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Briefly: Do not mix alcoholic drinks: this unnecessarily strains the body's detoxification systems and significantly worsens the morning hangover. However, if the drinks are made from the same raw materials: for example, only from grain alcohol or only from grape alcohol, then the consequences of mixing will be less dangerous.
| alcohols by origin |
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Orujo
The Spanish drink, sometimes reaching up to 60% ABV, is the little-known brother of the much-hyped grappa: both are made from grapes. Orujo is a product of distillation of fermented grape residues (skins, seeds, stems) after pressing them during the wine making process. Orujo is an excellent digestif, aromatic, with a killer duet of strength and sweetness; from the medieval monasteries of Castile, over several centuries it has reached many fashionable bars in the world.
Ouzo
In Greece, they have been drinking ouzo - aniseed vodka - almost since the times of the Byzantine Empire. The distillate of a mixture of ethyl alcohol and various aromatic herbs, among which there must be anise, has from forty to fifty degrees of strength. If you drink it as an aperitif, to stimulate your appetite, it is better to add a little water to it, although this will make the liquid cloudy - this is how anise oils will react. Despite the fact that few people seem to love the taste of anise, in Turkey they make crayfish with it, in France pastis, in Bulgaria mastic, in Lebanon and Iran - arak.
Cachasa
In Russia, Brazilian vodka was glorified by the group Markscheider Kunst, who wrote the song “A Glass of Good Cachaça.” It is obtained by distilling pure sugar cane extract, and in some ways it can be considered the progenitor of rum - distilling cane juice in Brazil began much earlier than cane molasses in the Caribbean was subjected to the same process. It is recommended to drink it in small sips, but, in general, it is really difficult to drink a glass of a drink with a strong taste and smell.
Archi
Mongolian milk vodka is called “sly water”. It is prepared with fermented goat milk, and its taste resembles ayran rather than strong alcohol, so it can be consumed in huge quantities. They drink it from bowls without snacking, like tea, but there is no doubt that the consequences will be just right.
Kirschwasser
Another “water” is German cherry brandy, the transparency of which makes it more similar to vodka. The lack of color is due to the fact that it is aged not in barrels, but in glass or earthenware. It has been made since the 17th century in the south of France and Germany from very sweet cherries with small pits - they give the drink a slight almond flavor. Kirschwasser is unexpectedly good with champagne, which he imbues with new flavor overtones.
Cachasa(port. Cachaça; emphasis on the second syllable) is a strong alcoholic drink obtained by distilling fermented sugar cane juice. This Brazilian cane vodka, whose strength is 38-48% (most often 40%), with a rather pungent taste and smell - a kind of calling card, its legend. Brazil's national alcoholic drink is over 400 years old.
For a Brazilian, Cachaca means no less than for a Frenchman - champagne, for a Scot - whiskey, for a Japanese - sake, for a Mexican - tequila, and for a Russian - vodka.
The drink is not yet particularly well known outside of Brazil, because up to 99% of the cachaca produced in the country is drunk by the residents of the homeland of the enchanting carnival, and only 1% is exported. Today, this drink is part of Brazilian culture, the name is protected by the state, and cachaça can only officially be produced in Brazil.
Excursion into history
The main role in the emergence of the traditional drink in the 16th century. played by the Portuguese conquistadors. In those days, the Portuguese, who had thoroughly settled on the African continent, began to import black slaves to Brazil, who cultivated the fertile fields, planting them with reeds. Sugar cane is one of the few crops that have long been brought to South America from Europe, for which the climate of the Brazilian Highlands turned out to be unusually favorable.
The Portuguese brought not only slaves to the colony, but also practical knowledge on the technology of the distillation process.
According to legend, it was black slaves who invented cachaça. They noticed that sugar cane, left for a long time in livestock feeders, releases a tart liquid, which, when steeped, remarkably lifts the mood. The playful state and strong smell emanating from the slaves were noticed by the overseers, and then the owners of the plantations became interested in this fact. While clarifying the reasons for the strange circumstances, the mash was discovered. Planters began to improve the “cheerful” drink by distilling fermented cane juice in copper stills. This is how a semblance of a modern alcoholic drink, the national pride of Brazilians, appeared. Alcohol by the 17th century. turned into hard currency with which new slaves were purchased from the Dark Continent. Tribal leaders willingly sold their strong relatives for a barrel of cachaça, an intoxicating potion. If the black slaves knew, what a service their discovery of the “laughing” liquid would have on the fate of thousands of African fellow tribesmen! This is yet another historical paradox.
