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Roemah Minoem, Jalan Cekomaria Gang Raya No. 21 Peninjoan/Peguyangan Kangin/Denpasar Utara, Denpasar (2026)

20/06/2017

The Science of Fat-Washing

“I was wondering what actually happens you fat wash spirits. Is it the same as a regular old infusion? Instructions always claim that once you chill, skim, and strain, you aren't left with any fat in the mix, but does some of it dissolve into the alcohol? It definitely feels like the texture changes.”

There aren't a whole lot of scientific papers that research the fat-washing of cocktails. So, I took a page from Sam Mason and considered the techniques of perfumers. Let's say you wanted to extract the flavors from an orange peel. As you may know, orange peels are lined with sacs filled with aromatic oils. That's why you can flame an orange twist—the oils from the peel are flammable. But perfumers don't only use oils for their aromas. While many powerful aromatic compounds are fat-soluble, others are water soluble. Consider the extremely aromatic orange flower water, for example. Orange flower water is an example of a hydrosol—the water-soluble aromatic compounds left over after oil-soluble aromas have been removed. Add alcohol to the mix and things start to get interesting. Alcohol (or ethanol/ethyl alcohol) can dissolve both oil-soluble and water-soluble flavors. That's because the alcohol molecule has two distinct ends, one of which is polar (water-loving) and the other of which is non-polar (oil-loving).

In the above illustration, the polar side is to the right of the image and the non-polar side is to the left. Whereas water is considered a powerful polar solvent, with a dielectric constant (εr) of 80, alcohol is a less powerful, but still effective polar solvent, clocking in at a respectable εr of 24.55. Any molecule with εr greater than 15 can act as a polar solvent. The non-polar side of alcohol has no εr and acts instead as a non-polar solvent, which gives it the ability to latch on to oil-soluble flavor compounds.

What does all this mean for fat-washing? The original question asked whether fat-washing is different from traditional infusions. And the answer is: not really. Regardless of whether you use vanilla beans or sesame oil as the flavor-adding ingredient, alcohol will extract a portion of both the fat-soluble and water-soluble flavors in that ingredient. If you used a pure oil, like olive oil, the majority of the flavor compounds would be fat-soluble ones. If you used butter—which is not actually a pure fat, but rather an emulsion of water and oil—you would capture both oil-soluble and water-soluble flavor compounds.

And how does fat-washing change the texture of a spirit? Many sources say that by freezing a fat-washed spirit, it's possible to strip out 100% of the original fat. Frankly, that's probably not true. Freezing the spirit solidifies the fat and makes it easier to strain, but it's very unlikely you'd be able to strain out every bit of the fat. There probably wouldn't be enough fat left to affect calorie counts, but even a small amount of dissolved oils could affect mouthfeel.

08/06/2017

CLASSIC SPANISH SANGRIA

Sangria’s roots can be traced back to 133 B.C., when the Romans residing in Andalusia quenched their thirst during the hot summer months with a mixture of fruit juices and the local rudimentary wine. Spanish Sangria began simply as a blend of the juice of fresh oranges with a light red wine, with a light red wine, with a little sugar and lemon juice mixed in, and was served as a chilled punch. From there it evolved into the classic formula given here-juicy, fresh slices of citrus fruit, fortified with brandy for warmth and depth, and served chilled with the additional effervescence of club soda. Sangria’s inherently versatile nature has inspired many variations on the classic, including versions made with white wine, champagne, and rose, and with other liqueurs in place of the brandy, as well as a wide variety of other fruits.

A light, fruity red wine, such as traditional Spanish red Rioja, is best in the classic recipe. Some sangrias may include slices of apple and ginger ale or even grapefruit soda, but the following is the quintessential traditional recipe, serving 4 to 6. It can be multiplied if needed and served in a punch bowl with a floating block of ice.

