On Tasting Spirits
© Greg Lohman 2010, used with permission
Most drinkers have probably been to a wine tasting at some point in their lives, or a beer tasting at a brewery. Many fewer have thought about doing the same for distilled spirits, except perhaps single malt scotches or the like. Many spirits aren’t going to be sipped on their own, but the flavors and feel of each can differ drastically, even within the same class of spirits. Moreover, the spirit forms the core of your mixed drink and you’ll find that if you, for example, make an Aviation with the very junipery Bombay Sapphire it will taste utterly different from a strongly citrus gin like Beefeater.
If you’ve been to a formal tasting before, you may have been given a “aroma wheel” or some such…in particular, wine tastings have a fairly rigorously used wheel. But it’s important to remember that taste is a very personal thing, and the words you might use to describe a taste may not be the same your friends would use. I don’t put much value on tasting wheels—what you expect to taste can influence what you do taste (for instance, it’s been shown that if you give tasters, even professional tasters, a white wine dyed red with food coloring, they’ll start using red wine descriptors they’d not applied to the undyed wine). Use the words that make sense to you, that will let you remember the spirit best.
To get yourself ready for a tasting session, you’ll need a few supplies: The spirits of course, some wine glasses, some clean water, an empty glass for spitting into (attractive, I know), and perhaps some science crackers to clear the pallet. I prefer to taste a range of spirits of the same subtype—all vodkas, all gins, etc. One or two tastings with spirits from all categories will help you get the broad differences between the spirits, but then it’ll be most useful to taste a number of gins (for example) side-by-side so you can learn to distinguish the more subtle differences between them.
Pour about an ounce of the spirit to be tasted into a wine glass. Make sure everything is at room temperature—tasting cold will eliminate many of the more volatile flavors. First, take a look at the color of the spirit. Is it clear? Light amber? Dark, brown? Examine the appearance as well, swirling a bit up onto the sides of the glass. Does it appear think and syrupy, very thin, oily? Does it coat the glass or slide back down instantly? Next, check out the aroma. Be careful—most of these spirits are 40-60% ethanol, and if you jam your nose into the glass and take a big honk, all you’re going to do is set your your sinuses on fire. Swirl the glass and take a gental breath in through your nose. Think about what you can smell—fruit? Spices? Strong alcohol? Citrus?
Now, time to taste. Cleanse your mouth with some water, then take a small sip of the spirit, rinse your mouth thoroughly, and spit it out. Don’t think about the taste yet. The rinsing will make sure that on your next sip, you’re really tasting the spirit and not, say, what you had for dinner. Next, take a sip and let it sit on your toungue. Roll it all round your mouth, as you’ll notice distinct flavors depending on wher it sits. Note your initial thoughts, both about flavors and the “mouth feel.” Next, try taking a bit in your mouth and breathing in (very gently!)—you might notice whole new flavors when you bring your nose into it. I recommend spitting out most of the spirit. If you taste more than a few at once, you’ll get tipsy pretty fast. While that can be fun on its own, being intoxicated will change your perceptions of the later items on the list.
At every stage, take notes! As you get more and more into the culture of mixology, you’ll encounter dozens or hundreds of different spirits, and you’ll never keep them all straight. Once you start to have an expansive repertoire, you’ll have a better idea what spirits to try with each cocktail recipe, and be able to recommend new brands to people based on what they already like.
Finally, always taste with friends! Not only is it more fun this way, sometimes you’ll find tastes you can’t put words on, but one of your co-tasters can. Enjoy!
Except as noted, wondRICH club blog content by Rich Fulkerson, including text and images, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
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