Best of Booze #1

BOOZE BEST OF

Bar magazine No.1# 2015/2016

Arthur’s Porters Come Alive

Janko’s

IN ROCK FLAMES & BEER

Beer IPA, Brewers & US

Spirits Tequila, Rum & Cocktails

London Bar Guide

Whisky Great Malts, Ireland & Japan

AWinter’s Ale —The upcoming season and the beer you should know about

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In Flames, Anders & Frequency

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Beer & Whisky Festival, Meet the Host

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Oskar Blues Brewery, Jeremy’s Spoken

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Malt Whisky with John Cashman

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Janko’s London Beer Bar Guide

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LoneStar Beer

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Rum’s Getting Hot, Jerry Lindahl

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Czech Beer with Paul Petric

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19Glas, Meet the Owner Peter Bennyson

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Belgian Brew, What’s The Trap?

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Guinness Porters, Arthur’s Recipes Alive

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The Tequila Truth

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Christmas Beer & Winter Ale-Jerry Lindahl

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Whisky, Big in Japan

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Irish Whiskey Overview

Anders Fridén

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IPA — Still Hoppy

Images:

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Bourbons with Jonatan Östblom-Smedje

Johno R

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Rum — Pirates, Sailors & Slaves

Editor:

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Last Great Malts with Erland Gunnarsson

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Cap Brewery with Tomas Danko

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Home Brewing Erik Öl-sson

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Cocktails, What’s Popular?

Produced by: Ace Publications Marmorgatan 11,11867 Stockholm, Sweden Website: www.acepublications.se E-mail: info@acepublions.se

Contributors: Jan-Erik “Janko” Svensson Jerry Lindahl Leon Smith Paul Petric Dani Barrio

Layout and design: Anton Liljengård

Ansvarig utgivare: Mark Gorman

Front Cover:

Noel Sheehy

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“

Welcome readers

to our new magazine. We are no strangers to the alcohol branch though and it’s great to be back.

Developments both here and abroad are there for all to see, new Micro-breweries, Distilleries, Beer and Winebars etc.

We will look at drinks right across the spectrum, Beer, Cider, Whisky, Wine, Spirits etc. We meet Homebrewers and also Brewers working with recipes from Arthur Guinness.

In Summer I had the opportunity to see first-hand Tequila in Mexico and what a fantastic trip it was, great cuisine. And next door in Texas I got to sample some local LoneStar

Beer. Recently Swedes were asking me what the Irish whiskies were; hopefully I can clear that up here.

We look at Rum and the charming story which follows it.

In this number we interview Marianne Wallberg the founder of the Beer & Whisky Festival, the Bar people, the Beer people such as Janko among others, the Whisky people, the Wine people, etc those in the know. Remember to always drink sensibly.

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Feel free to mail us your suggestion info@acepublicatons.se Enjoy the read … explore your palate!

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Brewing

The Beer is

IN FLAMES Here we meet Anders Fridén, who is the lead singer of the Swedish metal band In Flames. To date In Flames has sold over 3 million records worldwide. But it’s not just music which stokes his passion.

We got the opportunity to interview this charming artist and put some questions to him regarding his alcohol venture, Frequency.

Text: Noel Sheehy

A

nders is interested in the alcohol sector and collects rare whisky. In an interview with Metal Hammer, he spoke about how over the years he has acquired a taste for fine whisky, and how “it’s stupid to get drunk on fine whisky.”

Anders what is Frequency making today?

Beer – lots of it with the help of Nils Oscar Brewery! I brew in Nyköping with master-brewer Patrik Holmqvist. I test my Beer on the pilot system and we come up with names connected to our music, ie Darker Shade of Ale.

Have you a favourite within your portfolio?

It would have to be our IPA Bohemian Hopsidy. It’s got great drinkability or as we say in Sweden hinkability. I also like our Frequency Nothing To Fuck, a wheat Beer with coriander, ginger, lime, and lemon grass.

Are you a Beer/Whisky man?

Oh my God, that’s a gun to the head, I can’t! It’s like picking your kids, you can’t.

“It’s hard to invent the wheel again. I want to invent good tasting beer and not something whacky for the sake of it.”

Anders Fridén & Patrik Holmqvist 4

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

I got in contact with a few breweries and I asked if we could do some stuff together. Some artists drink crap Beer but others would drink better Beer if they were given it. I want to promote the Brew maker as a rock star, and I’m just a label.

Then I got interested in Whisky after trying it, I wanted to know who makes it. I began making trips to Scotland. The drinking part changed to buying.

If you were not a famous artist what would you be?

None of the above, I would be an architect, as this was the plan before I decided to be a musician.

Where are your drinks taking inspiration from?

Inspiration is got from the Beer scene in general. It’s hard to invent the wheel again. I want to invent good tasting beer and not something whacky for the sake of it.

Anything special we should know about regarding your brands?

They taste bloody good. It’s all very personal. You can’t force people to listen to your music or drink your beer.

Any funny stories?

It’s all fun, I’m happy to be part of it. People want good Craft Beer and food. There is more interest for the real product not fast food products.

Future plans for Frequency?

We want to do spirits in the future. Maybe more overseas co-operations, I did a batch of Beer with great Divide Brewery in Philadelphia. New Beers are on the agenda as are Pear Saison.

What drew you to the trade?

Finally, what’s happening on the Music front?

Passion and interest! I got involved in the trade because I could. I have enjoyed Beer since I first tried it.

The first time I tried Sierra Pale Ale I was like “Wow!” Anything I’m interested in I want to find the origin. It’s the same with music and Beer.

We will shortly go on tour to Finland and in Germany. Check out the tour online at infames.com. Frequency and In Flames equals a good evening. I’m just so fortunate to work with two things I love.

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

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Events

Beer &

Whisky

Festival 2015 Marianne Wallberg is the owner and founder of the Beer & Whisky Festival. She kindly agrees to answer our questions regarding the annual event. First up, Marianne, congratulations on yet another wonderful festival!

Text: Leon Smith

Where did you get the idea and inspiration for this eve nt?

Basically I was out with my friends and saw a complete lack of knowledge about Beer. People were accepting ordering a “Stor Stark” beer (Big strong) without knowing anything about it or how it tastes.

A friend of mine gave me a Finnish beer poster of Belgian beers, this really got me thinking.

Is it international as it reads “Beer” as opposed to “Öl”?

Absolutely. I wanted an international festival, and everyone said you will fail, this is Sweden and alcohol is so tied down by the law. Before having it, I asked my friends would they like to go to such a festival and they said definitely. Then I asked myself what kind of festival would I go to? It is possible because the exhibitors have their own “pub stands” here where they can sell alcohol.

How many years have you been doing this event and how many other are involved in organising such an event?

Our first festival was in 1992; we had 143 different beers and had the longest bar in the world which got into the Guinness Book of Records. In 1993, I took in whisky and there were few clubs and very little of a whisky culture.

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Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

How much has it grown over the years? Any current numbers?

Today we got 4,000 different beers,1,500 competing in the competition. There are 1,500 whiskies and 400 of them in the competition. We’ve also had this in Gothenburg, Malmö and Sundsvall.

Any goals for the event?

Our goal remains the same. EDUCATION is the key message we’re shouting at this festival. We began focusing on educating our exhibitors during 1992-1995. We work together and follow the rules such as no underage serving, no serving to people who have over consumed. Exhibitors have to do a test.

Any exciting plans? Have you ever thought of having it outdoors?

Yes lots on the way, we’re set up the Dryckesacademien.se and taking it all over Sweden and Education is the key idea. We want people to learn about alcohol.

Learning how to avoid the dangers of alcoholism etc.

We are thinking about an outdoor event, I used to rent this hall but later I bought it instead. We don’t want to make the festival bigger but we can always improve.

We’re looking into extending it to Sundays!

In 1993 I spoke a big Swedish brewery who said “Why should I come here and exhibit next to an importer?” So I said “You should be asking why you are not importing?”

Today they are huge importers as they already had the logistics for distributing their own beer!

What do you know about the visitors, is it the same people coming back or are there many new people coming?

Well see for yourself (pointing down the stairs at mixed crowds) people of various ages, men and women are here and they are learning. People are getting knowledge. Nearly 1.000.000 people have come to this event since it started 24 years ago!

Any famous people attended? Whisky or Beer buffs?

Well beer legend Michael Jackson was a great help to me and this was his favourite Beer event in the world! He was a fantastic man and so humble, famed for his line, “My two favourite brands are beer and whisky!” Many, many brew-masters and distillers from all over the world visit Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival every year.

Marianne Wallberg

owner and founder of the Beer & Whisky Festival

Any funny stories from over the years?

Too many to tell but here is one.

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

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Images From Stockholm

Beer & Whisky

Festival 2015

Traditional Dress

Magnor’s Stand Adam Iversen of Pabs & Noel Sheehy Festival Crowds

Erik, Janko & Per

Åbro Stand

Flying Brewery

London Beers

Ocean Brewery Ola of Wicked Wine, Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada Brewing London Beers

Brewing

Oskar Blues Brewery with Jeremy Here we meet with Jeremy Rudolf who has the inside story on this popular Brewery Text: Noel Sheehy What is your background, current title or role?

I got lucky and landed a packaging job November 28th 2007 in Lyons, when we were canning beer 24 cans per minute and manually doing everything. Over the years I have been challenged and found other areas of production to also help in and at this point am what I call a Head Packaging Goon which involves working on innovation and production management. I Love it!

How long have you worked

with the Brewery?

We’re almost at 8 years. It’s flying by. The hardest job I’ve ever had but also the most rewarding. I hope to be buried here!

All good Beer has a story, what’s the story behind yours?

I was living in Lyons in 1997 and had just turned 30. Was in the midst of my first midlife crisis, as I had finally gotten the courage and left a job of 7 years in order to take

time to look at what I wanted to do that would truly be a career that I wanted for the long term. I got to know the folks at Oskar Blues( there were only 6 in the brewery at the time) and when a spot opened up, they came to me and asked me to come on board. I had to take the opportunity and am so glad I did.

Can you tell us the history behind the Brewery?

Founded originally as a restaurant

by Dale Katechis in 1997 in Lyons,

Image: Oskar Blues Brewery Colorado, Oskar Blues Brewery launched in late 1998 with what has become the craft beer-in-acan apocalypse with hand-canned, flagship brew Dale’s Pale Ale. Today, Oskar Blues is one of the fastest growing breweries in the country and operates breweries in Longmont, Colorado and Brevard, North Carolina, while approaching 200,000 barrels in 2015. The original canned craft brewery announced a 2016 in Austin, TX and continues to stay innovative with releases like The Crowler. Oskar Blues Brewery currently distributes to 44 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Canada, Sweden, and the U.K. To keep up with all things Oskar Blues, visit www.oskarblues.com.

Is there anything unique with your Brewery?

Image:Jeremy of Oskar Blues Brewery 10 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

We want to work in a brewery where you can know everyone. That’s why we have several breweries and will someday have more. Rather than building the biggest brewery possible, we get a great joy and high quality beer out of smaller batches of beer and smaller groups of people. Sure, we don’t know

everyone at the other brewery locations but we do employee exchanges and get to meet the extended family. It’s a great thing.

Talk us through the brewing process at your Brewery?

It’s really something to experience. On paper it’s pretty straightforward but in person, it’s a journey.

Is the export market an important mark et, countries Swede n in particular?

Sweden is RAD!! The People are great and the beer’s treated great.

We do have plans to increase our foreign presence as other countries follow in the footsteps of our Swedish distributor, Great Brands, and treat our beer well until it gets to the consumer.

Any secrets/myths we should know about?

Plenty of those, but myths and secrets must be spoken by the source. Ok, just one … The Original Dale’s Pale Ale was a Stout!!!

Is it brewed like the regular beers?

There

are

many

methods. Our are very familiar to other brewers but have unique tweaks.

Any tips for people out there still searching for their right beer?

Keep searching. It’s definitely out there. Go back to places you have been as well, tastes change, new beers happen and breweries that are good get better.

