Absinthe’s purported power to conjure fairies and send drinkers insane endures thanks to misrepresentations in art, literature, music, and movies — and loaded, pseudo-scientific experiments. In reality, painting the so-called “Green Fairy” as some kind of conscious-expanding elixir is the work of pure fiction, the effects of which have rippled for more than 100 years. The truths can sometimes feel as cloudy as the liquor itself (when prepared properly), but there’s little need to worry about absinthe. To set the record straight, here are five of the biggest myths surrounding absinthe, busted. Absinthe Makes You HallucinateAbsinthe is a botanical distillate that contains, among other ingredients, a mixture of anise, fennel, and a type of wormwood called Artemisia absinthium. This wormwood imparts the psychoactive chemical thujone into the spirit. But the quantity of thujone present in modern absinthe is so little (a maximum of 10 parts per million in the U.S.), you’d sooner die of alcohol poisoning than be able to drink enough to start hallucinating. But what about the past? Isn’t it possible that the absinthes being drunk during the Belle Epoque era had higher thujone levels? Scientists say no. In 2008, international researchers from Germany, England, and the U.S. published a study comparing thujone levels from pre1915 absinthe with 20th-century and modern-day examples. The authors of the study note that the “thujone ranges of all absinthes are quite similar,” thus disproving any idea that absinthe historically contained higher levels of psychoactive chemicals and was therefore hallucinogenic. Absinthe Turns People CrazyOther than the myth that it makes drinkers see things, absinthe has gained notoriety for its supposed ability to drive people crazy. Once again, the science used to explain this phenomenon, called “absinthism,” is shaky at best and doesn’t hold up to modern scrutiny. The links between absinthe and mental health issues are based on the experiments of Dr. Valentin Magnan, a French psychiatrist who strongly opposed absinthe and what he believed to be its ill effects on society. During the late 19th century, Magnan carried out tests on animals using thujone and wormwood oil. He noted that when mice consumed high concentrations of thujone, they had convulsions and died. When Magnan gave a dog a vial of wormwood oil, he watched it bark at a brick wall for half an hour. For years, Magnan’s findings went mostly unchallenged. Then in 2006, authors of the medical paper “Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact,” noted that “[t]he only consistent conclusion that can be drawn from those 19th century studies about absinthism is that wormwood oil but not absinthe is a potent agent to cause seizures.” What’s more, the paper points out that there is no evidence absinthe is epileptogenic, nor that absinthism can be distinguished as a distinct syndrome from alcoholism. In other words, absinthe’s most harmful characteristic has always been its alcohol content, which typically ranges from 45 to 70 percent ABV. Absinthe Is IllegalThis misconception is the only one tied to facts, as absinthe was illegal in many countries for most of the 20th century. Numerous factors likely contributed to the Green Fairy’s banning across large parts of Europe and the U.S., including Magnan’s experiments. Then came the case of the Lanfray murders in Switzerland in 1905. After spending a good portion of his day drinking, Swiss vineyard worker Jean Lanfray murdered his wife and two daughters in a drunken rage one night. Though Lanfray also drank Cognac, brandy, crème de menthe, wine, and beer that day, it was the two glasses of absinthe he drank that stirred more interest from the prosecutor and media. Absinthe was quickly banned in Switzerland. And with the exception of England and Spain, absinthe was outlawed by most European countries and the U.S. by 1915. Stateside, it would remain illegal until 2007, by which point scientists had dispelled fears over the dangers of thujone. Absinthe Requires a Flaming Sugar CubeIt’s easy to see why some confusion arises over how to drink absinthe, especially with ornate water fountains and silver spoons both common, useful accessories. Given the spirit’s potent strength, and just like other anise-flavored alcohols, absinthe is best enjoyed diluted with water. The perfect dilution ranges from brand to brand, but enough ice-cold water should be added to spark the “louche” effect, turning the spirit cloudy or milky, thanks to the emulsification of essential oils and water. (Three parts water to one part absinthe is a loose guideline.) Historically, this water has been added drip-by-drip over a slotted spoon and single sugar cube — the sweetness helping to counteract the natural bitterness of wormwood. Where and how flames first figured into the equation is just as unclear as properly diluted absinthe. Needless to say, the practice persists purely for visual impact and perhaps only takes away from the experience. Absinthe Can Only Be Made in EuropeDespite deep rooted ties to France and Switzerland, absinthe in general is not a geographically protected product. This means distillers in America are just as welcome to conjure the Green Fairy as those from mainland Europe — and more than a handful are. In 2019, however, following 15 years of negotiations, the EU granted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status to Absinthe de Pontarlier. Just as only sparkling wine made in Champagne can bear the historic region’s name, the new labeling applies only to producers in the Swiss border region of eastern France. The EU regulations also dictate all the major aspects of Absinthe de Pontarlier production, including ingredients and their provenance, alcohol content, and — of course — the quantity of thujone allowed in the spirit. The article 5 of the Biggest Absinthe Myths, Debunked appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/articles/5-biggest-absinthe-myths/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/5-of-the-biggest-absinthe-myths-debunked
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This winning wine from northeast Italy is made from the “other” Pinot — not Pinot Noir, not Pinot Grigio, but Pinot Blanc. Known as Pinot Bianco in Italy, the latter grape often lives in the shadow of the more well-known Pinot Grigio. But it can produce luscious, full-flavored white wines that are worth discovering. One excellent example is Elena Walch’s 2019 Pinot Bianco from Alto Adige, a cool-climate Alpine region that borders Austria and Switzerland. Here, white wines account for about two thirds of the production. Think of Walch’s Pinot Bianco as something between Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc — a wine with a generous mouthfeel but with freshness and crisp acidity. Tastes of apple skin, white peach, and subtle orange are punctuated by herb, mineral, and saline notes. The wine is made without oak, and alcohol is listed at a moderate 13 percent. The wine is delightful as an aperitif and would be an excellent accompaniment to all kinds of shellfish, sushi, and white meats. Elena Walch, named after the woman who presides over the property with her two daughters, is a fairly large winery with dozens of offerings, both white and red. I have found the wines distinctive and well made in my tastings of them over the years. The 2019 Pinot Bianco, at around $18, is a good value and an excellent introduction to a variety and a region that are slightly off the beaten path of Italian wine. Buy This WineThe article Elena Walch Pinot Bianco 2019, Alto Adige, Italy appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/good-wine-reviews/elena-walch-pinot-bianco-2019-alto-adige-italy/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/elena-walch-pinot-bianco-2019-alto-adige-italy This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by Alamos Wine. At Alamos Wine, we craft flavorful, approachable, and authentically Argentine wines. Our flagship wine, the rich Argentinian Malbec, thrives in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, where our unique growing conditions give our Malbec incredibly concentrated notes of plum and blackberry. Here, in the shadow of the Andes Mountains, all our grapes reap the benefit of incredibly clean air, intense sunlight, frosty cold nights and mineral-rich Andes snowmelt to provide water for the vine. Indulge in the adventurous spirit of Argentina: Alamos wines. In this episode of “Wine 101,” VinePair tastings director Keith Beavers explores the arid, windy highlands of Argentina — home of some of the highest-quality Malbec in the world. The climate of Argentina, specifically that of the Uco Valley, is ideal for maintaining vine growth. The Uco Valley is known for producing wines that have a distinctly structured profile and markedly juicy taste. The history of how Argentina became a wine-producing superpower is rooted not only in Spanish colonial expansion, but also the passion and perseverance of the South Americans who were indigenous to these regions. Tune in as Beavers narrates how Argentinian wine came to be — a story just as labyrinthine as the vines in Cuyo and Mendoza. Listen OnlineOr Check Out the Conversation HereKeith: My name is Keith Beavers and is “Positions” the new “Thank You, Next?” I mean, close, right? What’s going on, wine lovers, welcome to Episode 5 of Season 2 of VinePair’s “Wine 101 Podcast.” My name is Keith Beavers – I’m the tasting director of VinePair, and… hey. I know we’ve talked about Malbec, and we dipped our toe in Argentina, but now we’re going to dive into the high desert of Argentina and understand what is this place that we love so much. Well, we love the wine. What do we know about the place? OK, so we understand Malbec, right? We know how it got to Argentina. We need to talk about Argentina itself. There’s some fascinating stuff that you need to know to understand what happened to get to the point of us falling in love with Malbec. OK, I don’t understand economics very well, but in the end of the ‘90s and into the 2000s, like 2000, 2001, Argentina went into recession. For some reason, the Argentine peso is pegged to the U.S. dollar, and it devalues the Argentine peso. This is bad for the Argentineans because they were exporting some other products, but they weren’t really exporting wine. But