Discussing Eau De Vie - Brandy

By definition, eau de vie means clear brandy which is distilled from the stirred up juice of a fruit. The word comes from French, tracing roots as far as Medieval Latin, and it means “water of life” (Latin: “aqua vitae”). The name makes reference to various colorless spirits distilled from herbs and fruits (like “grappa” in Italy), in different countries around the world. However, the most popular reference is to brandy, and then to distilled drinks made from other fruits than grapes.

Eau De Vie Typology

1) Brandy is the most common eau de vie; its name derives from the Dutch word “brandewijn”, which means burnt wine. Brandy is made from wine or various fermented fruit juices and contains 40% alcohol/volume. It is generally used in cocktails, but also as a cooking ingredient (similar to rum).

Making brandy requires 4 important steps: fermenting the fruit into wine, distilling it in alcohol, aging in oak casks and blending it to taste. The aging process is where the difference between each type of brandy appears, as the casks used determine the quality and variety of each brand.

2) Cognac is commonly considered to be a type of brandy. This is the most famous brandy, actually, and it gets its name from the region where it is produced, meaning Cognac, in France; no other type of brandy can be called cognac. The grapes used in its production are attentively selected and can come only from this region. This is a drink widely appreciated and used in cocktails.

3) Armagnac is another special form of brandy, from the region Gascony, France, which is aged in Troncais or Limousin oak casks. This gives it a very strong flavor that renders this type of brandy null for most cocktails (with the exception of very few, of course). Just like with cognac, only brandies from this French region can bear the name Armagnac. 

4) The best Spanish brandy is made in Andalusia and initially appeared as a medicine. Today, there are several brands which are well known and appreciated (such as Brandy de Jerez).

5) South American (more precisely Chile and Peru) make a type of brandy called pisco, which can be found in four varieties.

6) Brandy is made even in the US, especially on the West Coast, offering many types of brandies, from less expensive (and overly sweet) to quality and more expensive ones. American brandy is very good for a variety of cocktails.

Eau De Vie – Labelling And Serving

This drink is generally viewed as a digestive and can be served in either a tulip-shaped glass or a snifter, without mixing it with water or other beverages.

You can make it in the comfort of your own home, if you have a whiskey still; and, if you wonder what the label on each brandy means – in order to figure out how to age your own brandy – then here is your answer (mentioning the minimum time of aging):

·         A.C. : aged 2 years

·         V.S. (Very Special): aged 3 years

·         V.S.O.P. (Very Superior Old Pale) : aged 5 years

·         X.O. (Extra Old): aged 4-6 years

Under various conditions, you can also find vintage brandy (which means it was stored in the barrels until bottling and the label show the vintage time)  or hors d’age (which is brandy so old, that its age cannot be determined by the official, known, form of labeling). 

Does Drinking Wine Can Help You lose Weight?

Many people know about the good benefits of red wine on one’s health, especially when it comes to the way the heart functions. Red wine can decrease the risk of heart attacks, but can also help in preventing dementia or strokes, if drank moderately and under a regular basis. 

What people still do not know very well is that red wine is actually good when it comes to your weight, as it helps your body fight weight gain. It is actually easier to just enjoy a glass of wine a day instead of using various diets and pills – some of which have unpleasant side effects – to keep your weight under control. Furthermore, a red wine diet (to call it like this) can help you even lose weight. 

Whiskey Related Songs

Whiskey is a fine drink, enjoyed by many people, who seems to be getting more and more popular each day. This drink has some history behind it and has been celebrated over the years under various forms. Some of the best way to rejoice this special alcoholic beverage was creating songs about whiskey and with its name in the title. Hence, here is a list of some of the most inspirational, successful and famous such songs:

• The Doors are one of the most famous bands of all time; the departure of Jim Morrison, its lead singer, from this world, has left countless teenagers heartbroken but has also inspired movies and tracks. Hence, no wonder than the “Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)” became so popular in 1966, thou the original dates from 1927.

