13. Daisies: The Core – Brandy

Online School of Cocktailory

For drinking #alonetogether

Section 104: Daisies

Brandy is a catch-all term for spirits distilled from fruits like grapes or apples. Brandy styles are divided into the following:

French Cognac & Armagnac is a grape-based wine that is distilled and then aged in oak barrels. Mmmm barrel. They can be sweet, fruity, woody and/or taste like christmas spices, vanilla or cooked fruit. They are rated by how long they were aged, VS (who’s very special) was aged 2 yrs, VSOP (who’s a very superior old pale) was aged 4 yrs, and XO (who’s extra old) is everything over 6 yrs. Hennessy VS being the most common cognac. Armagnac is spicier, like rye compared to bourbon. Armagnac blends are labeled VS, VSOP & XO like cognac, but the majority isn’t blended and instead is dated by vintage like wine.

Spanish Brandy is richer, darker and sweeter because it is barrel-aged much longer than French Brandy. Since these flavors will give your cocktail a hefty kick of spiced fruitcake or raisins, it’s usually used in small doses like a liqueur.

Pisco from Peru or Chili is made from more floral smelling varieties of grapes and is bottled un-aged, so it’s still bright and young compared to our senior citizen Spaniard brandy. The most common use is a Pisco Sour, but it also makes good martinis or can be used in place of a blanco tequila.

Singani is like a pisco but from Bolivia and more floral smelling. If the travel bans ever lift, you could go and order a Chuflay, which is Singani & ginger ale with a slice of lime. As it stands, it’s often hard to find signani stateside.

French Calvados is made from apple & pear juice, fermented into cider, and then distilled and aged in oak barrels for 2+ years. It has a spiced baked apple pie or caramel aroma.

A’murican Apple Brandy is made from hard apple cider and has been around since the early colonists. Where Calvados tastes more like a cognac, this tastes more like whiskey. Laird’s was the only producer for a long time, and they also make applejack which is apple brandy & grain spirits aged together for 4+ years in bourbon barrels.

French eau-de-vie (or the plural eaux-de-vie) aka “water of life” aka fruit brandy, is a clear, unaged brandy from anything not primarily grape or apple based. Like pears, cherries, or apricots.

Pear brandy doesn’t so much taste like pear as is does amplify the other flavors in your cocktail, making apple more appley, or mint or licorice more cold feeling and spicy. Hence why lots of apple juices in the store also contain pear juice.

Cherry brandy or kirschwasser’s base flavor is burning, but after a few sips I’m told you can taste cherry. It’s best to only use about a teaspoon per cocktail for obvious reasons.

Apricot brandy is also German and held at a teaspoon per cocktail, and it makes drinks seem fruit-juicy without adding sweetness, which is quite a feat.

Alright I know that was a lot, and if you’re like me you own zero bottles of brandy, but it is nice to have a little around for the holidays, and there are just so many styles to try. So here’s my holidays-in-quarantine not-quite-white-elephant game proposal: find a few friends who are each willing to buy a different style of brandy and some little empty bottles for splitting it up. Divide your designated bottle amongst your little gifter-sized bottles, label them, and deliver/swap with your fellow participants via porch pickup. You can pretend you’re collecting Pokémon balls or easter eggs as you go.

Everybody knows booze kills germs* so you can all cheers when you get home via zoom, duo, or hangouts or whatever to how healthy you’ll all be this holiday season. Prost!