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Where Irish Whiskey Really Is Really Made

In my story last week in the San Francisco Chronicle, I didn't get the chance to be as nerdy as I wanted to with the specifics of the three (and a half) distilleries in Ireland and which whiskies they make. So here are more details from an earlier draft of the story.

Jameson, which accounts for seventy percent of Irish whiskey sales in the US, is made at the Midleton distillery in Cork, in the south of Ireland, from a blend of column-distilled grain whiskey and triple distilled “pure pot still” (now called "single-pot still") whiskey.

“Pure Single pot still” in this case refers to distilling a blend of malted and unmalted barely. This came into practice in Ireland as a way to avoid taxes- malted barley was taxed but unmalted was not. Distillers often describe spirit from unmalted barley as “oilier” and “more citrus-spicy” than the spirit from malted barley that has more apples-and-pears fruity notes.

The Midleton distillery also produces brands John Powers, Midleton, Paddy, and Redbreast, the latter of which is a pure single pot still whiskey rather than a blend. Pernod-Ricard, owner of Midleton, clearly sees a future in pure single pot still Irish whiskies, as they have just released a cask-strength Red Breast twelve-year-old, and plan to release pure pot still versions of Midleton and Powers later this year.

On the opposite end of the island in Northern Ireland is the Bushmills distillery, where the number-two selling brand in the US, Bushmills, is made. The company produces two blended whiskies, Bushmills Original and Black Bush, plus single-malt whiskies Bushmills 10, 16, and 21 year-olds.

The single-malt whiskey is pot-distilled from only malted barley (as is done in Scotland), as opposed to the malted/unmalted mixture found at Midleton. The column-distilled grain spirit used in Bushmills’ blends is actually purchased from Midleton.

The third best-selling Irish whiskey in the US is Tullamore Dew, which is a blend of column-distilled grain whiskey and pure single pot still whiskey from Midleton with single-malt whiskey from Bushmills. In addition to this blend, Tullamore Dew sells 10 and 12 year-old blended whiskies, plus a ten-year-old single-malt that is made at Ireland’s third distillery, Cooley.

Cooley, located north of Dublin, has boasted of being Ireland’s only independent distillery, but it was recently purchased by the Jim Beam company. Cooley operates both column and pot stills, plus the small nearby distillery Kilbeggan. Kilbeggan is also a whiskey brand that is largely produced at Cooley, though they also have a single-malt Kilbeggan Distillery Reserve produced entirely on-site.

At Cooley, pot still whiskey is distilled twice rather than the three times distillation of Bushmills and Jameson. Whiskies from Cooley include the peated (smoky) single-malt Connemara, Tyrconnell single-malt that is aged in a variety of casks, and Greenore, Ireland’s only single-grain whiskey, which is column-distilled from corn and aged in ex-bourbon casks.

Cooley has distilled both single-malt and pure single pot still whisky, though there are no pure single pot still products on the market from Cooley yet.

Cooley also produces Concannon Irish Whiskey, launched this January, in partnership with Livermore Valley’s Concannon Vineyard. It is a blend of column distilled grain whiskey, pot-distilled single-malt whiskey aged for four years in ex-bourbon barrels, and some of that same malt aged for an additional four months in Concannon’s Petit Syrah casks.

Michael Collins whiskey offers both blended and single-malt bottlings, also made at Cooley.

Here's a handy diagram I just scribbled. Click to enlarge.

Irish Whiskey Distillate Origins by Alcademics.com

Now, this doesn't take into account how specifically these spirits are distilled, where they are aged, in what, and how they might be blended and finished, so the final flavor profile of Irish whiskey isn't as simple as all this. But I do think it's interesting to see how much Irish whiskey is born in so few places.

March 15, 2012
Irish Whiskey in the San Francisco Chronicle

Hooray! I have a story in the San Francisco Chronicle about Irish whiskey. It discusses the popularity of Irish whiskey, some reasons for that popularity, its lack of use in cocktails, a cocktail recipe from Phil Mauro of Rye, and Ireland's three-and-a-half distilleries and their brands.

I was able to get through it without even mentioning St. Patrick's Day. Success!

Michael Short / Special to the Chronicle

Irish Whiskey Spiking in Popularity
By Camper English

When Swig opened near Union Square in 2003, its Irish owners carried every brand of Irish whiskey available in the United States. All five of them.

Nine years later, not only do they carry 32 Irish whiskeys, but their customers are also drinking a lot more of them.

"We've seen a very dramatic increase in the consumption of Irish whiskey," says owner Brian Sheehy. "A lot of the crossover has come from blended scotches, and instead of people asking for well whiskey on the rocks, they're calling their brand."