because of that price being so low and attractive to American importers, the Argentine people decided to start exporting their Malbec into the United States. Before that, the majority of the products that we got into the United States from Argentina were cattle products and fruit products. The Argentine people weren’t about exporting wine. Their entire history of wine in that country is domestic, more so than a lot of other countries, especially in the New World and the Old World. In 1960, there was a study done showing that the average annual wine consumption per head per capita in Argentina was 23 gallons a year. At that same time, in the U.K., it was six. So as we in America started falling in love with Malbec, the Argentinians were like, “Hey, welcome to us. Welcome to what we’ve been doing.” It’s wild because Argentina is considered a New World wine region; it’s not European, and it doesn’t have very strict winemaking rules. But the origin and the history of wine in Argentina begins in the 16th century with Spanish explorers, then conquerors, then colonists. From the 16th century to the early 19th century, Argentina evolved into one of the largest domestic wine industries in the world. So by the time we fell in love with Malbec, there was so much going on. The 16th century was very active for exploring. There were a lot of explorers leaving Spain and Portugal and coming to look for other places to live. They ended up in Central and South America — specifically in what is now Mexico City, in what is now in Mexico, and what is now Lima in Peru. These colonies from Spain were getting supplies from Spain all the time, but as they started to acclimate and take over this land, they started planting their own vines because it was getting harder and harder to get good wine from Spain to this area. It would usually go bad by the time it got there. So they started planting their own vines, and a lot of those vines were concentrated in Mexico City, and in Peru. A lot of this is being done by the Jesuit monks. Here we are with monks again. Of course, it was the monks that maintained and cultivated and found the best places to grow vines. So from Mexico City to Peru, there was a bunch of wine being made. There’s a bunch of land being conquered. Now, we have what the Royal Crown is calling “New Spain.” The wine activity was intense. Peruvian wine was a big deal — the Jesuits were doing it, secular people were doing it. Wine was happening in Peru. Of course, all this activity has humans moving even further south — they move south from Peru into Chile and into Argentina, and they bring with them vines and monks. These Jesuit monks are pretty intense. They’re all over what is now Argentina’s land. They’re trying to convert the native people to their religion. They’re setting up missionaries. In 1557, the first recorded vineyard was planted in a town called Santiago del Estero. It’s the first city founded by the Spanish settlers in this territory. To this day, they actually call that city Madre de Ciudades, which means “the Mother of All Cities.” In 1561, the city of Mendoza was founded just at the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Very quickly, north of Mendoza, in a place called San Juan, vines begin to be planted. This moment right here is really where people started realizing the potential of this wine-growing region. So by the end of the 16th century, “New Spain,” or South and Central South America, have a good thing going for them. There’s wine being made in Peru. There’s wine being made in Mexico City. Now, there’s wine being made in this new place called Mendoza. It’s a self-contained domestic wine industry. It was going very well — it was going so well, they weren’t ordering wine from Spain anymore. So over in Spain, the wine merchants are like, “Wait a second, what’s going on? Our orders are drying up.” So they approached King Philippe II and they were like, “Hey, can you do something about this? Because we’re not making any money off this New Spain.” King’s like, “OK.” And in 1595, he actually sends out an edict banning all wine production in New Spain: You can’t grow vines and you can’t make wine unless it’s for the Catholic Church. Nice loophole. But — and this is so great — New Spain ignored it. They were like, “What are you going to do? This is too big over here. You can’t mess with this.” They continued to just make wine. In Argentina, wine becomes the main economic activity of this new country. A middle class starts to develop to the west of Mendoza in a place called Cuyo. A lot of wealthy families go to this area, which is the foothills of the Andes. They start planting vines there. The vines start being planted all around the surrounding areas of Mendoza, basically creating some of the wine regions we still know today in Argentina, like San Juan, and Salta. This is all before Malbec even enters the chat. The main variety of grape they were working with was a Spanish grape called Listán Prieto. And then at some point that grape moves into the Canary Islands, which is another hub for the explorers, and that grape becomes called Palomino. Then at some point, they get to the New World, into Mexico City, and the grape becomes known as the Mission grape. Then they move down into Peru, into Chile, and the grape is called Pais. By the time the grape gets into Argentina, it’s called Criolla Chica. I know — it’s confusing. It’s a lot of names. It’s one grape, a red grape. A white grape they were playing around with was called Moscatel de Alejandría, which creates these very sweet, aromatic wines. And at some point, Criolla Chica and Moscatel de Alejandría cross-pollinate and a new variety pops up. It’s crazy. It’s like an Argentine variety. They ended up calling it Torrontés, and it actually thrives in Salta, which we’ll get into. By the end of the 19th century, there were more vineyards. There were export routes going to different parts of South America. They started using irrigation channels that the native people had built to capture the snowmelt from the Andes to use as a water source. To this day, they do the same thing. Winemakers start using oak barrels. The secular part of wine production becomes more popular. At some point, the Jesuit monks are kicked out of South America, and the Royal Crown of Spain starts distributing all the missionaries and the winemaking facilities to the bourgeoisie and other clergy members. Mendoza was thriving. Cuyo was thriving. I think there were 8,000 people living in Cuyo. San Juan was thriving. At the end of the 18th century, Argentina had done so much with wine. Unfortunately, in the beginning of the 19th century, a civil war broke out. Because of the civil war, wine trade throughout South America dried up. This is what really began the focus on domestic consumption in Argentina. During the civil war, a lot of Argentinean people went over to the Andes and found refuge in Chile. And if you remember, in the Malbec episode, there was one guy who did this. His name was Domingo Santiago Sarmiento. If that name sounds familiar, we talked about him in the Malbec episode in the last season — he meets up with Michel Pouget and another guy named Claudio Gay. He convinces them to come back over the Andes to start and bring vines with them to help develop the wine industry in Argentina. This is after the civil war is over and it’s safe to come back to Argentina. An agricultural school is set up, vines are planted, and this ushers in a new era of Argentine wine, the one that we’re pretty familiar with. This is where Malbec just takes over everything. This is the spiritual home of Malbec. It’s just so crazy how these wine regions were already established. But when they planted Malbec into these regions that are already established, like, oh, my gosh, Malbec takes to the soil here like you wouldn’t believe — and not just in one place. Mendoza is big and there are warm, low-lying areas. There are foothills and high-elevation areas. But Malbec took to all of it and gave Argentina different styles of Malbec, depending on where it’s grown. And the generations of families that make these wines. These are people that came from France, Italy, Spain, and when the railway was built, they made their way into Mendoza, and they started planting roots there. That’s why some of the wineries that you hear about in Mendoza have non-Spanish names, because all that European wine skill and influence has been in Argentina for a very long time. Because Argentina went through some tough times, quantity became more important than quality at some point, but that was just a very brief moment in time. So let’s talk about what you’re going to see on the American market from Argentina, pretty much in the form of Malbec. This is how diverse Argentina is, and the majority of the wine growing area is in the west part of the country, against the Andes Mountains, because that’s where some of the best wine-growing soils are, very poor soils. The thing about Argentina is it’s a high desert. The elevations of some of these vineyards can get up to 5,000 feet above sea level. It’s very high up there, and it’s very cool. There are a lot of very poor soils throughout this wine growing region, whether it’s Mendoza, or Salta, or San Juan. You get little rainfall in this area. Some places get more than others — I think it’s an average of 12 inches per year. All this, with summers that can reach up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Mendoza is by far the largest wine producing region in Argentina, and the most important. This area is responsible for 70 percent of all the wine output of Argentina. The way Mendoza works out is there’s not really a controlled appellation system. There is, but it’s very loose — it’s actually in development now. But generally speaking, Mendoza is divided into departments which are then subdivided into districts, and then within those districts, you have actual single vineyards. There are names for each of these. It’s not official yet, but they’re working on it, and it’s coming because there is so much terroir to talk about in Mendoza alone. To the east and north of Mendoza are about six departments: Lavalle, Las Heras, Santa Rosa, La Paz, San Martín, Rivadavia. These departments are furthest away from the Andes. It’s a more low-lying area. Tons of sun, of course (this place gets tons