What gives your beer its unique taste and why are beers in your country so popular?

Everything you can think of gives beers their unique tastes. From malt to the humidity in the building. We brew the beers we like and they do not fit directly into beer style guidelines. Style guidelines are not the goal. Flavor and quality are.

Compare your beer with other Beers in your country?

No thanks!

established

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

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Whisky

an interview about

Malt Whisky

with John Cashman Text: Noel Sheehy What is your role today and your background?

Today, I’m European Ambassador for Malt whiskies at Beam Suntory.

The Whiskies I work mainly with are Laphroaig and Bowmore. I’ve been in spirits for 18 years. Before Beam Suntory, it was Jim Beam and Cooley’s before that.

Your Advert here

AN CNOIC AD

What’s happening within your malt whiskies?

Laphroaig and Bowmore are fortunate that Islay malts are getting more popular. Laphroaig is the most popular in the world, and this year is its 200 year anniversary celebrations. Today we launched a 32-year old which sold out in 20 minutes at around 10,000kr per bottle.

Recently on Islay, Laphroaig had a live tasting, 67,000 people tuned in live. There were 2 million impressions on twitter. Sweden came 5th in overall viewers of the event.

Our core brand releases include: Laphroaig 10 –Year old and Bowmore 12 –Year old. Bowmore had a special release which grabbed the attention of the Whisky world.

They were the first Scotch to use mizunara Oak casks from Japan.

What are the currents trends?

We are still diversifying in terms of aging and new casks. People are going back to old traditions, recipes from 100 years ago. Middleton in Cork Ireland just opened a replica Distillery. Laphroaig distillery made Cairdeas, Gaelic Scotch for friendship, we made whisky like 200 years ago in small pot stills.

Which future developments should we expect?

I expect we will see future success of whisky distilling in non-traditio12 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

nal countries, like here in Sweden for example. Japan can’t keep up with demand. New opportunities exists for new countries like Sullivan’s Cove in Tasmania, Major continued growth in Ireland and the US. New consumers are arriving, seeking sweeter, softer, lighter whiskey.

As you are an Irish man perhaps you can give us an update on developments there.

Well first interesting fact, Ireland first peaty whisky Connemara in recent years won more awards than any other Irish Whiskey.

Irish Whiskey is growing faster than any other country. Double digits growth with many new distilleries. There are 25 new distilleries planned –They won’t all survive.

Those with the backing of large multi nationals will such as Slane Castle which is owned by Jim Beam.

Teelings will make grain Whiskey. Dingle Distillery is backed by Porter House, Group of Pubs. Glendalough Distillery is making Poitin.

Poitin can be made today and sold tomorrow. All of this made to export. Cooley’s were the first to be named the world’s best whiskey around 2009.

I also work with Kilbeggan, the Irish Whiskey. We got the standard brand and we got an award for our 21-year old. It’s likely to win more Irish Whiskey of the year awards.

The Hardest market for Irish Whiskey is believe it or not Ireland, as Irish people drink along family lines, so you are likely to drink whatever whiskey your father drinks.

Kilbeggan is best Whiskey for Irish Coffee due to its bolder taste.

Irish whisky matures slowly due to the mild climate, Irish will taste smoother, and in aging it’s all down to environment. Whisky doesn’t mature in -4degrees. So the Irish Climate is crucial to its style of whiskey.

Aging in Ireland is generally traditional. Tullamore have done oak casks and at Cooley’s we did bog oak casks. It was a one off, which sold out, thought you might still be able to get it at Dublin Airport.

Beer

Janko’s

London Beer Bar Guide: Part 1 For decades, a weekend in London has been a standard short vacation for thousands of Swedes. Some come for the beer, and most will probably visit at least one pub. And then there are the real beer geeks, looking for very specific brands at specific pubs.

Text: Jan-Erik Svensson

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any of the pubs made famous

by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), are located outside the main tourist areas. You have to go there by underground and it is difficult to take a pleasant, relaxing walk between the pubs. But there are plenty of very good pubs in the city centre as well. If you do not have very specific wishes, you can cover a wide selection of establishments at walking distance from the main tourist attractions.

Friday evening: Kentish Town If you feel at least a little young and vibrant, you might like a walk through Kentish Town on a Friday evening. It is not really in the centre of London, but the area is full of things that curious people like and attracts visitors from all over the city. A good start is The Grafton (20 Prince of Wales Road) very close to the Kentish Town West station. You can have some pub grub in this simple but friendly pub, and there are some good beers on tap.

Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is widely regarded as the best bitter you can get. Bermondsey Best from Southwark is perhaps not as elegant as Landlord, but it has a very rich taste. Mad Goose from Purity Brewing in Warwickshire is a very good modern interpretation of pale ale.

Close to the Grafton, you will find the exquisite and modern Camden Town Brewery(55-59 Wilkin Street Mews) located under the railway bridge at the Kentish Town West station. In the brewery bar, you can taste their brews in a light, animate environment. The Pale Ale is a textbook example of modern ale and the Hells Lager an attempt to brew German style beer but why should one want to do that in Lon14 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

don. The Ink Stout is by far their best beer according to my taste.

To end the evening, you could walk to the north on Highgate Road. Burger aficionados might like to make a stop at Dirty Burger (76 Highgate Road), or continue to The Southampton Arms (139 Highgate Road). This is a place for real beer lovers, and you are likely to find brands that you never heard of before. The interior is very simple, but it is still a nice place to spend a couple of hours in. Posh Pooch from Ascot Ales in Surrey has the irresistible English combination of caramel, fruit and flowery hops.

Ledbury Dark from Herefordshire

The Ink Stout “ is by far their

best beer according to my taste.

”

is a roasty bitter with some apple notes. Anastasia’s Exile Stout from Ascot Ales has a rich taste with some chocolate and a lot of liquorice. Kent Brewery Pale is a very clean and good golden ale with a soft body and good, English hops.

Saturday afternoon: A walk through Holborn to the City and back to West End. A good start is a very old-fashioned Victorian pub called Princess Louise (208 High Holborn) close to the Holborn station just north of the main tourist area close to Covent Garden and Leicester Square. The pub opens at noon on weekends, but there will be plenty of room if you come early. The cask conditioned ale served is the legendary Samuel

Smith’s Old Brewery Bitter, a little darker than most with a full, malty body and some soft hops in the aftertaste. The beer is brewed in Yorkshire, and the brewery is still using traditional Yorkshire squares for fermentation. This method produces full bodied beers with a mellow character. The pub interior is one of a kind, with a lot of mirrors and dark wood. There is one bigger room at the back, but most of the area around the bar is divided into separate smaller areas. It is one of the most attractive pubs in London.

Walking to the east on High Holborn, you will soon reach another old-world pub called The Cittie of Yorke (22 High Holborn) close to the Chancery Lane station. The main room inside is much bigger than in Princess Louise, and the ceiling is high like in a factory. In fact, the pub has much more of an industrial character with a large amount of old, wooden vats as the main decoration. The interior is dominated by dark wood. If you just have been to Princess Louise, you might get disappointed by the fact that the beer on tap is the same.

But the pub is still well worth a visit. You could always try a cider, right? Please note that the pub is closed on Sundays.

The further you come to the east, the less people and open shops you will see on a weekend. The City is mainly a working area, and since it was heavily bombed during WWII there are much more modern houses here. The general feeling reminds a little of downtown city areas in the US. Still, there are some very traditional pubs here, but famous waterholes like Ye Olde Mitre (tucked away on 1 Ely Place) and The Viaduct Tavern (126 Newgate Street) are closed on weekends.

Not far from St. Paul’s cathedral, tucked away in a preserved area of narrow streets between the church and the river, you will find a gem called The Cockpit (7 St. Andrew’s Hill). It is one of my absolute London favourites, with a relaxed atmosphere, traditional but by no means museum-like interior (there is a huge TV screen above the main entrance) and a selection of very good beers. Timothy Taylor’s Landlord is perfect at the Cockpit, and Adnams Southwold Bitter is a schoolbook example of how a traditional ordinary bitter should taste. Even the stronger, sweeter Old Speckled Hen is enjoyable at the Cockpit. None of these beers are brewed in London – Landlord comes from Yorkshire, Adnams from Suffolk and Old Speckled Hen originally from Oxfordshire but now brewed by Greene King in Suffolk.

The Cockpit would probably be my first choice if I had to visit just one pub in London.

Turning back to the west, you will come to Fleet Street and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese(145 Fleet Street), perhaps the most famous old-style pub in London. It is tucked away in a narrow lane and a little hard to find. This pub is regarded as the kind of tourist trap that is still worth a visit. You will probably not be alone here. Samuel Smith on tap.

A totally different kind of pub is The Seven Stars (53-54 Carey Street), tucked away behind the Royal Courts of Justice. It is tiny, almost like a hole in the wall, with a wider range of beers than many

pubs. This is not the place to stay in for hours, it is often crowded and you might have to stand at the bar when drinking your beer. The place is like you would imagine a sailor’s pub a hundred or so years ago, but with young urban professional guests. One very good beer on tap is Sharp’s Cornish Coaster with a very English overall character but some spicy hops in the finish. The brewery was founded in the 1990’s but is now owned by an international company.

Further to the west, close to Covent Garden, you will find The Cross Keys (31 Endell Street) with

an almost over-decorated interior that might remind you a little of the mock-British pubs you can find outside Britain: oriental-style carpet, dark walls filled with old pictures and a huge amount of artefacts (pots and pitchers, diving helmets, brass instruments and the like) hanging from the ceiling. Still, the general impression is genuine, and it is a lively drinking place with younger staff and many different kinds of guests. Among the beers, I can recommend Windsor & Eton Guardsman Best Bitter, a very traditional British beer from a brewery founded in 2010.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jan-Erik Svensson lectures regularly at restaurant universities in Grythyttan and Umeå and is the author of Ölkunskap, the first and only Swedish textbook on beer. Grenadine Publisher has previously published a handbook beer. Jan-Erik is frequently hired for beer tasting and a judge both in Sweden and abroad, and he also arranges trips with unique themes to Europe’s premier Beer countries.

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

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Beer

A Taste of

Texas Lone Star Texas is a pretty special state, as I got to see first-hand this summer.

The lone Star Flag is seen throughout the state. It’s still got the western feel about it. Men drive big pickup trucks regardless of their occupation, every restaurant is a steak house, and temperatures rocket in the Summer towards 40 degrees.

Text: Noel Sheehy

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T

exas has its own main Beer which is Lone Star, an easy drinking lager. The Lone Star Brewery, built in 1884, was the first large mechanized brewery in Texas. Adolphus Busch, of Anheuser-Busch, founded it along with a group of San Antonio businessmen. The castle-like building now houses the San Antonio Museum of Art. Lone Star beer was the company’s main brand. It was marketed as “The National Beer of Texas.”

The Lone Star name is now owned

by Pabst Brewing Co. Production of Lone Star is currently contracted out to Miller Brewing Company in Fort Worth. The Lone Star name is used in the Philippines under license to Asia Brewery for a brand of light beer.

Originally called the Alamo Brewing Company of San Antonio in 1874, the company was purchased by Anheuser-Busch in 1895 at which time it was housed in the Old Lone Star Brewery located on 200 West Jones Avenue. The original Lone Star Bottling Works opened in San Antonio in the 1890s and by 1903 was selling 65,000 barrels of beer annually.

With the end of Prohibition in 1933, a new brewery under the name Salinas Brewing Company was constructed at 600 Lone Star Boulevard and operated under the Salinas name until 1939. The company then operated under name to the Champion Brewing Company until 1940, at which time it was purchased by the Muchlebach Brewing Company of Kansas City, Missouri. The company re-branded itself as the Lone Star Brewing Company and began officially producing Lone Star Beer that year.

The brewery also produced Lone Star Light, low-calorie Lime Lager (1970) & Brut Super Premium (1969).

It wasn’t until 1940 that brewer Peter Kreil from Munich created the formula for the first beer to actually be called Lone Star beer.

