Brandy and Cognac – Who Knew

Contrary to what you may have heard there are actually only three types of alcohol sold in bars, taverns and liquor stores. Beer, Wine and Spirits – that’s it! Beer is water mixed with cereal grains - such as malts, barley's and corn – and then its let to ferment. Wines comes from grapes or some other type of sugary fruit which are also let to ferment. Finally there are spirits. Spirits are commonly a mixture of water and cereal grains - such as malts, corn, rye, wheat, barely or even potatoes as in the case of vodka; however instead of letting the mixture ferment the mixture is distilled. The distilling process heats the mixture to produce vapors which are captured and then run though a series of metal coils to collect the moisture after the vapor cools. (some call this a still).

Trivia # 1 Most people aren’t aware of this but the production of alcohol is really a function of yeast. Yes yeast! Yeast is included in each mixture above and it is the yeast that breaks down the sugars in the grains and juices to produce the alcohol. Without the yeast neither fermentation or distillation would produce any alcohol of value.

Trivia # 2 The highest alcohol content that natural fermentation can achieve is about 18%. Its bio-chemically impossible to get a beer or wine with a higher proof than18% by using a ‘natural fermentation’ process.

Trivia # 3 12 ounce Cans of Budweiser, Miller or Corona etc. roughly have approximately 5% alcohol by volume (ABV). So if you ever see a beer advertised with 65% alcohol - rest assured that extra alcohol was added by some non-natural process.

Trivia # 4 Most wines are generally bottled at around 18% proof.

Trivia # 5 However, when a beverage is distilled it is possible to achieve an alcohol content of up to 200% proof; however most, distilled spirits are sold around 80 proof, 84 proof and 100 proof. Why? Because any higher alcohol proof would taste horrible; it would be like drinking kerosene.

Now here’s really great trivia about two misunderstood alcoholic beverages: Brandy and Cognac - both of which are distilled and therefore classified as spirits. Sadly most people don’t appreciate Brandy and Cognac but that I think that is simply a maturity factor. The older one gets the more they appreciate a good Brandy or Cognac.

Some people say Brandy taste like fruit and often cite apricots, oranges, and lemons; whereas Cognacs are said to have the flavor of flowers or spices – spices like nutmeg and cinnamon. Why is that?

Trivia # 6 Both Brandies and Cognacs start off pretty just like a wine. Brandies are fruit juices (any kind) - grapes and sugary fruits are mashed and their juices are distilled to make Brandy. Ever heard of blackberry Brandy, blueberry Brandy or apple Brandy?

Cognac, on the other hand, is only made from the juices of only “white grapes”.

Trivia # 7 Brandy can be produced anywhere in the world.

Trivia # 8 Not so with Cognac. Cognac can only be produced in France.

Remember from my previous articles we learned that Champagne can only be produced in France, Scotch can only be made in Scotland and Tequila can only come from Mexico? Well Cognac can only come from southwestern France.

Trivia # 9 The juice from the white grapes for making Cognac are distilled – not just once … but twice. And get this – they can only be distilled from October 1st to March 31st. 

Trivia # 10 Most Cognacs are blended – which means a variety of distilled white grape juices are mixed together (just like with a Scotches are blended ) to form the cognac.

There are a few single blend Cognacs made, but few ever people drink them. They are way to expensive and they’re not that much appreciable better then blended Cognacs.

Trivia # 11 To make a Cognac a special committee is assembled. The committee must meet between 11 am to 1 pm and will taste approximately 40 different blends of Cognacs and “Cognac Eaux de Vies," (that’s the name given to the initial Cognac spirit produced by distilling). The committee’s job then is to decide which Cognac flavors should be mixed together to create the new Cognac blend.

Trivia # 12 To be a member of a Cognac Tasting Committee, a person must be a Master Cognac Blender – and it takes 10 years of extensive training to become a Master Cognac Blender.

Trivia # 13 Cognacs, like most distilled spirits, are aged. Aged in wooden barrels. Cognac must be aged in barrels made of only French Oak. After the Cognac has been aged there are one of three official designations it can receive: VS, V.S.O.P. or X.O.

After two years of aging a Cognac blend is labeled "VS” (for Very Special)". A Cognac blend that has been aged for a minimum of at least four years is labeled V.S.O.P. (for Very Superior Old Pale). Finally, the designation X.O. (Extra Old) is applied to a Cognac blends that have all been certified to have been aged for a minimum of at least six years in French Oak barrels .

Unfortunately, many people think Cognac is just for sipping after dinner or when sitting by a warm fire on a cold winter night. That’s not true. There really are some great tasting cognac cocktails. If you are not familiar with a Cognac cocktail then I encourage you to try one. My suggestion would be to try a ‘A Sidecar’. However, I caution you – only order a Sidecar from a fine bar or restaurant. Smaller bars and taverns will typically substitute a Brandy rather then use Cognac as its primary cocktail ingredient.

There is so oh so much more I would like to share about Brandies and Cognacs but I will have to save that for a future article. Now if you remember just one thing from this article – let it be this – all Brandies and Cognacs pair wonderfully with any type of rabbit dinner. Thanks for reading this article. Ralph’s Rabbit Ranch