Bourbon is a traditional American whiskey made from corn. The drink got its name in honor of the district of the same name, located in the state of Kentucky (USA), and proudly bears it for more than two centuries.
Oh bourbon
The cornerstone of the culture of drinking this drink is its aging period, which can be up to twenty years. The more solid the age of the bourbon, the more strongly it is recommended to drink it in its pure form.
If you are wondering how to drink bourbon properly, then there are no rules about regular unaged bourbon. But for aged bourbon, there are recommendations that are outlined below.
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How to drink bourbon
Before joining the long-lived bourbon, connoisseurs pour the drink from the bottle into a specially designed transparent thin-walled vessel. This manipulation allows you to appreciate the noble dark brown color of the drink, acquired by him during his stay in an oak barrel burned from the inside.
difference between whiskey, bourbon and scotch
Then the bourbon is poured (filling a quarter) into traditional whiskey dishes, which are massive wide glasses with a thick bottom or kveichi – special Scottish pewter mugs equipped with two handles.
The container should first be slightly warmed in your hand, then shaken slightly so that the drink is fully opened, and then (no, no, take your time) inhale the unique aroma by bringing a glass or a kveich directly to your nose. And only after that you can start drinking bourbon. This is done in small sips.
When drinking a drink, it should be thoughtfully savored for several seconds, while swallowing it, it is necessary to exhale through the nose and mouth. Between sips, you should definitely make significant pauses, allowing you to fully experience the long aftertaste characteristic of bourbon.
The latter feature makes it undesirable to use high-quality varieties of the drink directly with meals. Aged bourbon is usually used as a digestif. At the same time, as you yourself guessed, adding water or ice to such a drink is considered blasphemy among connoisseurs.
review of the best brands of bourbon
Bourbon and ice
Drinking bourbon with ice is recommended in two cases. In the first one, we are talking about egalitarian drinks with a two-year or even shorter (so-called “white bourbon”) aging period. The use of ice in such drinks can soften their natural harshness.
In the second case, several ice cubes are proposed to be added to bourbon, which has been in barrels for four to six years. This period allows the drink to acquire its main taste qualities, but their individual shades are not yet strong enough to clearly capture them in the overall bouquet.
The ice turned into water, as it were, separates the taste notes of the drink from each other, which allows you to more clearly feel each of them.
It should be added that bourbon requiring ice can be consumed both after the feast and during the meal itself.
Mixes and cocktails with bourbon
The aforementioned less worthy representatives of the bourbon family, due to their sharpness, are often diluted with other drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The result is a variety of mixes and cocktails.
Bourbon mixes are made by adding some types of juice (orange, grapefruit, cherry or green apple juice) or even still mineral water. In this case, one or two shares of water or juice falls on one part of the corn drink.
If we talk about cocktails, then the most common of them are California Lemonade, Gray Bird and its light version White Bird, Mint Julep, Manhattan.
Now you know how to drink bourbon properly, as well as the subtle difference between bourbon and whiskey. We hope this knowledge will help you enjoy your drink to the fullest.
Relevance: 18.06.2015
Metki: Whiskey and bourbon