In 1949, under the leadership of Harry Jersig, Lone Star went public. By 1960, the brewery had 651 employees and by 1965, annual sales exceeded 1 million barrels. Olympia Brewing Co. of Washington bought Lone Star in 1976, and it changed hands again in 1983 when Wisconsin’s G. Heileman bought Olympia.

Detroit-based Stroh Brewery Co. then bought Heileman and closed the San Antonio brewery in 1996 moving beer production to Longview, Texas and signalling the end of San Antonio as a major brewing town.

Milwaukee-based Pabst bought most of the Stroh brands, including Lone Star, in 1999, and began brewing Lone Star at the San Antonio Pearl Brewery to great fanfare. In 2000, the Pearl Brewery

was closed because it was outdated and would have been too expensive to continue to operate or to bring up to date. Production of Lone Star is currently contracted out to non-Pabst owned breweries (e.g. Miller Brewing Company in Fort Worth).

In 1956 the Lone Star Brewery purchased the Buckhorn Saloon & Museum collection. Harry Jersig, President of the brewery and a friend of the Friedrich’s, continued to add to the collection and had a special building erected on the Lone Star grounds to house the collection.In the ‘70s, Lone Star’s sales benefited from Jerry Retzloff, former marketing and promotions manager for Lone Star Beer and his close association with Willie Nelson, the Austin music scene and their Giant Armadillo. The beer is mentioned frequently in the title track of Red Steagall’s 1976 album “Lone Star Beer and Bob Wills Music”. In 1999, the company began to sponsor Texas singers and musicians, such as Two Tons of Steel, with the beer’s “It’s a Texas Thing” advertising campaign.

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Rum

Rum’s Getting Hot Jerry Lindahl is an expert and judge regarding various Beer & Spirits. Here he tells us about the latest trend in Rum. Jerry can be reached on the following email: avecprovning@gmail.com Text: Jerry Lindahl

R

um has slowly started to get really hot. Honestly, I thought it would go faster but the breakthrough has been long in coming. For more than ten years I have heard people mention Rum in passing, and they thought it is an exciting and good drink, but it has not been more than that.

Of course, I have held the odd Rum and chocolate tasting that has been much appreciated but then again there has not been any major impact and I have wondered why? It seems that the malt trend has had a firm grasp of those inte-

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rested in spirits.

It is so easy to fixate on the Whiskey industry where the general opinion is that malt whiskey is the best and most expensive to The general whiskey drinker frowned upon blended whiskey but there seems to be an equally clear trend of those who slowly begin to take an interest in Rum. It is simply interesting and almost regardless of manufacturing methodology and history.

Certainly there are some who insist that agricole Rum is better

than everything else in an attempt to find similarities with malt whiskey’s snobbery. Thankfully, they are easy to count. The downside is that there is a lot of artificially flavored Rum. One of the distinct scent of vanilla or toffee laces is a warning signal. Rum interest is suffering from teething problems that will eventually disappear. I hope that will be in the near future.

Rum is not as tightly regulated as Whiskey. For example, there are no consistent or clear rules on how age should be listed on the bottle in relation to the content age.

Beer

Czech Mate Pilsner Sweden has continuous growth in Czech Beer demand. Apart from the large selection available at Systembolaget many bars also offer a good variety on tap or in bottle.

Text: Paul Petric Beer in Czech Republic has a long history. First found written mentions of brewing and cultivation of hops reach to 8th century. There are even mentions of sales of Bohemian hops to far places, such as Hamburg. In order to control and tax come then brewery rights.

Brno had the right to brew beer from the 12th century while Plzeň and České Budějovice, Pilsen and Budweis in German, had breweries in the 13th century.

The most common Czech beers nowadays are pale lagers of pilsner type, with characteristic transparent golden colour, high foaminess and lighter flavour. The Czech Republic has the highest beer consumption per capita in the world.

Czech beer brands include Pilsner Urquell, the world’s first pilsner, and Budweiser Budvar (in some countries trademarked as Budějovický Budvar or Czechvar).

Other well-known brands are Velkopopovický Kozel, Gambrinus, Radegast, Staropramen, Krušovice, Starobrno, Bernard and Svijany.

The history of beer in the modern

Czech Republic, historically Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, goes back further than the creation of Pilsner Urquell in 1842. Beer was made in the Czech lands even before the Slavic migration in the 6th century, although the ingredients used often differed from what we are used to today.

Hops has been grown in the region for a long time, and were used in beer making and exported from here since the 12 century. Most towns had at least one brewery; the most famous brewing cities in Bohemia were Budweis, Plzeň, and Prague. Other towns with notable breweries are Rakovník, Žatec, and Třeboň.

Much of the early brewing history of Bohemia is centred on various monasteries.

Beer in České Budějovice Today the city has two main breweries: Budějovický měšťanský pivovar a.s. and Budějovický Budvar n.p. (Budweiser Budvar) The city of České Budějovice was for centuries also known by its German name, Budweis. Brewing is recorded in the city since the 13th century. The modern Budějovický měšťanský pivovar was founded in 1795 as the Bürgerliches Brauhaus Budweis.

Beer in Pilsen

Pilsner Urquell was the first “pilsner” type beer in the world. In 1842, a brewery in Plzeň employed Josef Groll, a German brewer who was experienced in the Bavarian lager method of making beer. Beer in Pilsen at the time was not of very good quality and they needed to compete. He developed a golden Pilsner beer, the first light coloured beer ever brewed. It became an immediate success, and was exported throughout Europe and the United States by 1874. Today, beers made at Plzeňský Prazdroj are: Pilsner Urquell, Gambrinus and Primus.

Beer in Prague

Much of the brewing history of the Czech capital is connected to the monasteries in the city. It is also recorded that in 1088 AD, King Vratislav II granted a tithe of hops to the Canons of Vyšehrad Cathedral in order to brew beer.

Today the Prague brewing scene is dominated by Staropramen, although there are several smaller breweries in the city.

Beer in Brno and South Moravia

Here there are only few breweries with a long tradition, namely Starobrno in Brno and Černá hora.

However, there has been a boom of microbreweries since the 2000’s. Breweries Permon, Matuska, Akciový Pivovar Dalešice, Pegas and Richard have been gaining countrywide popularity, despite smaller production.

Modern beer styles

A strong Czech dark beer - Master. Nearly all beer brewed in the Czech Republic is pilsener lager. Czech beers vary in colour from pale (Světlé), through amber (Polotmavé) and dark (Tmavé) to black (Černé) and in strength from 3-9% abv.

Top-fermented wheat beer (Pšeničné pivo) is also available.

20 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

21

Wine

19 Glas With Owner Peter

Wine Bars are not so common yet in Sweden but here is one of Sweden’s leading Wine Bars. And if you are more of a Beer person, then its fine, there are great craft beers on offer too.

Text: Leon Smith food - or vice versa. Our ingredients come from carefully selected suppliers and basically everything is organically grown, raised and slaughtered in view of the animals and meat quality.

Since 2013, we strengthened our relations with our suppliers of several visits, pictures and stories, you can follow our story on Face-

Peter Bennyson

H STAROPRAMEN PREMIUM har en doft av hårt bröd, toner av brynt smör och sommarblommor.

Balanserad, maltig smak med lättrostat bröd och frukt. Avslutande och långvarig friskhet och beska.

Distribueras av Carlsberg Sverige AB. Alkoholhalt Staropramen Premium 5,0 % vol. Art nr: 1679 Konsumentservice 020-78 80 20 www.carlsbergsverige.se

Att börja dricka i tidig ålder ökar risken för alkoholproblem.

22 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

ere is some feedback from the owner Peter Bennyson, When the Daily News Around town called 19 Glas “a small watering hole for big wine lovers” I was happy, as happy as the term “small restaurant with big ambitions” as another food writer put it.

Both labels I think fit in well with what we are trying to offer here: meeting people, food and drinks that stay as pleasant experiences to remember - and come back to.

19 Glass is a local restaurant.

Here you can eat our lunch menu quietly, quickly if you need, here you can slip in the afternoon for a glass of wine, a good beer, wonderful cured meats and cheese in the bar - or a four-course dinner menu. Maybe start with a glass in the bar and then goes to the

book.

19 Glas is a special wine bar. We have a lot of wine on our wine list, almost all we offer by the glass.

It makes it easy for you to easily get a great experience. Our wines come from Otago to Sörmland, and always will be new and exciting wines from vineyards in both old and new world.

19 Glas is a meeting place. Our ambition is that all the guests really feel welcome here, whether you are in company or alone sips a glass at the bar. All meetings that occur every day, between guests and staff, the food expected and unexpected wine-selection - that’s what every working day is all about.

We don’t have very many chairs, but we will always do everything we can to offer a place in our BAR, DINING ROOM and FOOD CELLAR! Welcome to 19 Glas!

A gastronomic oasis in Old Town

implement an exclusive event in gastronomy characters.

Chefs table — a food adventure Cooking together is a great way to socialize. The perfect start to your gathering is a wine tasting led by one of our knowledgeable sommeliers or one of our specially selected wine merchants. It is followed by a cooking adventure in which you yourselves cook under the guidance of our chefs.

During cooking and eating we tell you everything you want to know about our specially selected ingredients and dedicated growers, farmers and winemakers. Chefs table is the perfect choice for the group who want to combine business with pleasure in an active and instructive way.

Meeting — chambre separée In our quiet storeroom you can in a relaxed hold meetings and dinners alone. The absolute proximity to the wine cellar and kitchen ensures the highest service and flexibility.

We are not limited by fixed menus or routines, but let cooking become totally uncompromising and creative. Chambre separée is for the group who want to brighten their gathering with food and wine in the top class in a secluded, exclusive environment.

In 19 Glas storeroom in the old town, we offer an extraordinary experience.Here you can gather around the pots in authentic restaurant kitchen environment and Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

23

Beer

As of 2011,There are 18 certified Abbey beers existing:

Belgian Beer Culture Belgian Beer varies from pale lager to lambic beer and Flemish red. There are approximately 200 Breweries in the country, ranging from international giants to microbreweries.

Text: Leon Smith

O

n average, Belgians drink 84 litres of beer annually. Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every style of beer has its own particular, uniquely shaped glass or other drinking-vessel. Using the correct glass is considered to improve its flavour.

Beer in Belgium dates back to the age of the first crusades in the 12th century, long before Belgium became an independent country.

Under Catholic Church permission, local French and Flemish abbeys brewed and distributed beer as a fund raising method. The relatively low-alcohol beer of that time was preferred as a sanitary option to available drinking water.

The Trappist monasteries that now brew beer in Belgium were occupied in the late 18th century primarily by monks fleeing the French Revolution. However, the first Trappist brewery in Westmalle, Belgium did not start operation until 1836, almost 50 years after the Revolution. That beer was exclusively for the monks and is described as “dark and sweet.” The first recorded sale of beer was on 1861.

In the 16th and 17th century, a beer termed crabbelaer was the most popular beer in Ghent; at the peak of its popularity, more than 50 different breweries produced more than 6 million litres a year. Other kinds of beer brewed in Ghent were klein bier, dubbel bier, clauwaert, dubbele clauwaert and dusselaer.

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Trappist beers The brewing of Trappist beers takes place in Trappist monasteries.

For a beer to qualify for Trappist certification, the brewery must be in a monastery, the monks must play a role in its production and the policies and the profits from the sale must be used to support the monastery or social programs outside.

Only 10 monasteries currently

The current Belgian Trappist producers are: Achel

Blonde (8% ABV), Brune (8% ABV), Extra Blonde (9.5% ABV), Extra Brune (9.5% ABV).

Chimay Red Label (dark, 7% ABV), White Label (Blonde/Tripel, ABV 8%) and Blue Label (dark, 9% ABV).

Orval sells a “unique” dry hopped 6.2% amber beer.

Rochefort sells three dark beers, “6” (7.5% ABV). “8” (9.2% ABV) and “10” (11.3% ABV).