The phenomenon is by no means limited to Swig. Irish whiskey is the fastest-growing spirit category in the United States, with a 23.6 percent increase in volume sales in 2011 alone, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. It now outsells single-malt scotch.

Michael Short / Special to the Chronicle

Read the whole story here.

March 12, 2012
Irish Whiskey History

I recently read the book Irish Whiskey: A 1000 Year Tradition, which is no longer in print but still available. It was originally published in 1980 and most recently reprinted in 1998. A lot has happened since then, but this book has some good historical information.

Here are some facts and assertions from the book.

As in Scotland, oppressive laws and taxation drove many people into illicit distilling. "In 1806, out of 11,400,000 gallons of spirits made in Ireland, 3,800,000 of these were produced by illicit manufacturers. In the years 1811 to 1813 almost 20,000 ilegal stills were destroyed by the revenue authorities and the military."

In the earlier 1800s, scotch whisky was heavy in flavor profile and the English didn't prefer it. Irish whiskey, which used malted and unmalted barley, was both lighter and more consistent.

When column distillation was invented, Irish whiskey makers were very reluctant to use it to water down their whiskey. They argued against it and refused to use it, while the Scots took to it to dilute their strongly flavored spirit. The lighter flavor profile was more popular both in England and America.

The Irish whiskey industry was further harmed by world war rationing, independence from England, and American Prohibition.

The last remaining Irish whiskey distillers banded together in the 1960s to form Irish Distillers. They were the sole producers of Irish whiskey, which was made both at the Old Bushmills distillery and down at Cooley.

I'll have some of the more modern history and production of Irish whiskey in a forthcoming story in the San Francisco Chronicle.

March 9, 2012
The Science of Dilution
While at Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver, I attended the seminar on dilution by Audrey Saunders and Harold McGee. Saunders is the owner of the Pegu Club in New York and McGee is the author of the seminal work On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

Part of the discussion was about why we get more aroma in weaker drinks rather than stronger ones. People add water to whisky and other spirits when nosing them to release aromatics, yet this is counter-intuitive: shouldn't the whisky on its own have a more intense flavor that a whisky with just water in it?

The explanation is:
- In strong spirits, alcohol runs out of water molecules to bond with, and the alcohol molecules begin to form clusters. This is at around 30-40% alcohol.
- Aroma molecules like alcohol more than water. They want to leave the water they're in and release into the air.
- When a liquid has a lot of alcohol, the aroma molecules stick with the alcohol clusters and don't escape the liquid as much.
- Dilution dissolves the clusters and releases aroma molecules.
Saunders has been making a series of "inverted cocktails" in which she uses 2 parts of a weak ingredient like a fortified wine to 1 parts of the strong ingredient like whisky. These inverted cocktails are more aromatic than the stronger (1:2) versions of the same drink.

Other fun facts learned in the seminar:
- Chilling also decreases aroma release, as molecules are moving more slowly.
- Some chemicals help increase the release of aromatics into the air, such as salt, sugars, and carbon dioxide.
- Of course, these will also affect the flavor of our drinks.
March 8, 2012
Liquid Smoke in the LA Times Magazine

I have a story about smoke cocktails in this Sunday's LA Times Magazine. Go read it!

PHOTO: BARTHOLOMEW COOKE

Now, you're saying, "Didn't I already read that?" Nope, that would be Robert Simonson's excellent story in the New York Times, which I learned about after mine had already been submitted. We cover pretty much the same material, referencing many of the same people and even including one of the same recipes! Compare and contrast.

My story includes recipes by Tim Zohn and Ethan Terry of AQ, San Francisco, Giovanni Martinez of Sadie, Los Angeles, Michael Callahan of 28 HongKong Street, Singapore, Daniel Zacharczuk of Bar/Kitchen Los Angeles, Jacob Grier of Metrovino, Portland, and Sam Ross of Milk and Honey, New York.

Liquid Smoke
By Camper English

Between molecular mixology, mezcal, and scotch, the vapor somehow seeped into cocktail glasses.

Back at the turn of this century, when we were all obsessed with the Cosmopolitan, smoke was barely a wisp on the cocktail scene. The genre’s only notable drink was the Smoky Martini, which called for gin and the tiniest splash of blended—not actually smoky—scotch. Then menus started to feature a few vintage scotch drinks, like Blood and Sand and Mamie Taylor, with the faintest tendrils of smoke. But as dark spirits became more popular, the time was right for new flavors to accompany them.

Read the story here.

