The Story of World Liquors - HRI

8/19/2019 The Story of World Liquors - HRI

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The Story of World Liquors

1. World liquors and their cultures

2. Aperitif wine, enjoyed as appetizers

3. Table wine, adding flavors to your meal4. Dessert wine, after your meals

5. Beer, the World’s Most Popular Liquor

6. Cheongju and Takju, Fermented Liquors from the East

7. Whiskey, the Water of Life

8. Brandy, a Burned Wine

9. Vodka, Colorless, Flavorless and Scentless Liquor10. Liqueur, the Diamond in Liquid

11. Kaoliang Baijiu, Famous Chinese Liquor

12. Variety of Hard Liquors, Gin, Rum and Tequila

Author : HRI

copyright


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The Story of World Liquors

Liquor is a culture deeply rooted in the everyday life of people all over the

world. But regardless of being right next to us all the time, there are not much

people who know well about it. Let’s learn more about liquors of the world

and how to enjoy them in a more pleasant way.


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1. World liquors and their cultures

It is possible to think of the negative images of alcohol such as drunken

violence, which is becoming a social issue nowadays, but there are many

positive effects as well, including brightening up the atmosphere and

functioning as medicines for our bodies. Depending on how much we knowwell about liquors, they can be both beneficial and poisonous. This session is

about the liquors of the world and their cultures.

I have worked in a multi-national liquor manufacturing company and studied

liquors and relevant cultures of countries all over the world for the last 30

years. At least for me, liquor is a friend to share joys and sorrows of life and

a teacher teaching me how to get on with my life.

Liquor may remind you of negative stereotypes. But can you imagine a party

with no beers and wines? There are more positive effects than negative

effects.

Liquors can facilitate the relationship between people at a party or meeting,

while the ingredients of the liquor may work as good as vitamins. Liquors

can be evil or good. It depends on how much you understand them and how

well you utilize them.

Even though I have been studying liquors for the last 30 years, I think what Iknow about liquors is only sketchy because the history of liquors is very long

and wide. However, I really wanted and decided to share my knowledge of

liquors with as many people as possible.

The Origin of Liquors

Liquors were born with civilizations and spread out. The first wine was madein 8000 BC, in the Asia Minor region between the Black Sea and the Caspian

Sea, and spread down south to Mesopotamia, and then to Europe through

Egypt and the Mediterranean. On the other hand, white liquor was made in

the 13th century in the Middle East, and spread to Korea and Japan through

China. Lastly, beer, one of the world’s most popular drinks also originated in

the Middle East region in 3000 BC, and then disseminated to Egypt, Rome

and Western Europe, following the footsteps of wine. Liquors are made from

local grains and fruits which taste differ by regions according to the climate

and geography. Liquors have developed and spread out in various ways and

in harmony with the local foods.


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Sociology of Liqours

In many museums in the East and West, we can easily find antiquities

pertaining to liquors like kettle, glass and jug. In 2008, the National Museum

of Korea hosted a special exhibition which was titled Persian Antiquities.

The best of the ancient artifacts was the golden goblet decorated with a

winged lion which is the first national heritage of Iran. It is interesting

because Iran is the origin of Islam where the use of liquors is strictly

prohibited. From this ironic but interesting fact, we can imagine the liquor

played important role in the society.

In Shijij, a model of biographical literature, Sima Qian addressed the

importance of liquors by emphasizing the roles of liquors.One may not see his ancestors in ancestral rites with no liquors. Trueness is

shared through liquors between King courtiers and among friends. A request

of an apology comes after liquors. Liquors can be either evil or good. So, one

shall not abuse liquors.

The titan of modern philosophy, Immanuel Kant appreciated the value of

liquors by saying “Liquors tickle your mouth alive. Liquors unfolds your

mind. Liquors is the material that carries an ethical quality, openness of

mind.”The Cold War after World War II ended with a glass of ‘Baigar’.

On the presidential visit to Beijing, China in 1972, the president Nixon begun

the reconciliatory talks with the Chinese government with a toast of Mao-Tai.

Like this, liquors are deeply entrenched in human relationships and societies.

Korean liquors, the history and characteristics

Korean traditional drinking culture was once destroyed by invasion of

Japanese colonial troops. In 1909, under the Jooseryeong, a royal order

prohibiting the use of alcohol drinks, hundreds of years of drinking tradition

that had maintained from door to door, from age to age ended. From that

time, the cultural value of Korean liquors has been lost and liquors became a

standardized supply under rigid control of Japanese colonial forces.

In the 1960s, the spread of diluted Soju for common people gave rise todrunken violence.

However, The Seoul Olympic Games in 1988 has increased international


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interests in Korean traditional and locally manufactured liquors and this led

to eased liquor business qualification.

The opening liquor imports in 1991 made Korea emerge as a golden fishery

for liquor vendors.

Now consumers in Korea can easily buy diverse kinds of liquors not only

from western countries such as whiskey, brandy, wine and beer, but also fromAsia such as Sakke from Japan and Baijiu (white liquor) from China.

Nevertheless, it is irony that the cultures of each of the liquors have not been

well introduced.

People tend to believe they have knowledge of liquors. But only a few knows

liquors very well, they are much less than you might think of. In the Chosun

Dynasty, people used to learn how to drink in Seodang and Hyanggyo.

However, now days it is very hard to systematically teach or learn things

about liquors from all parts of the world.Let’s think of the term ‘liquor itself for the moment. The origin of the word

‘Sul’, a Korean word for liquor is known as ‘Subool’ meaning a liquid in a

fiery temperament.

Drinking causes a psychological effect on us, for instance warming our body

and relaxing our mind.

High-proof hard liquors are called ‘Jujeong’ in the East and Sprits in the

West. These words are all featuring the psychological effects of drinks.

The psychotropic characteristics of liquors influence individuals and societies

and explains why artists indulge in liquors and people drown their sorrows in

drinks.

As a beverage in various sorts of color, scent and flavor, liquor takes a large

part of the local food culture. Also the choice can be wide and vary

depending on individual preferences.

Liquors are made of hundreds of ingredients. The quality differs depending

on the brand name, even among products within the same category. This iswhy there are enthusiasts pursuing certain brands.

The history and culture of liquors and the characteristics of liquors are so

wide and various that liquors are seemingly very hard to know well.

In this opportunity, I am going to let you know how liquors have been with us

in our lives and how enjoy liquors in a better and more delicious way.

As previously discussed, the sorts of liquors are literally varied. So it is not

possible for me to introduce all kinds of liquors so I am going to introduce

some liquors that are common and popular.

From now on we are going to check out how liquors were born, how they are

made and how we can enjoy them. We will also talk about the background


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and ingredients of liquors and stories of figures who loved alcohol drinks and

more.

I hope this opportunity will make you see liquors in a new insight by help

you enjoy drinking with others and have some achievements in your society.


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2. Aperitif wine, enjoyed as appetizers

Wines can be largely categorized into drinks for before, during and after

meals. The aperitif wine for before meals is the beverage which marks the

beginning of a meal. “Aperitif” means not only ‘beginning’ but also

‘welcome’ for guests, playing the role of enhancing appetites. Therefore, it isrecommended to choose the aperitif wines that can elevate the mood of the

party for the invited guests. We now look closer at aperitif wines.

Aperitif Wine, An Appetizer Wine

Aperitif is a sort of wine that starts a meal.

it does not only start a meal by stimulating appetite but also welcomes the

guests.

So when you choose an Aperitif wine, it is recommended to choose a wine

that can liven up the mood of the party and entertains the guests. Don’t take it

too seriously. Once you learn about Aperitif, you can easily choose one

without difficulty. Drinking a little alcohol before a meal was a custom even

in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. However, there are two opinions

explaining how it became a routine custom. According to one opinion,

Vermouth which was developed in Italy in 1786 was recommended before ameal by a promotion strategy. The strategy made a success in the market and

led to a custom of drinking aperitif before a meal.

