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

Seven Guaranteed Ways to Lose Money

It’s hard to believe there are small bar and local tavern owners who don’t seem interested in making big profits.  You can tell that by the way they manage their business. To assist these bar and tavern owners, I thought I would share seven strategies that are guaranteed to help them lose money.  I assure you the ideas below are easy to implement and produce quick results.  The best part is they won’t require a lot of effort on the part of any bar or tavern owner.  So here are Eba G’s seven ideas to consider:   

1)    Look Dirty.   Make sure whoever tends bar wears well worn clothing; better yet the same clothes they wore the day before.  Preferably their clothes should have stains or grease spots.  If soiled clothing is not available, then any clothing with rips or tears will work just as well.  Shabbily dressed bartenders really help bars and taverns lose sales.

2)    Bitch, Bitch, Bitch.   Whenever possible, the bar staff should bitch in front of customers.  Any subject is good, but the best topics seem to be spouses, taxes, local law enforcement, religion and any state or federal politician.  Customers who have to listen to a bar staff bitch drink less and reduce their stay in a bar, thus sales go down significantly.  

3)    Over Serve Customers.  It’s hilarious to watch customers get over served.  It’s fun watching someone mumble incoherently and sway back and forth in a bar stool; however, the real thrill is watching someone who is over served head for the restroom or walk out the door as no one knows for sure if they will stumble or fall.  Yeah, once people know a bar over serves its customers, it reassures them the bar staff will over serve them as well and again sales will decrease.  

4)    Tolerate Obnoxious Customers.  Allow small groups (men or women – it makes no difference) to be obnoxious and rude.  Permit them to frequently and loudly drop the F bomb.  It is so charming to hear a group of people in a bar talk about this F-ng thing and that F-ng thing and all the F-ng things wrong in the F‑up world and all the things F-ng up their lives.  Yeap, tolerating rude and obnoxious customers is a great way to run off customers and lose sales.  

5)    Loud Juke Boxes and TVs.  Blaring juke boxes and deafening TV volumes are two favorite ways small bars and local taverns can lose sales.  There’s nothing better than sipping on a drink and watching the few people who wanted the volume cranked up wiggle on the floor or yell out songs off key; it’s almost as exciting as listening to a couple of loud mouths at the end of the bar shout and curse at the TV during a sporting event when the TV is turned all the way up.     

6)    Garbage and Trash.  It doesn’t have to be a lot, but garbage and trash should always be visible if a bar wants to lose money.  Good examples are empty beer bottles on game tops, rubbish and dust in the window sills, and trash building up under the pool table.  Other great techniques are never clean under the bar’s foot rail or dust items on the bar’s shelving.  Customers love seeing filth under the foot rail and dust building on the ceiling fan blades.  To really limit profits, it is important that a bar seldom pick up trash outside.  Customers are always impressed when they see beer cans and trash blowing around in front of a bar or in the parking lot.  Finally, seldom wipe down the bar counter or table tops when customers leave.  New arrivals love the surprise of laying their forearms or hands down on a tacky surface.  It makes them lose their thirst and appetite and want to leave quickly; thus sales go down quickly.   

7)    Repulsive Restrooms.  Only scrub the sinks, wipe down the mirrors, brush out the lavatories and empty the trash receptacles in restrooms once a month.  If a bar attracts characters who like to write or carve graffiti, it is important the walls and stalls only be repainted or repaired every two or three years.  Offensive and disgusting graffiti should be left up for years so others can enjoy it.  Another great idea to accelerate a loss in sales is to have broken paper towel dispensers and out-of-order hand dryers.  Nothing beats entering a foul, graffiti-marred restroom and not being able to dry your hands when you leave.    

Well, there you have it, Eba G.’s Seven Guaranteed Ways to Lose Money with Your Small Bar or Local Tavern^©.  If you have been in business for a while, you may have tried a few of these strategies and know how well they work.  Do you have any comments or any other suggestions on how a small bar or local tavern can lose money?  If so, please share them with me.  Just send me an email at barprofitman@gmail.com.

Whether your goal is to increase you profitability or lower your sales with your small bar or local tavern, Eba G. is here to help.

Eba G

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