A toast to the New Year

31 Dec 2014

They say that this is the season to drink and be merry. But are you sure that what you are drinking has the best possible flavour? In the last blog of the year, we thought that we would take a quick look at a few festive drinks and the water used through the process of making them.

Hot Toddy

The hot toddy is typically a mixture of whiskey, hot water, sugar and honey. Let’s take a quick look at the whiskey element of the drink and how the water affects the taste. We all know that water across the world has different levels of hardness, this is determined by the level of naturally occurring calcium or magnesium found in the water. The hardness occurs when water percolates through rock. The flavour of the water passing over a granite will be different to that passing through chalk. For example, a Highland Whisky will be mineral-rich giving intense flavours and textures, while an Islay Whisky is likely to have a more peaty flavour.

I will leave the chemistry of this to another blog later next year, but needless to say this will undoubtedly affect the taste. So next time you have a hot toddy you can have a think about whether the flavours are as a result of the spices or maybe the water itself.

Brandy & Port

Some brandies and ports are aged in wooden casks – this in turn will produce a warm woody flavour. Again though it is the flavours in the water that affect how your drink tastes – not the alcohol! It is thought that 80% of the flavour comes from the wooden barrels that are used to store the brandy in. The port part of this drink however is merely to add even more flavour – there is little water involved in this process other than the possible washing of the glasses after drinking. It is likely that the source water will impact on the flavour as much as their whiskey counterparts but little research has been done on this. Maybe this is something one of you would like to test over the festive period?

This is a little taster of a blog planned for next year on the requirements of pure water for the distillation process of beers and whiskey.

In the meantime though, we wish you a Prosperous New Year with plenty of cheer.