27/05/2017

GRAPES
Vitis vinifera
VITACEAE (GRAPE FAMILY)

Quick: name a fruit that is made into alcohol. What comes to mind first? Probably grapes. But belive it or not, the very existence of grapes is surprisingly unlikely. The fossil record shows that grapes were established in Asia, Europe, and the Americas fifty million years ago. But when the last ice age, the Pleistocene epoch, began about 2.5 million years ago, vast sheets of ice covered much of the grape’s range and nearly drove it to extinction. The vines that managed to pass the time in unfrozen corners of the world were the only ones left for early humans to encounter. It’s entirely possible that the grapes that flourished before the ice age were far more diverse and interesting than what we grow today.

To make the success of the grape even more improbable, those early vines would have yielded nothing like the abundant clusters of sweet, marble-sized fruit we know today. The grapevines that survived the ice age were dioecious, meaning that each plant was either male or female. The vines depended upon insect to transport their pollen, and if a female was too far away from a male, it simply wouldn’t happen. The fruit from these couplings was unpredictable as well. Grapevines, like apples, can produce offspring whose fruit will be quite unlike that of its parents. Some of those grapes would have been small, bitter, and full of unpalatable seeds.

So what happened to improve the grape’s prospects? A mutation that changed the plant’s sexual orientation. In dioecious plants, the females are female because a gene suppresses the formation of male anatomy and vice versa. But sometimes those genes go awry and nature creates a hermaphrodite. The vines that resulted from those mutation had both male and female anatomy on the same plant. Because the pollen didn’t have as far to travel, the vines produced more abundant fruit. The earliest agrarians might not have understood why certain vines were more prolific, but they would have selected them to grow in their settlements. That selection process began about eight thousand years ago, and from there, it was simply a matter of choosing the tastiest fruit and taking cuttings to get a genetic clone. Fortunately, pottery was also being invented around the same time, leading to the happy circumstance of crushed fruit stored in a container long enough for wild yeast to find it.

One more lucky break made wine making possible. A particular species of wild yeast that feeds on the exudates of oak tree bark managed to crawl into early wine vats around five thousand years ago and do particularly good job of fermentation. There would have been other yeasts living naturally on grape skins, but they would not have been nearly as well suited to the job. But somehow, oak yeast go into the mix.

How did this happen? Scientist have a few theories. It might be that grape vines occasionally climbed up an oak tree and picked up the yeast. It’s also possible that people gathered acorns and grapes at the same time, commingling the microorganisms on each, or that insects picked up the yeast on an oak tree and carried it to a grapevines because it was attracted to the rising sugar in the fruit. However it happened, that yeast species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, found its way into wine somehow. Today it is an entirely domesticated creature, rarely found in the wild and widely bred into specialized strains that are used around the world to make bread rise and to ferment wine and beer.

24/05/2017

INFUSIONS

Infused liquors may seem like the new creative expression in the realm of cocktail mixology, what with all the various commercially flavored vodkas, rums, and even gins on the market. But this method of infusing neutral spirits with flavoring agents such as herbs, spices, and fruit has been around for centuries. The chilly Northern Hemisphere, from the Netherlands to Russia, is steeped in a long history of home-prepared infusions made not only to mask subpar spirits, but also as herbal medicinal remedies.

Vodka is the ideal blank canvas for infusing a neutral-tasting spirit that can easily take on the flavors of an ingredient. But you can also infuse rum with complementary flavors such as vanilla or tropical fruits such as banana or pineapple. Give tequila an additional fiery bite with hot peppers, or use strawberries for a fruity flavor. Always start with good-quality spirits and fresh herbs, fruits, and spices. The spirit is interchangeable in any of these versatile recipes. Infusions are surprisingly easy to make, and the end result adds an exceptionally wonderful depth of flavor to any spirit.

Here are a few basic guidelines:

Use a clean, large (at least 1,5 liter) glass container with an airtight lid for your infusion. Save your original liquor bottle; you will need it to strain the infused mixture into.