March 1, 2012
A Clear Ice Ball Maker You Can Buy
One difficulty with the Igloo Cooler method of making clear ice is that you get a great big block of ice at the end and have to cut it up into usable cubes yourself. I developed an ice cube tray using plastic boxes that gets the ice into long rectangles, and that's a bit closer to ideal.
But if the desired result is round clear ice balls, we need to either produce a mold that fits inside the cooler, or else carve out ice balls afterwards.

Well, it turns out that someone produced such a mold to make clear ice balls one at a time, using the same principles as the Igloo cooler method.

Alcademics reader Todd pointed me to this ebay listing for a clear ice ball maker from Japan.

As you can see, it's an insulted tube that holds a circular ice ball mold inside of it, along with extra space below the ice ball.

The important thing to note is that the ball mold is perforated. This allows any air and impurities in the water to get pushed out of it, towards the bottom of the mold, as it freezes. In other posts here on Alcademics, we've discussed that's how you'd need to build the mold in order for it to work.

It only makes one at a time, but it's pretty cool. The only not cool thing about is is the price: It's for sale at $97.60 each!

I still kinda want one.

An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.
February 4, 2012
Modern Day Pond and Lake Ice Harvests in America

I got it into my head that I want to see a pond or lake ice harvest, despite my contempt for winter.

Commercial ice harvests changed the cocktail landscape in America in the early-mid 1800s, allowing for the creation of juleps and cobblers and the popularization of the drinking straw and the cocktail shaker.

Today there is still ice harvesting on many American lakes and ponds. As far as I can tell it's more historic reenactment more than practical, with most of the places that have an ice harvest limited to a single day of the year.

Most places bring out the old tools – the long saws and the hooks – and allow people to cut up pre-scored sections of ice. Then they float it to the collection point on the lake, grab it with a hook, and slide it on a series of ramps (or sometimes pull it with a horse or tractor) into an ice house, where the blocks of ice are stacked with layers of sawdust in between.

I was looking for one that I might visit and came up with several places, so I thought I'd share them with you in case you live nearby.

Note that I first compiled this list several years ago so it's highly likely that not all of these places are still doing ice harvests.

Modern Ice Harvests

– Tobyhanna ice harvest – Near the Steamtown National Historic Site near Scranton, Pennsylvania. They run a train to the ice harvest. A write-up on the harvest is here.

– Howell Living History Farm – in Lambertville, New Jersey. I believe the ice harvest date is January 28th. In addition to harvesting, you can make ice cream with the ice. Information from last year is here.

– Curran Homestead – Located near Bangor, Maine. The next Ice harvest is on February 11, 2012.

– Cape Pond Ice – This is not an ice harvesting location, but a modern manufactured ice house in Gloucester, Massachusetts. They offer tours.

– Thompson Ice House - Located in South Bristol, Maine, which looks pretty far out there. The ice harvest is in February but the date hasn't been announced yet.

– Hanford Mills Museum – Not far from Cooperstown or Oneonta, New York. The 2012 ice harvest is on February 4, 2012. Besides the ice harvest there are vintage cooking demonstrations and lots of food for sale.

– Brookfield Ice Harvest – In Brookfield, Vermont, a ways from Burlington. Not sure of the website or the exact date, but last year it was January 29. Call 802-276-3959 for information. Some details here. "Activities include ice cutting and ice boom demonstrations, an ice-hauling contest, a chance to try hand-made snowshoes and view ice sculpting."

- Longfellow's Wayside Inn – In Sudbury, Massachusetts. Nothing on the calendar yet, but last year they did ice harvesting.

- Old Sturbridge Village – In central Massachussetts. Had ice harvest demos in the past, I don't see any on the calendar for 2012.

- Ice Alaska – This is more of an ice carving celebration/competition near Fairbanks. The park is open February 28 – March 25, 2012. They harvest ice from an on-site pond with a more modern tool that looks like a saw on legs. I don't know if the ice harvest is demonstrated for the public or not.

I haven't seen any case where it's a public event, but some Amish people harvest ice. There are some good write-ups online.

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival in upstate New York builds an ice palace every year and cuts ice using a 1930s power saw. A good article with pictures is here. (Thanks to commenter Climber9 for the tip.) I'm not sure if the ice harvest is open to the public or not.

Thanks to Kevin Sargent for pointing out the following additional ice harvests in New Hampshire:

Muster Field Farm in North Sutton, New Hampshire, has an annual ice harvest on its calendar of events.

Squam Lakes in Holderness, New Hampshire has an annual ice harvest operated by "Rockywold-Deephaven Camps along with David White, of the White Forest Farm." I'm not sure if it's open to the public but check the link to see.

