SPIRITS
Spiritual Secrets
Drinking spirits can be wonderful – a late-night whisky on your own,
a tall afternoon G&T, or fabulous fruity cocktails with friends. While
how you use spirits ultimately comes down to individual taste, it's useful
to have a few handy tips to make your experience even more delicious.
Here are eight of our top tips for spirit lovers
WORDS CATHERINE MILFORD
WHAT SHOULD I HAVE
TO HAND?
MIXED DRINK OR
COCKTAIL?
A good line-up for any basic home bar
A cocktail is traditionally
is a bottle of gin, vermouth, tequila,
defined as a combination
whisky, vodka and rum. These provide
ERaor's), a sweetener,
the base for most mixed drinks and
bitters, and ice (this has
cocktails. You can buy bitters, liqueurs
become quite a lot more
and aromas to your taste.
broad in modern times)
whereas a mixed drink
is any beverage with
two or more ingredients
- alcoholic or not.
AN
ngelico
BRNO
STORAGE SECRETS
WHISKY OR WHISKEY?
Store spirits away from
Essentially whisky is Scottish
KGHLU
direct sunlight, at room
and whiskey is Irish. Anything
temperature or just a little
produced elsewhere will be
below. You can put them in
spelled according to the style
the fridge or freezer if you
it's based on, eg whisky in Japan,
want them super cold.
and whiskey in America.
WHAT IS 'BOURBON' -
IS IT JUST A WHISKEY?
3.
DOES RUM
ALWAYS NEED
For a spirit to be called bourbon,
A MIXER?
it must be made in America (not
It's perfectly acceptable to
Kentucky) from a fermented
drink rum neat, or with a
mash of at least 51 per cent corn,
splash of water to dilute if
distilled at no more than 160 proof,
it's over 45 per cent ABV.
stored at no more than 125 proof
in new, charred oak barrels, aged
for minimum two years and be
4
BOTTLES
additive-free.
GATHERING DUST?
Once opened, base spirits
WHY ARE BRANDY
such as gin, rum and brandy
GLASSES SO BIG?
will be fine long term- they
If you drink brandy it's good to have
might just lose a bit of
the right glass. The larger vessel
flavour. Check use-by dates
gives the aromatics plenty of space
on liqueurs, and drinks with
to waft off the liquor and the narrow
sugar or cream - they don't
top traps these inside the glass
last indefinitely.
intensifying the concentration.
toastmag.co.nz | Liquorland Toast 25