Infusion times vary, depending on the ingredients. Strong flavors like lemon take less time to steep (24 to 48 hours), while milder flavors such as raspberries or pineapple may take 1 to 3 weeks to fully infuse. When the infusion is ready, place a funnel in the bottle, and pour the infused spirits through a fine-mash wire strainer. Some ingredients may turn bitter if left too long, or may break down to the point that you’ll need to line the strainer with a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Infusions are best stored in the refrigerator; chilling helps preserve the flavors longer than if kept at room temperature.

21/05/2017

BITTER AND BITTER LIQUEURS

As the name suggest, the term “bitters” refers to any number of spirits that have a bitter or bittersweet taste acquired from the use of bitter roots and herb-berries, seeds, flowers, and bark-as flavoring agents. Traditionally used as a digestif, appetite stimulant, and hangover cure, many bitters began as complex herbal remedies. They frequently include extracts of cinchona bark, a source of quinine, which is known for its medicinal aid and ability to soothe digestive. gentian root to quinine to Seville oranges, which lend a bitter, aromatic flavor.

Perfect for mixing with other ingredients, enhancing whiskey-based drinks, juices, and sparkling and fortified wines, bitters vary in their level of alcohol content, from the intense, high-alcohol cocktail bitters, which come in a variety of flavors, to the shippable variety, with much lower alcohol levels.

The bitters covered here are a selection, from the most popular to the not so well-known. They range from the shippable, such as Campari, which can be enjoyed like any other spirit, served either over ice or with an added splash of club soda, to those so bitter and concentrated that they are added only a few drops at a time to flavor another drink.

COCKTAIL BITTERS

So intense, a few drops is all you will need.

- ANGOSTURA AROMATIC BITTERS
This is the bitter most widely used in cocktails. It is a concentrated elixir containing an infusion of gentian root, a flowering alpine plant, that is rendered down to a bright yellow essence and combined with herbs on a strong rum base. Gentian has been used for centuries as a tonic, antifever remedy, and cure for malaria in folk medicine. Angostura bitters was formulated by a German doctor (Johan Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert), who was in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1818, serving as surgeon general in Simon Bolivar’s army. He administered his creation as a tonic to stimulate the appetite and improve the health of the troops. Now made in Trinidad, it is still taken as a digestif as well as used as a flavoring in foods and drinks, and at a potent 90 proof, a dash will do you.

- PEYCHAUD’S BITTERS
A closely guarded family recipe made with a number of botanicals. It was originally made in New Orleans by Antonie Peychaud, an apothecary in the late 1800s, who is credited with making the first cocktail by mixing his bitters with French brandy. This relatively sweet anise- and orange-flavored bitter is the essential ingredients for the Sazerac, the New Orleans classic cocktail.

- ORANGE AND PEACH BITTER
Essential ingredients in many of the classic cocktails mixed in the early 1900s. Abbott’s in the United States makes an orange bitter, and English bitter such as Holloway’s orange bitters are still a popular choice. Peach bitters are no longer in such high demand and can be hard to find.

BITTERS SERVED AS APERITIFS AND DIGESTIFS

- AMER PICON
This dark, maroon hued, orange-flavored French bitter is an aromatized wine similar to vermouth, with a bitter taste. When mixed with club soda it is enjoyed as an aperitif, but it is also used in cocktails. Invented as an antimalarial remedy by an army officer serving in Algeria, it is made from spices, gentian, orange, and cinchona bark, the base for quinine.

- APEROL
An Italian bitter with herbs, produced by Martini. It is lighter and slightly sweeter than its cousin, Campari.

- CALISAY
A popular aperitif from Barcelona, Spain, that falls into the liqueur/ bitter hybrid category, a sweet, herbal, and bitter digestif made from chinchon bark, herbs, bitter orange, and wormwood, and enjoyed as an alternative to absinthe. A similar but sweeter aperitif from Spain is Chinchon, made from the extract of anise and cinchona bark, a botanical yielding quinine, that is native to South America. It is part bitter, part liqueur, and part anise drink.