The Remick Country Doctor Museum & Farm in Tamworth Village, NH has an annual Ice Harvest & Winter Carnival.

Kline Creek Farm in Winfield, Illinois has an annual ice harvest. In 2019 it was Feb 1-3. (Thank you Holly.)

Please let me know in the comments if you find any others.

An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

January 16, 2012
How Machine Ice Is Made

These are a few ways that ice was and is made, which I learned from the awesome book Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell.

Slushie Method

The first way is just like making ice cream the old-fashioned way: snow or cold water mixed with salt can become colder than freezing. So if you put a cup full of water (or ice cream ingredients) and stir the supercooled salt/water mixture around it, the water in the cup can turn to ice.

Expansion of Gases

As vapor and expands into a large space the molecules speed up, and to do so they take heat from the surrounding environment. This is similar to how evaporation of sweat cools you off – the liquid turns to gas and expands into the air.

Early ice machines taking advantage of this property used pistons that compressed air then released the pressure. The air expansion would pull heat from its surroundings – in this case a container of salt water – and that salt water would turn a pan of water into ice.

The next generation of ice machines used other gases instead of plain air- ether and ammonia for example. They still do.

Vintage Block Making

The Ice book also described an ice block-making operation from the Millersburg Ice Company in Ohio. They use large metal pans filled with city water that are lowered into a lake of salt water cooled to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. The pans of water then freeze from the outside-in.

Into the center of each pan they put an air hose to keep the water moving. As ice likes to be a pure crystal, the ice forming first is crystal clear, leaving most of the minerals in the water trapped in the liquid center portion. Before the block of ice fully freezes, they suck out the mineraly water and replace it with more city water. They say it looks less cloudy this way, though the center core is still a bit cloudy.

Making Ice Cubes – Bag Ice Method

Some commercial ice machines make ice in the following way: Water runs across vertically-positioned, cooled plates. Ice forms on the surface. When it reaches the desired thickness, they poke it with knobs that break it up into cubes. This ice is bagged and sold.

Making Ice Cubes – Clear Method

Other ice machines make clear cubes in the following way: Regular water is sprayed upwards onto cooled plates. The plates are cooled only to 32 degrees Fahrenheit – freezing temperature. At this temperature water freezes but minerals generally do not, thus the minerals drain off while the ice that freezes is nice and clear.

Making Flaked Ice

Flaked ice is the kind you see at fish markets- smaller than cubes but less dense than crushed ice. This is made in a machine that sprays water onto a cooled, rotating drum. After just a thin layer of ice forms, the ice falls off the drum and shatters.

An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

January 13, 2012
Carbonation Science

I was lucky enough to get a sample of the Perlini cocktail carbonating system, but before I even got around to using it I was fascinated by carbonation information the instruction manual.

Note: Yes, I read the instruction manuals. Pretty much always.

The Perlini is basically a cocktail shaker than you fill with carbon dioxide (CO2), then shake and pour. The manual comes with tips both for using the shaker, and also about carbonation in general.

So here are some things I learned:

– The amount of CO2 that will go into solution is controlled by pressure and temperature. The higher the pressure, the more CO2 fits. Obviously when you release the pressure (such as opening a bottle of a carbonated beverage) the pressure equalizes and the carbon dioxide comes out of solution.

– The colder the temperature of the liquid, the more CO2 can go into solution. Thus in the case of the Perlini, you add ice to the cocktail shaker. You can also chill the liquids in advance and not use ice (though the shaker is optimized for ice).

– To keep the carbon dioxide in solution, we want to minimize the amount of bubbles that form and carry CO2 out of solution. Bubbles form when microscopic pockets of gas are found in imperfections in a piece of glassware (note that in a champagne flute most bubbles form a stream from certain points at the bottom and sides of the glass) or in debris (solids) in the drink. These imperfections and solids are called nucleation points. The CO2 diffuses into these tiny pockets and blows them into bubbles, which are buoyant and float to the top and release the CO2 into the air.

– Your tongue has lots of nucleation sites for bubbles to form, and that's where we like them as it tingles. So we're trying to keep the CO2 dissolved into liquid until it hits our tongue.

– When using the Perlini (or say if you wanted to create a bottled soda) you want top keep nucleation sites out of the container. Thus you want to avoid having solids (like bits of citrus from fresh juices- strain them instead).

– Also, the surface area of ice has lots of nucleation points. So you want to decrease the total surface area of ice, by using larger cubes rather than chipped ice.