Westmalle sells Dubbel (7% ABV) and Tripel (9.5% ABV) Westvleteren sells Green Cap or Blonde, (5.8% ABV), Blue Cap (dark, 8% ABV) and Yellow Cap (dark, 10.2% ABV).

In addition to the above, a lower-strength beer is sometimes brewed for consumption by the Brothers (patersbier) or sold on site.

meet these qualifications, six of which are in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, one in Austria and one in the United States. Trappist beer is a controlled term of origin: it tells where the beers come from; it is not the name of a beer style.

Beyond saying they are mostly top-fermented; the Trappist beers have very little in common stylistically.

Abbey beers The designation “abbey beers” also known as Bières d’Abbaye , originally applied to any monastic or monastic-style beer. After introduction of an official Trappist beer designation by the International Trappist Association in 1997, it came to mean products similar in style or presentation to monastic beers. In other words, an Abbey beer may be:

What connoisseurs now recognize as Trappist breweries began operations in 1838. Several French monasteries, however, maintained “working” breweries for 500+ years before the French Revolution (1789–1799) disrupted religious life across the northern French province of Wallonia. Even then, some Abbey beers such as Affligem Abbey, whose name now appears on beers made by the Heineken-owned Affligem Brewery, resumed brewing from “working” monasteries until the occupation of most of Belgium in World War I. Commercial Abbey beers first appeared during Belgium’s World War I recovery.

Although Abbey beers do not conform to rigid brewing styles, most tend to include the most recognizable and distinctive Trappist styles of brune (Belgian brown ale, aka dubbel), strong pale ale or tripel, and blonde ale or blond. Modern abbey breweries range from microbreweries to international giants, but at least one beer writer warns against assuming that closeness of connection with a real monastery confirms a product’s quality.

Abbaye de Cambron brewed in Silly by Brasserie de Silly.

Abbaye de Bonne Espérance brewed in Quenast by Lefebvre Brewery.

Abdij Dendermonde brewed in Merchtem by Brouwerij De Block.

Abbaye de Saint-Martin brewed near Tournai by Brasserie Brunehaut.

Affligem produced for Affligem Abbey by a Heineken-owned brewery.

Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu

brewery for an extant Norbertine abbey.

Keizersberg brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen Brouwerij Van Steenberge.

by

Leffe the Abbey brand of Stella Artois, itself part of the multinational Inbev corporation, is brewed under licence from an extant brewery. It is thought to be the first such arrangement. Leffe has global distribution.

Maredsous the Abbey brand of Duvel Moortgat, Belgium’s second largest brewer, licensed from Maredsous Abbey.

Postel

located on the grounds of a former abbey.

brewed in Opwijk by Brouwerij De Smedt.

Bornem

Ramée

brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen Brouwerij Van Steenberge.

by

Ename brewed in Oost-Vlaanderen Brouwerij Roman.

brewed in Purnode by Brasserie du Bocq.

St. Feuillien by

Floreffe brewed to fund a school housed in a former monastery.

Grimbergen made by the large Alken Maes

a small independent brewery.

Steenbrugge brewed in Brugge by Brouwerij De Gouden Boom.

Tongerlo brewed in Boortmeerbeek by Brouwerij Haacht.

produced by a non-Trappist monastery — e.g. Benedictine produced by a commercial brewery under commercial arrangement with an extant monastery branded with the name of a defunct fictitious abbey by a commercial brewer given a vaguely monastic branding, without mentioning a specific monastery.

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

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Brewing

Guinness Porters, Arthur’s Recipes

Recently I met with Beth Carey and Sean Bellew of Guinness, I put some questions to them and here are their collective answers.

Text: Noel Sheehy

Guinness West Indies Porter, can you describe it for us?

Well it’s got an ABV of 6%, and it’s a bitter. Bitterness is 45 units, and hopiness is high. Taste is light chocolate toffee. This drink is prefect for spicy dishes, as was intended.

How about the production of it, is it similar to Guinness?

In terms of production it’s similar to the other porters. It has extra hops giving it higher bitterness and higher alcohol content.

To understand what makes all Guinness variants special, you have to start with the raw ingredients.

26 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

Beth, can you explain what you mean by “It’s the mother foreign extra Guinness Stout?

The Guinness West Indies Porter is the original recipe of what we now know as Guinness Foreign Extra Stout. The recipe originates from an 1801 diary entry about brewing specifically to maintain freshness while Guinness is transported from one country to another. To guarantee the fresh quality, brewers created a porter with more hops and a

A portrait of

Arthur Guinness

First up tell our readers who you are and your roles?

I’m Sean, I work as a Brewer with Guinness and also with their other products including their two new stouts. We have a lot of new products coming to the market, which we are sure will keep our drinkers happy.

I’m Beth Carey, Guinness Storehouse Beer Specialist. We would like to tell your readers about Guinness’s latest Stouts. The following porters were made from old recipes dating back to Arthur’s time in Guinness. He had travelled to the UK and knew what was popular among drinkers, and new to the market. So basically Arthur came up with his own drinks.

The Brewer Project has given license to explore new recipes, reinterpret old ones and collaborate freely to bring exciting beers to life. Enables us to push the boundaries and create.

higher gravity. It is from this recipe that Foreign Extra Stout originated from.

Porter has CO2 flavour and is light.

Dublin Porter, can you describe it for us?

People enjoy it. It’s a beer with character which pairs well with a variety of foods, creating new occasions for enjoying Guinness. It appeals to beer drinkers who want to try different styles of beers of substance.

It has an AVB of 3.8%, bitterness is 30units, so it’s a more mellow porter. It’s available in both tap and bottle. Taste wise it’s again a chocolate toffee, wet finish.in terms of food pairing its excellent with seafood especially oysters or brown bread.

The recipe goes back to 1796.

It is the origin of the Guinness we drink today. It’s an example of the innovation of Arthur Guinness.

Brewing wise it’s similar to Guinness, except Guinness draft is 4.2 with infused nitrogen but Dublin

What has the reaction to this been?

The old Guinness factory

Water, barley, hops and yeast: four natural ingredients, carefully selected to ensure that they are of the highest quality. Each ingredient is special in its own right but when mixed together according to our secret recipe, the result is simply extraordinary.

The first step is to prepare the barley.

Barley is malted, roasted, milled, mixed with hot water and mashed.

The liquid is then filtered off and boiled with hops. Then yeast is added and fermentation begins. The beer is clarified, matured and prepared for packaging. This process continues 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Please note it is only available in Bottle. And the bottle is one you will remember.

What has the reaction been so far?

It’s been very successful in Ireland and the UK where it was first launched, and we are delighted that it will be available in Sweden. As a brewer at St James’s Gate, the home of Guinness, I get a huge sense of pride to know that people all across Europe and the world are enjoying the beer that I’ve created.

We know that there is a huge interest in beer at the moment, and it’s so exciting that we can bring our new and old recipes to people.

We are continuously honing our craft, innovation in brewing and seeking out the extraordinary in the ordinary. With these new variants people get to taste new beer innovations whilst keeping true to the Guinness quality our customers know and love.

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

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Spirits

The Tequila Truth...

Tequila is a regional specific name for distilled beverages made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, northwest of Guadalajara, and in the north western Mexican state of Jalisco. Tequila is a kind of mezcal.

Text: Noel Sheehy

The Truth about The Tequila Worm

Only certain mezcals, usually from the state of Oaxaca, are ever sold “con gusano” (with worm). They are added as a marketing gimmick and are not traditional. The tequila regulatory council does not allow gusanos or scorpions (which are sometimes also added to mezcals) to be included in tequila bottles.

The worm is actually the larval form of the moth Hypopta agavis, which lives on the agave plant. Finding one in the plant during processing indicates an infestation and, correspondingly, a lower-quality product. However, this misconception continues, despite effort and marketing to represent tequila as a premium liquor similar to the way Cognac is viewed in relation to other brandies.

Early Tequila History Tequila was first produced in the 16th century near the location of the city of Tequila, which was not officially established until 1666.

The Aztec people had previously made a fermented beverage from the agave plant, long before the Spanish arrived in 1521. When the Spanish conquistadors ran out of their own brandy, they began to distil agave to produce one of North America’s first indigenous distilled spirits.

Some 80 years later, around 1600, Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, the Marquis of Altamira, began mass-producing tequila at the first factory in the territory of 28 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

modern-day Jalisco. By 1608, the colonial governor of Nueva Galicia had begun to tax his products.

Spain’s King Carlos IV granted the Cuervo family the first license to commercially make tequila.

Don Cenobio Sauza, founder of Sauza Tequila and Municipal President of the Village of Tequila from 1884–1885, was the first to export tequila to the United States, and shortened the name from “Tequila Extract” to just “Tequila” for the American markets. Don Cenobio’s grandson Don Francisco Javier gained international attention for insisting that “there cannot be tequila where there are no agaves!”

His efforts led to the practice that real tequila can come only from the State of Jalisco.

Recent Tequila history Although some tequilas have remained as family-owned brands, most well-known tequila brands are owned by large multinational corporations. However, over 100 distilleries make over 900 brands of tequila in Mexico and over 2,000 brand names have been registered (2009 statistics). Due to this, each bottle of tequila contains a serial number (NOM) depicting in which distillery the tequila was produced.

Because only so many distilleries are used, multiple brands of tequila come from the same location.

The Tequila Regulatory Council of Mexico originally did not permit flavored tequila to carry the tequila name. In 2004, the Council decided to allow flavoured tequila to be called tequila, with the exception

of 100% agave tequila, which still cannot be flavoured.

A one-litre bottle of limited-edition premium tequila was sold for $225,000 in July 2006 in Tequila, Jalisco. The bottle which contained the tequila was a two-kilo display of platinum and gold. The manufacturer received a certificate from The Guinness World Records for the most expensive bottle ever sold.

How is Tequila made?

Planting, tending, and harvesting the agave plant remains a manual effort, largely unchanged by modern farm machinery and relying on centuries-old know-how.

The men who harvest it, the jimadores, have intimate knowledge of how the plants should be cultivated, passed down from generation to generation. By regularly trimming any quiotes (a several-meter high stalk that grows from the center of the plant), the jimadores prevent the agave from flowering and dying early, allowing it to fully ripen.

The jimadores must be able to tell when each plant is ready to be harvested, and using a special knife called a coa (with a circular blade on a long pole), carefully cut away the leaves from the piña (the succulent core of the plant). If harvested too late or too early, the piñas, which can average around 70 kg (150 lb) in the lowlands to 110 kg (240 lb) in the highlands, will not have the right amount of carbohydrates for fermentation.

After harvesting, the piñas are

transported to ovens where they are slowly baked to break down their complex fructans into simple fructoses. Then, the baked piñas are either shredded or mashed under a large stone wheel called a tahona. The pulp fiber, or bagazo, left behind is often reused as compost or animal feed, but can even be burnt as fuel or processed into paper. Some producers like to add a small amount of bagazo back into their fermentation tanks for a stronger agave flavour in the final product.

The extracted agave juice is then poured into either large wooden or stainless steel vats for several days to ferment, resulting in a wort, or mosto, with low alcohol content.

This wort is then distilled once to produce what is called “ordinario, and then a second time to produce clear “silver” tequila. A few producers distil the product a third time, but several connoisseurs consider this third distillation a mistake because it removes too much flavour from the tequila. From there, the tequila is either bottled as silver tequila, or it is pumped into wooden barrels to age, where it develops a mellower flavour and amber colour.

Usually, the differences in taste between tequila made from lowland and highland agave plants is noticeable. Plants grown in the highlands often yield sweeter and fruitier-tasting tequila, while lowland agaves give the tequila an earthier flavour.

The preferred oak comes from the US, France, or Canada, and is usually white oak. Some companies char the wood to impart a smoky flavour, or use barrels previously used with different kinds of alcohol (e.g. whiskey or wine). Some reposados can also be aged in new wood barrels to achieve the same woody flavour and smoothness, but in less time.

Añejos are often rested in barrels previously used to rest reposados.