- CAMPARI
Italy’s most famous bitter aperitif, created in the 1860s in Milan by bartender and restaurateur Gaspare Campari. It is spicy, with bitter orange undertones from the peel of Seville oranges and a jewel-like bright red color created by the addition of cochineal, a natural colorant. Bitter Campari, or Campari Aperitivo, has an astringent, bittersweet flavor; there is also a sweeter version. For a refreshing aperitif, it is uasually served chilled and over ice, or with a splash of club soda. Once it is opened, store Campari at room temperature or, better yet, in a cool. Dark place for up to a year. Campari is a crucial ingredients in many cocktails, such as the Negroni and the Americano.

- CHINA MARTINI
Made by the famous Martini & Rossi, this popular Italian bitter liqueur has a distinctive herbal-quinine flavor. It is bittersweet and syrupy and is typically served as an aperitif or after-dinner drink.

- CYNAR
This Italian bitter is made with artichoke hearts (and leaves) and several herbs, and is relatively light and sweet for a bitter. Enjoyed either as an aperitif oar a digestif, it is usually sipped on the rocks with a slice of orange. It is also used in mixed drinks.

- FERNET BRANCA
An intense bitter from Italy that dates back to 1845, this slightly peppermint-accented biter is enjoyed not only as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite, but also as a digestif that is highly regarded as a hangover cure, settling digestive distress. A deep brown liquid with an extremely aggressive bitter flavor, Fernet Branca is made from 40 herbs and spices, including cinchona bark, gentian root, rhubarb, cardamom, cloves, angelica, myrrh, chamomile, and peppermint. It is taken straight or on the rocks, as well as in mixed drinks, and can be added to coffee after a meal.

- GAMMEL DANSK
Very popular in Denmark, this dark-amber bitter is made from herbs and fruit and has an intensely herbal, peppery flavor that is extremely dry, not at all sweet.

- JAGERMEISTER
A favorite German aperitif since its conception in 1878, made with a complex aromatic melding of 56 herbs, roots, and fruits. It is usually consumed as an aperitif or after-dinner drink but is also used in cocktails.

- PUNT E MES
An aromatic aperitif categorized partway between a vermouth and a bitter, although it is softer and sweeter than other bitters. Frequently used in a variation of the Manhattan.

- UNDERBERG
Made from a secret recipe (aren’t the all?), this intensely pungent digestive bitter from Germany reportedly works wonders as a hangover remedy. Another German bitter popular as a digestif is Stonsdorfer.

- UNICUM
This deeply colored bitter was originally a Hungarian specialty but is now made in Vienna (by Zwack, since 1840). It balances its bitterness with a slight sweetness.

OTHER BITTERS

- AMARO MONTENEGRO
An Italian digestif bitter given a boost with sweetened wine

- AVERNA
A digestif from Italy

- BRANCA META
A bitter Italian liqueur flavored with peppermint.

19/05/2017

RAMOS GIN FIZZ

The Ramos brothers ushered this classy cocktail into popularity in the 1890s, when it became the signature libation at the New Orleans Imperial Cabinet Saloon. This Gin Fizz is a Gulf Coast variation that calls for the Ramos Brothers’ secret/ essential ingredient-orange flower water (found in most specialty food shops). Traditions calls for this to be well shaken in a cocktail shaker for about 5 minutes (held with a bar towel); however, you may prefer the more expedient modern option of using a blender to mix this frothy cocktail, also known as the New Orleans Fizz.

18/05/2017

OAK
Quercus spp.
FAGACEAE (BEECH FAMILY)

Nothing tames a rough spirit like an oak tree. The practice of aging whiskey or wine in a barrel might have started as a practical solution to a storage problem, but it was soon obvious that something wonderful happens when alcohol comes in contact with wood-and oak in particular.

Oak trees have been around for about sixty million years. They emerged as a distinct genus not long after the mass extinction of dinosaurs. Taxonomists disagree about the exact number of species; depending you who you ask, the number ranges from sixty-seven to six hundred. However, we are only concerned with the handful of American, European, and Japanese species used by barrel makers for wine and spirits.