– The Perlini is meant to be shaken like a cocktail shaker, but when you do this bubbles form in the shaker. Thus they recommend waiting until the bubbles settle down before cracking open the shaker- otherwise it can foam over. Viscious liquids (liqueurs, milk) will hold bubbles for longer, so you need to wait longer for the shaker to settle before depressurizing.

– You're also not supposed to strain the liquid coming out of the strainer when you pour the cocktail. There is a built-in strainer to keep the ice out of the drink, but double-straining will add more nucleation points and fizz while you're pouring it through the strainer. Instead, strain any drink before putting it in the shaker. This cuts down on nucleation points from the pulp, etc. before you shake it. Also, pouring it on new ice will increase nucleation points as well.

– Carbonated beverages taste more tart than non-carbonated beverages. This is because CO2 dissolved into water produces carbonic acid, which itself is flavorless but somehow adds the perception of tartness.

– To adjust for the above, you should adjust citrus cocktail recipes towards the sweeter side so they come into balance when carbonated.

– Egg white (and other high-protein) drinks are going to be problematic as they are very foamy.

– "The acidity from the carbonic acid can interact with the tannins of wood-aged spirits in a way that emphasizes acerbic notes in their flavor profi les, requiring extra care in optimizing recipes." Weird.

I am excited to crack this thing open and give it a try. I am especially curious to experiment on how carbonation affects the perception of tartness and tannins!

January 4, 2012
How Water Freezes

This post is about how a lake freezes, but it should be more or less the same for how an insulated container freezes in a freezer. The information is from the excellent book, Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance by Mariana Gosnell.

Turnover

As temperatures lower, the water in a lake "turns over." The top layer of water is heated by the sun during the day and is therefore warmer and lighter than the layers below it. At night without the sun, the cool air above the lake cools the top layer of water, which makes it denser than the layers beneath it. The top layer of water sinks. The new top layer gets colder until it too sinks. This is repeated until the top part of the water column reaches the same cool temperature.

This temperature is not the freezing temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but 39 degrees. That's the temperature at which water is at its densest and heaviest. This also means that water contracts at this temperature and takes up the least space.

Latent Heat of Fusion

After the lake has reached 39 degrees throughout the top part of the water column, as the cold air above it sinks to a lower temperature than the water, the water cools off to below 39 degrees. Now, however, the water getting colder makes it lighter than the 39 degree water below it, so the water no longer turns over. It stays on top and continues to cool until freezing.

For water at 32 degrees to convert to ice at 32 degrees, a lot of energy must be given up. Normally it takes 1 calorie of energy to change the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius, but when water is changing phases to ice, it must give up nearly nearly 80 calories of energy to change phase without changing temperature at all.

Sometimes as the water is giving up the 'latent heat' to change phases, little wisps of fog are visible above the water's surface.

Nucleation

In most cases, ice crystals form at a nucleation point: a bit of something around which an ice crystal builds. This is often an impurity in the water, and in a lake can be dirt, snow, or even rain.

The ice crystals that form initially can be in weird shapes across the surface of the water rather than an even grid pattern.

Lakes tend to freeze from the outside-in, as nucleation points are on the shore and the water isn't as deep there. I assume that ice cube trays would also freeze from the outside-in as the nucleation point would be spots along the side of the tray.

Clear Ice

Clear ice on a lake is an indication that it froze slowly. As ice crystals form, the crystal lattice is is tight and there isn't room for impurities to fit inside it. (Ironic since impurities are usually needed to start the crystallization process.) Thus slow-freezing ice rejects impurities including air, minerals, and salts, and pushes them out of the way.

This is why the last part of the ice to freeze is where any trapped air and impurities are. Most ice cubes are cloudy in the middle because the water is freezing on all four sides of the container; outside-in. On a lake or by using an insulated cooler in the freezer at home, the only coldness is coming from the top.

In a lake the water doesn't freeze all the way to the bottom so lake ice is very clear – the impurities and air are beneath it still in the liquid. In a cooler in the freezer, the cloudy part of the ice is only on the bottom – the last place that freezes.

More Freezing

After the ice crystals have formed on the surface, they eventually start growing down, thickening the ice. But as the ice thickens, the water beneath it turns into ice at a slower pace. This is because ice is a poor conductor of heat, so the thicker the ice, the further the distance the latent heat of freezing has to get to the cold air above the pond. In other words, the rate of freezing slows the thicker the ice.

Saltwater

When sea ice freezes, most of the impurities – the salt- is pushed out of the freezing ice towards the bottom of the ocean. But about one-fifth of of the salt stays in pockets between crystals, in little capillaries.

An index of all of the ice experiments on Alcademics can be found here.

January 3, 2012