The other opinion insists that In 1846, Joseph Duvonnet, a French chemist

developed a medicine for Malaria by blending wine and Quinine. It was

recommended to have the medicine before a meal.

Whatever the truth is, the custom of aperitif spread through out Europe, and

out to the USA, and South America in the 20th century.

Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine is literally a wine with fizz. Providing a refreshing taste and

visual exhilaration, in most cases, it is served before a meal.

Sparkling wine was first developed by Dom Perignon, a monk in a local

monastery in eastern Paris. Brewing wine was one of the most important

duties of monks in medieval monastery. In a monastery of Hautvillers in


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Epernay, a suburb of Champagne region in eastern Paris, Dom Perignon, a

Benedictine monk was in charge of brewing wine.

He had unique ways to brew wines including blending various sorts of

grapes.

In autumn, people used to juice grapes and fermented the bottles of grape juices through winter. However, the bottles often exploded. This is due to

carbon dioxide gas emitting from yeast that resume the fermentation from

remaining sugar in spring. However, people who didn’t understand the cause

of the explosion called this sort of wines the devil’s wine.

Surprised at the mouthful of unique stimulation and refreshment of the

sparkling wine, Dom Perignon thought this was rather wine blessed by God.

He bought bottles and cork stoppers to complete the sparkling wine.

Champagne maker ‘Moet & Chandon’ purchased the monastery inHautvillers to preserve the tools and space Dom Perignon used to make

champagne.

The name of sparkling wines vary by the producing locations. It is called

Champagne in Champagne, France, Zekt in Germany, Cava in Spain,

Supmante in Italy and sparkling wine in U.S.

There are about 5,500 champagne brewing companies in Champagne, France.

Brewing a champagne requires much labor; it is not possible to brew

champagne through mass production like what beer production factories do.

How to make Sparkling Wine

Now let’s briefly discuss the process of sparkling wine making. The grape

varieties with a high level of acidity are regarded suitable for sparkling wine.

In some cases, immature grape berries are used to meet the required level of

acidity. The world’s most popular grapes for sparkling wine are Chardonnay,

Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

When grapes are harvested in autumn, they are juiced and fermented until the

alcohol content reaches 11% or so. For the fermentation, the grapes are

separated from their skins so that only juice is fermented just like what we do

to make white wines. Some sugar and yeast are added and then bottled for

secondary fermentation. Once bottled, the fermentation lasts at least 6 monthsto several years.


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When the fermentation is completed with proper pressure inside the bottle,

lees removal process should be done. This process is called ‘riddling’.

Riddling involves several times of horizontal and vertical rotation of the

bottles in order to consolidate the yeast and the lees up on the bottle neck.

This process is 100% manually done by hands, so it is impossible to mass

produce bottle-fermented sparkling wines.

When the riddling is finished, the bottle necks are quickly frozen to freeze the

consolidate lees. When the stoppers are opened, the lees will pop out with

some liquid. The bottles are refilled with the same wine liquid and then

corked again.

Sherry Wine

Sherry is a fortified wine. The base wines are fortified with grape spirit in

order to increase their final alcohol content so as to prevent the base wines

from being excessively oxidized during transport and storage.

During the 17th to 19th century, England used to be the largest wine

importing nation in the world. As the largest sea commerce nation, England

spread Sherry all over the world. The name Sherry came from ‘Jerez de laFrontera’, a wine producing area in southern Spain.

Sherry wineries are so large that the buildings have more than 10 meter high

open space inside to control the room temperature for fermentation, even in

the summer when the outdoor temperature reaches over 45 °C.

After fermented in this condition, sherries are completed through a long term

aging process called solera. After solera processing, sherries have a dry and

unique flavor.

Sherry is one of the white wine varieties, and thus the recommended serving

temperature is around 7 to 10℃. In Spain, restaurants provide sherry in

sherry wine glasses. However, when sherry wine glasses are not available,

you can serve it in white wine glasses.

The bubbles of sparkling wine contains the unique flavor to the surface, so it

is recommended to serve them in 5~7℃. Serving sparkling wines in generalwine glasses makes the bubbles disappear quickly So it is highly

recommended to use sparkling wine glasses when serving sparkling wines.

Long stemmed flute or tulip shaped glasses make the bubbles last longer.


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Aperitif wines are either sour or bitter to taste, or have sparkling bubbles,

making your mouth watery while stimulating your appetite. Now you have

learned what aperitif wine is. The Aperitif wines and your knowledge on

them will make your meal even more enjoyable with your good friends and

families better.


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3. Table wine, adding flavors to your meal

Table wine originally is a wine term referring to every wine with less than

14% of alcohol strength, but can be used especially for wines enjoyed during

meals. As it is intended to be enjoyed with meals, the harmony between the

wine and the food is also important. The French word “marriage” primarilymeans “marriage”, yet not only limited to the marriage of human beings but

also of food. In English-speaking cultures, it can be expressed as “food and

wine pairing”. Let’s explore the world of table wines.

One of the most important thing to consider when drinking wine is the

chemistry between foods and wines. The French word, mariage means a

marriage in English, but it also implies the harmony between foods. In

English speaking countries, it is called ‘food and wine paring’.

Chemistry Between Food and Wine

Having a harmony between liquors and foods is what defines fine dining.

There is a famous saying related to the marriage that have red wine for meats

and white wine for fishes.

In Korea, there has been a custom for a long time drinking some glasses ofliquors with supper, which Is generally called banju or yakju in Korean. It

used to be the norm of table setting to prepare foods in harmony with the

liquors and vice versa. As the old saying goes, everyone has a friend who put

into his head when the wines are aged and the moon rises, liquors and foods

in their natural match will stimulate the flavor of each other. However, when

they are not in a good match, they cannot make a harmonious flavor.

More recently, there is a growing interest in the chemistry between foods and

liquors. We often see hotels and restaurants under a promotion of mariage

between foods and liquors. Mariage is no more an exclusive term for

gourmets, but a common knowledge.

Famous wine production regions also have developed food culture.

Restaurants in Beaune, France which is a hub of Bourgogne wines are

famous for Beaune-style beef dishes. Also, Bordeaux, France is well known

for local lamb dishes as well as Medoc wines. As wine and food are made

from the local ingredients, they have been naturally developed together.

Of course there are no rules for matching between food and wine. It would benice if you have them in a good match. I will give you some tips to do so.

First of all, you need to think of the similarity, especially in colors.


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Matching meat dishes with red wine and fish-based dishes with white wine is

the most common example. We match our jackets with trousers or we often

select the colors of our clothes in match with the seasonal colors.

This is the same thing. It is an established practice to prepare white wine for

white fishes, and light red wines for red fishes such as salmon or tuna.

As for meats, red wine is best with red meats such as beef or lamb meats,while heavy white wine is good for chicken.

It is recommended to choose wines considering the heaviness of taste of

foods.

Greasy and weighty steaks are in good match with red wines, while foods in

plan or simple taste go well with white wines. However, light red wines are

recommended for fishes or shellfishes dishes when they are fried, and meat-

based dishes can go well with white wines if it is simply cooked.

These rules also can be applicable to Korean foods. Weighty red wines are

recommended for greasy and weighty foods including beefs and Sam-Gyeop-

Sal. Vinegary vegetables are good with white wine with some level of acidity.

Hot and spicy foods are in a good match with flavored wines such as pepper-

flavored or cinnamon-flavored ones. There may be, of course, some

exceptions. However, we have seen a lot of couples who have lived happily

and complemented together for a long time, even though their natures are

contrary to each other. Just like those couples, wines and Korean foods can

have a good match at the expense of trials and errors, even though they maynot seem compatible with each other at a glance.

