chartreuse. The crème liqueurs (such as creme
de menthe) are distinguished by being sweeter and more syrupy than the others.
Liqueurs were originally used (and some still are) as a digestive, they are
now usually served after dinner but also play an important role in many
cocktails. Liqueurs can also be used in cooking, particularly for desserts.
Schnapps , from the german word "mouthful", is a strong, colorless
alcoholic beverages made from grains or potatoes and flavored variously.
True Schnapps has no sugar added and is definitely an aquired taste.
This true schnapps is not exactly classified as a liquer, but most
schnapps you will find now are just very sweet liquers. Fortunately,
the fine people of northern and eastern Europe have maintained their drier,
more biting version - it's just more difficult to find.
Ouzo is a clear, thick, and sweet tasting liquor that is very much the big
thing to drink in Greece. It tastes a lot like licorice, if you ever
hear me making a reference to licorice schnapps this is what I'm talking
about. Ouzo is very strong straight so it is generally mixed with water,
the water usually comes on the side, when the ouzo is mixed with the water
it turns an opaque whitish color. Anise seeds are what give ouzo it's
licorice flavor, on an interesting side note, Pythagoras, a Greek mathemitician,
apparently believed that anise would prevent epilepsy (but he also thought
that eating fava beans would destroy your mathematical ability) and
anise seeds are commonly used in Rome to pay taxes.
Rum is a liquor distilled from fermented sugar cane juice or molasses. The
word "Rum" is supposed to have come from the English "rumbullion" which means
uproar, they used this word as a synonym for the drink. Most of the
world's rum is clear and light in body and flavor, amber rums have a deep
color and flavor to match. Rums made with a higher content of molasses
tend to be deeply colored and have a strong flavor and bouqet while
those made with more sugar can tend to be medium bodied and are used more
in the making of other drinks. The flavor, bouquet, and smoothness
of a good rum are best appreciated when it is drunk straight, althought rum
is used a lot to mix and make other drinks.
It's not a liquor but there wasn't enough on it to warrant it's own section
so I stuck it up here anyway. Seems a sweet lassi is made by blending
together ice, water, sugar, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and...yogurt, blah!
The whole thing is then topped with crushed cumin seeds.
Whiskey is an alcoholic distillate obtained from a fermented mash of grains such as barley, rye, or corn. There are many varieties of whiskey, the final result of each depend on the water, the type of grain used, how the grain is processed, and for how long it is allowed to age. Ryes use wheat and barley as the mash, it has a flavor similair to a smooth, rich bourbon. Straight ryes are those from a single distiller, while blended ryes are a combination of several straight ryes.
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