of sun no matter what) and more fertile soil. In this area you do get Malbec, but primarily you really see Tempranillo and Bonarda, and they make these really great everyday red wines. They’re awesome. There’s more focused wine being made in this area. But this is a really good source for good, everyday Argentine red wine. South and west of Mendoza are two departments, Maipú, and then closer to the Andes, Luján de Cuyo. Together this is considered the prima zona — the first area. It’s one of the oldest wine districts in Mendoza. This is where all those wealthy people back in the day were building houses and wineries over towards the Andes, in Cuyo. Maipú and Luján de Cuyo both have about seven districts within their departments, and this is the place that really helped define Malbec from Mendoza. Luján de Cuyo is at a higher elevation and makes more refined, structured wines whereas Maipú is a little bit lower area, and a little more fertile, making big, round, juicy Malbecs. Those are the two Malbecs we know. We know the juicy stuff, and we know the structured stuff. That’s where it all began. But an hour and a half south of Mendoza, there is a valley called Uco Valley. This place is very special, not only in Argentina, but in wine in general. You have the department of Tupungato with four districts within that, and then you have single vineyards within that. You have the department of Tunuyán with its four districts and single vineyards within that. And you have San Carlos with its four districts and single vineyards within that. This place is a focused study in how vines, soil, and climate interact with each other. The varying soils of this area are pretty overwhelming. The fact that we have three departments, four districts each, with single vineyards within them shows that there is such a varying soil composition, that they all need to be defined. As rocks, and glaciers, and rivers are formed in mountains, it displaces a lot of soil. These are called alluvial fans, and towards the bottom in the foothills of mountain ranges, in certain areas of the world, there are a significant amount of alluvial fans, meaning all different kinds of soils end up on top of each other — it’s chaotic. It’s almost like Burgundy, but a little bit different because it’s a mountain range and not a massif. You could sit down with a Malbec from each of these areas, and you would know the distinct differences between them. Malbec has a lot to offer. It has a lot of beautiful dark fruit. Sometimes herby notes, sometimes a little bit of pepper, but nice, big structure to it, good tannins. There is a separation of character that Malbec wants to show us, and Uco Valley does that. The people that are making wine there are so into the soil, it’s ridiculous. They dig holes, they study, they plant. It’s a very sustainable area as well. A lot of the winemakers there are doing sustainable winemaking. It’s a beautiful place. These wines, I have to say, they’re not inexpensive. This, I believe, is Argentina’s Napa Valley. There are more affordable wines being made there, but Uco Valley is about structure and focus. These Malbec are amazing. You can find Malbecs from Uco Valley that are upwards of 70, 80, 90 dollars a bottle because there’s such a small production, because they want you to, they want you to to feel the terroir. They have their departments, and their districts, and their single vineyards are what they call paraje. That’s their name for single vineyards, and this is the word that they’re hoping to be part of the new controlled system that they’re trying to create. So it would be: department, district, paraje (or single vineyard.) This is where it’s all really happening. It’s very exciting. You’re going to see wines from all over Mendoza on the American market. It’s not just Malbec — there’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, there’s Merlot, there’s Syrah, there’s Chardonnay, there’s Sauvignon Blanc. They’re doing all kinds of stuff in Mendoza, but Malbec just kind of reigns supreme because of its ability to express itself in different ways throughout the region. North of Mendoza, all the way towards the southern border of Peru in northern Argentina is a valley called the Calchaquí Valley. This valley is big, and it spreads over a few provinces. The most important of those provinces, just because we see it mostly on the American market, is a place called Salta. This department makes Malbec, they also grow Cabernet, Syrah, Bonarda, even a grape called Tannat, which is actually doing really well in Uruguay. But it’s the extremely aromatic, dry, sometimes fizzy white wine made from the Torrontés variety that shines in this area. You’ll remember Torrentés is the variety that was discovered in Argentina that had been a cross between Criolla Chica and Moscatel de Alejandría. Well, this region is well over 5,000 feet above sea level. There’s actually a vineyard 10,000 feet above sea level in this area. It gets 300 days of sun. It is extremely windy, which is perfect for a white wine grape that produces a lot of sugar. It is very aromatic. If it was grown in any other place (and sometimes it is) it could be a little bit cloying and intense and a little bit syrupy. But in Salta, Torrontés is amazing. It’s fizzy, it’s bright, it’s vibrant, it’s dry. There are these smacks of sweet that hit your palate. But they’re not cloyingly sweet. They’re just kind of aromatic sweet. They’re beautiful wines, and you’ll find them on the American market. There are other wine departments in Argentina, but these are the ones we’re going to see on the American market. This is just the beginning. Argentina is in the midst of a big development. It’s going to be very exciting. But if you get a chance, try to find some of those higher and focused Malbecs, or even Cab Francs or even Cabernet Sauvignons, whether they’re from the Uco Valley or from Luján de Cuyo, give them a chance. Spend a little money on a Malbec. Let it show you what kind of structure and beauty it can have, and then get one for like $9 and have yourself a burger night, you know what I mean? So, as usual, there’s more about Argentina I want to tell you, but I don’t want to waste all your time. We have more to talk about, so go out there. Enjoy Malbec from Argentina, knowing a little bit about how it all happened. @VinePairKeith is my insta. Rate and review this podcast wherever you get your podcast from, it really helps get the word out there. And now for some totally awesome credits. “Wine 101” was produced, recorded and edited by yours truly, Keith Beavers at the VinePair headquarters in New York City. I want to give a big shoutout to co-founders Adam Teeter and Josh Malin for creating VinePair. Big shoutout to Danielle Grinberg, the art director of VinePair, for creating the most awesome logo for this podcast. Also, Darby Cicci for the theme song. Listen to this. And I want to thank the entire VinePair staff for helping me learn something new every day. See you next week. This episode of “Wine 101” is sponsored by Alamos Wine. At Alamos Wine, we craft flavorful, approachable, and authentically Argentine wines. Our flagship wine, the rich Argentinian Malbec, thrives in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, where our unique growing conditions give our Malbec incredibly concentrated notes of plum and blackberry. Here in the shadow of the Andes Mountains, all our grapes reap the benefit of incredibly clean air, intense sunlight, frosty cold nights, and mineral-rich Andes snowmelt to provide water for the vines. Indulge in the adventurous spirit of Argentina: Alamos wines. Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity. The article Wine 101: Argentina appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/articles/wine-101-argentina/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/wine-101-argentina It’s becoming increasingly obvious that there’s no harm in a little imbibing. While last week saw a 117-year-old French woman cite red wine as one of the secrets to her longevity, news is just in that a 105-year-old woman from New Jersey is crediting raisins marinated in gin as her secret weapon against Covid. Lucia DeClerck recently shared her daily routine with The New York Times, explaining that for most of her life, she’s made sure to eat nine gin-soaked raisins every single day. The centenarian, who has lived through the Spanish flu, two world wars, and the deaths of three husbands and a son, has no shortage of tenacity — and as it appears, she has no shortage of gin, either. According to Michael Neiman, the administrator of the nursing home where DeClerck lives, she contracted Covid just a day after her second round of the Pfizer vaccine. She showed minimal symptoms and made a full recovery within two weeks. DeClerck has since resumed her role as a social butterfly in Mystic Meadows Rehabilitation and Nursing Facility. It’s safe to assume she’s back to eating her raisins as well. The more we think about it, the better a Negroni is starting to sound…for our health, of course. The article 105-Year-Old Woman Who Beat Covid Claims Gin-Soaked Raisins Are Her Secret appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/booze-news/gin-soaked-raisins-covid/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/105-year-old-woman-who-beat-covid-claims-gin-soaked-raisins-are-her-secret What better way to pay your respects to St. Patrick than having a nice glass of Irish whiskey? Jameson believes we should go one further, and that Paddy’s Day is a holiday that warrants vacation time. That’s why the brand is awarding 1,000 fans $50 each to incentivize them to take “SPTO” (St. Patrick’s Time Off.) By pledging to take the day off work via an online form on the Jameson website, participants’ names will be entered for a chance to win the prize. Winners will be announced on March 8. According to a Jameson press release, the sweepstakes follow the widespread canceling of St. Patrick’s Day last year, when newly imposed social distancing guidelines necessitated the calling off of celebrations for the “first time in 250 years.” The Jameson press release notes that “we need the spirit and camaraderie of the holiday now more than ever,” and the whiskey brand has pledged to donate an additional $50 for each winner of the sweepstakes to the Restaurant Workers Community Foundation, supplementing its original $150,000 donation. As if getting paid to take off work and sip whiskey wasn’t enticing enough, Jameson hired comedians Retta Sirleaf (Parks and Rec, Good Girls) and Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) to encourage fans to participate through a PSA. Rest assured — there’s no need to convince us. The article Jameson Will Pay You $50 To Take Off St. Patrick’s Day appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/booze-news/take-off-paddys-day-get-paid/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/jameson-will-pay-you-50-to-take-off-st-patricks-day We’re not just drink lovers, connoisseurs, or aficionados. We’re hardcore drink nerds. We’re not satisfied simply sipping a cocktail; we want to break down the flavors and understand its composition. The more we can learn about the history behind a drink and its cultural significance, the more we appreciate it. Rather than shying away from our nerdiness, we display it with pride. For the like-minded drinkers who want to know everything about their libations, we’ve rounded up our favorite museum-quality posters that will teach you a little something about your favorite beverages, and look great doing it. The Great American Tipple Timeline Poster