People who cherished wine

Louis XIV of France who is known as Louis the Great or the Sun King was

famous for his particular taste for gourmet food. In the Versailles Palace,

hundreds of cooks were summoned everyday to prepare supper for him. Bythe time he was 40, he had to remove all of his teeth because of cavity. The

dish he enjoyed at that time was Foie Gras. For about 40 years until his death

at 77, Louis XIV had survived with the aid of Foie Gras on his gums.

However, Louis XIV had no interest in Bordeaux wine. He was a big fan of

Tokaji wine from Hungary and enjoyed Bourgogne wine and rose wine from

Rhone in southern France. It was likely that Foie Gras was in a good match

with rose or white wine.

Wine was beloved by the First Lady who used to enthuse maniacs and

busybodies. Especially, in the 1960s, Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the

president Kennedy was the most beloved and attractive one that any other


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First Ladies of the United States of America. Jacqueline, the heartthrob of

millions of Americans was the fashion icon unlike the traditional First Ladies

who were classic and rigid, and had profound knowledge of wines. Could she

have gotten familiar with wines after the death of her husband in 1963?

A Greek shipping magnate, Onassis prepared Ch. Petrus to ask for

Jacqueline’s hand, because he knew that she was a big fan of Ch. Petrus, a

red wine from Bordeaus, France. Ch. Petrus is a wine variety made from

Merlot grapes. It offers a soft but weighty taste. Owing to this episode, Ch.

Petrus that used to be an average wine until the 1950s became one of the

world’s best wine overnight by Jacqueline’s selection.

How to enjoy Wine and Food

I have a habit of smelling something when I first see it. This habit is largely

owing to more than 30 years of my profession, liquor evaluation. So it can be

sort of professional or work habit but it may appear weird to other people.

By the way, when drinking wine or eating foods while holding your nose,

you cannot taste nor smell them at all. This is because the senses of smell and

taste are complementary to create a combined sense. So it is recommended to

use your sense of smell and taste together when you enjoy wine and food.

What I have learned from Western master blenders is to smell liquors and

remember the smell of them and put it to the word. This is the only way to

clearly evaluate the smell and flavor of liquors.

Talking while eating is regarded as a taboo for Koreans in their 50s when

they were children. This is due to a custom prevailed in Asia. However, it is

important to have a deep knowledge and experience in flavor and taste of

wines to really enjoy wines. You can be a wine expert if you try and try to put

the flavor and taste of wines into words based on your experiences just like

you read and write as much as possible to write a good article. I hope you

will really enjoy your wine.


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4. Dessert wine, after your meals

The French word dessert means ‘to finish a meal’ or ‘to clean up the table’ in

English. The last offering at a course meal is called a ‘dessert course’. In a

dessert course, jelly, pudding or fresh fruits are served as a dessert in England

and the U.S. In a dessert, people are allowed to smoke a cigarette or have atable speech. Dessert is provided to finish a meal by suppressing appetite by

having sweet foods while refreshing the mouth. So a wine with high sugar is

a perfect dessert wine. Generally, when the residual sugar of a wine is less

than 4g/L, we call it dry wine, and when the sugar content is more than that,

we call it sweet. Dessert wines with high in sugar vary in types and so do the

grape varieties.

Typical examples of dessert wine are Spatlese wine, fortified wine and

chaptalization wine. Spatlese wine is made of late-harvested grapes toincrease sugar. A fortified wine is made by blending grape juice with brandy

to increase alcohol content. Chaptalization wine is made by adding sugar to

grape juice.

Wine production processes have been developed in diverse ways depending

on the climate, location, history or tradition of applicable regions.

Spätlese

Schloss Johannisberg from Rheingau, Germany is known as the origin of

Spätlese wine. The history of grape production in this area dates back to the

days of Charlemagne. A monastery was established in Rheingau, Germany by

Benedictine Order and then the monastery was dedicated to John the Baptist

in around 1130. Since the dedication, the hill, the monastery and the

community have been collectively called Johannisberg.

The father superior of the monastery had the vineyard restored in 1720 and

300,000 grape vines planted. This controlled planting is largely due to the

fact that the grape harvest time is one of the important factors determining

the quality of wine products.

In the autumn of 1775, a messenger conveyed an order of grape harvest had

arrived later owing by an accident, letting grapes overripe and even get

decayed. There was no choice to make wines with the overripe grapes. Guess

what! The final wine products have richer and softer flavor. This is how the

deluxe wine was invented.

From the very next year, the harvest time is put off for a month to produce

wine with overripe grapes, which is later called Spätlese wine. In autumn in


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this area, grapes berries go moldy in a early morning fogs. Farmers called the

molds Nobble Rot. A mold called Botrytis Cinerea provided grapes with

richer flavor. There is a record about this wine kept by Joh Muchael Engert,

an administrator recorded; “I had never experienced this sort of wine. It tastes

unprecedented.”

In this area, Reiesling grapes are harvested later, little bit later than Spatlese

to develop diverse sorts of wine products including Auslesen and

Beerenauslesen.

Through several centuries, Spatlese wine produced by the Chloss

Johannisberg monastery have maintained its reputation as the best deluxe

wine in Germany.

Port Wine

Opening the age of exploration, Portugal was once emerging as one of the

strong nations in Europe with many colonies including Brazil.

Porto, a port city in northern Portugal was the trade center for pot wine

products. Located in the hilly region stretched along the Douro river that goes

upstream to northwestern Spain, this city has advanced wineries dating back

to the Roman era.

In the days when Sherry wine was produced in Spain, Portugal produced portwines. In the mid-1770s, France had an alliance with Portugal and imposed a

heavy customs on French and Spanish wines. Port wine products from

Portugal was rapidly grown by benefiting from the levy of customs.

In 1775, at the occurrence of the great earthquake in Lisbon, Pombal, the

prime minister Pombal restored the damaged city through restoring the

economy using commerce. At the same time merchants started to make and

sell substandard wine products to England in low price. This was drawing

attention, Pombal enforced a place-of-origin system for the first time in theworld.

The name port wine is given to wines made from grape berries that were

harvested from the best-of-breed grape vines within a limited boundary. This

is the first quality control system well in advance (approx. 100 years) of the

AOC in France. Owing to the rigid quality control policies created and

enforced by Pombal, Port wine has been consistently grown so far.

Port wine is produced by aged grape juice for a day and then aged with

addition of brandy. Sherry is produced through secondary fermentation after

the first fermentation where brandy is added, while port wine is fortified wine

by adding brandy into grape juice. So port wines offer the natural flavor and


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sweetness of grape berries, which makes it a perfect offer for a dessert

serving,

as long as kept with a cap after the opening, port wines can be stored for a

long time just like hard liquors.

Ice Wine

Lastly, let us talk about ice wine which is one of the most popular dessert

wines. From the 1920s to 1930s, the prohibition of the use of alcohol in the

U.S had led to tightened qualification of a liquor production license in

Canada.

However the qualification was eased in 1974, and thus wineries around the

Niagara Falls started to produce ice wine products.

Ice wine is derived from Spatlese Wine of Germany. Ice wines are made of

juice from frozen grape berries harvested every mid-January when the

outdoor temperature is less than -10°C. The grapes for ice wines are

generally botrytised first and then frozen in the winter. So the berries have

higher sugar and offer richer flavor of botrytised wines.

In this episode, we’ve learned about dessert wines which are served after a

meal. There are too many sorts of wine and learning each of them in these

short-time lectures. I hope this will be an opportunity for you to get intowines.


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5. Beer, the World’s Most Popular Liquor

Almost everybody wants to have beer whenever you get stressed. Beer is one

of the best selling products in the world.

Beer is the most popular liquor product because it is inexpensive, brewable in

all seasons and in low strength. Also, wherever the producing location is, the

taste and quality is quite similar, which makes it more accessible. If you aretravelling around the world and if you don’t know which local liquor to have,

just choose beer and you can’t go wrong with it.

The human body is made up of 60~70% water. To survive we have to drink

water. We cannot skip a day. By the way, beer was a substitute for water for

some people to survive on.

