A comment on drinks
Sep. 14th, 2003 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xiphiasThe "manhattan" is a drink made with whiskey and sweet vermouth.
Except it wasn't always made with blended whiskey. When the manhattan was invented, it was made with rye whiskey. Rye tastes different than just plain old whiskey.
Let me back up and define terms for those of you who don't drink: "whiskey", or "whisky" is a general term for an alcohol which starts with malted (semi-sprouted) grain, which is fermented, then distilled, then put into wood and aged. As you can imagine, this can lead to all sorts of liquors that have very little in common with one another. At one end, you've got "moonshine" -- a raw spirit from corn (maize), hardly aged at all. It's clear. They sort of skip the aging step, which is where whiskeys pick up color. I suppose an argument could be made that moonshine isn't even really whiskey, because it's not aged, but, well, I wouldn't want to argue with someone mean enough to drink that stuff. It's vile. It's a little like drinking lighter fluid, only not quite as tasty.
On the other end, you've got single-malt Scotches, for instance. They're also whiskeys, or, actually, whiskys. Scottish distilleries don't use the "e". Probably has to do with tarriffs or something. They have to import all their "e"'s from overseas, so the cost is prohibitive, or something. Those add in a couple other steps, like roasting over peat fires, and adding the blood of an English baby, Something like that, anyway. A scotch tastes like scotch, not like anything else. I've said that it tastes "a little like you poured equal parts apple juice and rubbing alcohol into an ashtray, except it's good."
There are also Irish whiskeys, which have a distinctive process and taste.
In the United States, you've got bourbon, from Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tennesee Whisky, which tastes pretty much exactly like bourbon, but don't tell people from either Tennessee or Kentucky that, and rye, about which more later.
Then there's Canadian whiskey. "Whiskey with no qualifier" probably means Canadian whiskey. It's sorta the default whiskey. Seagram's Seven is an example of it. It mixes really well with ginger ale, which is why Seagram's makes ginger ale, and Canada Dry is a ginger ale. A "highball" is "whiskey and ginger ale." That drink became so popular that now, ANY drink which consists of a liquor and a mixer is called a highball (rum and coke, gin and tonic, Cape Codder, screwdriver, whatever).
But, frankly, and apoligies to any Canadian chauvanists reading this, Canadian whiskey is pretty boring, really.
A manhattan is "whiskey and sweet vermouth." That means Canadian blended whiskey. I've had them a couple times, and never really seen what the big deal is.
Anyway, then I read somewhere that the manhattan was originally made with rye whiskey, not Canadian whiskey.
Rye whiskey is almost unknown in the United States. And it's only made in the United States, so it's even less well known everywhere else. I've never managed to get it in a bar, and I only know of two liquor stores in the area that stock it regularly. I only know of two manufacturers of it: Old Overholt (the brand I drink), and Wild Turkey makes one.
Rye is made with at least 51% rye -- the grain. It's sweeter than other whiskeys -- about as sweet as some of the sweeter scotches. But it's a simpler taste than scotch, without scotch's smoky taste. I really like rye.
So I made Lis buy me some rye and some sweet vermouth, and I tried making a manhattan with that.
Okay. NOW I get it. Yum.
It's a completely different drink than a normal manhattan. It's orders of magnitude better.
Except it wasn't always made with blended whiskey. When the manhattan was invented, it was made with rye whiskey. Rye tastes different than just plain old whiskey.
Let me back up and define terms for those of you who don't drink: "whiskey", or "whisky" is a general term for an alcohol which starts with malted (semi-sprouted) grain, which is fermented, then distilled, then put into wood and aged. As you can imagine, this can lead to all sorts of liquors that have very little in common with one another. At one end, you've got "moonshine" -- a raw spirit from corn (maize), hardly aged at all. It's clear. They sort of skip the aging step, which is where whiskeys pick up color. I suppose an argument could be made that moonshine isn't even really whiskey, because it's not aged, but, well, I wouldn't want to argue with someone mean enough to drink that stuff. It's vile. It's a little like drinking lighter fluid, only not quite as tasty.
On the other end, you've got single-malt Scotches, for instance. They're also whiskeys, or, actually, whiskys. Scottish distilleries don't use the "e". Probably has to do with tarriffs or something. They have to import all their "e"'s from overseas, so the cost is prohibitive, or something. Those add in a couple other steps, like roasting over peat fires, and adding the blood of an English baby, Something like that, anyway. A scotch tastes like scotch, not like anything else. I've said that it tastes "a little like you poured equal parts apple juice and rubbing alcohol into an ashtray, except it's good."
There are also Irish whiskeys, which have a distinctive process and taste.
In the United States, you've got bourbon, from Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tennesee Whisky, which tastes pretty much exactly like bourbon, but don't tell people from either Tennessee or Kentucky that, and rye, about which more later.
Then there's Canadian whiskey. "Whiskey with no qualifier" probably means Canadian whiskey. It's sorta the default whiskey. Seagram's Seven is an example of it. It mixes really well with ginger ale, which is why Seagram's makes ginger ale, and Canada Dry is a ginger ale. A "highball" is "whiskey and ginger ale." That drink became so popular that now, ANY drink which consists of a liquor and a mixer is called a highball (rum and coke, gin and tonic, Cape Codder, screwdriver, whatever).
But, frankly, and apoligies to any Canadian chauvanists reading this, Canadian whiskey is pretty boring, really.
A manhattan is "whiskey and sweet vermouth." That means Canadian blended whiskey. I've had them a couple times, and never really seen what the big deal is.
Anyway, then I read somewhere that the manhattan was originally made with rye whiskey, not Canadian whiskey.
Rye whiskey is almost unknown in the United States. And it's only made in the United States, so it's even less well known everywhere else. I've never managed to get it in a bar, and I only know of two liquor stores in the area that stock it regularly. I only know of two manufacturers of it: Old Overholt (the brand I drink), and Wild Turkey makes one.
Rye is made with at least 51% rye -- the grain. It's sweeter than other whiskeys -- about as sweet as some of the sweeter scotches. But it's a simpler taste than scotch, without scotch's smoky taste. I really like rye.
So I made Lis buy me some rye and some sweet vermouth, and I tried making a manhattan with that.
Okay. NOW I get it. Yum.
It's a completely different drink than a normal manhattan. It's orders of magnitude better.