The Houses of Bourbon Poster
The Flavor & Aromas Profiles of Popular Hops Poster (Expanded Edition)
The Periodic Table of Cocktails Poster
The Beer Types of the World Poster
Cocktail Codex Poster
The article The Posters That Every Drink Nerd Needs appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/picks/best-drink-nerd-posters-2021/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-posters-that-every-drink-nerd-needs Here’s to the case buy and the grab and go. We see you, BYOB stans and quick and easy weeknight recipe lovers. Gather ‘round, grill masters and casserole makers. Hark! Pizza night, burger night, taco Tuesday, and Netflix and chill. These are your wines! There is a sea of affordable wines out there with pearls hidden among the masses — many touting adorable labels attempting to lure you in like a siren’s song. And by all means, give in. Let the colors draw you like a moth to a flame. It’s fun to explore. But if you need some guidance, we did some leg work to help you out. When tasting wine at VinePair, I always pay close attention to the value wines that pique my interest. To me, they are some of the biggest successes in the wine market: cheap, awesome, and often simple bottles that are soundly made and blend in with every occasion. As I stated in the pizza roundup, simple wines aren’t always easy to make, but they’re always easy to drink. These wines are not as much about complexity — although some can have nice layers — as they are about ease and balance. So polish off that trusty Pyrex casserole dish, start revisiting that BBQ sauce recipe, and get your playlist in order. Better times are ahead, and you’ll soon be ready for poppin’ bottles for all gatherings — spontaneous or otherwise. Start here. Best Cheap Red WinesBodegas Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha $17Real talk, this is the first bottle I bought when I decided to dive into wine and start my own wine blog (when we were still getting used to the word “blog”). It’s as solid now as it was then. It’s deep and dark, with a smooth palate that is sweetened by high alcohol. But that heat is blended well so you can enjoy the smells of spicy vanilla. BBQ, please. Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo $10Another classic, this bottle is like an old friend; it will never let you down. It has crowd-pleasing soft fruit with good moderate acidity, making it the perfect communal food wine. It’s the bottle to buy a case of knowing that it will settle in easily, no matter the occasion. Cantine Argiolas Costera Cannonau di Sardegna $15Nothing like an island red from Italy to match a weekend cookout. Cannonau, on the island of Sardinia, is often enjoyed with spit-roasted suckling pig and seafood pasta. It’s a mouthful of fruit and earth, with bright acidity announcing the smell of plums and dark cherries. With a slight chill and paired with a juicy pork chop, this wine is a chef’s kiss. Bodegas Ontañon Crianza $15Welcome to Rioja, a place that releases aged wines that are subtle, balanced, and extremely affordable. It’s one of the only wine regions from which you can get an older wine, between five and 10 years, for around $20. This is a 2017 vintage at 15 bucks, and it’s awesomely smooth with active acidity that promotes earthy cherries up to the brain. It’s great for a cheese-and-cured-meat-plate kind of evening. Intrinsic Cabernet Sauvignon $19The label looks like a hipster hotel mural or a full-sleeve tattoo. It’s very attractive and will lure you in. Let it. Just go with it, man. This wine is great. It has just the right amount of oak and good acidity. It’s somewhat soft, but with a bold core of fruit. We need more balanced, affordable, Cabs like this in our lives. So thanks, Intrinsic peeps. The Pinot Project Pinot Noir $13I know I have listed this bottle before, but there is no denying that it is one of the most solid, well-priced American Pinot Noirs. It’s chewy and broad with a good balance of fruit and acidity. It’s a snapshot of the style Americans are diggin’ on right now and will slay with a messy burger. Decoy Merlot $19This wine is so enjoyable. It’s a bottle that pairs better with casual conversation than a meal. Soft, supple, and deep with good oak and medium acidity, it’s wine to just sit with after work. It smells like blackberries and blueberries with a whiff of vanilla and is ready to straight-up chill. Trivento Malbec Reserve $11So much cheap Malbec! It’s crazy, right? If you’ve been in search of the right one to grab to have a nice weeknight or bring to the chill gathering, here ya go. This is one of the best bets on the budget shelf. It’s soft and smooth, pleasing many palates. The acidity keeps things juicy and balanced. It’s the Monday Malbec to get your friends into. Cantine Colosi Nero d’Avola $14I’m sayin’, these Italian island reds are a joy and are often very affordable. The Nero d’Avola grape is the pride of Sicily. It has different expressions in this region but has always been a daily wine. This bottle gets to the heart of that. It’s jammy, with great acidity and a little depth for good measure. Bring it out a bit chilled with a platter of carpaccio, and stand back. The Chook Shiraz-Viognier $18Get a load of this: It’s a red sparkling wine made from Shiraz and a dollop of Viognier. And get this, it’s awesome. This is your barbecue bubbly. Deep, dark fruit that is broken up by frothy bubbles that foam to the top keep this wine balanced just right. There is a slight bitter note that is almost needed to crack the sweetness a bit. It’s one hell of a unique wine, and it’s delicious. Best Cheap White WinesFeudi di San Gregorio Falanghina $19Just off the coast of Sicily is the mainland of Italy and the shores of Napoli in Campania. Inland from there are hills and mountains populated by grapes that have been growing in these soils since antiquity. And most of them are white. They are wonderful. Falanghina (Fah-lahn-gee-nah) in the Sannio region is one of them. Lemony crisp with crazy acicidty, it’s not dry or sweet but somewhere blessedly in between. Pair this wine with a Caprese salad, and you’ll feel compelled to explore this region even more. Alois Lageder ‘Riff’ Pinot Grigio 2019 $10This is the Pinot Grigio you are looking for. It’s under screw cap, it has a fun label looking dope in a beach bag and it’s under 10 bucks. Oh, and it’s really good! This bottle really defines how Pinot Grigio can still be expressive and balanced, even at a high production rate. It has vibrant acidity and smells like sliced apples and spontaneity. Louis Jadot Mâcon-Villages $14The Mâcon appellation offers some of the most affordable wines in the Maconnais Burgundy region. They are almost always unoaked and have round, moderate acidity, allowing for some depth and balance. This is one of them; it’s widely available and smells like lemons and pears. La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay $19It’s nice to have a solid Sonoma wine as a grab and go. And this wine defines that. It’s widely available and is a crowd pleaser. It has good American Chardonnay depth with moderate acidity, resulting in a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. It smells like butter and pears and won’t weigh you down with too much alcohol. Hanna Sauvignon Blanc $19This is a defining Sauvignon Blanc that’s affordable and under screw cap. It’s definitely California with a soft round palate but also shows it’s inherent angular side. It smells citrusy, with a waft of ripe green apples and minty gooseberries. There is a flinty vibe running through it, keeping the acidity bright and aromas at the forefront. It’s a sunny afternoon in California in a bottle. Bodegas Avancia Cuvee de O Godello $18Welcome to the refreshing world of Godello. I listed a more concentrated and expensive example on “The 28 Best White Wines for 2021,” but this option is affordable and just as tasty — so now there’s no excuse not to try this awesome grape. It smells like limes and pears, with a broad unoaked Chardonnay mouthfeel. The acidity is bounding about in the glass, keeping things active and letting you enjoy a slight depth. Come on in. Broadbent Vinho Verde $13On summer evenings after work, watching the sun melt into the horizon, what would be better than a slightly fizzy low-alcohol white wine that smells like apples and dances on the palate? Not much, I reckon. With frothy acidity lifting up a slight carbonation, this wine is that evening. Tablelands Sauvignon Blanc $14Move over Marlborough, and let Martinborough in. In the southern, hilly Waipara region on the North Island of New Zealand is a river valley that produces dry, grippy Savvy B with bracing acidity and citrusy fruit. No gassy, sweet bell peppers here. This is a great alternative to the wines made on the northern tip of the South Island. Best Cheap Sparkling WinesBisol Jeio Prosecco Brut $14This is a unique kind of Prosecco. Where most Prosecco is typically sweet, this wine is juicy. Instead of active bubbles, it has a lazy winding perlage. These qualities allow for a thirst-quenching Prosecco. It’s the kind of sparkling that you sit and chill with but