The History of Beer

In Europe where most of the territory is covered with limestone, beer was

used as drinking water. Containing alcohol, beer provides strong resistance to

microorganisms. Because of this, beer was regarded as the safest drink in

addition to wines.

Compliments to beer has been everywhere from Mural paintings found in

ancient Egypt to the pubs all around the world.

According to a clay tablet excavated in the Mesopotamian-Sumerian

historical site which dates back to 3000 BC, beer production dates back to

that time period.

At that time, beer was produced by baking a bread from crushed malts, and

then fermenting the dough.

The production of beer first started in Mesopotamian areas, and then spread

to Europe through Egypt. It is interesting that beer became a local drink in

northern Europe where it is impossible to brew wines.

In the middle ages, production of beer, in addition to wine, was the

responsibility of monasteries. Feudal lords only permitted the monasteries to

brew and the monasteries gain huge profits by selling the beer after their

consumption. The monks were the best think tank at that time. They made a

great contribution to the improvement of breed of barley and the

development of brewage techniques.

Wenceslas, a king of Bohemia(currently Czech Republic) valued beer as a

noble and powerful drink, just like Julius Caesar who praised beer about


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1000 years ahead of him. So the king made a recommendation to the Pope to

remove the ban on beer production.

This led to the growth of the beer industry in the Czech Republic. Czech beer

products had significant effects all throughout the European nations.

In 1516, Wilhelm IV Bavarian King lay the groundwork for the German beerindustry by establishing the renowned German Beer Purity Law which is also

known as Reinheitsgebot. The regulation restricts ingredients of beer

products to water, barley and hop. Until the regulation come into effect,

various traditional ingredients were added to beer. Owing to the regulation,

hop became the essential ingredient to brew beer while other grains including

wheat and oats were widely used.

Until the 1800s, only draft beers have been distributed.

In the 20th century with introduction of low-temperature pasteurization,

pasteurized beer is distributed in bottles. However, low-temperature

pasteurized beers have a drawback. Some ingredients cause chemical

changes, degrading the taste and flavor as well as reducing the freshness.

By the 21st century, the introduction of advanced filtration technology to

perfectly filter microorganisms including yeast and lactobacillus allows draft

beers spread all over the world in bottles.

Nations in Love with Beers

Oktoberfest in Germany and the Qingdao International Beer Festival are the

most famous beer festivals in the world.

Commenced by the toast by the mayor of Munich at the noon of September

20th, Oktoberfest lasts until the first Sunday of October. Around 5 million

people gather to join the festival every year and consume approximately 5million liters of beers, just like an elephant drinking water.

More recently, the Quindao beer festival became more and more popular.

There were about 100 million participants in the event last year.

Enjoying Beer

Don’t you think of a glass of cold beer when you feel thirsty? Beer is a liquor

that tastes and feels refreshing. If you treat the beer with some extra cares,you can make it a perfect pint.

First of all, temperature is the most important thing in preserving the


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freshness of beers. Keeping beers in too low temperature makes it difficult to

taste the natural flavor of them while higher temperature reduces the

refrigerant taste.

Beers contain carbon acid gas. However, the temperature affects the

carbonation rate. Appropriate temperature properly facilitates the carbonation

and this will make the bubbles moderately stimulate your mouth and throat

and make you feel refreshing.

Proper beer temperature is between 4 to 10℃.

Even if you drink the same beers, the taste may differ depending on the place

you are. Hygiene also affects the taste of beers. When served in a cleaned and

cooled glass, beer tastes refreshing.

On the contrary, a dirty glass spoils the head and the flavor due to the

residuals including oils and dusts.

The pouring also affects the taste of beer. For example, pouring the beer

badly in glasses causes more foam with loss of carbonic acid gas and flavor.

Here are some tips for pouring beer. First, hold your glass at a slight angle,

and pour the beer targeting at the slope of the glass. At the half way point,

bring the glass back at a right angle while pouring the beer. If you pay more

attention, you can make the taste richer and the flavor deeper.

In this episode, we’ve learned much about beer which is the most popular

liquor in the world. How about a glass of beer tonight?


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6. Cheongju and Takju, Fermented Liquors from the East

In this section, we will discuss on Takju and Cheongju, which are traditional

drinks from the East.

Traditional drinks from China, Korea and Japan are generally made from

grains such as rice, barley, sorghum and wheat, through saccharizing orfermenting malted grains.

How to make Estern Wine

The brewing method of Takju and Cheongju is similar. Only one difference is

whether or not it is refined at the final process to remove solid matters

contained in it.

If it is refined, it becomes Cheongju, if not, it is Takju.

From this we can guess Takju is the original form of all the liquor products

from the East.

As The brewing method of Takju is disseminated from China to the South, it

is localized to the local tastes and differentiated into various types.

There weare two methods to brew grain wines in around the Yellow River in

China; Nu-ruk-beop, and Gok-ah-beop. We can find a phrase on malted rice

in the Shu Jing, one of the famous Confucian scriptures published in 500 BC.

It means “If governing a nation can be compared to making a wine, faithful

retainers are the mated rice and grains.”

In the phrase, Guk(국) refers to malted grain, and Erl(얼) (sprouts in

stubbles) means malt from barley sprouts that are artificially blown in the

water. From these two words, we can guess that grain wines were brewed by

both methods of Nuruk-beop(누룩법) a wine brewing method using Nu-ruk,

and Maek-Ah-beop, another method using malt.

However, Nu-ruk contains yeast and thus makes it easier to brew wine. So it

has been widely used to make grain wines so far.

On the other hand, Maek-Ah-beop(맥아법) has been limitedly used, as malt

is easily acidified by increased temperature.

Nu-Ruk is largely divided into two types. The first is Byeong Guk(병곡) a

caked Nu-Ruk, and the second is San Guk, or scattered Nu-Ruk.

Byeong Guk was widely used in the Huabei region to brew grain wines,

while San Guk(산곡) is assumed to be used in Southern China.

Caked Nu-Ruk is sort of a raw Nu-Ruk, which is made by crushing wheat


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grains and mixing the rough flour with water to make a cake. San Guk is

scattered Nu-Ruk which is made from grains or flour of grains. Caked Nu-

Ruk is easy to dry and store. The advantage of San Guk is that the scattering

facilitates Nu-Ruk to have more aspergillosis, which create more enzymes

breaking down the grains. Almost every Nu-Ruk used these days in Korea or

China is Caked Nu-Ruk. However, scattered Nu-Ruk is widely used in Japan.

Liquors from the Three Countries, China, Japan and Korea

The wine called Cheong Ju in Korea is called Huang Chiew, or Yellow Wine

in China.

Like Su Mi Huang Chiew brewed in Ji Mo region in Santung Province,

Huang Chiew is sometimes made from millet. However, it is quite often

based on rice and the alcohol content of the final wine is more than 15%. It is

common that it is made by steaming rice with other grains, and thenfermenting the steamed rice with Nu-Ruk. Huang Chiew is stored in pots or

jugs.

It is assumed that Koreans had their own ways to make refined wines even in

the era of the Three Kingdoms. According to an old book from Japan, In

Beon a man from the kingdom of Baekje taught the Japanese how to get

wines refined. Li Shagyin, a poet of the late Tang Dynasty left a poem to

cherish the wines from the kingdom of Shilla. Also, it is well known that Tak

Yak Ju is widely used for ceremonies and parties in the era of the Goryo andChosun Dynasty.

However, under the Jooseryeong, a royal order enforced in 1909 that

prohibited the use of alcohol drinks destroyed Korea’s hundreds of years of

its drinking tradition. In 1916, the Japanese colonial government banned

brewing wines at home, while forcing to use Ip-Guk-Beop, a brewing method

based on Japanese cultures. Originally, Korean traditional wines were made

from caked Nu-Ruk. However, most Tak Ju is brewed based on Japanese Ip-

Ja Nu-Ruk.The sales of beer excessed that of Rice Wine in 1985. In 2009 there was a

slight growth of Rice Wine largely owing to the government policy to support

domestic rice consumption. It is a pity that world renowned wines are yet to

seek in Korea.