So, the formula “cachaça - slaves - cachaça” soon became the basis of the Brazilian slave economy.
100 years later, gold was discovered in the southeast of the country, in (port. Minas Gerais), which made Brazil one of the richest Portuguese provinces. In the 17th century The mass production of Brazilian wine began to pose a serious threat to Portuguese exporters of Madeira, port and bagaceira (port. Bagaceira - grape vodka). Then the colonial authorities introduced exorbitant taxes on the production of cane “Eau de vie de cane” (“Water of Life”), then a complete ban on “porridge making”.
The Brazilians did not like this policy at all, and at the end of 1789 an uprising broke out in the country. The rebels sought independence and self-assertion of Brazil and opposed the slave system. Along with the slogans “For freedom!”, “For independence!” there was such a call: “For our cachaça!”
The uprising was suppressed, passions subsided, the people gradually calmed down, and the Brazilian national alcohol was forgotten for a while, and the fashion for everything European pushed cane vodka into the background. They remembered her only 100 years later. But its return was triumphant: cane vodka became an unofficial symbol of the country, along with vodka and samba.
Manufacturing methods
Brazilian vodka is produced by distilling mash - a mixture of fermented juice and crushed parts of cane, the richest in sugar. There are 2 main types of cane vodka: white (unaged) and golden (aged). The most common is white cachaca, which is easily produced industrially.
Golden cachaça, a refined drink comparable to good cognac and whiskey, is aged in barrels for up to 15 years, its taste largely depends on the type of wood from which the barrel is made, and its color resembles weak tea with lemon. White water is used mainly for making cocktails.
As for endurance, certain rules have been established in this regard. Aged cane vodka must consist of at least half alcohol that has been stored in a barrel for at least 1 year. After aging, usually 1.5-3 years, the drink acquires a light brown tint, and clear vodka is also found.
Nowadays, cachaça is produced both in private haciendas and in industrial enterprises. The hacienda drink is made traditionally, the old fashioned way. Therefore, such parties are small and rarely leave the country. For fermentation, which lasts about 18 hours, wheat bran, rice, corn flour, and soy are added to crushed sugar cane. The distillation of mash takes place exclusively in copper stills. During the distillation process, the drink goes through 3 stages: “cachaça of the head”, “cachaça of the heart” and “cachaça of the tail”. True connoisseurs prefer the second option.
Popular brands
Cachaças of the “head” and “tail” are classified as products of the middle and lower price categories, while “cachaças of the heart” are classified as products of the highest price category.
The drink must be aged in wooden barrels.
The industrial method is much simplified compared to the hacienda method: fermentation is accelerated by chemicals, instead of copper stills and wooden barrels there are full-cycle distillation columns and steel vats.
If the hacienda drink is comparable to cognacs, industrial alcohol is quite bad. It's a shame that it is industrial products that are exported. However, experienced tourists have managed to evaluate the quality of local alcohol and know what is worth drinking in Brazil and what is better not to try.
Naturally, Brazilian vodka, prepared according to ancient recipes, is worth its weight in gold.
How to drink correctly
Cachaça is the original national drink of Brazil. Therefore, there are rules regarding how to drink it correctly. Due to its specific taste and strength, Brazilian vodka should be drunk in small sips.
The drink is usually served in small, narrow glasses called "Martelinho" ("small hammer"). In addition to vodka, add a slice of lime or squeeze citrus juice into the shot glass.
Cachaça has such a rich taste that it is not necessary to drink the drink in its pure form; you can add water, soda or crushed ice to it.
With cachaca aged according to all the rules, you don’t have to do this, but with a cheap option there’s no other way to do it.
Many people prefer to drink it as part of various cocktails; one of the most favorite among Brazilians is the Caipirinha cocktail.
Cocktail "Caipirinha"
Connoisseurs and connoisseurs of alcohol claim that the “stronger” its aroma is, the better the Brazilian vodka. In their homeland they drink it in honor of the god Eshu (port. Eshu). An exotic cocktail Caipirinha based on cane vodka, it is recognized as one of the best on the planet. Today it has become the most popular alcoholic drink in the world after the famous Margarita.
Components: 
In different countries, vodka made from anise extract has different names and may contain various additives and be of different strengths.
Anisetta
(Spain)
Arak
(Iraq, Lebanon)
Mastic
(Bulgaria)
Pastis
(France)
In addition to anise, other plants and spices are also used to produce pastis. In the 19th century, pastis was sold in pharmacies as a cure for helminths. When absinthe was banned in most European countries at the beginning of the 20th century, one of its main producers, Pernod, changed the recipe. Wormwood was replaced by anise, and so pastis appeared around 1915.