keep looking at that glass like damn, this is good. Gruet Blanc de Noirs $17I’m still here stanning the American Sparkler idea (DMs are open), and this is one of our faves here at VinePair. It’s so well balanced, with a nice, rich depth that loosens under persistent bubbles. The bottle will bring high-fives to a celebration or legit fist bumps at casual events. The article The 20 Best Cheap Wines Under $20 for 2021 appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/buy-this-booze/20-best-cheap-wines-under-20-2021/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-20-best-cheap-wines-under-20-for-2021 “If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street. If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.” The Beatles might have opted not to include a line or two about distillation in the 1966 tongue-in-cheek classic “Taxman,” but make no mistake about it: For about as long as industrial distillers have produced whiskey, governments have had a hand in their pockets. We need only look back to 18th-century Ireland as a fine example. Booze was big business, then as now. The British government ruling Ireland at the time was strapped for cash thanks to the many wars it was engaged in. (No fewer than nine throughout the 1700s, in countries including Spain, France, Austria, and America.) Taxing alcohol had the dual intentions of raising money (successful) and curbing rampant overindulgence (not so much); by the latter half of the century, Irish distillers found themselves paying duty on everything from the amount of spirit they produced to the internal capacity of their stills. A third and final tax on the ingredients used to make whiskey, the 1785 Malt Tax, would prove to be a catalyst in shaping both the future and very identity of Irish whiskey. Typical descriptions of Irish whiskey tend to include a few basic technical terms and descriptors: smooth profile, triple distillation, blends. It is by no coincidence that all of these factors describe Jameson, the category-defining brand that has dominated Irish whiskey sales for decades. Triple distillation and blending are not unique to Ireland. Yet, just as America has bourbon, and Scotch can only be produced across the Irish Sea in Scotland, Ireland is home to its own geographically protected, unique style of whiskey: Pot Still Irish Whiskey. What sets pot still apart, somewhat counterintuitively, is not the vessel used for distillation but the ingredients used in the mash bill. Irish government regulations stipulate that, besides being produced in a pot still, the whiskey must be distilled from a mash containing a minimum of 30 percent malted barley and 30 percent unmalted barley, with other unmalted cereals also allowed. It is the unmalted grains and cereals that tie everything back to the 1785 tax. But first, a quick primer on malting, because it helps explain why it all matters. In his book “A Glass Apart: Irish Single Pot Still Whiskey,” Fionnán O’Connor notes that “malt is essentially barley that has been tricked into prematurely sprouting into an actual plant.” To achieve this trickery, malt houses steep barley in water, then spread the grains out over a stone floor to germinate. During this process, special enzymes break down the barriers to the barley’s starch, then break that starch down to sugar, O’Connor explains. The process is vital because sugar is a necessary ingredient in the alcohol-producing fermentation. Once the sprouting rootlets have reached a certain length, they are roasted in iron-oven kilns to halt the germination process, at which point they are ready for the first stages of whiskey production. This isn’t to say that unmalted barley provides nothing during fermentation, though. “You get much lower yields when working with unmalted,” explains Tim Herlihy, an Irish whiskey expert, author, and former Tullamore DEW brand ambassador. But more than sugar for alcohol production, unmalted barley’s biggest contribution is flavor and texture, he says. “There’s more spice, more pepperiness, and there’s a mouthfeel to it as well.” So now back to 1785 and its impact on the modern-day definition of pot still whiskey. Faced with a new tax on malted barley, distillers included a proportion of raw, unmalted barley and other cereals in their mash bills to lower the duty they paid. Many accounts of the malt tax consider it as the lightbulb moment for Irish whiskey. An article on the Irish Whiskey Trail website paints it as the precise point at which “crafty” distillers invented a workaround of a foreign tax. “What was initially a means of cutting costs later turned into a fortuitous accident,” the article notes. It’s a nice notion but as with most things historical, it wasn’t quite so straightforward. “By the time it was finally passed in 1785, the potential of unmalted grains seems to have already been common knowledge,” O’Connor notes. “Nine years before the Irish tax was even levied, the economist Adam Smith wrote that, ‘In what one called malt spirits, it makes up but a third part of the materials; the other two being raw barley or one third barley and one third wheat.’” O’Connor also points out that one of the stipulations of the original 1785 malt tax was that distillers could not use mixed mashes of malted and unmalted grains. He writes, “Although this early provision was essentially ignored, the fact that the practice was prohibited means that it must have been in use before the tax.” Even though the malt tax might not be the lightbulb moment for Irish whiskey many thought it was, there’s no doubt about it being the catalyst for the pot still style. After its introduction, the inclusion of malted and unmalted grains in mash bills was widely embraced by distillers across the country. By 1828, government records show that pot still whiskey accounted for 98.54 percent of the nation’s output. Over time, and owing to a multitude of factors, distillers eventually turned their attention to blended whiskey. But even blends are not without influence from pot still. Distillers typically run the spirit through their stills three times to remove some of the harsher flavor compounds that arise from using unmalted barley, and the blends themselves often contain a mix of column-distilled grain whiskey and pot still whiskey (Jameson is one such example). For now, blended whiskeys remain Ireland’s most popular by a long shot. But there’s no denying pot still’s position as the only style of whiskey unique to Ireland. “I would go as far as saying it is the most important part of Irish whiskeys DNA,” Herlihy says. The article The 18th-Century Tax That Shaped the Future and Identity of Irish Whiskey appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/articles/history-pot-still-irish-whiskey/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/the-18th-century-tax-that-shaped-the-future-and-identity-of-irish-whiskey When the VinePair staff built the annual list of the best beers of 2020, they were reminded of the continued emergence of cause-based collaboration beers as an agent of change against extraordinary societal challenges. Unequivocally, these types of benevolent partnerships were breweries’ primary tool to confront crises both unprecedented and longstanding last year, from the coronavirus pandemic to systemic racism and police brutality. In a year unlike any other, one of distancing, one of division, highly successful initiatives like Weathered Souls’ Black Is Beautiful, Other Half’s All Together, and Threes’ People Power saw beer makers of all sizes and shapes, and from all around the world, joining forces to address pressing social problems. Ordinarily, brewery collaborations arise from way less unsettling circumstances. Brewers who admire each other get together for an afternoon to talk shop, share beers, and, of course, post photos on social media. (The project’s mechanics, like recipe design, are often hammered out over email or text prior to meeting.) Whatever the impetus, these partnerships have become a staple of the craft beer industry — and, as such, now regularly extend outside the brewing world to include musicians, sports teams, television shows, and all manner of partnerships within their respective communities. With that in mind, we wondered: What are the most memorable collaboration beers that have come out recently? To find the best examples of the moment, we spoke to 12 brewers across the country about their favorites (participants were asked to consider only those titles released over the previous 10 months). From pastry stouts to pub ales, here’s what the experts picked for the best collaborations beers. The Best Collaboration Beers Recommended by Brewers
Keep reading for details about all the recommended beers! “Bierstadt Lagerhaus’s collaboration with Bagby Beer Tmavè 13 was the best collab beer I had [recently]. While both producers are synonymous with thoughtful, top-tier beer, this Czech-style dark lager is particularly spectacular because of the experience it highlights. It has aromas reminiscent of a dimly lit Prague bierhall, and a palate that is saturated with belly laughs and life-long friendships. An inspiring collaboration that is as much about honoring friendship and community as it is about making world-class beer. People are what make beer special, and Tmavè 13 is a beautiful reminder of that.” —Phil Joyce, Co-owner and Blender, Amalgam Brewing, Denver “Dancing Gnome’s Watershed, the first in a yearlong collaboration series with West Virginia-based illustrator Rosalie Haizlett and Pittsburgh’s Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, has really stuck out for me. Dancing Gnome will release a new beer each month with label artwork by Haizlett that celebrates the ecology of the rivers and streams of Western Pennsylvania, with part of the proceeds of the can sales being donated to the Nine Mile Run’s conservation projects. Watershed, the first in this collab series, is a New England-style IPA hopped with Galaxy, Nelson, and Ella. I really enjoyed the slight bitterness up front paired with assertive aromas of tropical fruit, grapes, and citrus, and the pillowy mouthfeel to round it all out. It had a great balance and complexity of hop aromas and pale malt notes. Dancing Gnome knocked this one out of the park, I loved the can artwork, and it’s awesome that the brewery is helping to benefit outside organizations with