Category: water
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Using Untreated Water to Proof Whiskey
Many distilleries brag about their pure water supply, but typically that water is only used for fermentation, and then reverse osmosis filtered or distilled tap water is used to dilute spirits down to bottle proof. So the quantity of that special water left in the bottle is small – in the case of vodka it's…
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Designing A Club Soda From Scratch
I was recently in touch with Top Note Tonic founders founders Mary Pellettieri and Noah Swanson about their new Club Soda that was created specifically for making highballs with whiskey. They went into the process with specific goals in mind to pair it with whiskey, researched styles of water and other brands' mineral content, then…
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Dilution and Additives in Cognac (Hine Series Part 6)
In this post, I’ll talk about diluting and additives used in cognac. There is a lot that happens in between taking cognac out of a barrel and being sealed up in a bottle.
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Water Chemistry at Deanston, Bunnahabhain, and Toberymory Distilleries
Several years ago I visited the Deanston and Bunnahabhain scotch whisky distilleries. Click on those words to read about the visits. At the time I was there I was really obsessed with the effects of water in distilled spirits (not that I'm over it), so I followed up with some super specific questions about the pH…
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Bottled Waters Most Resembling Waters of Scotland
In this post we'll look at commercial brands of bottled water that resemble water from the Speyside, Highlands, and Islay regions of Scotland. We saw before that different waters bring out different properties in scotch whisky. We can then look at properties of bottled water from Scotland. Thanks to UisgeSource, we can look at the…
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Does Water Matter in Spirits Production?
Though I often write for DiffordsGuide.com, this time editor Ian Cameron wrote about me, or rather, my talk on water at Tales of the Cocktail. Some of the information in the seminar you may have read here previously on Alcademics as part of the Water Project, and some information from the talk is definitely new. …
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A Whisky and Water Tasting
Today, Friday July 12, is the last day to purchase online tickets for Tales of the Cocktail seminars. There are still plenty of seats in my Water World: Water in Spirits and Drinks seminar, and I encourage you to attend. It's going to blow your mouth. In previous posts, we've seen that different mineral waters…
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Interview with a Water Sommelier
In researching water in both both distilled spirits and at serving, I came across Martin Riese, a water sommelier. He is the General Manager at Ray's & Stark, a restaurant located at the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA). He is developing a water program for the restaurant, and has his own water brand, hilariously…
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How Different Waters Affect The Flavor of Whisky
This is some seriously cool stuff! A few weeks ago I tasted waters sourced from Scotland's Highlands, Speyside, and Islay regions and noticed how they brought out different flavors in scotch whisky. Bowmore's master blender Rachel Barrie recently performed a similar experiment, though she didn't name the source of the waters. But it turns out…