The barrels cannot be more than 600 litres (158 gallons), and most

are in the 200-liter (52-gallon) range.

Many of the barrels used are from whiskey distilleries in the US or Canada, and Jack Daniels barrels are especially popular. This treatment creates many of the aspects of the dark colour and more complex flavours of the añejo tequila. After aging of at least one year, the añejo can be removed from the wood barrels and placed in stainless steel tanks to reduce the amount of evaporation that can occur in the barrels.

What is the Aging process?

Reposados may be rested in oak barrels or casks as large as 20,000 litres (5,280 gallons), allowing for richer and more complex flavours.

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Beer

Winter Ale & Christmas Beer

In Summer we bask in the sun and drink light beers, sometime with a slice of lime. In Winter the sun is hidden and sometimes the only light is that reflected off the snow, we drink a different beer then and here is its story.

Flensburger Winterbock This rich and flavourful bock beer has a crisp mild taste.

The full-bodied Flensburger speciality is a delight on dark days and frosty nights.

7.0% vol.

16.3° Plato.

20 Bitterness units.

Text: Jerry Lindahl

D

rinking during Christmas has its origin in paganism, but what the word means is shrouded in mystery. In regular days when people drank it was a watery beer, but when Christmas approached, the beer was brewed to a dark and heavily beer that would fit the often greasy food that was served, but also warm in the biting cold.

In ancient times people sacrificed also regularly which meant that they sacrificed to the gods for the successful harvest, hunting or whatever they felt needed. The largest and most important feast was the last, the winter solstice which falls on 21st December and the beer was a central part of the ceremony. It was therefore particularly important that it became a really strong and good beer so they could appease the gods.

What we today associate with a classic Swedish Christmas beer was born in the mid-1800’s when several brewers began brewing and selling Christmas beer on a commercial basis. A tradition that has

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Swedish brewers of empty shops.

Several Christmas Beers that began being brewed by the new wave of microbreweries 10-20 years ago in a new style has become recurrent classics. Some breweries change the recipe from year to year, while other breweries maintains a successful recipe which then becomes a classic and tradition to look forward to. You should not change a winning concept.

Sure they brew a strong beer for Christmas in other countries, too, but they have more of the character winter warmers and are not really intended as a beverage. Simply a fuller and very complex beer tastes best on your own and at any time when it’s snowing and really cold outside. Then it is good to warm up with a strong, dark beer.

Your Advert here Flensburger Pilsener Our classic!

Unmistakable in character and freshness.

4,8% vol. • 11,3° Plato. • 38 Bitterness units.

BRLO! is the old Slavic origin of the name Berlin. BRLO is a craft beer brand deeply rooted in the history of our beloved capital, but at the same time open to reinterpretation. BRLO represents passionate, creative and handcrafted beer appealing to all the senses.

Helles Our interpretation of a true German classic: With barrels of love, this handcrafted Lager tickles the taste buds with a pleasant hop aroma.

Only the finest German hops from Hallertau and Tettnang have made it into this beer. We think it’s the perfect sidekick for every occasion!

5% vol.

Pale Ale We brew our Pale Ale with five different hops. Bavarian hops Saphir adds a wonderfully fruity aroma through dry hopping. Our Pale Ale is unfiltered and holds its own, having 6% alcohol content.

6% vol.

Porter This brew is a crossing between an English Porter and a Russian Imperial Stout. Our un-filtered Baltic Porter pleases with harmonious caramel and roasted flavors.

This beer is heavy duty – just the way Catherine the Great used to like it. NSTRVJ!

Weisse Our Berlin style Weisse is to be served ice-cold and straight up – without syrup, of course! This refreshing sour beer is the perfect companion on a hot summer’s day.

Even Napoleon fancied this beer style and called it “Champagne du Nord”.

For real Berliner!

4% vol.

7% vol.

Imported and distributed by SPEEDY WINE STORE AB, Hammarby Fabriksväg 23, S-120 30 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)8-120 542 36, Cell: +46 (0)73-620 09 53, Email: info@speedywine.se

Alcohol can damage your health.

Alkohol kan skada din hälsa.

2015

Jerry Lindahl

endured to the present day. Traditionally, it is a dark lager with an alcohol strength of approximately 6% and a slight sweetness. The reason is that they felt it fits into the heavy Christmas dinner with many different flavors and tangy pickles.

But even such a tradition-bound beverage like our dear Christmas beer it has had its slumps. 30 years ago interest in Winter Ale, Christmas Beer hit an unprecedented low. Interest from breweries and the selection available was pretty meager. Of course it would be Ale to the Dinner. It was just as self-evident as julmust but what kind they drank was not so important.

Our own Christmas beer has also changed and evolved and today offering a rich breadth of taste and character, ranging from the classic dark to drier and more bitter beers and sometimes even with little smoke flavor. Experimentation does not seem to subside in the

Whisky

日本のウイスキー蒸留

Japanese Whisky Distilling!

Here we meet with Sayumi Oyama, European Ambassador for Nikka Whisky, for the last three years stationed in France.

32 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

All good Whisky has a story, what’s the story behind yours?

Nikka Company was founded by Mr. Taketsuru who is considered the father of Japanese whisky. The whisky making knowledge was taken over by him from Scotland. Today, Nikka continue to follow the traditional whisky making but we are also very innovative Company.

Can you tell us the history behind the Distillery?

In 1918, Masataka Taketsuru embarked alone on a long voyage to Scotland. In this distant land the secrets of whisky-making would be imparted to this young Japanese man, and here he would meet the woman who would become his bride. Given the chance to go to Scotland, Masataka enrolled at the University of Glasgow and became the first Japanese ever to study the art of whisky making. Masataka would later become known as the father of Japanese whisky.

In 1920 Masataka returned to

Japan with Jessie Roberta (Rita), whom he had married earlier that year. Later joining a company that aspired to make genuine whisky, he succeeded under its employment in producing Japan’s first whisky. Masataka’s vision of whisky was formed by his experience in Scotland, and he knew that the right environment was essential. However, it was becoming apparent that in order to produce whisky as he felt it had to be, he would have to become independent.

Thus in 1934 Masataka established Nikka Whisky, and built its first distillery in Yoichi, Hokkaido, which though inconveniently located he had always considered to be the ideal site in Japan for whisky-making, similar in many ways to the Scottish town where he had studied.

Masataka established Nikka because he was determined to introduce his fellow Japanese to the joys of authentic whisky. In the decades since, as his company developed

and the enjoyment of whisky became a fixture in Japan, he remained relentlessly passionate about quality. Never did he allow it to be sacrificed in favour of efficiency. In that sense, Masataka Taketsuru, Father of Japanese Whisky, sake brewer’s son, had never truly left his roots.

The young Scotswoman who steadfastly supported her husband throughout their marriage, as he built Nikka and made it flourishes, until her passing in 1961. Rita and Masataka Taketsuru are buried together, in Yoichi.

Is there anything unique with your Distillery?

Yes there are two key aspects making our Whisky unique! Firstly, our Distillery is very traditional, for example we use a Coal Fire Still at Yoichi distillery. No whisky distilleries in Scotland or Japan are still doing this.

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Whisky

日本のウイスキー蒸留

Japanese

Miyagikyo Distillery: Pot Stills

Masataka Taketsuru

Whisky Distilling!

At this fire the temperature is around 1000 degree so we distil quickly and retain the taste, the rich flavour and oily texture.

Secondly our Coffey Still is a very rare old style. Only three or four whisky distilleries in the world still use them. Today the distilleries use modern methods for mass production. With our Coffey Still we get to keep the complexity of the Whisky.

One distillation and you can keep 94,5% of alcohol, and when you wait five years it’s tasty.

What’s the Whisky taste like from the Distillery?

Nikka produce huge range of product. Each whisky has different character.

It’s tasty and complex, some whisky has nice elegant fruity flavour, some others have smoky and peaty aromas. The formula of an expression consists of an average of more 50 different styles of whiskies. In the lab we have more of 3,000 samples from distilling.

Describe the distilling process at your Distillery?

It’s completely the same as distilling as Scotch Whisky, but our taste is different but it comes from the blending style.

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Any tips for people out there still searching for their right whisky?

Novice drinkers should try Nikka Whisky from the Barrel. It’s the number 1 selling Japanese Whisky in Europe. For the more experienced drinker I would suggest our Single Malt, Yoichi and Miyagikyo.

Yoichi has good peatiness, smokiness and vanilla flavour. Miyagikyo has fruitiness, spiciness and elegant finish. Or you could try our blended malt, Taketsuru 17-year old pure malt. It won the World Best Blended Malt Whisky awards three times.

Any important aspects regarding your whisky, we should know about?

Nikka produce Single Malt, Pure Malt (Blended Malt), Single Grain and Blended Whisky. With our huge possibility of choice, you can find your favourite one.

Compare your whisky with other Irish, Scotch, and Japanese Whiskies?

It’s not comparable. Every whisky and distillery has different character. And this different coming from different Company philosophy, whisky making method, blending skill. Maybe Nikka is most traditional Scottish style distillery in Japan but still very unique.

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Whisky

Irish Whisky Growth Explosion

Ireland used to be the largest producer of Whiskey in the world. Today that’s no longer the case. But the whiskies leaving Ireland are among the highest standard there is.

Irish culture is a mixture of the Gaelic traditions, music, poetry, storytelling, sports and whiskey. The enjoyment of all this can be summed up in one Gaelic word, “Craic.”

Text: Noel Sheehy & John Cashman

I

rish whiskey is an Anglicisation of uisce beatha or a phrase from the Gaelic languages Irish, Scottish Gaelic meaning “water of life”. Most Irish pot still whiskey is distilled three times, while most (but not all) Scotch whisky is only distilled twice. Peat is rarely used in the malting process, so that Irish whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones common to some Scotches. There are notable exceptions to these rules in both countries; an example is Connemara peated Irish malt (double distilled) whiskey from the Cooley Distillery in Riverstown, Cooley, County Louth.

Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a long period of decline from the late 19th century onwards greatly damaged the industry. Although Scotland sustains approximately

Ireland

105 distilleries, Ireland has only seven in current operation – only four of which have been operating long enough to have products sufficiently aged for current sale on the market as of 2013, and only one of which was operating before 1975. Irish whiskey has seen a great resurgence in popularity since the late twentieth century, and has been the fastest growing spirit in the world every year since 1990. The current growth rate is at roughly 20% per annum, prompting the construction and expansion of a number of distilleries.

Types Irish whiskey comes in several forms. If the whiskey is continuously distilled from un-malted grains, it is referred to as grain whiskey.

This lighter and more neutral spirit is rarely found alone and the vast

majority of grain whiskey is used to make blended whiskey, a product made by mixing column still product with richer and more intense pot still product. Irish whiskeys made in a pot still fall into two categories. Those made entirely from malted barley distilled in a pot still are referred to as single malt whiskeys, a style also very commonly associated with Scotch whisky.

The second style of Irish pot still whiskey is single pot still whiskey, made from a mixture of malted and un-malted barley completely distilled in a pot still. This latter style has also been historically referred to as “pure pot still” whiskey and “Irish pot still whiskey”, Older bottlings often bear these names.

Regardless of whether the blended whiskey is made from combining grain whiskey with either single malt whiskey or with single pot still whiskey, it is labelled with the same terminology.

Examples Blends: Black Bush, Bushmills Original, Clontarf, Inishowen, The Irishman Potstill, Jameson, Kilbeggan, Locke’s Blend, Midleton Very Rare, Millars, Paddy, Powers, Tullamore Dew, Writer’s Tears

Single pot still: Green Spot, Yellow Spot, Jameson 15yr Old Pure Pot Still, Redbreast (12, 15, 21 years) Single malt: Bushmills (10, 16, 21 years), Connemara Peated Malt (Regular, Cask Strength and 12 years), The Irishman Single Malt, Locke’s Single Malt (8 years), Tullamore Dew Single Malt (10year), Tyrconnell

Single grain: Greenore (8, 10, 15, 18 years), Teelings Single Grain.

