Spirits: Gin/Vodka

Question 1

EU & US min. ABV for gin

Answer 1

• min 37.5% ABV // 40% for US
  “ethyl alcohol flavored predominately with juniper”

Question 2

London Dry Gin
- allowed additives
- max added sugar?

Answer 2

1. sugar - but can’t exceed 0.1 g/l in the finished product to use the word “dry”
2. water

• no coloring or flavoring after distillation

Question 3

London Dry Gin
- process / methods
- allowed additives
- min ABV of distillate
- max RS
- brands

Answer 3

Made in a traditional still by redistilling neutral alcohol with botanical flavorings, which must be natural and none can be added after distillation. It must distill to min. 70%.

ADDITIVES: sugar and water. No flavoring post-distillation.
DRY: no more than .1 gl added sugar
METHOD: vapor infusion, steeping, vacuum distillation

Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire, Gordon’s, Beefeater, Boodles

Usually made with a pot still - but column stills are allowed. “Steep and boil” is the most common flavoring method - steeps for 24 hours followed by distillation to min. 70%.

Question 4

PGI gin (2)

Answer 4

Gin de Mahon (Menorca)
Vilnius Dzinas (Lithuania)

Question 5

Genever
- countries of origin / countries in the AC
- What is malt wine
- definition / process
- 3 main styles

Answer 5

HOLLAND // BELGIUM in origin. AC covers Nord/Pas-de Calais FR, NW DE, Netherlands, Belgium.

Genever is Dutch for “Juniper”.

Malt wine + botanical-infused neutral spirit. Retains more flavor from base spirit ingredients - rye, barley, and maize - than gin.

Malt Wine = Corn, Rye, Malted Barley, distilled in potstill to 46 - 48%.

PROCESS: malt wine is created by distilling cereals with malted barley - 3x, sometimes 4. Malt wine is blended with botanical-infused neutral spirit.
* JONGE: “young” method, nothing to do with aging. MAX. 15% malt wine, max 10gl sugar. Not in law but a general agreement says it must contain at least 1.5% malt wine.
* OUDE: “old” in style; MIN 15% malt, max 20gl sugar
* KORENJWIN: “grain wine”; 51%+ malt, max 20gl sugar. Not really Genever.

Question 6

3 main Gin distillation methods

Answer 6

(most) are redistilled with botanicals in a pot still

1. steep and boil: botanicals are steeped in ethanol in pot still over heat source for a certain amount of time, then distilled
2. vapor extraction: uses a gin basket. modified still called a “Carter-head still” is equipped with a suspended basket. Vapors pass through basket to be then re-liquify in condenser
3. vacuum distillation: aka cold distillation. Low pressure significantly reduces ethanol’s boiling point for redistillation with botanicals - said to keep them bright and fresh. Less scalable, more of a craft method

Question 7

List 3 Japanese gins

Answer 7

Nikka (yuzu + sour citrus)

Suntory Roku (Sakura flower, sakura leaf, sencha tea, gyokuro, sanshō, yuzu peel)

Kyoza Shuzo (yuzu)

Question 8

Aquavit

Answer 8

Scandinavian liquor aquavit, a clear spirit made from fermented potato or grain, and flavored with caraway root and other aromatics, is basically flavored vodka.

Question 9

Gin Basket

Answer 9

Used for Vapor extraction method

• Botanicals are placed in a stainless steel “basket,” as the alcohol evaporates, it passes through the basket before being condensed, being flavored in the process

Question 10

Plymouth Gin
- where is it made
- what’s the story

Answer 10

Produced in 1793 at Black Friars Distillery in Plymouth, Devon, England - oldest working distillery in the country.

7 Botanicals - Juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, green cardamom, orris root, angelica root. Favorite for classic cocktails - softer, sweeter than London Dry and no bitter botanicals.

[Revived in 1996; only made by Plymouth, Coates & Co. - the trademark is owned by Pernod Ricard. Formerly a PGI, but they didn’t renew it]

Question 11

Old Tom Gin
- origins
- for what classic cocktails
- who revived the style

Answer 11

A relic of the “pot still days”; before continuous stills. Heavy flavor/sugar masked a bad base spirit.
* Hayman’s revived the style.
* the “Tom” in the Tom Collins. Martinez, Ramos Gin Fizz

Question 12

One shot vs. Multi-shot gin

Answer 12

One Shot: follows a recipe; spirit is distilled with botanicals in one go

Multiple Shot: creates a “gin concentrate” by distilling a large quantity of botanicals in a smaller amount of neutral spirit. Desired ABV and profile are achieved via dilution with water and neutral spirit.

Question 13

benefits of copper distillation

Answer 13

• antibacterial properties
• good conductor of heat
• removes volatile sulfur compounds: sulfur compounds react with the copper and create copper sulfides, which stay on the walls of the still

[higher / wider stills= more contact with copper = more compounds removed = lighter spirit.
shorter / narrower = less contact = heavier]

Question 14

Potato vodka vs Grain

Answer 14

Starch vs. Sugar:
* potatoes = starchier base. Wheat, corn = more sugar
* starches convert into sugar that yeasts feed on to produce alcohol. Starch is more work to convert, which leaves…
* leftover starches = thicker, creamier mouthfeel in potato vodka

Distillation Choices:
* potato vodkas go through fewer distillation processes compared to grain vodkas. Each distillation purifies the alcohol further, but it also removes some of the flavor compounds. Since potato vodka producers often aim for a distinctive taste profile, they might leave in some of these flavor elements, resulting in a fuller-bodied vodka.

Question 15

Examples of Corn vodka

Answer 15

Tito’s
Nikka Coffey Vodka
Prairie Organic

Question 16

3 examples of Potato vodka

Answer 16

Chopin
Luksusowa
Chase English Potato Vodka

Question 17

2 examples of Grape vodka

Answer 17

Ciroc
Hangar One (grapes and wheat)

Question 18

Navy Strength
- ABV?
- origin of term

Answer 18

Commonly…. 57% / 114 Proof
Historically: Navy issue was 54.5%

[high enough proof that if it spilled on gunpowder, the gunpowder would still light]

Question 19

Sloe gin - flavoring? 2 major brands?

Answer 19

gin flavored with blackthorn berries and sweetened with sugar

brands: Sipsmith Sloe Gin, Hayman’s of London

Question 20

Netherlands Vodka- 2 major brands?

Answer 20

Ketel One (wheat)
New Amsterdam

Question 21

Swedish Vodka - 2 major brands?

Answer 21

Absolut
Svedka

Question 22

Polish vodka - 2 major brands?

Answer 22

Belvedere (rye)
Luksusowa (potato)
Chopin (they make potato, wheat, and rye)

Question 23

French vodka - 2 major brands?

Answer 23

Ciroq (grapes)
Grey Goose (winter wheat from Picardy)
Jean-Marc (wheat)