Lastly let me talk about Japanese Rice wine Japan has had famous wine

products such as Hu Shi Mi from Tokyo, ever since the era of Tokugawa

regime. People had boasted and were proud of distinct characteristics of wine

products brewed in their provinces.

After the Meiji Restoration, 7 varieties of rice including Yamadanishiki and

Gohyakumanseok were developed and distributed for brewing sake. Masters


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combined science and traditional practices to control the milling rate of rice

and improve the fermentation temperature and yeast. Their huge and

consistent efforts made sake one of the world famous and noble wines. The

demand of Japanese sake has diminished due to the globalization of

lifestyles. However, the tradition of drinking the locally brewed wines are

still maintained, while about 2000 locally wines remain in existence.

Japanese sake is featured with a clean and simple flavor, which makes it agood match with Japanese seafood.

We have discussed on Rice Wine from the East which are made from grains.

They shared a long history with us for a very long time. Changes in the life

style allow us to enjoy various kinds of liquor products, and Rice Wine are

still so beloved by people.

As previously discussed, world famous wines are yet to seek in Korea. It’s

really pitiful. I hope someday Korea will introduce noble and fine wines that

captivate the taste of the world, just like what China and Japan did.


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7. Whiskey, the Water of Life

Civilization used to develop in an unexpected way by accident. The

Crusades, spanned for 300 years from 1096 to 1270 and consisted of 10

battles, were a war of attrition between European Christians and Islam from

the Middle East for the conquest of Palestine and Jerusalem.The Crusades contributed to the exchange of cultures between the East and

the West, though failing to accomplish its purpose.

Monks involved in the conflicts came home with hard liquor producing

methods, and started to localize the beer. The beer was later developed to

Whiskey.

At that time drinking was prohibited in the Middle East. However, alchemistsused to distill alcohol to produce spices and cosmetics.

The word alcohol is from Kuhl, an Arabic word. Kuhl refers to the local

cosmetics for eyebrows, which is still widely used in the region.

The methods were transferred from the alchemists, to Christian monks and

then spread throughout Europe.

The drink produced by distilling ale beer of England was called Usquebaughin Scottish Gaelic, meaning the water of life. This word was later transformed

to whiskey.

Scotch Whiskey produced in Scotland became a representative Whiskey

product.

These days, scotch whiskey is widely consumed in the world. Though it was

nothing but one of the sprits with pungent smell and rough taste.

Then how come it becomes the world best liquor product today?

In the early years of the 18th century, Scottish king James I sat on the throne

of England and founded the British Empire. Traditionally the Britons and the

Scotch had been on extremely bad terms like cats and dogs.

However, as the fiscal spending was increased owing to the growth of the

Empire, high liquor tax was levied on Scottish whiskey to increase tax

revenue.

The Scottish producing whiskey at that time moved the distillers to the

mountains to avoid high taxation. They started to produce whiskey secretly.

They had to distill whiskey at night because distillation emits smoke around.


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Owing to this night time production, the whiskey producers was also known

as moon shiners. The distilled whiskey is stored in oak containers and hidden

in caves to prevent them from being uncovered. One day, they found the

liquor in an oak container aged for several years in the hide; fine yellow

whiskey in a good quality with smooth taste and rich smell. This inadvertent

invention becomes an established practice, and whiskey finally came to the

throne of spirit. Whiskey tastes good only when it is aged for more than fiveyears in oak containers. This is because whiskey gets smooth in tastes

through the reaction with various ingredients coming out from the oak

containers. The aging process has not been clearly discovered yet. However,

it was found that some portion of the liquid is evaporated during the aging

process. So, the portion of evaporation was called ‘Angel’s Share’.

Although the quality is excellent, whisky is too expensive owing to the low

productivity.

Traditional whiskey is only made from malts and the production only utilizespot stills for distillation. The low productivity was due to the time-consuming

production process requiring fermented liquid to be boiled in a distiller and

then distilled twice to get the crude whiskey. However, during the distillation,

it is possible to control the content of ingredients that affect the quality of

whiskey. So whiskey produced using pot stills have a richer smell. The

whiskey products produced by this type of process is called Malt whiskey.

During the Industrial Revolution, demands of whiskey were rapidly

increasing in England. Whiskey brewers attempted diverse ways to diversifythe variety and thus to increase the production. Aeneas Coffey developed a

continuous distiller that continuously inserts fermented liquor to get distillate,

and then obtained a patent on the distiller. He succeeded to mass produce

whiskey by saccharifying and fermenting grains including barley, corn and

wheat with a dash of malt. The resulting product is called Grain Whisky.

Grain Whisky is inexpensive but has weak fragrance, so it is not regarded as

equivalent to the traditional malt whiskey.

By the 1800s, whiskey started to be distributed by merchants in metropolitancities. They developed a new whiskey variety to meet the market demand by

blending malt whiskey with a strong fragrance with inexpensive grain

whiskey.

In 1820, John Walker started a whole sale business to distribute blended

whiskey products he brewed, in a small city called Kilmarnock in Southern

Glasgow. It was Alexander Walker, John’s son who made the business

prosperous with born business skills. However, the business was ruined by a

storm in 1852. It was also his son to save the business from the disaster andrestore the business performance. Alexander had his office opened in

London. He always moved throughout the city on a wagon pulled by two

donkeys. From this time, the brand Jonnie Walker started to earn fame in the


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local whiskey market.

In 1908, the trademark of the fabulous whiskey brand Jonnie Walker was

created. The symbol mark of Jonnie Walker is an English gentleman walking

briskly in a hat and long boots. The symbol of Jonnie Walker is well matched

with its slogan, “born 1820, still going strong”.Traditionally, British people show too much enthusiasm for the royal family

affairs. This is why renowned manufacturers from many different fields used

to bring their productions to royal ceremonies.

Royal Salute, the world’s best whiskey brand was born as an offering to

Queen Elizabeth II for her coronation ceremony held in 1952. Based on the

fact that the 21-gun salute is reserved for kings, the first Royal Salute whisky

was aged for a minimum of 21 years.

There are three types of glasses to serve whiskey; on-the-rocks glass which

appears as general glass; shot glass with a half width of soju glass and

cocktail glass.

People who like high-proof whiskeys often use shot glasses to drink

whiskeys. In this case, We often say they drink whiskey straight up. However

straight whiskeys are so strong that they string mouths and throats, while

making it hard to savor the flavor and smell. By this reason, people often

diluted their whiskeys with water or used ice instead of water, which is on-

the-rocks. On-the-rocks has become the most common way to have or servewhiskeys today.

We have talked about whiskey, the water of life. Exhausted with your

everyday routine tasks? Why don’t you take a glass of whiskey to relieve

your stress away?


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8. Brandy, a Burned Wine

In Korea, many people call it Brandy Cognac. People order Cognac when

they order at a bar. Cognac is the name of a region in France where Brandy is

produced. However, the local Brandy is so famous that many people call it

Cognac.

Bordeaux in southwestern France was famous for wine production even inthe Roman Era. However, as Eleanor, a heiress of Aquitaine was married to

King Henry II of England in 12C, Bordeaux became an English territory.

In the mid-14th century, France went to war against England to recover

Aquitaine. This is called the Hundred Years’ War. Through the ware, France

finally recover Bordeaux. However, all through the wartime, the Bordeaux

wines were all taken up by Britons. Northern Europeans started to make

vineyards in Southern and Northern Bordeaux, which began the history of thewineries in Cognac and Armagnac regions.