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IPA— Beer

Still Hoppy

If you were asked to describe the biggest trend in Beer over the last 10 years and you had to describe in one word or abbreviation, then IPA best sums it up!

Text: Leon Smith India pale ale (IPA) is a hoppy beer style within the broader category of pale ale. The first known use of the term “India pale ale” is an advertisement in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser in 1829. It was also referred to as pale ale as prepared for India, India ale, pale India ale, or pale export India ale.

Pale History The term pale ale originally denoted ale that had been brewed from pale malt. The pale ales of the early 18th century were lightly hopped and quite different from today’s pale ales. By the mid-18th century, pale ale was mostly manufactured with coke-fired malt, which produced less smoking and roasting of barley in the malting process, and hence produced a paler beer. One such variety of beer was October Beer, a pale well-hopped brew popular among the land-owning classes, who brewed it domestically; once brewed it was intended to cellar for two years.

Among the first brewers known to export beer to India was the Bow Brewery on the Middlesex-Essex border. Bow Brewery beers became popular among East India Company traders in the late 18th century because of the brewery’s location and Hodgson’s liberal credit line of 18 months. Ships transported Hodgson’s beers to India, among them his October beer, which benefited exceptionally from conditions of the voyage and was apparently highly regarded among its consumers in India. Bow Brewery came 38 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

is clear that by the 1860’s, India pale ales were widely brewed in England, and that they were much more attenuated and highly hopped than porters and many other ales.

Demand for the export style of pale ale, which had become known as India pale ale, developed in England around 1840 and India pale ale became a popular product in England. Some brewers dropped the term “India” in the late 19th century, but records indicated that these “pale ales” retained the features of earlier IPAs. American, Australian, and Canadian brewers manufactured beer with the label

IPA before 1900, and records suggest that these beers were similar to English IPA of the era.

IPA style beers started being exported to other colonial countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, around this time with many breweries dropping the ‘I’ in ‘IPA’ and simply calling them Pale Ales or Export Pales. Many breweries, such as Kirkstall Brewery, sent large quantities of export beer across the world by steam ship to auction off to wholesalers there.

United Kingdom The term IPA is common in the UK for low-gravity beers, for example

Greene King IPA and Charles Wells Eagle IPA. IPAs with alcohol by volume of 4% or lower have been brewed in Britain since the First World War, when taxes on beer ingredients greatly increased and brewers responded by lowering the strength of their beers.

United States IPAs have a long history in the US and many breweries there produce a version of the style. Contemporary American IPAs are typically brewed with distinctively American hops, such as Cascade, Centennial, Citra, Columbus, Chinook, Simcoe, Amarillo, Tomahawk, Warrior, and Nugget. East Coast IPAs are distinguished from West Coast IPAs by a stronger malt presence which balances the intensity of the hops whereas the latter foreground the hops more, possibly because of the proximity of West Coast breweries to hop fields in the Pacific Northwest. East Coast breweries rely more on spicier European hops and specialty malts than those on the West Coast.

Double IPA

into the control of Hodgson’s son in the early 19th century, but his business practices alienated their customers. During the same period, several Burton breweries lost their European export market in Russia when the Tsar banned the trade, and were seeking a new export market for their beer.

At the behest of the East India Company, Allsopp brewery developed a strongly-hopped pale ale in the style of Hodgson’s for export to India. Other Burton brewers, including Bass and Salt, were anxious to replace their lost Russian export market and quickly followed Allsopp’s lead.

Perhaps as a result of the advantages of Burton water in brewing, Burton India pale ale was preferred

by merchants and their customers in India, but Hodgson’s October beer clearly influenced the Burton brewers’ India pale ales.

Early IPA, such as Burton brewers’ and Hodgson’s, was only slightly higher in alcohol than most beer brewed in his day and would not have been considered a strong ale; however, a greater proportion of the wort was well-fermented, leaving behind few residual sugars, and the beer was strongly hopped. The common story that early IPAs were much stronger than other beers of the time, however, is a myth. While IPA’s were formulated to survive long voyages by sea better than other styles of the time, porter was also shipped to India and California successfully. It

These are also referred to as Imperial IPAs are a stronger, very hoppy variant of IPAs that typically have alcohol content above 7.5% by volume. The style is claimed to have originated with Vinnie Cilurzo, currently the owner of Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California. The style has been embraced by the craft brewers of San Diego County, California, to such an extent that some refer to double IPAs as “San Diego pale ale”.

India pale lager Several breweries have developed an “India pale lager” (or “IPL”) which tend to be vigorously hopped like an IPA but make use of bottom-fermenting yeast. This lagering is intended to create a lighter, cleaner body to show off the subtleties of the hops.

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Whisky

American Whiskey & Bourbon Whenever you are covering a topic it’s always great to meet the experts. In this case the topic is American Whiskies and our expert to interview is Jonatan Östblom-Smedje.

Text: Noel Sheehy So are you telling our readers about Whiskey or Bourbon?

Jonatan sampling “White Dog”

Bourbon is American Whiskey, its Rye, its Corn, I group them together.

Jonatan, what’s your current title?

I’m brand Brands.

Ambassador

Beam

What is your background?

I started bartending in London around 1999, the same era as TGI. Earlier I had worked in the bar trade in Crete. What happened in 2000 was that I got sophisticated. Before then you were drinking whisky and coke, Long Island Ice tea. Soon I was exploring peaty whisky and Irish Whiskey and then Bourbon. At Maker’s Mark.

How long have you worked with the American Whiskies and Bourbons?

I have been with Beam for five years. I really follow the whisky market. In 2009, I worked as a consultant Bartender. I see myself as an Ambassador for the category as opposed to the brand I work with.

What can you tell us about Whiskey or Bourbon?

All Bourbon is whisky, but not all whisky is bourbon. It’s a juicy topic. Bourbon has natural sweeteners you can have them with ice or in a cocktail, it’s a useful alcohol.

Bourbon is only in Sweden around 30 years but we’ve only seen premium in 2010. We had been restricted to JD or Jim Beam.

In Sweden we love knowledge and Whisky so we are developing our taste.

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All good American Whiskies and Bourbons have rules in production, what you tell us?

Bourbon must be made in the US, though not necessarily in the State of Kentucky, it can be any state there. It can’t use 100% corn. 51% of grain mixture must be corn, wheat, rye barley.

No colouring allowed except for natural colouring, so it’s the real deal with intensive taste. Barrels must be made of US Oak and unused. They must be sharp on the inside which is where the resulting liquid is called “White dog”, wood sends sugar to heal the sharp edges.

Can you tell us the volume of whiskey production?

In just Kentucky State alone there are 5 million barrels aging. In Scotland there are 20 million barrels aging.

Is there anything unique with bourbon aging?

The barrels which are aging can be stored in up to 12 floors. The climate has a huge impact. Temperatures can hit 40 plus in summer.

Aging is faster; one year in the US is like 3-5 years in Scotland.

Any cool details we should know about?

Well whisky is very exciting today.

It’s incredible to think that Iraq make 250,000 casks of Whisky annually. Brazil makes 1.5 million and Burma makes 2.5 million casks.

It’s good to see National and International growth.

Any tips for people out there still searching for their right American Whiskies and Bourbons?

Bourbon you can play around with a bit. For me Bourbon should be a bit edgy, and it’s great for Cocktails. For novice drinkers start high priced, 400kr and higher. Look at flavoured bourbon. Prices correspond to quality. If you got experience and want to know the next step I would say try Rye, Rye is the future.

Do you have a favourite Cocktail?

Yes it would have to be Manhattan on the rocks, but before it was New York Sour.

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Rum

Rum, Pirates & Gunpowder

Did you know?

— Rum is often enjoyed with a cigar.

No spirit has such charming history like that of Rum; it is steeped in imagery of Pirates, Slaves and Gunpowder.

Even our own Vasa Ship which sank in 1628 was found to be carrying a type of Rum. Text: Jordon Gayle

R

um is made from sugarcane by-products, such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels. Most of the world’s Rum production occurs in the Caribbean and Latin America. Rums are produced in various grades.

Light rums are commonly used in cocktails, whereas “golden” and “dark” Rums were typically consumed straight or neat, on the rocks, or used for cooking, but are now commonly consumed with mixers.

Rum plays a part in the culture of most islands of the West. This beverage has famous associations with piracy and the Royal Navy where it was mixed with water or beer to make grog. Rum has also served as a popular medium of economic exchange, used to help fund enterprises such as slavery, organized crime, and military insurgencies.

History The first distillation of rum took place on the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean in the 17th century. Barbados Plantation Slaves first discovered molasses, a by-product of the sugar refining process, could be fermented into alcohol. Later, distillation of these alcoholic by-product concentrated the alcohol and removed impurities, producing the first true Rums.

Colonial America After Rum’s development in the Caribbean, the drink’s popularity spread to Colonial North America. To support the demand for the drink, the first Rum distillery in the 42 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

British colonies of North America was set up in 1664 on present-day Staten Island. Boston, Massachusetts had a distillery three years later. The manufacture of Rum became early Colonial New England’s largest and most prosperous industry. New England became a distilling center.

To support demand for the molasses to produce Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, a labour source to work the sugar plantations in the Caribbean was needed. A triangular trade was established between Africa, the Caribbean, and the colonies to help support this need. The exchange of slaves, molasses, and Rum was quite profitable. In the slave trade, Rum was also used as a medium of exchange. For example, the Slave Venture Smith, whose history was later published, had been purchased in Africa for four gallons of Rum plus a piece of calico.

The popularity of Rum continued after the American Revolution, with George Washington insisting on a barrel of Barbados Rum at his 1789 inauguration. Eventually the restrictions on sugar imports from the British islands of the Caribbean, combined with the development of American whiskey, led to a decline in the drink’s popularity in North America.

Naval Rum The association of Rum with the Royal Navy began in 1655, when the British fleet captured the island of Jamaica. With the availability of domestically produced Rum, the British changed the daily ration of liquor given to seamen from French Brandy to Rum. While the

ration was originally given neat, or mixed with lime juice, the practice of watering down the Rum began around 1740. To help minimize the effect of the alcohol on his sailors, Admiral Edward Vernon had the Rum ration watered producing a mixture that became known as Grog.

A legend involving naval rum and Horatio Nelson says that following his victory and death at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson’s body was preserved in a cask of rum to allow transportation back to England. Upon arrival, however, the cask was opened and found to be empty. The pickled body was removed and, upon inspection, it was discovered that the sailors had drilled a hole in the bottom of the cask and drunk all the rum, hence the term “Nelson’s blood” being used to describe rum.

Rum was also occasionally consumed mixed with gunpowder, either to test the proof of an alcohol ration. If the alcohol was diluted, the gunpowder would not ignite after being soaked with alcohol or to seal a vow or show loyalty to a rebellion.

Categorization Dividing rum into meaningful groupings is complicated because no single standard exists for what constitutes rum. Instead, rum is defined by the varying rules and laws of the nation’s producing the spirit. The differences in definitions include issues such as spirit proof, minimum aging, and even naming standards.

Regional Variations

Within the Caribbean, each island or production area has a unique style.

For the most part, these styles can be grouped by the language traditionally spoken. Due to the overwhelming influence of Puerto Rican Rum, most Rum consumed in the United States is produced in the ‘Spanish-speaking’ style. English-speaking islands and countries are known for darker Rums with a fuller taste that retains a greater amount of the underlying molasses flavour. Rums from Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Bermuda and Jamaica are typical of this style. In Jamaica particularly, a version called “Rude Rum” is served in some places and it reportedly is much stronger in alcohol content, while it might also contain other intoxicants.

Grades used to describe rum depend on the location where Rum was produced. Despite these variations, the following terms are frequently used to describe various types of Rum:

Dark Rums Also known by their particular colour, such as brown, black, or red Rums, are classes a grade darker than gold Rums. They are usually made from caramelized sugar or molasses. They are generally aged

longer, in heavily charred barrels, giving them much stronger flavours than either light or gold Rums, and hints of spices can be detected, along with a strong molasses or caramel overtone. They commonly provide substance in Rum drinks, as well as colour. In addition, dark Rum is the type most commonly used in cooking. Most dark Rums come from areas such as Jamaica, Haiti, and Martinique.