Wooden barrels have been in use for at least four thousand years, judging from archeological evidence, and oak was probably the natural choice from the beginning. The wood is hard, dense, but still pliable enough to bend into a slight curve. It was used for shipbuilding, and surely one of the first pieces of cargo to be loaded on the ship was a barrel of wine for the crew.

What the first barrel maker might not have known was that the anatomy of oak is perfectly designed not just to hold but also to flavor the liquid it contains. Oak trees are “ring porous,” which means that the vessels that carry water up the tree are found in the outer growth ring. As the tree matures, the older vessels become plugged with crystalline structure called tyloses, and as a result, the center of the tree-the heartwood-doesn’t conduct water at all, making it well suited for use as a watertight barrel. American oaks are particularly rich in tylose as compared to European oaks. In fact, the European trees have to be carefully split along the grain, rather than cut, in order to avoid rupturing vessels and creating a leaky barrel.

The trees also happen to produce an astonishing array of flavor compounds that break free from the wood in the presence of alcohol. European oak, Quercus robur in particular, is high in tannins, which give wine a certain roundness and full-bodied quality. American white oak, on the other hand, releases the same flavor molecules found in vanilla, coconut, peach, apricot, and cloves. (In fact, artificial vanilla is made from a sawdust derivative because it has such high levels of vanillin.) Those sweet flavors might not be what a winemaker is looking for, but they are pure magic in bourbon.

Perhaps the most important influence on oak-aged spirits comes not from the tree but from the barrel makers, called coopers. They learned that coaxing oak staves into gentle curves required two things: time and heat. Freshly cut oak is given time to dry, which not only makes it easier to work with but also concentrates those important flavors. The staves are also lightly cooked to make them more pliable as they are shaped, and fire causes some of those flavors to caramelize, so that caramel, butterscotch, almond, toast, and warm, woodsy, smoke essences emerge.

Some whiskey barrels are entirely burned inside. No one knows how this started. It’s possible that a cooper accidentally lit a bigger fire than intended and decided to use the barrel anyway. Perhaps thrifty distillers burned the inside of old barrels used to store salted fish or meat to eliminate the flavor before filling it with whiskey. Regardless, the layer of charcoal filters and flavors the whiskey, particularly as the wood expands and contracts with changes in the weather. The Lincoln County process, made popular by Jack Daniel’s, takes this one step further by burning sugar-maple wood and filtering the whiskey through ten feet of charcoal before it ever reaches the barrel.

The coopers made one more contribution: after Prohibition, when it became necessary to enact new laws regulating the now-legal liquor industry, they helped ensure that bourbon (and other whiskey) would, as of July 1, 1936, have to be stored in charred new oak containers in order to claim the name. This, the newly formed Federal Alcohol Administration claimed, distinguished “American-style whiskey” from Canadian products, which possessed a milder flavor owing to the fact that they were distilled at a higher proof and stored in reused cooperage. Although the law has gone through some revisions and challenges, the requirement to use new barrels for each batch of bourbon has been in place continuously, with only a brief respite from 1941 to 1945 because of wartime shortage.

One result of this quirk in American law is that there are an abundance of used bourbon barrels for sale. Scotch distillers love them: they employ a blend of used bourbon, port, and sherry barrels to give a nice complexity to their fine spirits. In fact, the Laphroaig distillery boasts that it uses exclusively Maker’s Mark barrels. Used bourbon casks are also used to age rum and other whiskey blends.

The particular way that oak absorbs and releases a spirit has led to a great deal of experimentation. Coopers can construct barrels with trees grown in a particular climate or soil type, which can affect the tightness of the grain and the levels of tannins and flavor molecules. They can even build a barrel of sapwood as opposed to the denser, less absorbent heartwood. Distillers are starting to market whiskey aged in a barrel from one part of the tree or another, knowing that connoisseurs will literally lap it up.

A FIELD GUIDE TO OAK

- Quercus Alba
American white oak; grown in eastern United States, used for whiskey and wine

- Quercus Garryana
Oregon oak, used by some Pacific Northwest wineries and distillers. More comparable to French oak.