its beer.” —Lauren Hughes, Head Brewer, Necromancer Brewing, Pittsburgh “I’m a huge fan of Side Project, so I was thrilled when one of my friends gifted me a bottle of Leaner Blend #2, the brewery’s collaboration with Casey Brewing & Blending, to celebrate buying my first house. Seven months in wine barrels give this mixed-culture saison a tart dryness that borders on mouth-puckering but doesn’t quite cross the line. It’s naturally carbonated and beautifully effervescent, and the addition of juicy Missouri peaches creates the mouthfeel and flavor of summer sunshine in a bottle. In short, this saison is perfectly farmhouse without being overly funky, so you can enjoy more than one without being overwhelmed by horse blanket.” —Kate Russell, Founder and Brewer, Hopkinsville Brewing Company, Hopkinsville, Ky. “The best collaboration beer I’ve had recently was a beautiful IPA called Mosaic Oasis, brewed by Karl Strauss and Modern Times at the former. Being in San Diego, we’re all hop-obsessed and this beer really hits that hop craving that I get around 5 p.m. every day. They call it a San Diego IPA, which means it’s super light in color and has a relatively low bitterness in order to allow for the aromas and flavors of the hops — in this case Mosaic — to really shine and be the star. It has an almost explosive grapefruit and tangerine aroma along with some nice tropical notes to balance it out. A nice dry finish makes this beer super drinkable while still having a lot of character.” —Doug Constantiner, Co-founder and CEO, Societe Brewing Company, San Diego “Barrel-Aged Adjunct Trail, from Angry Chair and Prairie Artisan Ales, is the perfect marriage of what both of these breweries do so well. This bourbon-barrel-aged imperial sweet stout, featuring coconut and hazelnut coffee, offers tons of barrel character and balanced adjuncts that don’t overshine the barrel but rather complement it. Sweet but not overly so. It’s simply everything you’d want from a barrel-aged pastry stout from these two titans.” —James Herrholz, Brewer, Corporate Ladder Brewing Company, Palmetto, Fla. “I was lucky enough to snag a can of Driftwood double IPA from Vitamin Sea and Branch and Blade while brewing my own collab with the latter. It was a real treat, starting with the eye-catching label art, and the dense yellow pour. It drinks a touch sweet and incredibly soft, but with defined edges. This is exactly what I’m looking for in a beer like this. The Riwaka really blew me away, and I’m always astonished by Vitamin Sea’s use of Motueka hops.” —Caleb Hiliadis, Head Brewer, Amherst Brewing, Amherst, Mass. “I loved a cask-conditioned saison called Continuing On by Highland Park Brewery and Craftsman Brewery. It had subtle notes of juniper and sage on the nose — a beautiful herbal, savory quality. There was perfect acidity, with some stone fruit and lemon peel, and a great tannin structure. The bitterness is in perfect balance, which is quite rare these days. I could continue to drink this all day.” —Shawn Bainbridge, Owner and Brewer, Halfway Crooks Beer, Atlanta “There’s been no shortage of hazy IPAs in my life since I moved to Brooklyn from the Bay Area, but out West they seem to like a little more terpene with their juice. My buddy sent me a care package with Cellarmaker and Sante Adairus’s Hop Survivor, and it took me right back. Did you ever cut into a lime or a pineapple and catch a bit of pine smell to it? Motueka and Simcoe hops flood you with that exact dankness, while Columbus rounds out the earthy side and Galaxy provides fruitiness to make this one of my favorites of 2020.” —Daniel Gadala-Maria, Brewer, Other Half Brewing, Brooklyn “For Gabe, a collaboration between Side Project and Anchorage to celebrate the latter brewery’s founder, Gabe Fletcher, on his business’s 10 years, perfectly showcases the strengths of each brand. This blend of barleywine and stout, featuring threads from both sides, combines delicate bourbon barrel notes with a malt profile that can only be described as amazing. The stout component balances the barleywine in a way that cuts the sweetness without losing the barrels that are the star of the show.” —Wade Meyer, Brewer, WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, Colo. “I choose a local collab between Other Half FLX and Swiftwater called Peabody Punch. It’s an 8 percent ABV Berliner weisse packed with pink guava, lime, green tea, and milk sugar. Instead of a low-ABV Berliner like the norm for the style, these two great local brands and friends of ours went big and bold. And why not? I love seeing this community come together and create interesting and unique takes on classic styles. The beer hits you with pink guava right up front, leading into a hint of green tea with lime. It finishes clean with a subtle hint of tartness. Very refreshing and fruity with a big backbone. It definitely doesn’t drink like an 8 percent beer. Two of my favorite local breweries teaming up to make great beer here in the greater Rochester area!“ —Chris Spinelli, Founder and Roc Brewing Co., Rochester, N.Y. “I really liked the Green Cheek and Track Manchester-style modern pub ale, Strictly Speaking, hopped exclusively with Strata. Strata is my new favorite hop and I’ve always liked what Green Cheek does. I’ve always liked when brewers experiment on styles, so doing a cask-style ale that’s light in ABV but huge in flavor and aroma with that creamy mouthfeel, all while using my favorite hop and brewed by somebody I look up to, made this one stand out.” —Bryan Hendrickson, Head Brewer, Evans Brewing Co., Corona, Calif. “Without a doubt, the farmhouse IPA, Out Back Counting Stars, made by the good folks at Bhramari and Birds Fly South. I was lucky enough to share a couple of these with Bhramari founder Gary Sernack during a recent weekend collab in Asheville we did, and for some reason, hearing the story behind a beer that they are passionate about always makes the beer even more memorable. The way those two breweries found a way to interweave their wildly different styles with a beer that truly represents both is impressive. Subtle funk from the Birds Fly house culture provides the perfect setting for the soft yet assertive dry-hop profile and makes this beer infinitely crushable, and really memorable. In a time where getting out and collaborating is few and far between, this beer really reminded me of the reason why collaborations can be so great and important.” —Josh Rake, Founder, Rake Beer Project, Muskegon, Mich. The article We Asked 12 Brewers: What’s the Best Recent Collaboration Beer You’ve Had? appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/articles/wa-12-best-collaboration-beers/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/we-asked-12-brewers-whats-the-best-recent-collaboration-beer-youve-had Airing between regular episodes of the “VinePair Podcast,” “Next Round” explores the ideas and innovations that are helping drinks businesses adapt in a time of unprecedented change. As the coronavirus crisis continues and new challenges arise, VP Pro is in your corner, supporting the drinks community for all the rounds to come. If you have a story or perspective to share, email us at [email protected]. In this “Next Round” episode, Adam Teeter speaks with the creator of Kasama Rum, Alexandra Dorda, who is a second-generation spirits entrepreneur. Hailing from a family known for its vodka empires, Dorda decided to take a different route by producing a dark, barrel-aged rum with a light flavor profile. According to her, Kasama’s branding is revolutionary in distancing its aesthetic from the stereotypical pirate and sailor caricatures that are often associated with rum. Kasama, which means “together” in Filipino, has managed to find success since its recent release, despite launching during a time when many people cannot physically be together with their loved ones. Even though bars nationwide face closures and the alcohol industry has taken a significant hit, Dorda is optimistic about the future of Kasama and is confident in the sipping rum’s quality, as well as the cultural pride of the Filipinos who are working to uplift it. Listen OnlineOr Check Out the Conversation HereAdam: From Brooklyn, New York, I’m Adam Teeter, and this is a VinePair “Next Round” conversation. We’re bringing you these conversations between the regular “VinePair Podcast” in order to give a better picture about what’s going on in the world of alcoholic beverages. Today, I’m really lucky to be speaking with Alexandra Dorda, the founder of Kasama Rum. Alexandra, what’s going on? Alexandra: Hi, Adam. So good to be here. Thank you so much for having me. A: Of course. My pleasure. So where do I find you in the world in early February? I’m in Brooklyn, and there’s snow all over the ground. But where are you? AD: I’m currently in Los Angeles, California. This is where I grew up when I was very small. So it’s sort of like coming home, in a way. A: As I’ve seen, the weather’s a lot nicer than it is here in New York. AD: Yes, it’s beautiful. I’m going to make you really jealous. I’m looking out into a garden. It’s warm here and the birds are chirping. It’s really nice. A: Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I want to talk to you about a lot of things. Obviously, the rum being the primary focus of our conversation. Kasama Rum. When did you launch it? Can you tell me a little bit about it? AD: Kasama Rum, I call it the Sunshine Spirit. It’s a 7-year-old rum from the Philippines. We soft-launched last year in September of 2020, but actually our official launch is tomorrow. People can now order the rum directly through the website. It’s obviously an incredibly strange time to launch a brand. I was a bit cautious, so we did a soft launch at the end of last year. A: Some people who are listening to this podcast may be familiar with your last name. Others may not. You are not a rookie when it comes to launching alcohol brands. So can you talk to us a little bit about your background, and your family’s background in alcohol, and how you decided through that background to create Kasama? Because I think the story of Kasama is really interesting. AD: Sure. So I’m 29, but I like to joke that I have 27 years of experience in the alcohol space. My dad launched two vodkas when I was just a toddler: Belvedere Vodka and Chopin Vodka. He is a pioneer in the vodka category; nobody was doing super-premium vodka at that time. We still own Chopin vodka, and we craft all of our vodka at our family owned distillery in eastern Poland. It’s really a beautiful operation. We even farm some of our own ingredients. I’ve really grown up in this industry, and through my father’s love of his craft, I really developed a love of craft spirits as well. When I was little, my dad would take me to restaurants. I remember being like 5 years old, and every time we go to a restaurant, he’d say, “Come on, Alex, we have to go to the bar. We have to meet the bartender. We have to read the cocktail menu. We have to see if our products are here.” So that was how I got my start in the industry, and it just progressed from there. It led to me launching this rum from the Philippines, which is where my mother is from. It feels very full-circle to have a family vodka from Poland where my dad is from, and now this rum from the Philippines. A: So how did you get the idea? I mean, obviously, OK, so you have a background in the spirits business with vodka. What caused you to say, I want to do a rum? Also, I’m curious, what was the rest of the family’s reaction to you wanting to do a rum? AD: So the family has been very, very supportive. