I Want A Drink.com - Glossary Of Terms


Term	Description	Area	Comments
Apertif / Aperitivo	before dinner drink, taken from French word for appetizer, applies to any pre-meal beverage that sharpens the appetite	France, Italy	a drink that stimulates enjoyment for the food and wine that follow.Usually dry, fresh and clean to taste and served cold
Armagnac	a good brandy	Gascony, France	is not a Cognac because of where it was produced,
B & B	combo of Benedictine and Brandy	France	developed to relieve sweetness of Benedictine
Beer	brewed and fermented from various grains	Worldwide production	malted barley or cereal grains flavoured with hops
Bitters	Spirits flavoured with herbs, spices, plants, etc.		Aromatic, bitter taste; used as flavouring
Blended Whisky	Made from at least 20% 100-proof whisky		Bottled at no less than 80-proof
Bouquet	"Nose"		A wine's fragrance and aroma
Brandy	From the Dutch meaning burnt wine	France, Italy, California	best brandies are usually blends of several types, distillation of the fermented juice of ripe white grapes
Cider	Expressed juice of apples	very popular in BC	Fermented apple juices produce, "hard cider"
Cognac	Brandy	From the region of Cognac,France	distilled from grapes grown in Charente district
Cordial	synonymous with liqueur	Worldwide	Mixing spirits with flowers, herbs, seeds, roots
Crème	brandy-based liqueur with high sugar content	France	Examples: Crème de Banane, de Cacao, de Menthe, de Ananas (Pineapple), de Cassis, Crème de Fraise (Strawberry), etc
Dessert Wines	Fortified wines to which alcohol has been added		while during fermentation (port wine)
Distillation	reducing water content and increasing alcohol		distillation increases alcoholic content
Dry Sack	a dry sherry	Spain
Dubonnet	aromatic wine apertif, red and white	France	contains quinine and bitter bark. Comes in blond
Fermentation	sugar breaking down process		into alcohol plus carbon dioxide and by-products
Frappe	Crushed ice	France
Gin	distilled spirit from grain-mash	began in Holland	redistilled with juniper berries, other botanticals (Coriander, licorice, cassio as well)
Grappa	a Marc-type brandy (pronounced "mar")	Italy	grape pulp left after wine or juice has been drawn off, marc is branch distilled from this pulp
Grenadine	made from pure juice of ripened pomegranates		Bright red colour, non-alcoholic syrup
Irish Whisky	blended whisky	Ireland	contains both malt and grain whiskies produced from pot stills.
Madeira	fortified apertif wine	Portugal	named by type from the grapes from which it was made
Marsala	a fortified dessert-wine	Sicily
mead	not a beer but a flavoured beverage		ancient Anglo-Saxon beverage made from fermented honey and flavoured with herbs
Mezcal	see Tequila	Mexico
Orgeat	non-alcoholic		a flavoring syrup prepared with an emulsion of almonds (originally made from barley)
Percolation			one of two methods of making fruit and plant liqueurs
Port	Full-bodied wine fortified with brandy during fermentation	Portugal, California	Vintage port is matured in bottles, and Wood port matured in wooden casks.
Proof	a whisky marked 86-proof is 43% alcohol		A measurement of alcoholic content. In the U.S. the proof is double the percentage of alcohol
Rum	distilled from the fermented juices of sugar cane & molasses	Puerto Rico, Jamaica, West Indies	Aged in uncharred barrels. Dark rums have caramel added. Most rums are blends of several aged rums
Schnapps	a generic term in Europe for distilled liquors	Scandinavia, Germany	it is spelled snaps in Scandinavia and referred to as aquavit
Shandy	a beer cocktail	Great Britain	10 oz. glass of beer topped with 2-3 oz. gingerale
Sherry	A wine fortified with brandy, added after fermentation	Spain, Australia, South Africa and Cyprus	There is no monopoly on the name sherry as there is on Port
Soda	Carbonated water		Used as a chaser or mixer with various liquors, scotch, whisky, etc
Spirits	Alcoholic liquids distilled from fermented grapes		or fruits, grains, potatoes or sugar cane
Sugar Syrup	used in cocktails		a mixture of equal parts sugar and water boiled until sugar is dissolved
Tequila	clear spirit distilled from the fermented juice of the agave plant	Mexico	Only tequila made near Tequila, Mexico may bare the name, elsewhere it is called Mezcal
Vermouth	an aromatic white wine flavoured with herbs, etc	France, Italy	from the German wermuth "wormwood" French vermouth, dry & nutty in flavour the Italian is sweeter.
Vodka	neutral spirit distilled from grain, filtered	Russia, Poland, Finland	Colourless, no aroma or taste, unaged, and in the U.S. not flavoured. Popular through Moscow Mule
Whiskey/Whisky	From the Gaelic usigebaugh "water of life"	Scotland, U.S. Canada	distilled from a fermented mash of corn, barley, wheat, rye and placed in oak barrels to age.