The maximum allowed alcohol content was initially 30%. In 1922 it was allowed to increase it to 40%, and in 1938 - to 45%.
Usually consumed as an aperitif. To do this, pastis is diluted with water approximately five to eight times.
Cancers
(Türkiye)
Strength of “Raki” – up to 50% degrees.
It is made by distilling an infusion of anise, rose and fig.
Sambucca
(Italy)
Italian aniseed vodka “Sambucca” has a strength of 38 degrees. It has a strong aroma and is drunk neat, with ice or coffee beans. In Rome, sambucca is drunk “with a fly” (con la mosca): two coffee beans are placed in a small glass, aniseed vodka is poured, it is set on fire and the drink is waited until it cools, and only then is it drunk.
Ouzo
(Greece)
The strength of “Ouzo”, like “Raki”, is up to 50% degrees.
It is also made by distilling the infusion of anise, rose and fig.
Cactus vodka
Mezcal
(Mexico)
This is a traditional Mexican drink, historically the predecessor of tequila. Mezcal has a higher strength, a richer flavor with smoky undertones and an oily texture. Unlike tequila, mezcal is produced in small private enterprises, so it is not widely exported
Tequila
(Mexico)
Tequila is a special type of mezcal, a strong alcoholic drink made from various types of agave. Tequila is a product of double distillation, while mezcal is single distilled.
According to Mexican law, only blue agave is used to produce tequila, grown in the Mexican state of Jalisco, mainly around the city of Tequila, and in certain regions of four other states with similar volcanic soils and climates.
Tequila strength should be between 35 and 55 degrees
Hemp vodka
Cannabis
(Czech Republic)
Cannabis Vodka has a strength of 40%. Infused with natural hemp grains. Tart, bitter and aromatic drink.
Milk vodka
Araka (arka)
Milk (kumys) vodka, traditionally made by the indigenous peoples of Altai, Buryatia, and Kalmykia by distilling fermented milk. After single distillation, the strength is 5-11%. It is drunk only hot, as it has an unpleasant odor when cold.
Absinthe
Absinthe
(France, Czech Republic)
Absinthe is a strong alcoholic drink, usually containing 70% alcohol. The most important component of absinthe is wormwood. The essential oils of this herb contain thujone. This substance is poisonous in large quantities. Thujone is the main element for which absinthe is famous for its effect. Other components of absinthe: anise, fennel, calamus, mint, lemon balm, licorice, angelica and some other herbs.
Absinthe can be clear, yellow, brown and even red. However, most often absinthe has an emerald green color. Absinthe becomes cloudy when water is added, which occurs because the diluted alcohol is not able to retain the essential oils of wormwood that precipitate from it.
Xanthia
(Spain)
Spanish version of absinthe.
Millet vodka
Hanshina
(China)
Chinese wheat vodka. The alcohol is prepared from millet. The color of hanshina is cloudy. Has a specific smell. The quality is inferior to another type of Chinese vodka - Maotai.
Sweet and strong, like the kiss of a beloved woman, rum is strongly associated with pirates and sailors. Meanwhile, this drink is popular not only among salty captains and their sailors: it is added to glamorous cocktails, drunk for medicinal purposes, diluted with hot water with spices and served as grog for dinner.
Rum is cane vodka, a product of the fermentation and distillation of sweet molasses obtained from the processing of sugar cane. There is no single recipe for creating rum: the technology depends greatly on the region. In some places, “Nelson’s blood” is aged for years in oak barrels of bourbon and sherry, in other distilleries the drink is immediately bottled, and still others blend (mix) light and dark rum, achieving an original and soft taste.
Sugar cane - after processing it is used to make rum The official history of the drink rum begins in the middle of the 17th century - it was then that the name “rum” first appears in documents and literature (for example, in the book of the Christian preacher Tertre, dedicated to the history of the Antilles).
Appearance. It is known for certain that the future “king of the seas” was born in the Caribbean, it is believed that on the island of Barbados, which is why another popular name for rum is “Barbados water”. The hot and humid climate of South America creates ideal conditions for the growth of sugar cane, so while the art of winemaking was being honed in Europe, Cuba, Venezuela, Jamaica, Panama and other islands were successfully learning to extract alcohol from cane syrup.
Historical data shows that rum (or at least related drinks) was known in ancient India. China, on the territory of modern Iran, in Malaysia, however, the industrial production of cane vodka began only in 1664 in New England (a region in the northeastern United States), when it had not yet managed to separate from the old metropolis.