In 17C, Dutch merchants used to stock up heavily with wine products from

Cognac and Armagnac to export to England. However they lost out to wines

from Bordeaux and thus were put into storage. Driven into a corner, the

Dutch merchants decided to distill the stored wine with water or other wines

to sell it to crews for drinks. The distilled wine was sort of a colorless and

rough hard liquor. Aged in oak containers, the wine became an

unprecedented quality and color which was later become Brandy. Themerchants in the Cognac region gained unexpected reputation owing to their

Brandy, and people in Cognac started to produce more brandy products than

wines.

The word Brandy is derived from Brandewijn in Dutch, which means burned

wine. Variety of Brandy is divided to grape Brandy, apple Brandy and cherry

Brandy depending on the main ingredients. In general, Brandy refers to grape

Brandy.

To produce Brandy, a grape variety called Uni Blanc is widely used. It is avariety of grape with high yield. The soil of the Cognac region in France are

so calcareous that the local grapes are not good for wine production while

good for Brandy.

When distilling a Cognac, a traditional pot still with 2,000 liters of capacity is

widely used. The distiller consists of the body, preheating tank and cooler.

The general pot still consists of an onion-shaped body and cooler only.

However, the Cognac distiller has an additional sphere preheating tank

between the body and cooler to collect heats of alcohol steam. The distiller isaesthetically beautiful and high in thermal efficiency. People named it after

the river runs through the Cognac region as Charente. The crude liquid with

70% alcohol is produced by distilling twice using this distiller and then aged


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in white oak containers.

The quality of Brandy varies depending on the grape varieties, fermentation,

the shape of the still kettle and the aging processes. So it is impossible that all

the Brandy crude liquids have excellent quality and characteristics. This is

why Brandy is generally produced by blending different crude liquids aged in

different distillation factories.

In the Normandy region, northwestern France has extensive apple farms for

brewing wines. Since the 18th century when the Cognac brandy from

southern France started to gain popularity, Normandy people have started to

make Brandy by distilling Cidre, an apple wine. Among all the Brandy

products from these regions, apple Brandy products from Calvados were

especially good in the quality, so the Calvados became a localized special

brand. From that time Calvados has been recognized as the best-of-breed

product among all the apple Brandy products.

The ages of Cognac and Armagnac Brandy is expressed in Compte. On April

1st every year, when the distillation of wines of the last year completes, the

Compte is 0.

Compte becomes 1 when an additional year passes, and 2 when two years

additionally pass. Cognac and Armagnac Brandy products are at least aged

more than a year.

Three star Brandies are aged more than 2 years. V.S.O.P refers to Brandy

aged more than four years. When aged more than 6 years, it is labeled as X.Oor Napoleon.

There are many people wondering why the age of some Brandy products is

labeled as Napoleon. The Prince of Napoleon was born in 1811, and the year

had a bumper harvest of grapes and thus the quality of Brandy products from

the grapes were especially excellent. To celebrate the bonanza year as well as

the birth of the Prince, Brandy manufacturers labeled the Brandy products

they produced as Napoleon.

Napoleon himself was also a fan of Cognac and wines. He ordered to includewine and Brandy to war supplies. There also exists a belief that the Napoleon

troops were defeated after conquering Moscow because the Brandy supplies

ran out and the forces became demoralized by the harsh climate.

Brandy is a distilled fruit wine with a rich and strong fragrance of fruits. As

aged in oak containers, it tastes smooth and fruity, which is a perfect

condition for a dessert. So it is recommended to take an occasional dip rather

than a gulp in such a way that you can feel the clear taste and that the food

residuals are washed away.The glass for Brandy is shaped like a tulip. When taking Brandy, it is

recommended to hold the glass fully with the palm to warm the liquid with


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body heat and to take an occasional nip while savoring the smell.

We have talked about Brandy which is also known as burned wine.

A glass of Brandy after finishing a meal help improve digestion and reduce

blood cholesterol. I hope you enjoy Brandy and the benefits of it.


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9. Vodka, Colorless, Flavorless and Scentless Liquor

Vodka originates from Northern Europe, and still largely produced and

consumed in the region such as Poland and Scandinavian Peninsula.

It is recorded in a book written in 1400 that leached Vodka (Okowita) is a

good medicine to reduce pruritus. Also, a record was found in a book writtenin Swedish in the similar year that an explosive type of Vodka (Auqavit) is

often used as an explosive mixture for guns. As the content of alcohol in

liquor increases, so does the explosiveness of the liquor.

Although some historical records were found in several regions, vodka has a

lot of relations with Russia. The term ‘vodka’ became popular to the public in

the 17th century. The term originates from the local word for water and water

comes from ‘the water of life’.

In ancient Russia, Mead made from honey or beer were widely used. In 1429,

the first hard liquor made from diverse sorts of grains was introduced in

Moscow. At that time hard liquor was called ‘water of life’, meaning a cure-

all. The hard liquor praised by the blinded Prince Vasily, is made from

diverse grains locally harvested in Moscow. In the 15th century, almost all

monastery produced vodka and in the late 15th century, Ivan III appointed the

production and selling of vodka as the government monopoly.

In the late 16th century, the Tsar royal family directly ran pubs called Kabak

to secure the nation’s finance. In the 17th century, Kabak became the seedbedof corruption.

In 1716, Peter the Great (Pyotr I), who is called the king of vodka, granted

the nobles and merchants with rights to produce and distribute vodka but

nobles and merchants had a conflict with the royal family about vodka

production rights in the 18th century.

In 1812, vodka became popular in France after French armies invaded

Russia.

Vodka in its early days was distilled by pot stills from the Middle East in the

14th century. Continuous distillers were invented in 1830 in England, so it

was about 10 years after the invention that the continuous distillers were

started to be used for vodka. Vodka was made from various kinds of

farinaceous ingredients and produced by distilling fermented wines made

from grains including potato, barley, wheat and rye. As the crude liquid after

distillation was rough, diverse herbs and fruits were added.

In 1785, a Russian pharmacist named Toviy filtered rubbing alcohol usingcharcoal to get rid of the color and smell and inadvertently found that clean

and smooth alcohol is derived through the filtration. Through the filtration,

alcohol was oxidized with acetic acid.


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The oxidation was then adopted and widely spread to produce vodka, so that

the final product has a unique smell and smooth flavor.

It was Dmitri Mendeleev, a chemist who developed the periodic table of the

elements in the 19th century, and made a decisive contribution to setting up

the 40% of alcohol strength of contemporary vodka. Before his invention, the

strength of vodka was not fixed. However, Dmitri suggested the alcohol

content of vodka by publishing a thesis where he insisted ‘the alcohol

strength that makes a perfect match between water and alcohol is 40%’.

In the late 10th century during the era of Kievskaya principality which

established the foundation of the Russian federation, the nation established its

national church.

At that time, missionaries of the Catholic, Islam and Greek Orthodox visited

Vladimir I. He, however, did not like the Catholics that was governed by the

Pope. After a long consideration, he chose the Greek Orthodox as the RussianOrthodox. It is alleged that he decided the Greek Orthodox because it is

relatively generous for drinking, while the Islamic laws prohibited use of

pork and liquors. It was common that Russian priests drink with each other or

with the devotees.

This story allows us to understand how much Russians have loved vodka.

Even while maintaining communism, Russia has had a large consumption of

Vodka.

Gorbachev who was the last General Secretary of the Communist Party of theSoviet Union and the symbol of the union’s freedom is allegedly disgraced by

his policy prohibiting the use of vodka. Gorbachev once limited the selling of

vodka to reduce excessive consumption, which resulted in resentment from

the people.

In Russia and Northern Europe, people used to cool vodka at around -20℃

and take it in straight shots. When cooled down, an alcoholic smell peculiar

to vodka is eliminated.

With no taste and smell, vodka is not a liquor to savor but one to ingurgitate.

Recommended side dishes for vodka include grilled meat skewers and white

bread spread with butter and caviars.