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs, so I think that they’re very happy to see me on my own entrepreneurial journey. They’re super supportive, which I’m very grateful for. What caused me to do a rum? I’ve obviously been in this industry a long time and have really observed it very closely for a very long time. I saw a while back that the rum category was just a little bit weaker than all the other ones. There’s a distinct lack of interesting lifestyle brands in the category. I think that’s one of the reasons that the category has fallen behind some of the other spirits categories. Everyone keeps saying, “Rum is going to be next, rum is going to be the next bourbon or tequila,” and it hasn’t been so far. So I saw this gap in the market. I wondered why all the rum that I was seeing was pirate-themed, sailor-themed, or nautical-themed when that felt so irrelevant to me, and probably to a lot of other people out there. The impetus for me to actually launch Kasama Rum was that a couple of years ago I learned that the Philippines is actually one of the biggest rum producers in the world. I have to be honest, I didn’t know that. I think that a lot of people would be surprised to learn that. A: I was surprised, too. AD: The biggest rum brand in the world is not Bacardi. It’s a brand from the Philippines. But people don’t really hear about it because it’s mostly just consumed domestically. So I had this “aha” moment where I realized that I could fill this gap that I perceived in the market, while also celebrating the Filipino heritage that I’m so proud of. A: I’m going to let you educate us about Filipino rum. In your journey to learn this, what did you discover? How long has rum been made in the Philippines? What can you teach us that we should know about Filipino rum? AD: The Philippines is not new to the rum game, even though a lot of people are just learning about it right now. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for 333 years, and that’s where our rum history comes from — it’s from that period of colonization. We’ve been making rum for a very long time. Another thing that’s interesting to note that I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn, is that sugarcane is actually native to Southeast Asia. It’s originally from the Papua New Guinea area and came up through the Philippines to mainland Asia, over to Europe, and was only brought to the Caribbean later on, around the 1500s. We have very rich volcanic soil. The Philippines sits on the Ring of Fire; we have about 53 volcanoes, some of which are active. So this tropical climate that we have, this rich volcanic soil, and the fact that sugarcane is actually originally from this broader region means that we have some of the best rum in the world. That’s one of the stories that I’d really like to get out there to help put Filipino craft on the map in terms of rum and in other ways. A: So was the rum being distilled for the same reason we hear about in the Caribbean? To supply the navies, the sailors, and things like that? Was it being distilled around the same time as it was coming to the Caribbean? Do you know if it was first or second? This is fascinating. AD: You are really, really testing my history knowledge at the moment. It did come from the colonization period, which was up until the end of the 1800s, and 300 years before that. So around the 1500s. A: Amazing. And what do you think is distinct about rum from the Philippines? We hear a lot from other rum producers that there is something that’s very distinctive about Jamaican rum compared to Nicaraguan rum, or Cuban, or Puerto Rican (obviously where Bacardi is from). We romanticize Jamaica as being the home of the pot still rums. What do you think is really distinct about Filipino rum? Are there characteristics that define all Filipino rums, or are they all different? AD: There are different producers, of course, and everybody has their own style. I’m thinking about two major brands right now. I would say that their flavor profiles are completely different. But in the case of Kasama, it’s a very light rum — that’s what I think is something that we’re bringing to the category that’s new in terms of the flavor profile. It’s very light and very easy to sip. It has very beautiful tropical notes that come from the sugarcane and the climate that we have there. It’s a great rum for sipping. I think it’s also a great rum to help bring new people into the category. I get a lot of people who tell me, “Oh, I don’t really like rum. It’s very heavily spiced,” or “It’s really overly sweet.” I try to get them to try Kasama and many of them say, “Wow, I didn’t know that I would like this.” The Philippines is actually quite a large country. I don’t think I can say that there’s just one style of rum throughout the whole country. But Kasama itself is very light and delicious. A: Are you distilling molasses? There’s the French agricole style becoming super trendy among bar circles. It’s really the juice that gets distilled from the sugarcane, and then there’s the classic styles. We know for Caribbean rum it’s the molasses. Is there one or the other that’s distilled in the Philippines? AD: We do both in the Philippines. Kasama is distilled from freshly pressed noble sugarcane juice, but it doesn’t have that agricole taste to it. We are actually distilled in a column, and I think columns get a bad rap. For example, in Poland at our family distillery, we use a column and we love that. So to me, pot stills aren’t necessarily superior to column stills, but ours is distilled from freshly noble sugarcane juice, and I think that’s what contributes to having this very light, pleasant taste. A: Oh, interesting. What type of barrels are you aging it in? AD: They’re ex-bourbon American oak barrels. It’s not a spicy flavor profile, but bourbon does have that pepperiness to it, so you do get a little bit of pepper at the end. There’s also notes of vanilla, which I think comes from that bourbon as well. A: Interesting. When you were going to create the brand, how many rums did you taste? How well did you educate yourself in the category? Obviously, we always talk about people who are entrepreneurs and founders really trying to try as many of their potential competitors as they can. How much did you try? AD: I tasted dozens and dozens; I’d say over 100 probably in the process, just because, like you said, I wanted to see what was out there. When I was developing the brand, most of the time I was in Warsaw, Poland, and we have actually a great rum bar there that has hundreds of bottles. I would go there and I would just try different kinds and see what I liked. It was fascinating. There are different styles in different countries. I think most consumers haven’t explored the differences in rum. We know that in wine, that different types of grapes taste different, and we know that in whiskey as well. I think that in rum, that isn’t yet appreciated. There are so many different styles to be explored in the rum category. A: So I think there’s two theories with rum, and I think both could be true. I’m interested in what your perspective is here. One is that the rum renaissance will come through bourbon — that it will be people discovering these sipping rums, of which Kasama is one. It’s a 7-year-old, well-aged dark spirit that will find appeal from people who may have gotten used to drinking bourbon, Cognac, things like that. The other theory some people have is that it will come through the light rums, the white rums, and cocktail culture, the Daiquiris, and things like that. Have you thought about that? Because obviously the first thing you put out as an entrepreneur is a dark aged rum. There’s another brand that I think you’re aware of, and we’re also fans of on the podcast: Ten To One. The first rum that Marc Farrell put out was a white rum. So I’m curious why you made the decision to do dark rum first. Obviously now he has a dark rum — you might have a light rum down the road. What was your decision about the first thing I’m doing is this 7-year-old aged, beautiful rum. AD: So first of all, I just love the taste of it. So that’s what I wanted to bring to the world first. I would like to bring out an unaged rum, a white rum, or perhaps even an older rum down the line. As to this “rum renaissance” that you were saying we’re all waiting for, I think that it’s upon us as producers to bring that about. My theory as to why rum hasn’t had its renaissance yet is that the category, frankly, has been very tired. Rum should be a very exciting drink — it has everything going for it. It’s often aged, which people really like; they like to learn about the wood and the aging process. It naturally has a sweeter flavor profile, which is much more approachable than, perhaps, whiskey. It typically comes from a warm tropical place, and there are all these good connotations with vacation. Rum should be very popular, and I think that because it’s gotten so stuck in this nautical rut, that’s why it hasn’t really gained widespread appeal. That’s my theory, at least. I think that if there were more exciting