- Quercus Mongolica
Japanese oak, popular among Japanese distillers.

- Quercus Petraea
Sessile or French oak; grown in Vosges and Allier. Preferred by winemakers.

- Quercus Pyrenaica
Portuguese oak, often used for port, Madeira, and sherry.

- Quercus Robur
European oak; grown in Limosin. Preferred for Cognac and Armagnac.

14/05/2017

SAKE

An ancient craft motivates the principal methods behind this fine Japanese brewed beverage. Sake is neither a rice wine nor a spirit, neither distilled nor created from fruit, but basically brewed like a beer. This supremely natural libation is made from a grain (rice) and brewed to produce a clear, uncarbonated beer with a higher alcohol content of 15 to 16 percent.

Truly fine sake is made by toji, sake brewmasters whose technical expertise is crucial to bringing together all the elements of rice, water, yeast, climate, and region, by a complex method involving precise subtleties. The process of brewing sake, in very simplified terms, begins with washing and steam-cooking the rice. Yeast and koji (rice cultivated with a starch-dissolving mold) are then added and allowed to ferment in a fermentation process called shikomi. In the following days more rice, water, and koji are added three more times. The mash sits anywhere from two weeks to a month, with crucial temperature adjustments to produce particular flavors. The sake is then pressed, filtered, and blended.

The best premium sake is made with just three ingredients-polished rice, water, and koji-to make junmai-shu, or pure sake. Using quality water and rice are key, as 80 percent of sake is made up of water. Some styles of sake have neutral alcohol added as a preservative. Most mash is pressed by machine, but the preferred method used by breweries making the best-quality sake is a more ancient method. They fill canvas bags with the mash (or moromi), which they squeeze, or leave to drip, to extract the fresh sake.

Most sake is pasteurized at least once, and some again after the aging, which kills off bacteria and stabilized the flavor and color. The sake that are not pasteurized, called namazake, have a distinctly fresh sake flavor, and must be refrigerated. Unlike wine, most sake is not aged any more than six months, just enough to smooth out the flavors. Nor does it age well in bottles-sake is meant to be consumed within seven to eight months of bottling, so don’t even bother drinking it if it is more than a year old.

There are five basic types of sake, requiring different brewing methods and different degrees of rice milling. The rice ranges from unmilled (or unground) to having a specified amount that must be ground or polished away. The amount of milling influence the taste. All styles but namazake can be similar enough in flavor, and the differences are sometimes hard to discern. Although ginjo sake is considered the premium sake, it is closely followed by other high-quality sake styles such as honjozo and junmai.

- JUNMAI-SHU-
This is pure sake. No other grains, starches, or distilled alcohol are added. Brewed using rice with a minimum of 30 percent polished (ground) away, this is a full-bodied, slightly tart sake that is not as fragrant as other types.

-HONJOZO-SHU-
For this sake style, at least 30 percent of the rice is polished away and a tiny amount of distilled alcohol is added. Although heavier than ginjo-shu, due to the larger amount of the grain remaining, it is lighter than junmai-shu. It is also more fragrant and earthy due to the auspicious addition of alcohol. If you insist on warming your sake, this is the perfect style for doing so.

-GINJO-SHU-
This delicate, light sake is made with rice that has been polished at least 40 percent. Ginjo sake has added alcohol (whereas junmai ginjo does not) and is a premium sake made using intricate and intense methods that produce a complex and fragrant brew.

-DAIGINJO-SHU-
At least 50 percent of the outer layer of rice must be polished away for a sake to be labeled daiginjo-shu. Sake made with added alcohol are simply labeled daiginjo; those without alcohol are labeled junmai daiginjo. Either way, this is a very fragrant, full-bodied style of sake.

-NAMAZAKE-
An unpasteurized sake that can be made in any of the above styles. It should be stored cold; otherwise it loses its fresh, lively flavor.

