One thing I do with almost every wine is as soon as I pop the cork I pour a small sample and taste. (If it’s an old wine that I’m decanting for sediment I wait to pour this sample until after decanting, so I don’t stir up the sediment.) I probably already have an idea before this sample if I think it needs decanting, but I do want this taste anyway to get a better idea and also to set in my mind where it started so I can see where it goes with some time and air. And this also will give me an idea of what to do with any remaining bottles I own.
What’s funny is that some wines start light and delicate, and then with air they pick up weight and flavor. Sometimes to the point of becoming one dimensional “fruit forward” versus the very delicate and interesting taste from the sample. I’m still trying to figure out what that means for my remaining bottles. I started a thread on the wine berserkers forum to try and get some answers, but didn’t find any responses to be much help, other than plenty of other people have noticed the same thing.
Edit: in case it’s not obvious, most wines are the opposite from what I describe in my last paragraph. They start off more one dimensional (and frequently closed and tight) and with air they “open up” and become more complex and interesting, sometimes even while picking up weight.
Has anyone used Seedlip before? Nonalcoholic cocktail “spirits.” I bought them for the pregnant wife as a Christmas present. We’ve only used the most basic recipes so far, and I gotta be honest, I’m pretty impressed. Curious to see if anyone else has any experience, tips, or favorites before we delve into some of the more complicated recipes.
I think it’s somewhat of a combination, with maybe 80/20 original vs mimicking. That said, I’m not as much of a cocktail connoisseur as I used to be, so maybe there’s more mimicking than I think. Either way, I’ll keep the thread updated when we make something fun.
Are these bottles 200ml each? I’m interested because the wife (the same one who just got beer from Belgium ) wants to do a 15 day no alcohol thing (her, not me!), and these could come in handy for that.
However, I saw that they’re like $90 for a 3 pack. Is that right?
I wasn’t going to have a drink tonight, but things were looking prettay good, so I opened a beer that I haven’t had in several years. First time I’ve seen it in Ohio:
As a guy who had been something of an expert on inexpensive spirits, it feels a bit weird to be a bit lost, but here I am. Living in CA, my favorite inexpensive gin was Costco’s by a country mile, which was pretty darn decent and could be had for like $18 a handle. Now in OR, you can’t get booze at Costco but only at liquor stores, and the state sets the prices, which give you a fair bit of sticker shock after living in CA. So, my favorite is gone. When I was younger and poorer, I had been a fan of New Amsterdam, but trying some since moving here, I’m not sure if it’s changed or I have. It’s not as good now as I remembered it being. I had always thought of it as being on the lemony side, but it tastes much more artificial than I remembered. So, there are the usual suspects – Tanq, Beef, and Sapphire – as mid-range gins for cocktails (Hendrick’s is a nice treat but just about too good to mix with anything other than an ice cube), but I’d be curious if anyone has any lesser-known favorites to try out. I’ve saved a portion of my last bottle of Costco gin so that I can try any newcomers blind against it.
I always like to sample and/or get recommendations on local stuff whenever I’m living somewhere new, myself. Found a couple of Colorado gins that way, but I don’t know if or how far they export. I’m sure there’s something up there.
I guess it depends what kind of gin you like. Leopold Bros. here makes a summer gin that might be up your alley based on your description of what you liked about New Amsterdam. But of course that’s seasonal. Their others are good.
We just picked up a Japanese gin yesterday but haven’t tried it yet.
Yeah, I’m trying to limit my time shopping these days, so I’m not taking too much time to absorb the entirety of the options that might be available to know what boutique and/or local options are there and in the niche I’m looking at here. I’ve seen that Rogue has branched out from beer and has some spirits now, but I don’t know if they have a gin, or if so, if it’s a mid range mixer or a higher end sipper. There’s a Crater Lake brand that seems to do mostly flavored vodkas (granted, gin is basically a flavored vodka, but they don’t seem to do a gin-flavored vodka). I’ll keep an eye out for Leopold Bros.
My folks live in WA, which has less restrictive laws but similar prices, and they hauled home multiple cases of spirits after they helped me move out. It might have been their last trip to CA for quite a while!
) wants to do a 15 day no alcohol thing (her, not me!), and these could come in handy for that.