stories being told in the category that weren’t about cartoon pirates and sailors, then there would be more people who would be interested to really learn about rum. A: I think that’s a really good point, and one that I know you’ve spoken about with me before. Do you think the problem is that we just, like, the corporate world kind of whitewashed rum in a lot of ways? AD: That’s what I think the problem is. I understand that pirates did drink rum, and there is a long history of a tie between rum and sailors and the nautical industry. But I just don’t think that’s all that rum has to offer the world. If you walk down an aisle at a liquor store, pretty much every single rum brand is focused on that one trope, which I think is really unfortunate because it pigeonholes rum. It’s for one very specific type of person. I don’t know why we fixated on that. That’s why I wanted to create a rum that was a celebration of the place that it’s from in a modern way, in a way that feels relevant to a modern consumer. I spent almost two years developing Kasama because first of all, I had a very demanding corporate job, and also because I was new to developing a brand of my own, and wasn’t always sure of what I was doing. During that time, I had a daily Google alert set for rum on my phone. Every morning I would wake up in horror, and I was like, “Today is the day that somebody has launched a similar rum brand.” The day never came, and I’m honestly surprised. I’m surprised that there aren’t more rum brands that are celebrating the genuine history of where they’re from. A: So I want to talk about that because I think one of the things that’s really cool is how you designed the bottle, and who designed the bottle. Obviously, there’s a lot of brands that will go in, source from a place, but then make it their own when they bring it back to where they’re from. But you didn’t do that. So can you talk about what went into the design of the bottle and who designed it? AD: Yes. So for the bottle, I partnered with a Manila-based creative agency called Serious Studio. They were absolutely fantastic. The founders are a husband-and-wife team who are around my age. I emailed them and I said, “Look, I really want to design a Filipino brand that has a global appeal.” I think that in the Philippines we know how amazing our country is, and we know how talented Filipinos are. We do a lot of talking to ourselves about it, which I think is a bit of a shame. So I emailed them and I said, “I really want to do a brand that’s proudly Filipino, but not just for Filipino Filipinos. I think that this should be something that’s really for anybody.” They felt very strongly about that mission as well. So I’m proud to say that the whole brand was designed by a team in Manila, and it was really about being proud of our heritage on the bottle. So you see on the neck we have a winking sun. It’s the sun that’s actually on the Philippine flag. We have stamps that show indigenous flora and fauna. The whole thing was really about celebrating our fantastic country. I’m glad that Serious Studio was able to really bring that to life. A: Yeah, it’s very cool. I was talking to someone on the editorial team earlier today in Slack who knew that I was doing this interview, and she just received a bottle of Kasama. She was saying it has a really amazing design where you can tell it actually is true to the place, but it also feels very modern. I thought that was a really cool way for her to describe it. It feels like it’s totally in line with the way I think alcohol brands should move, in terms of that “premium look” that you have on your bar, where someone would walk over and say “What’s this?” But when you pick it up, it’s like, “oh, all of these things are actually representative of the place it’s from.” AD: I’m so happy to hear that. A: So now let’s talk about the nitty-gritty. Alexandra, what has it been like to sell this brand, and can you talk us through the process of what you’ve gone through over the past few months in order to make this thing a reality? AD: Launching during a pandemic was not ideal in any sense. Honestly, in the beginning, I felt really worried — I thought all these bars and restaurants and stores, they’re just trying to stay alive. Are they going to want to take a chance on a new brand? That’s one of the reasons that we were so conservative at the beginning. I’m happy to say we were nationally aligned with Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits. They’ve been incredibly supportive of the brand, which I’m very grateful for. We just started slow. We started in South Florida because at the time, they were open, and also aesthetically, it really matches. Also, it’s a very big rum market. I’m happy to say that it’s been going really well. We’re currently in 250 accounts. We have about 300 that are lined up for spring. Some of these larger chains have long reset periods, so they tell you ahead of time. We’re going to be launching in BevMo in California in March or April, we’re in a few Total Wines in Florida. The reception has been really encouraging. I would have been encouraged anyway, but especially because it’s a pandemic, and I know how hard it is out there for people. I feel very happy that retailers have been willing to take a chance on us. A: How do you, specifically as a brand, build yourself? I know traditionally, prior to the pandemic, one of the ways a lot of indie brands would think about building themselves was saying, “OK, we’re going to go immediately to the top bars in a given market. Even if we only sell a case in, we’ll hopefully get on the cocktail list because we sold a case in. And the bartender will explain the rum to consumers.” Now that that’s not happening, obviously, what do you have to do on your end in order to educate the population, and to make sure that now that you are in BevMo, someone walks in and buys it? Have you thought about that? If you have, what do those plans look like? AD: I think that’s what everybody in the industry is thinking about right now. The normal tools that we had to launch a brand aren’t really there right now, which is typically on-premise. Obviously, we have a social media presence and we try to reach out to as many people as possible through social media. We try to get involved with different food events that are happening. For example, October is Filipino American History Month, and we were involved in a pop-up that managed to take place last October. It was a pretty small event, but Filipinos are very proud of their culture, and I think also we largely feel invisible within American culture. So when Filipinos find this brand, they are very supportive, and they’re very vocal about it. We get a lot of people who find out about us through social media and through people taking pictures of the brand and then sharing it with their communities. It’s also been a lot of door-to-door hand-selling, which I personally love. I actually love going from liquor store to liquor store with my bag of samples. I did some traveling around the country earlier this year between Florida and California, just literally going from liquor store to liquor store, trying to convince buyers that this is something that will sell. Luckily, as I said, people have been willing to take a chance on us. I think between the bottle being super eye-catching — it does really stand out on the shelf — and also this community that we’re building online, it’s been going pretty well so far. A: That’s really cool. So when we do hopefully open up in the next six months, however long it takes as we get vaccines, have you thought about what activations might look like? Have you thought about programs? Or is that still just too early right now, given everything else that is going on in the world? AD: I mean, I’m dreaming of it for sure. Like everybody else, I’m dreaming of just going to a bar and having a cocktail, like in normal times. I haven’t thought about it in depth because I just don’t want to get my hopes up and then have this pandemic last even longer than we expected. One of the things I would love to do is in the Philippines, we have this fantastic tradition called Kamayan dinners. So kamay in Filipino means “hand,” and there are these communal dinners where you eat on banana leaves with your hands. It’s a really, really fun thing to take part in. Obviously, it’s not at all Covid-friendly, so I never try to do it at this particular moment. But kasama actually means “together” in Filipino. To bring people together in that way, to share a communal meal that’s eaten with your hands, is something I would really love to do once the pandemic is hopefully behind us, and go to key markets and share that tradition with other people. A: Amazing. Well, this has been such a great conversation. It’s been really interesting to learn more about the rum and about what you’re building. I hope that in six months to a year or so, we can have you back on. You can give us an update on how everything’s going. But in the meantime, I wish you great success with this thing. It’s a really cool product. And delicious. Thank you for sending me a bottle, it was very tasty. Good luck. AD: Thank you so much. I really appreciate that you had me on your podcast today. Thanks so much for listening to the VinePair podcast. If you love this show as much as we love making it, then please give us a rating on review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever it is you get your Podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show. Now for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing, and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shoutout to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all this possible and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again. Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity. The article Next Round: Kasama Rum Explores the Spirit’s Asian Roots appeared first on VinePair. Via https://vinepair.com/articles/kasama-alexandra-dorda/ Via https://vinology1.weebly.com/blog/next-round-kasama-rum-explores-the-spirits-asian-roots |
John BoothHi I am John Booth,36 years old from California,CA,USA,working in Whole Seller market,we supply different types of Beverages to the market.Here I am sharing some special tips about it. Archives
August 2021
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