Five Benefits of Drinking Whiskey

If you like whiskey, then you are amongst the people which have an acquired taste for good drinks. But, more than that, you are one of those persons who can benefit from whiskey’s short and long-term advantages.

First of all, whiskey is derived from grain, being created by fermenting barley, corn, rye or wheat. All over the world, people create whiskeys for centuries, each with a distinct taste. Drunk in a moderate amount, whiskey can actually be beneficial to your health, for the following five reasons:

• It contains no fat

This has been observed even by the US Department of Agriculture. Typically, 1.5-oz of whiskey has no fats, thus being acceptable as alcoholic drink in low-fat diets (if consumed in a reasonable quantity) and not only.

• It decreases the risk of cancer

Whiskey contains an antioxidant known as “ellagic acid”, which can destroy malignant cells. This does not mean that just drinking whiskey will replace the benefits of more cancer-related cures, but it makes it an acceptable drink during the treatment period. Its cancer-related benefits have been studied and presented in 2005, in Glasgow, Scotland, during the EuroMedLab conference, thus it is fair to say that this benefit has been scientifically proven.

Justin Bieber drinks Vodka?

Vodka consists mainly of water, ethanol, flavorings and impurities. It is a distilled beverage produced by distilling fermented substances such as potatoes, grains, sugar or fruits.

The standard vodka produced in Poland, Belarus, Russia and Lithuania are 40% ABV (alcohol by volume) or 80 proof. Meanwhile, vodka produced in the United States are required to have 30% ABV.

In the US, the legal age for drinking alcohol is 21 but look at Justin Bieber’s Instagram picture!

Making moonshine is legal in these hills

The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau states that no one can produce any spirits for beverage use without paying any taxes and with no prior paperwork approval to operate a distilled spirits plant.

The following is a list of distilleries that are legally making moonshine.

Dawsonville, Georgia

Dawsonville Moonshine Distillery is located in the same place as the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. It is also situated within Dawsonville’s City Hall. However, the local government is not taking steps to halt its operation. It even sold out the first batch of liquor it produced for the Mountain Moonshine Festival. The distillery is currently working on its third corn whiskey batch and business is still flowing.

How is this possible?

Cheryl Wood is the owner of Dawsonville Moonshine Distillery. She explains that hard work and legal requirements were necessary to make her dreams a reality. It took her months to plan and acquire permits to make her moonshine dreams possible. She also quit her job in the phone company she was working for and decided to go full time distilling. Plus, she borrowed tons of money. Her efforts are now paying off.

It also helped that Wood comes from a long line of moonshiners. Literally, moonshine runs in her blood. Her grandfather was a popular moonshiner named Simmie Free. She also got help from “backwoods distiller” Dwight Bearden and “still hand” Bob Suchke. All three brought in their years of experience growing up with moonshine.

The moonshine trade helped feed their families back when they were children. Bearden is a fourth-generation moonshiner.

Currently, the business is utilizing a 250-gallon moonshine copper still, two 415-gallon stainless steel mash and another 1,050 gallon steel mash. There are plans to expand and add in more equipment and help.

Make a Corn Mash Recipe The Lazy Way

Serious hobbyists purposely purchase stills for sale in an effort to create their own mash recipe. The process is laborious for some that innovative distillers have decided to create a corn mash recipe that requires little standing and stirring.

Below is a recipe that requires no boiling. However, it does not mean that no cooking is involved. Essentially, heat is applied for a long time period in order to turn the corn in a gelatinous state. Stirring is still necessary but not as much. This recipe was developed for a 12 pound grain bill along with six gallons of liquid with the sparge and backset used from a previous wash.

First step: The pre-soaking process requires that you boil one and a half gallon of backset making sure to add this to all grains other than the malt. Include cold water in order to decrease the temperature to 150 to 155 degrees F. Then, add half a teaspoon of alpha. Stir it well and seal off the bucket. Allow it to sit for two days.

Using the backset has been said to help the acid break the starches loose. Adding alpha helps the corn from converting to a solid mass and instead produce a gooey thick porridge that could be removed easily from the bucket.