Flavoured Rums are infused with flavours of fruits, such as banana, mango, orange, citrus, coconut, starfruit or lime. These are generally less than 40% ABV [80 proof].

They mostly serve to flavour similarly-themed tropical drinks but are also often drunk neat or with ice.

Gold Rums Or Amber Rums, are medium-bodied rums that are generally aged.

These gain their dark colour from aging in wooden barrels (usually the charred, white oak barrels that are the byproduct of Bourbon whiskey). They have more flavour and are stronger-tasting than light Rum, and can be considered midway between light Rum and the darker varieties.

Light Rums, also referred to as “silver” or “white” Rums, in general, have very little flavour aside

from a general sweetness. Light Rums are sometimes filtered after aging to remove any colour. The Brazilian cachaça is generally this type, but some varietlar for use in mixed drinks, as opposed to drinking them straight.

Premium Rums As with other sipping spirits such as Cognac and Scotch, are in a special market category. These are generally from boutique brands that sell carefully produced and aged Rums.

They have more character and flavour than their “mixing” counterparts and are generally consumed straight.

Spiced Rums Obtain their flavours through the addition of spices and, sometimes, caramel. Most are darker in colour, and based on gold Rums. Some are significantly darker, while many cheaper brands are made from inexpensive white Rums and darkened with caramel colour. Among the spices added are cinnamon, rosemary, absinthe/aniseed, or pepper.

Production method Unlike some other spirits, Rum has no defined production methods.

Instead, Rum production is based on traditional styles that vary Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

43

Rum between locations and distillers.

Most Rum produced is made from molasses. Within the Caribbean, much of this molasses is from Brazil. Yeast and water are added to the base ingredient to start the fermentation process.

While some Rum producers allow wild yeasts to perform the fermentation, most use specific strains of yeast to help provide a consistent taste and predictable fermentation time. Dunder, the yeast-rich foam from previous fermentations, is the traditional yeast source in Jamaica. “The yeast employed will determine the final taste and aroma profile,” says Jamaican master blender Joy Spence. Distillers, who make lighter Rums, prefer to use faster-working yeasts.

Flensburger Winterbock

Distillation As with all other aspects of Rum production, no standard method is used for distillation. While some producers work in batches using pot stills, most Rum production is done using column still distillation.

Pot still output contains more congeners than the output from column stills, so produces fuller-tasting Rums.

oak casks, it becomes dark, whereas Rum aged in stainless steel tanks remains virtually colourless.

After aging, Rum is normally blended to ensure a consistent flavour. Blending is the final step in the rum-making process.

This rich and flavourful bock beer has a crisp mild taste.

The full-bodied Flensburger speciality is a delight on dark days and frosty nights.

7.0% vol.

16.3° Plato.

20 Bitterness units.

Aging and blending Many countries require Rum to be aged for at least one year. This aging is commonly performed in used bourbon casks, but may also be performed in other types of wooden casks or stainless steel tanks.

The aging process determines the colour of the Rum. When aged in Flensburger Pilsener Our classic!

Unmistakable in character and freshness.

4,8% vol. • 11,3° Plato. • 38 Bitterness units.

BRLO! is the old Slavic origin of the name Berlin. BRLO is a craft beer brand deeply rooted in the history of our beloved capital, but at the same time open to reinterpretation. BRLO represents passionate, creative and handcrafted beer appealing to all the senses.

Helles Our interpretation of a true German classic: With barrels of love, this handcrafted Lager tickles the taste buds with a pleasant hop aroma.

Only the finest German hops from Hallertau and Tettnang have made it into this beer. We think it’s the perfect sidekick for every occasion!

6% vol.

Porter This brew is a crossing between an English Porter and a Russian Imperial Stout. Our un-filtered Baltic Porter pleases with harmonious caramel and roasted flavors.

This beer is heavy duty – just the way Catherine the Great used to like it. NSTRVJ!

Weisse Our Berlin style Weisse is to be served ice-cold and straight up – without syrup, of course! This refreshing sour beer is the perfect companion on a hot summer’s day.

Even Napoleon fancied this beer style and called it “Champagne du Nord”.

For real Berliner!

4% vol.

7% vol.

Imported and distributed by SPEEDY WINE STORE AB, Hammarby Fabriksväg 23, S-120 30 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)8-120 542 36, Cell: +46 (0)73-620 09 53, Email: info@speedywine.se

Rum, Pirates & Gunpowder 44 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

2015

5% vol.

Pale Ale We brew our Pale Ale with five different hops. Bavarian hops Saphir adds a wonderfully fruity aroma through dry hopping. Our Pale Ale is unfiltered and holds its own, having 6% alcohol content.

Alcohol can damage your health.

Alkohol kan skada din hälsa. annons_Speedywine_151126_ 2.indd 1

2015-11-26 19:20

Whisky

Here we meet Erland Gunnarsson.

A recently appointed Whisky Ambassador, for The Last Great Malts and he gives us the full story!

Text: Noel Sheehy So Erland you are a recently appointed Whisky Ambassador, how did that come about?

As many things in life, luck and coincidence! Last year I was approached by an old colleague and friend in the industry who asked me if I could help out at the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival with launching, The Last Great Malts.

At this time I worked in the legal business and thought it would fun. Apparently all went well and a couple of months later I was approached with an offer to become Whisky Ambassador for Last Great Malts on a more regular basis, an offer which I gladly accepted!

What is your background?

I have a background in the law business and worked as a lawyer, at court. In my spare time I have been running my own company as a freelance writer and also with Whisky and Cigars.

The Last

Great Malts

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How long have you worked with the branch?

Concerning Whisky its about 15 years on an off as a consultant along with my studies and other employments. A great learning period with interesting people and very nice drams! I have been a Whisky Ambassador for Last Great Malts since May this year.

What’s the story behind your Whisky?

There is quite a few since we have five distilleries within the Last Great Malts Portfolio; Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, The Deveron and Royal Brackla. All of them are unique in there own way, but the common denominator between them are that they( with the exception of Aberfeldy) were until last year unknown to the public due to the fact that they exclusively catered as suppliers to the blended Whisky industry. Most of them have been around since the end of the 19th

century but from now on they provide us with single malt Whisky under their own distillery name. I see them as hidden treasures that now have been found and unravelled. Therefore the name Last Great Malts, these distilleries are some of the last “old” distilleries to be presented to the Whisky loving audience!

Is there anything unique with your Distilleries?

All of them are unique in their own way, but there are some unique features that really stick out.

Craigellachie for instance, they are the only distillery today who get their malt from Glenesk/Boortmalt which is the only malt supplier that use an oil fired kiln, this together with the use of a Worm Tub condenser gives the Cragelliche whisky a meaty sulphured character which is quite unique, especially for a Speyside whisky! Aberfeldy and Royal Brackla both have an exceptionally long fermentation time, up to 85 hours, which gives them a “sweet backbone” to their taste. The Deveron is distilled at Mac Duff which use horizontal condensers and Aultmore is one of 12 Whiskies who have obtained a “top class status” in the industry. These are just a few things that make them stick out.

What are the aims or goals of the Distilleries?

The first thing I would say is to deliver single malt Whisky of the utmost quality. We firmly believe in age statement and using only Scottish barley, water and yeast and maturation in oak casks to be true to the Whisky heritage. Since most of the distilleries are quite a novelty to the end consumer we also want to share our history and heritage with people. There are so many histories to tell and so many exiting Whiskies to discover. For me everyday working with these Last Great Malts is an adventure

of exploration and new findings- a rare opportunity.

Is the export market an important market, countries like Sweden in particular?

Yes I would say that the export market, and especially the Swedish market is extremely important.

The global launch of the Last Great Malts took place in Stockholm 2014 and I think this shows that the Swedish market is regarded as one of the key markets around the world.

Any secrets or myths we should know about?

If I told you it wouldn’t be a secret would it! As with all distilleries and Whiskies there are a lot of myths and secrets. Aultmore for instance was originally placed in a moss to evade the tax collectors and at Craigellachie there once was a cat that loved sleeping next to the spirit stills. Once the pot-still came to a boil and the vapours rose through the lynearm the cat woke up and then the still man knew that it was time to turn the heat down. And off course Aberfeldy gets its water from the mysterious Pitillie Burn, which in fact has gold in it. Many people including myself thought this was an ancient myth but there is really gold in the burn. A myth that in fact is true!

Any advice for people out there still searching for their right whisky?

Follow your heart and your own taste! There are some people out there “telling” other people what they should drink and like and which whiskies that are the “best”.

Don’t go for that “done deal”! That being said, don’t be a stranger to others recommendations, they might just turn you towards a new favourite! Be open to explore new Whiskies and regions.

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Whisky

The Last

Great Malts I for one have found out that our launch of the Last Great Malts created quite a few new favourites even among seasoned Whisky lovers with very specific taste. That is something makes me genuinely happy, giving people the possibility to explore and find new sensations is a great feeling. Joining a whisky club is another good way to learn more and explore. Website www. lastgreatmalts.com

Why are Scotch Whiskies so popular?

The two main components would be heritage and experience not

necessarily in that order which creates both fantastic stories and whisky of unparalleled quality.

Even though not every mystery has been solved as regarding to what really makes a good dram the proof is in the pudding, in this case when people taste the Whisky they can enjoy the history and knowledge of centuries of hard work boiled down to what they can find in a glass.

Compare your Whiskies with other Scotch and what gives your Whisky its unique taste?

I would say that all whiskies are unique in their own way, but you can always divide them into rough “regions” and styles. All of our Whiskies are either Highland malts or Speyside malts, which makes them smooth and subtle in charac-

Image: Erland Gunnarsson

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ter, with the exception of Craigellachie which is a real “hard charger” among the Speyside malts with its meaty character and sulphur notes, not a dram for the fainthearted! The Aultomore is the epitome of top class Speyside malt with its finesse, elegance and grassy notes due to the environment around the distillery and the burn the water comes from. The Aberfeldy is smooth as silk with its honey notes due to its long fermentation and the Royal Brackla is a king among the sherry-maturated whiskies thanks to the strict cask regime being upheld. The Deveron has a lingering smoothness compelled by the distillery’s use of vertical condensers that create the fruity notes of an apple orchard. I love them all in their own unique way and style!

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Brewing

Cap Brewery &

Tomas Danko Here we meet Tomas who gives us a behind the scene account of his Brewery.

Text: Noel Sheehy What is your background, current title and role?

My current title and roles at CAP Brewery is Head Brewer and Managing Director. I’m one of those people, but I have some background brewing in Belgium as well as being a homebrewer for many years.

Other than that I’ve been deputy head beer judge at SBWF, also judged beer at other competitions and done seminars, consulting and more in the beer industry. I am senior administrator on RateBeer as well, so there is a lot of beer in my life and always has been.

How long have you worked with the Brewery?

I have worked at CAP Brewery for about 16 months by now.

What’s the story behind your Brewery?

Mattias, Alli and I wanted to brew the kind of beers we like to drink ourselves. It’s really as simple as that. It seems a lot of people also

like clean beers that taste and look like beer while not being too strong.

Can you tell us the history behind the Brewery?

There were three guys. One made quality coffee, the other distributed quality beer. The third was a quality brewer with attitude. Their paths crossed and fate had it the timing was perfect to collaborate and start a brewery from scratch.

The rest kind of evolved from there.

Is there anything unique with your Brewery?

Most small breweries look like an episode from McGyver. CAP Brewery looks like we got it all right from the ground up. However, the truth of the matter is that we got ridiculously lucky with the building and the infrastructure. It looks like a larger commercial facility, only it’s very small. This allows us to maintain, clean and bottle to

a very high specification and therefore we clean a lot more than we brew because we have the capacity to make the difference.

What’s the aim or goal of the Brewery?

