Two Drink Minimum; The After 5 Cocktail Blog

In Celebration of the upcoming holiday!!

Tasting Irish Whiskey
with Colum Egan Master Distiller of Bushmills Irish Whiskey

“To taste whiskey you will need your senses of sight, smell and taste. Plus a little guidance and an open mind. Taste is a personal experience so there is no right or wrong.” - Colum Egan

Step 1: Prepare for the Tasting
The tasting room should be free of extraneous smells and should have good lighting. The right size and shape of the glass is vital and makes a huge difference in the ability to nose effectively. Do not use traditional whiskey tumblers. Instead use a snifter, which allows you to swirl the spirit and gather the aromas around the rim.

Step 2: Note Appearance
Pour about an ounce of whiskey. Hold the glass to the light, or against a white napkin, and take note of its color, depth and clarity. The whiskey’s appearance should be a guide to how it has been matured and how long it has been aged.

Step 3: Add Water
Almost all whiskeys benefit from the addition of water, which will open up the spirit in most cases. It’s always best to add water a little at a time. Older whiskeys (more than 20 years) or whiskeys aged in sherry can be damaged by the addition of too much water; the aromas break up and the flavor becomes flat. The water used to dilute the strength of your dram should be still and not too high in minerals. At professional tastings, distilled water is normally used.

Step 4: Nose the Whiskey
The aroma of a whiskey is called the “nose.” To determine the nose, tilt the glass, swirl the whiskey and inhale slowly. Do not sniff too intensely or too often because the alcohol can inhibit your sense of smell. The aromas are often complex and multi-layered. With a little practice, you will learn to break smells down and identify what they are.

Step 5: Taste the Whiskey
Take a sip large enough to fill your mouth, then roll it over your tongue. It is important when tasting, to hold the liquid in the mouth and to make sure it coats the tongue thoroughly to help determine mouth-feel. First register the texture and smoothness of the whiskey. Then try to identify the primary tastes — the immediate flavors your tongue collects. The finish, or aftertaste, refers to the sensation experienced after swallowing, as well as the flavors that linger in your mouth.

Tiramisu
Ingredients: (Serves 2)
- 1/4 cup espresso
- 4 oz Baileys Original Irish Cream
- 1/3 cup mascarpone
- 2 scoops vanilla, chocolate or coffee ice cream
- 2 to 4 ice cubes
- 2 soft ladyfinger cookies sliced lengthwise or shortbread wafers
- Chocolate-hazelnut spread
- Chocolate syrup

Blend together espresso, Irish Cream, ice cream, mascarpone, ice cream and ice until smooth. Drizzle chocolate syrup along inside edges of over-sized martini glasses. Pour mixture from blender into glasses. Spread a layer of chocolate-layzelnut spread in between the ladyfingers or sandwich between two shortbread cookies. Pass the cookies to dip in the cocktails. (Variation: Rim glass with chocolate syrup by dipping glass in a plate with chocolate syrup)

Dublin Dream
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 oz Irish Mist Liqueur
- 1 1/2 oz Carolan’s Irish Cream
- 1 1/2 oz SKYY Vodka
- 1 oz Chambord Liqueur
- 1 oz fresh cream
Garnish: mint sprig

Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled rocks glass or martini glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.

Irish Snakebite
Ingredients:
- equal part dark Irish beer
- equal part hard cider
- shot of blackcurrant syrup

Fill pint glass with equal amounts of dark Irish beer and hard cider, leaving about 1/3 inch space at top. Add a shot of blackcurrant syrup and stir gently to mix.

Blackcurrant syrup: In saucer, bring one cup sugar and two cups blackcurrant juice to boil. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes or until mixture appears thicker. Cool in ice bath and pour into final storage container, adding 1 oz vodka as preservative. (Cocktail created by: Gwen Kaiser Sutherland, Master Mixologist, Cocktail Times)

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 10:09 am and is filed under Beer, wine, Drinking, Whiskey, Mojito, Brandy, Food and Drink, parties, Weblogs, Travel, alcohol, bar, cocktail, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.