Origin of the name: versions
The origin of the term rum (rum) has not been precisely established, but there are several versions of varying degrees of reliability.
- From the Romani word rum, meaning “strong, powerful, robust.”
- From the English slang term rum - “strange, wonderful.”
- From the names of two alcoholic drinks that became especially popular in England in the mid-17th century - ramboozle and rumfustian.
- From the English words rumbullion and rumbustion, meaning “fury, noise, fun.”
- From the Dutch name for large glasses - Rummers.
- An abbreviation of the Latin term Saccharum - "sugar".
- An abbreviation of the Latin word iterum - “repetition, once again.”
- Modified French arome - “aroma”.
Today, the bottle can display either English Rum, Spanish Ron or French Rhum. All three languages are spoken in the Caribbean, and depending on where it is made, the drink will have distinct flavors and characteristics.
History of the creation of rum
They say that slaves on plantations were the first to “discover” rum - it was difficult not to notice that cane juice began to “ferment” under the scorching sun and acquired strength. The production technology in those days was the simplest, without stills and distillations, and the output was a rather coarse dark drink with a high alcohol content.
Slaves were the first to think of fermenting cane juice In the second half of the 19th century, Don Bacardi figured out how to improve the product, and after numerous experiments he received a light “pirate potion” with a delicate taste and caramel aroma.
Rum was loved by pirates for a reason; on a ship it allowed them not to die of thirst and illness: 80-proof alcohol effectively disinfected wounds and minimized the risk of poisoning from second-fresh foods and stale drinking water.
Rum was even included in the official rations of the sailors of Her Majesty's Navy: until 1970, sailors were given half a pint (284 ml) of strong drink daily so that the guys could more easily endure the hardships of sea life.
British warships never went to sea without rum. Today, molasses - sweet molasses, a by-product of sugar cane processing - is not a useless production waste, but a valuable raw material, and rum has ceased to be a cheap alcohol, turning into an elite drink. However, there was a period in the history of rum when Barbados water was valued no less than gold and played the role of money. A bottle of rum was the hardest currency quoted throughout the Caribbean.
Roma classification
Since there is no single classification and strict standard for cane vodka, it is difficult to identify a finite number of types of drink.
By origin, rum can be:
- Spanish;
- English;
- French.
It is curious that we are not talking about the countries themselves, but mainly about the Caribbean islands where one or another language is spoken.
By color:
- Light (with an unexpressed taste, used mainly for cocktails);
- Golden (aged rum, sometimes with spices);
- Dark (pronounced taste).
By strength:
- Rum elixir (less than 40%);
- Aged (from 40%);
- Strong (up to 80%).
Each country has its own standards. For example, in Venezuela rum is aged for two years, in the Dominican Republic for only a year, and in Mexico it is limited to 8 months. But in Colombia, real rum must have a strength of at least 50 degrees, while in most countries the alcohol content is 40%.
In addition, there is also “flavored” rum, extra-light, agricultural (from cane sugar without processing), industrial, rum liqueur and a host of other variations that do not fit into standard classifications.
Popularization of rum
A strong, moderately sweet alcoholic drink that did not spoil over time was doomed to popularity. However, additional factors were the unsanitary conditions in which the colonial settlers had to live: in those days, even children were given diluted rum - it was safer than giving them water contaminated with bacteria.
In the 20th century, the popularity of rum was promoted by the American writer Hemingway, who praised the taste and sweetness of this drink in his books.
Hemingway popularized rum in his works The phylloxera epidemic in the second half of the 19th century also played a role - In Europe, winemaking began to fade into the background and strong alcoholic drinks came to the forefront. During Prohibition in America, bootleggers illegally imported rum into the country - it was more profitable than selling weak wines or bitters for an amateur.
The most famous and popular rum these days is Bacardi; more than 20 million cases of this alcohol are sold annually in 170 countries around the world. Today, “the death of the devil” (another name for cane vodka) is used to treat colds and flu, and at the beginning of the 20th century, rum was often used as a remedy for baldness, indigestion, scurvy and other ailments.
The popularity of this drink is evidenced by the fact that in the 1800s, Australian farm laborers often received their salaries in bottles of “Nelson’s blood,” and when the government banned the payment with alcohol instead of money, a real riot arose.
The more aged the rum, the richer its taste, but due to the climate of equatorial countries, up to 10% of the liquid evaporates per year, so keeping Barbadian water in a barrel for longer than 2-5 years is unprofitable. Rhum vieux and Ron anejo belong to the premium line and are much more expensive than their “young” counterparts.