SUBCATEGORIES OF SAKE

-NIGORI-SAKE-
This is a sweet, unfiltered sake that still has the kasu (or less) in it, which are bits of rice that make it cloudy, some brands are better than others. The lesser-quality brands have the less added back in after processing to produce the cloudy effect.

-NAMA-
Similar to nigori-sake, this is also an unfiltered sake, but the lees are removed. It is typically not pasteurized, so if found in the United States, it more than likely has been pasteurized. Some will also have a natural carbonation due to the active yeast still remaining.

Many of the high-quality sakes may be crystal clear and colorless, but there are also rough-filtered, cloudy sakes on the market today. Momokawa Pearl sake is a great example of this style. Emulating the traditional fresh and unfiltered sakes of Japan, it is actually produced in the United States. Sakes can be sweet or dry, soft or acidic, and the relatively light mouthfeel can sway from full-bodied to delicate. Whether you prefer a floral fruity sake, spicy and nutty, or one with a straightforward rice flavor, there are sakes for every taste to choose from today. Both imported and domestic sakes offer varying qualities, from an inexpensive domestic Hakusan sake, a moderately priced high-quality domestic Momokawa Diamond Junmai Ginjo, to a high-end superpremium Hakuryu Daiginjo sake from Japan. Many aficionados suggest that be the best for sipping include either an unfiltered sake such as Nigroni Dreamy Clouds, said to be reminiscent of citrus, or a Dewazakura Izumi Judan, with tropical fruit notes.

12/05/2017

NEGRONI

This turn-of-the-century import from Italy was purportedly created by Florentine count Camillo Negroni, who requested that gin be added to his Americano cocktail, and the result is this complex triangulation of gin, bitter Campari, and sweet vermouth. Traditionally served over ice to slightly dilute the intensity, some prefer adding a splash of club soda, but it is equally enjoyable shaken and served up. The classic recipe dictates equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, with variations that include lighter versions closer to a Martini, which are more suitably stirred than shaken.

11/05/2017

CORN

Very little good news came out of the Jamestown colony in the early days. The settlers suffered starvation, disease, drought, and horrific accidents. Crops failed and supplies were slow to arrive from England. It must have been nice, then, for John Smith, one of the organizers of the effort to establish a settlement, to get a letter in 1620 from colonist George Thorpe that included this cheerful line: “Wee have found a waie to make soe good a drinke good stronge Englishe beare and chosen to drinke that.” Apparently, there was just enough copper among their meager supplies to build a still. Corn whiskey was one of the first innovations to come from the struggling Virginia colony.

Corn-called maize by Columbus, who might have heard the word mahis from the Taino people in the Caribbean-was a relevation to the Europeans. (At the time, the word corn referred to any sort of grain, so Europeans called it Indian corn to distinguish it from wheat, millet, rye, barley, and other grains.) Columbus brought it back from his voyages and it quickly went into cultivation in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was easy to grow, adaptable, and-best of all-the grains could be saved for winter. As Thorpe learned, it made a nice drink, too.

CHICHA AND CORNSTALK WINE

In Mexico, archeological evidence points to corn as a dietary staple as early as 8000 BC. Its range extended into parts of Central and South America, where every culture found different uses for the plant. When the Spanish arrived, two fermented beverages were widespread: corn beer, made from the ripe yellow kernels, and cornstalk wine, made from the sweet juice of the stalk. Exactly when these traditions began, and what sort of wild Zea might have been used, are questions that continue to vex archeologist.

Corn was domesticated so long ago that its ancestor no longer survives. Botanist assume that early corncobs were much smaller, the size of a finger, perhaps. They probably resembled their cousins in the Zea genus, many of which look like ordinary tall grass with an unremarkable seed head. These weedy relations are called teosinte. They look nothing like modern corn. Instead of producing a sturdy central stalk, they take the form of a wide, bushy clump of grass. The seed heads hold five to ten small seeds in a straight line, as opposed to a few hundred arranged around a corncob.