Tasteless, colorless and scentless vodka is also widely used for cocktail base

liquors. So it goes well with fruits, herbs and sporty drinks. Vodka is

colorless and scentless besides alcohol taste. Therefore it is widely used for

cocktail base liquors. When blended with fruits or herbs, the taste becomes

fruity or herby just like you draw a picture on a white board. It is alsorecommended to mix it with sporty drinks for a light shot.

We have talked about vodka, a representative distilled liquor from Russia.


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10. Liqueur, the Diamond in Liquid

Western people like sweet foods and thus enjoy sweet desserts such as

chocolate, pudding, ice cream and pie after they finish a meal. There has been

an established custom having a liquor with honey as a dessert, which is called

liqueur.According to a book written in 13th century in France, liqueur is an aquavit

that has been flavored with herbs or spices. It is alleged that the monks in the

Middle Ages found the recipe in compounding a medicine by blending

distilled spirits with herbs and plants.

The monks believed that liqueur facilitates refreshment and longevity.

So liqueur is regarded as a heaven-sent holy impression. Even in largemonasteries, a few people were allowed to take over the secret recipe.

In France in 1510, recipes from Benedictine abbeys were handed over.

Bols was produced in 1575 in the Netherlands, while Goldwasser was in

Germany in 1598.

Flavors of herbs and plants are soaked into the liquid by adding them in the

distillation process. As the ingredients of herbs and plants are melted in it,

liquid was regarded as an elixir of long life, and thus called Liquefacere,

which is the origin of the word liqueur.

As the Korean saying, Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the body;

ingredients of medicines are generally bitter to the taste. This made people

add honey to the liqueur.

Generally a liqueur is referred to an alcoholic beverage with more than 15%

of strength and more than 10% of sugar. According to the Liquor Tax Law in

Korea, liqueur is defined as an alcoholic beverage with more than 2% ofevaporation residues. However the definition differs from a global definition.

Anyway, we can say a liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that contains large

amount of solid matters.

Traditional liqueur is largely divided into three types; liqueur blended with

herbs, fruits and seeds. More recently, the blending techniques of spices and

alcohol have been developed so that aliphatic constituents can also be added.

Examples include cream liqueur and egg liqueur.

Seed liqueur gives a mouthful of sweet taste and savory smell. The flavor and

fragrance of seeds such as cacao and coffee beans can substitute for tea while

sweet ingredients (honey or sugar) make it a perfect dessert for a meal. As for


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fruit liqueur, White Curacao, which is made from orange peels. from the

Netherlands and Cointreau from France are the most well-known products.

Cherry liqueur is as popular as orange liqueur. Examples are cherry Brandy

which has the natural color of cherries and Maraschino which has no color

but tastes sweet and bitter. Also there are liqueurs made from various types of

berries. Cream liqueur is a liqueur with a cream flavored with chocolate,

coffee and orange. Cream liqueur is a modern form of liqueur that has been

developed to meet the modern taste.

In the Benedictine Order, an Christian community that maintains its own

autonomy, had developed liqueur for medical purpose in Normandy, France

in 1510. The ingredients were known to include 27 herbs and plants such as

anise, peppermint and cinnamon.

Recipes of liqueur called an elixir of life have been handed over among a few

monks. The recipes were disappeared by the decline of the BenedictineOrder.

Benedictine liqueur saw the light of the day again by Alexandre Le Grand

who was a collector of religious books and discovered the recipe of

Benedictine liqueur in 1863.

The labels of the Benedictine liqueurs with historical tradition are engraved

with letters D.O.M which means al liquor dedicated to the most powerful

god. So the products are comprehensively called DOM.

Absinthe is an alcohol beverage once popular in France around the 1800s,which is produced by leaching stems and leaves of wormwood with high

strength alcohol, and then distilling the extract containing aromatic

components.

Absinthe was largely used as an aperitif due to the bitter taste and smell from

anise.

Absinthe was popular among Parisian artists in the early 20th century,

because they believed the hallucination effects of Absinthe stimulates the

creativity.

Absinthism is a disorder associated with the habitual abuse of Absinthe.

According to reports, the symptoms include hallucinations, insomnia,

tremors, and convulsions. It is widely known that artists like Van Gogh died

from epileptic seizures and suicides led by Absinthism.

However, several European nations resumed the production of Absinthe

owing to the European Union’s determination in 1981 that legalized the

production of Absinthe products. The determination was based upon theUnion’s acceptance of the opinions from the relevant industries that the side

effects of Absinthe have been exaggerated while the risks are not that higher

compared to other liquor products.


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Liqueur is a perfect liquor to take when finishing a meal and going to bed.

The ingredients facilitate the secretion of gastric juice and thus digestion.

The variety of liqueur varies in sorts, ranging from traditional ones produced

on the local history and tradition, to modern ones made from new types of

ingredients.

Cream liqueur in the middle strength (17~25%) is recommended to serve in ashot glass for a straight or as on the rocks, while high proof liqueur is better

when served as a cocktail blended with other drinks and fruit juices.


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11. Kaoliang Baijiu, Famous Chinese Liquor

Kaoliang Baijiu is famous Chinese liquor. From ancient times, the Chinese

have enjoyed drinking and have had several famous liquor products produced

in each region. Especially Baijiu, hard liquor is one of the representative

products in China in terms of its quality and output.There has been a diversity of opinions explaining when hard liquor was first

produced in China. Some people assumed that distilled sprits had been there

ever since sometime in the pre-Christian era, based on the discovery of the

copper-made distiller made in the East Han Dynasty.

On the other hand, others insisted that the hard liquors had existed from the

Tang or Sung dynasty, because the word So Ju, which means a spirit, was

found in a poem written by Bai Le Tian in the Tang Dynasty and Sung

Dynasty.

One thing that we can assure is that it has existed since the Won Dynasty. It is

evidenced by a paragraph from the Bencao Gangmu written by Li Shi Zhen.

It goes like “Kaoliang Baijiu based on sorghum was first produced in the

Won Dynasty”

Supplied to the Chinese troops on the Great Leap Forwards, a national

campaign in the 1930s led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, Baijiu wascontributed to boost morale of the troops, and became super popular as the

nation grew stronger. Today we can easily find Baijiu, one of the Chinese

liquor products famous all over the world.

For the last 30 years, I have experienced and learned so many kinds of

recipes of liquors from the world. But I believe the recipe for Chinese Baijiu

is unprecedented and unique comparing to those of other liquors.

Almost all recipes of Baijiu are based on solid state fermentation.

It is interesting because, the recipes of almost all of the other liquors from the

world, except Baijiu, are based on liquid state fermentation, which ferment

sugar solution made from sugar and starch to form yeast.

Solid state fermentation methods are slightly different by producers in terms

of ingredients, the mixture rate of intermediate fermentation products and the

mixture ratio of distillation residues. However, they have the following

processes in common.

Grains harvested in Autumn are mixed together and crushed roughly with the

peels. The crushed grains and the peels are then put into a 2-meter

fermentation dug, and malt powder and 20% of the residues from the last

distillation are mixed together and put into the dug for fermentation.


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The fermentation dugs become filled with solid matter which is mixed with

grain peels, steamed starch, micro-organism from the malts and from the dug

soils. As the fermentation progresses, alcohol and fragrance elements are

mixed and soaked into the grain peels.

The fermentation lasts generally for 60 to 90 days. High proof solution with

strength of 60% to 70% can be obtained by distilling the fermentation

products using a pot still. Some brewers even repeat the distillation process

more than 7 times. The quality of the distilled solution differs at each batch,

so the batches are mixed to achieve the consistent quality.

Chinese famous liquors such as Shuijingfang, Mao Tai and Guo Jiao have a

long history and tradition of the fermentation dugs. Indeed, it is widely

known that Guo Jiao has been continuously produced from the same

fermentation dugs since 1573.