To keep brewing the beers we want ourselves and hope that the market will drink them with us. The current goal is 5,000 hectolitre and we hope to meet those numbers during next year.

Describe the brewing process at your Brewery?

Anything else about your brewing day?

In addition to this, we drive our vintage tractor to dispense of the spent grains from the mash tun and into a large container outdoors. The container is picked up on a regular basis and a local farmer spread out the spent grains in the woods for wild animals to eat. They love our spent grains. Mashing in is often happening very early in the morning, and eight hours later it’s time to clean up and go home which can be anytime from 2pm to 4pm.

Is the export market an important market in particular?

We are currently exporting the ma-

jority of our production to Norway.

We also sell to Finland and Japan besides the local Swedish market.

Next year we will be exporting to England and hopefully a handful other countries in Europe. Considering that the craft beer market in Japan is more than ten times bigger than in Sweden we anticipate export to become our biggest market within two years.

Any tips for people out there still searching for their right beer?

What gives your beer its unique taste?

In a world where craft beer is trying to taste like an entire supermarket warehouse, it seems beer such as ours that taste like, well beer is a tad bit unique. Swedish beer drinkers are very fond to try new things and flavours, quality over quantity in conjunction with the increasing demand to consume local and traceable products is also helping to shift from macro- to micro brewed beers.

When talking to a bartender or sales person about your next beer, do not say what you like in the beers you have tried. Instead, tell them what you did not like about them.

It is very traditional. We crush the day before brewing; the malt is transported to a silo above the mash tun. In the morning we mash in, then we take a coffee break.

Transfer to the brew kettle where our steam engine quickly heats it up just in time for us to throw in the hops. Whirl pooling takes some time, sometimes we throw in even more hops during this stage. Cooling, aeration and transfer of the sweet wort to one of our tanks.

Then we pitch the yeast, we inoculate it from the bottom using CO2 pressure to shoot it out from metallic containers. This way we do not need to open the manhole in order to pitch yeast. We also use liquid yeast that we propagate and harvest. 35 days later for ale or up to 90 days later for a lager and we transfer to the bright beer tank for bottling or kegging. Nothing strange about the process, it’s how most people do it. We clean and CIP (clean in place with caustic and acids) a lot. A great lot, actually.

“We are not brewers.

We are merely slaves to the yeast!”

Image: Tomas Danko

50 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

Image: Cap Brewery

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Brewing

Basement Brewing — Feeling Pale!

If you are still waiting to brew your own Beer, then its time to get off the fence. – ­ just brew it!

Text: Erik Öl-sson

I

Erik Öl-sson, a brewer with attitude!

52 Best of Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015/2016

t was a cloudy cold morning in an almost abandoned village in Värmland. I was looking out over the dewy grass with a cup of coffee in my hand. I had more or less two options a day like this.

It was either to brew some beer or play Yatzy. Since I lost my dice in a fist-fight with my grandmother the other day, I had no other choice but to brew American pale ale. Ale, I thought to myself and headed for the basement.

The basement was just as cold and quiet as outside but the sight of my beer ingredients just warmed my heart. I had all my brewing gear down in a laundry room, which I hoped would help me to a clean-tasting beer.

Today’s plan was to brew and American Pale Ale using the more and more popular technique known as BIAB or Brew-in-a-bag.

BIAB, for you who haven’t heard of this, is probably the easiest way to make full grain brewing.

You are using one single brew pot throughout the process and it’s a relaxing and comfortable way of producing good beer. Today’s recipe had 4,5 Kilos of Pale Ale Malt and 0.5 kilos of Crystal Malt. The malt was produced by Viking Malt in Finland. This got me a bit confused. Were there even Vikings in Finland? Well they sure know their drinks over in Finland so I’m sure this will be all good.

The hops for this brew are 60 grams of Cascade and 60 grams of Galaxy. I will try to make late hop additions to get a nice hoppy aroma. As for yeast I’m using US Safeale05 dry yeast. I filled up my 36 litre brewing pot with 29 litres of water and put it on my induction cooker. At 40 degrees I got my brew-bag in there and started pouring in the malt.

A nice Finnish smell hit my nostrils while I gave the malt a good stir after pouring it all in. Appa-

rently mashing in at only 40 degrees helps preventing shocking the enzyme in the malt.

Since I heard no screaming or panicking from the enzymes I assume they felt very relaxed swimming around at pleasant 40 degrees. I continued heating up to 67 degrees and then let my Finnish, non-shocked, mash rest for an hour at that temperature.

While sitting there, waiting for my beer, I actually fell asleep for a while on my chair. I was dreaming that my favourite team, Liverpool FC, finally won the premier league and that the trainer, Jurgen Klopp, was singing German celebration songs. It was a harsh and confusing moment when my alarm rang indicating that both me and my mash had been resting long enough. I heated up my mash up to 78 degrees and then lifted out the bag, letting as much liquid as possible pour down into the pot again through the bag. After squeezing the bag gently a couple of times I had just the right amount of wort.

Now came the tricky part. To get the temperature up to 100 degrees had proved itself to be a long and frustrating wait in the past. No different today, indicating that my 2000 Watts induction cooker is not powerful enough for this amount of water. Trying to cover the pot with blankets, sheep-wool, whatever I could find to help it preserve the heat and boil faster. I even thought about throwing a hair-dryer in there for a while to heat it up. Then I realized this was a very bad and irresponsible idea. An American pale ale is not supposed to be dry at all.

After a while we finally had a boil and I couldn’t hold back my emotions. I was dancing both the hustle and the funky chicken for several minutes but then I finally calmed down. First hop addition came straight away pouring 30 grams of cascade in the boil. After

another 45 minutes of dancing the funky chicken it was time for the second hop addition, 30 grams of galaxy. I also threw my wort-chiller in there in order for it to sanitize.

I also added a teaspoon of Protafloc which is supposed to make the beer nice and clear. After 60 minutes the boil was finally done and I threw the last 30 grams of Galaxy and the last 30 grams of cascade in the wort. For some reason I had had all my hops standing next to the mangle. Since they never went through the mangle I hope to avoid a thin-tasting beer at least. I now had to chill down the wort to about 20 degrees to ensure I would not kill the yeast when pitching it. I did this by using my homemade wort chiller connected to the tap.

The water runs through the chiller and the cold copper-pipes chill the wort. I also put the pot in a bath of cold water meanwhile Now it was time to transfer my wort from the pot to the fermentor. This was done using a siphon.

For those of you who don’t know what a siphon is this is the same technique used when stealing petrol out of a car. At least the readers from Värmland now know what I’m talking about. I poured the beer through a filter to prevent getting big particles of malt and hops into the fermentor. Final step of the process now adding the yeast that I let hydrate for about an hour in finger-warm water. After giving the wort a final stir to get some oxygen in there I put the lid on the bucket and brew was done.

To be continued!

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Spirits became popular during the early 20th century. It is a variation of an earlier, gin-based cocktail called simply an Alexander. There are many rumours about its origins.

Some sources say it was created at the time of the London wedding of Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles in 1922. Drama critic and Algonquin Round Table member Alexander Woollcott claimed that it was named after him. Other sources say it was named after the Russian tsar Alexander II.

Popular

Cocktails &Highballs Text: Leon Smith

Just the other weekend I went to a cocktail bar with my partner Martha. I was not expecting so much, the usual colourful cocktails but I was totally impressed by something else. Each drink made was so complex it needed to be explained and it was a magical atmosphere. The cocktails were mysterious, the bartenders were talented.

It was like watching a genius or wizard at work, and the attention to details was impeccable. Towards the end of the night I challenged the cocktail maker to surprise me, I was not disappointed the Cocktail maker’s knowledge of taste and flavours was amazing. The name of the Cocktail bar I will tell you in the next number when we interview them!

Cocktails are basically any beverage that contains three or more ingredients if at least one of them contains alcohol. When a mixed drink contains only a distilled spirit and a mixer, such as soda or fruit juice, it is a highball. When a cocktail contains only a distilled spirit and a liqueur, it is a duo and when it adds a mixer, it is a trio. Additional ingredients may be sugar, honey, milk, cream, and various herbs.

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Today Cocktails are more popular than ever but it wasn’t always so.

Cocktails declined in the late 1960s and through the 1970s, until resurging in the 1980s with vodka often substituting the original gin in drinks such as the martini. Traditional cocktails began to make a comeback in the 2000s and by the mid-2000s there was a renaissance of cocktail culture in a style typically referred to as mixology that draws on traditional cocktails for inspiration but utilizes novel ingredients and often complex flavours.

Here are the popular/crazy ones:

Margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec and lime or lemon juice, often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). Although it has become acceptable to serve a margarita in a wide variety of glass types, ranging from cocktail and wine glasses to pint glasses and even large schooners, the drink is traditionally served in the eponymous margarita glass, a stepped-diameter variant of a cocktail glass or champag-

ne coupe somewhat resembling an inverted sombrero.

Mojito consists of five ingredients: white rum, sugar, lime juice, sparkling water, and mint. The original Cuban recipe uses spearmint or yerba buena, a mint variety very popular on the island. Its combination of sweetness, refreshing citrus, and mint flavors is intended to complement the potent kick of the rum, and has made this clear highball a popular summer drink. The cocktail has relatively low alcohol c ontent. When preparing a mojito, lime juice is added to sugar (or syrup) and mint leaves. The mixture is then gently mashed with a muddler. The mint leaves should only be bruised to release the essential oils and should not be shredded. Then rum is added and the mixture is briefly stirred to dissolve the sugar and to lift the mint leaves up from the bottom for better presentation.

Finally, the drink is topped with whole ice cubes and sparkling soda water. Mint leaves and lime wedges are used to garnish the glass. There are several versions of the mojito.

Brandy Alexander is a brandy-based cocktail consisting of cognac and crème de cacao that

Caipirinha or Pinga or Caninha is Brazil’s national cocktail, made with cachaça sugar cane hard liquor, sugar and lime. Although both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products, specifically in cachaça, the alcohol results from the fermentation of fresh sugarcane juice that is afterwards distilled, while rum is usually made from by-products from refineries, such as molasses. The drink is prepared by smashing the fruit and the sugar together, and adding the liquor. This can be made into a single glass, usually large, that can be shared amongst people, or into a larger jar, from where it is served in individual glasses.

Brandy Alexander

Black Velvet is a beer cocktail made from stout (often Guinness) and white, sparkling wine, traditionally champagne. The drink was first created by a bartender in London in 1861, to mourn the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s Prince Consort. It is supposed to symbolise the black or purple cloth armbands worn by mourners. A Black Velvet is made by filling a vessel, traditionally a tall champagne flute, halfway with sparkling wine and floating the chilled stout beer on top of the wine. The differing densities of the liquids cause them to remain largely in separate layers . The effect is best achieved by pouring over a spoon turned upside down over the top of the glass so that the liquid runs gently down the sides rather than splashing into the lower layer and mixing with it.

ty taste works to conceal its extremely high alcoholic content. Don the Beachcomber restaurants limit their customers to two Zombies apiece. According to the original recipe, the Zombie cocktail included three different kinds of rum, lime juice, falernum, Angostura bitters, Pernod, grenadine, and “Don’s Mix,” a combination of cinnamon syrup and grapefruit juice.

Zombie, or skull-puncher, is a cocktail made of fruit juices, liqueurs, and various rums. Legend has it that Donn Beach originally concocted the Zombie to help a hung-over customer get through a business meeting. He returned several days later to complain that he had been turned into a zombie for his entire trip. Its smooth, frui-

Black Velvet

Caipirinha

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Precis som vårt öl är resultatet av äkta, gediget ölhantverk så är vår nya design byggd på erfarenhet och teknisk skicklighet. Allt för att få en ny form som matchar vårt öl.

Prova Brewdog Punk IPA, vår postmoderna klassiker.

Sen förstår du vad äkta öl är.

PUNK IPA 330 ml Art. nr. 1515

21,40 kr

Hälften av alla som drunknar har alkohol i blodet.

56 Best Booze bar magazine issue #1, 2015