A team of archeologist led by Michael Blake at the University of British Columbia now believe that early corn might have been selected and domesticated not for its grain but for its juice. Cornstalk quids-bits of plants fiber that were chewed and then spit out-have been found at archeological sites dating to 5000 BC, suggesting that people prized the plant for its sweetness. And analysis of human remains found at those sites indicates that they were getting corn sugar in their diet but not much corn grain.

Over time, through some combination of human selection, chance hybridization, and mutation, corn came to resemble the plant we know today. When Columbus saw it for the first time, the ears might have been smaller, but it would have been obvious that its real value came from the kernels of corn, not sugar from the stalk. Columbus brought a new sweetener to the Americas in the form of sugarcane, and from that time on, cornstalk sugar declined in importance.

But cornstalk wine didn’t disappear entirely: A few centuries later, Benjamin Franklin wrote that “the stalks, pressed like sugar-cane, yield a sweet juice, which, being fermented and distilled, yields an excellent spirit,” suggesting that the practice was still alive. Even today some tribes, such as the Tarahumara of northwest Mexico, continue to make the wine as a traditional tribal practice. The stalks are pounded against rock to extract the juice, which is mixed with water and other plants, then naturally fermented in consumed within a few days.

Corn beer, called chichi, was the other corn beverage Europeans encountered. Its exact origins are a bit of a mystery, but the rather sophisticated process was already centuries old when the Spaniards arrived, and the tradition continues today. Like other grains, the starch in corn has to be converted to fermentable sugar before the yeast can go to work on it. In Peru and surrounding areas, it is made by chewing uncooked, ground corn, then spitting it out and mixing the wads of chewed corn with water. Digestive enzymes in saliva are effective at converting starch to sugar, so the spit was an integral part of the process.

Archeologist Patrick McGovern, who studies the ancient origins of alcoholic beverages, worked with Dogfish Head brewery in Delaware to brew a batch using the traditional method. The experiment reads like the setup for an old joke: two anthropologist, a brewer, and a reporter from the New York Times walk into a bar. But what happened next was no joke. Behind the bar was a batch of ground purple Peruvian corn that they planned to chew, spit out, and mix.

HAVE A NICE GLASS OF CORN

- Blended Whiskey
Although definitions vary around the world, blended whiskies may contain some corn. Suntory’s Hibiki and Royal brand, for instance, include corn and other grains.

- Bourbon
An American-made corn-based whiskey aged in new charred oak barrels. Must contain at least 51 percent corn. Straight Bourbon is aged for at least two years, with no added color, flavor, or other spirits.

- Chicha De Jora
A South American fermented corn beer. Chicha morada is a nonalcoholic version.

- Corn Beer
Some beers contain corn as an adjunct ingredients, making up 10 to 20 percent of the mash. Examples of beers containing corn include China’s Harbin Beer, Mexico’s Corona Extra, and Kentucky Common Beer, a style that includes about 25 percent corn, still made by specialty brewers today.

- Corn Vodka
Craft distillers are making excellent corn-based vodkas. Tito’s handmade vodka, from Austin, Texas, is a fine example.

- Corn Whiskey
Similar to bourbon but must be at least 80 percent corn. Can be unaged or aged in used or uncharred new oak containers.

- Moonshine or White Dog
A catchall term for unaged whiskies, which were made of corn historically and often still are.

- Paciki
A Mexican cornstalk beer.

- Quebrantahuesos
The name means “bone breaker”. A Mexican drink of fermented cornstalk juice, toasted corn, and the seeds of the Peruvian pepper tree (Schinus molle)

- Tejate
A nonalcoholic brew of corn, cacao, and a few other ingredients, made in and around Oaxaca.

- Tejuino
A fermented (and only very mildly alcohol) Mexican cold drink made of corn dough, widely sold today.

- Tesguino
A traditional corn beer from northern Mexico.

- Tiswin
A southwestern pueblo beer made of corn, sometimes combined with cactus fruit, roasted agave juice, or other ingredients.

- Umqombothi
A South African beer made of corn and sorghum.

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