Wine & Spirits - February 2012 - (Page 12)

spirits DRINKS by Lou Bustamante LIQUEURS With their sweetness, liqueurs oﬀer a gentle introduction to the digestivi category. And since coﬀee is the preferred American afterdinner drink, coﬀee liqueurs provide the perfect gateway spirit. Enter FIRELIT COFFEE LIQUEUR, made in Alameda, California by St. George Spirits distiller Dave Smith and business partner Jeﬀ Kessenjer. By blending aged and unaged grape brandy—usually chardonnay, zinfandel or syrah—cane sugar and cold-brewed coﬀee sourced from small roasters in the San Francisco Bay Area, they’ve created a coﬀee liqueur that drinks like a lightly sweetened cup of robust espresso. AFTER DINNER WE HAD JUST FINISHED SUPPER at Locanda in San Francisco, a meal in which our group successfully tasted through a majority of the food on the menu—just barely: We lost wind when it came to dessert. But, in the midst of our negotiating a sweet share for the group, the bartender suggested a round of amaros. The bar boasts an immense collection of these liqueurs, bittersweet concoctions of herbs, roots, barks and other botanicals originally designed as medicinal elixirs and digestive aids. A few cordial glasses appeared and whether by power of suggestion or coincidence, a few sips later, we all felt more at ease. This got me thinking about the aer-dinner drink. While it’s not a traditional a way to end a meal in the States (and the medicinal value could be questionable), that may well change, as a number of artisanal distilleries and importers have introduced new takes on these old bittersweet liqueurs. Here are some of the best of the new entries. Meanwhile, TEPUS FUGIT has taken on crèmes, sweeter liqueurs that have gotten a bad rap from all the vile-colored, artiﬁcially ﬂavored versions on the market. Their CRÈME DE CACAO is distilled from cacao beans and then macerated with more cacao and vanilla, giving the pleasantly sweet liqueur an intense, pure chocolate ﬂavor. The CRÈME DE MENTHE, a blend of distilled botanicals and mint, makes for a deeply ﬂavored, straw-hued spirit balanced toward the savory end of sweet. Combine both with a generous splash of cream for a seriously delicious Grasshopper. In Philadelphia, the creative minds at Art in the Age have created RHUBY, inspired by a tea the 18th century botanist John Bartman produced after Benjamin Franklin sent him rhubarb seeds. The spirit, like Bartman’s Garden Tea, combines the tart sweetness of the red stalks with carrots, beets, pink peppercorns and other unusual additions. It’s bright and tart, a spirit that almost demands fruit pie. AMAROS For those whose tastes run less sweet, there is a slew of newly available Italian bitter liqueurs. One of the most striking is ZUCCA AMARO, from the town of Saronno right outside of Milan, best known for amaretti cookies and amaretto liqueur. Rather than the almond notes of those specialties, Zucca Amaro is based on a Chinese variety of rhubarb. The opposite end of the spectrum from Rhuby, it’s smoky and spicy as a Chinese herbalist’s shop, dusty with ginseng and light menthol ﬂavor. Amazingly light on bitterness despite its dark color, it mixes fantastically well with tonic water. 12 W I N E & S P I R I T S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2012

Wine & Spirits - February 2012
Editor’s Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered: Sake Post-Tsunami; Aussies crack the Brett code; the Historic Vineyard Society.
Spirits: New Digestivi, by Lou Bustamante
Wines of the Pacific
Red Rising
Yarra Shiraz
Snowmelt & Chalk
Anatomy of a Field Blend
Extreme Values
Tastings Overview
American Zinfandel
American Syrah
New Zealand Pinot Noir
Rhône Wines
Catalan Wines
Chilean Cabernet & Blends
Argentine Malbec
American Wines
Imported Wines
Books: Winter Reading

Wine & Spirits - February 2012