For about 30 years after World War II in 1940s, the world has been dividedbetween liberals and communitarians who had a fierce arms race. In 1972

when president Nixon visited China to end the cold war and recover

diplomatic relation by rapprochement and opening, a glass of Mao Tai was a

real help to make both leaders start the talk.

Kinssinger, the Secretary of State of the USA at that time hinted the president

to pretend to drink the liquor, because it is very strong liquor. However,

Nixon drunk it off at a draught with Zhou Enlai, which relaxed the pressured

atmosphere in a flash. That was the very moment of the reconciliation

between the East and the West.

In 1974, Kissinger said in a meeting with Zhou Enlai that he feels like

everything can be settled with a glass of Mao-Tai, which was recognized as

the nation’s first liquor since the foundation of the Chinese Communist Party,

Mao-Tai is also known as the symbol of world peace.

Traditionally, Chinese people have often used magniloquence in expressions.

For example they say yellow dusts spread for over a thousand yards, when

it’s dusty outside. It goes without saying that they use magniloquence onliquors. In Jian Jin Jiu, a famous poem written by Li Bai, there is a verse that

goes “Drink a hundred jugs of liquor to drown your troubles.” From this

verse, we can get a glance of the Chinese appreciation for the liquor and arts.

In China the sales of liquor products are largely relying on the epithets they

referred to, so brewers and vendors eager to use fine epithets to refer to their

products. However, winners of the Chinese National Wine Competition are

generally recognized as the best and the greatest wine products. The

competition has been hosted five times so far, since the foundation of the

modern Chinese government in 1952. There used to be much hype and

hoopla for domestic brewers and liquor vendors to win the competition. The

competition was prohibited after the fifth competition in 1989 due largely to


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the alleged unfairness in the selection process and practices.

Mao Tai, Fen Jiu and Tu Zhou Lao Jiao were selected as the best and the

greatest liquor products in all the five competitions. Xi Feng Jiu, Wu Liang

Ye, Gu Jing Gong Jiu and Dong Jiu were selected four times, while Quan

Xing Daqu Jiu, Jian Nan Chun and Yang He Da Qu were selected three

times. These winners have been collectively called the 10 greatest Chinese

wines so far.

Because foods are easily decomposed in the Southern China including

Szechwan province where the atmosphere is in all time high humidity, fried

foods are so popular and varied.

Baijiu is regarded as a good match for the oily fried Chinese foods. Baijiu

varieties include Jian Xiang Xing Jiu, Nong Xiang Xing Jiu, Qing Xiang

Xing Jiu and Mi Xiang Xing Jiu. Some varieties have a strong smell of mold

derived from the fermentation dugs. However Baijiu gives a smooth taste andclear finish, which is one of the common features of the varieties. Anyway

Baijiu seems like a perfect match for Chinese foods, as they are either have a

strong fish smell or very greasy.

Chinese people are very proud of domestic wines, preferring them to other

wines from other country. The national well-being trends, however, have

made changes in the drinking culture in China. Traditionally, they used to

offer strong wine, but now they are changing to enjoy low strength wines. So

the strength of the domestic liquor products have also reduced the alcohol

content to meet the changes.


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12. Variety of Hard Liquors, Gin, Rum and Tequila

Among the world’s liquors, Gin, Rum and Tequila are categorized as hard

liquors. From the perspective of liquor history, white liquor, whiskey, brandy

and vodka can be called the 1st generation hard liquors.

Gin, rum and tequila are the next generation hard liquors that have beendeveloped after the 17th century along with the discovery of the New World.

In 1960s Korea, soju made with dilution of spirits were distributed, so gin,

rum and tequila have been categorized as general hard liquors. However, in

other countries, gin, rum and tequila have developed their own categories

with diverse sub categories such as general and premium.

In oriental culture, liquors were regarded as medicine, so there are some

liquors originating from medicine. In 1660, Sylvius in the Netherlands sold a

fever reducer that he produced by distilling juniper berries with alcohol. This

medicine later became what we know as gin.

In the middle of the 17th century, England closed a peace treaty with the

Netherlands to stand against them. The treaty, by the way, facilitated the

exchange between both countries. Gins were popular in England at that time

as production of Gin products were allowed without licenses. Owing to the

tax reduction effects, Gin products were distributed in low prices and called

‘a poverty worth of the King’s life’. Records from that time supported the

popularity of gins by depicting the country as a nation crowded with sots anddrunkards.

It is said that in 1830s England, more than half of the bars served gin

products only. Afterwards, gin spread out to the United States and widely

used as the basis for cocktails and became one of the world-famous liquors.

There are three types of recipes of gin.

First is a method from the Netherlands. The products are called wet gin,

which is distilled after fermentation with botanical crops.

Second is England’s method that distills the ingredients such as juniper

berries, cinnamons and coriander extracted with high proof alcohol. Gins

made by this method are called dry gin. It is transparent and colorless as there

it is not aged during production. It tastes clear and dry as well.

The last method produces gins by mixing the spirits with the essence of

botanical crops, which are called compound gins.

The quality of these gins is lower than other varieties. The gin product once

popular in 1980s Korea that causes a headache was one of the compound

gins.

Gin as itself offers a unique flavor and taste like those of pine resin. But it is


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widely used as the basis for cocktails such as gin and tonic, martini, paradise

and pink lady.

Reminding us of the one-eyed captain of Treasure Island, Caribbean Sea and

Cuba, Rum is made from sugar cane from tropical regions such as the West

Indies.

If you understand the origin of the name, you can see the characteristics ofthe liquor.

English settlers in Barbados used to call the liquor Rumbullon, which refers

to turbulence and excitation. Rum is the abbreviation of the word also

meaning a liquor to get drunk in a tropical climate. Rum is produced in any

tropical areas where sugar cane is harvested such as Brazil and Australia.

Rum products form the West Indies are regarded as the best among all

varieties.

In early productions, rums were made by fermenting the juice of sugar canesbut later the ingredients changed to treacle leftovers from sugar production.

The treacle is dark brown slimy syrup with 55~65% sugar. They are naturally

acidic but uniquely sweet to the taste and aromatic. The treacle is generally

fermented through natural fermentation through which the yeast and bacteria

create the unique fragrance.

Rums are produced by distilling twice using a pot still.

However, in case using treacle as ingredients, cheap spirits are producedusing continuous distillers, which are widely used for dilution liquors such as

Korean Soju or used as fuel.

When storing rums, containers made of American oaks are widely used. If

the rum is aged in these containers, the products are called heavy rum which

has a strong flavor,

whereas not aged rum is called white rum.

Rums in Korea are in most cases used as the basis for cocktails, but they

account for the largest portion of hard liquor production in the world. With

strong flavor and high alcohol content, rum is not only good to enjoy as

straight, but also a good basis to make a cocktail or a punch. Various recipes

are out there. You can enjoy rums in a daiquiri, pina colada, rum cock and the

likes.

Tequila which is known as the symbol of passion originates from the city of

Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico.

Traditionally, the local Mexican natives made a liquor called Pulque, which is

quite similar to Korean Makgolri, from a juice of agave plant. Indeed, in a

mural that is datable to AD 250, people are sharing tequila with each other.

Agave is a plant growing at high elevations. It looks like a cactus at a glance


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Author : HRI

HRI is established by Chung Ju-yung，the first CEO，founder and honorary

chairman of Hyundai Group in 1986. HRI is a leading Korean research think

tank committed to studying and analyzing the economic and industrial

environment as well as reunification economy of Korea. HRI，further，has

it’s own businesses such as business consulting， education and training

service，and knowledge-content business.


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copyright

Title : The Story of World Liquors

Title copyright © 2014 by HRI(Hyundai Research Institute)

All right reservedNo Part of this book may be reproduces in any means,

without permission in writing form from publisher.

Publisher : Mantrip

email : [email protected]

ISBN : 979-11-86223- 41-3

The Story of World Liquors - HRI

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