Tag Archives: buy brandy

Young “Premier” Delivers Premium Quality

With quality drinks, it’s always about the age and the maturity. But, to be able to make such a serious drink you don’t have to be that old. A young distillery from Serbia, called Premier is a certain proof for that. Their brandies are multiple winners on both local and foreign acknowledgments.

I had a chance to try their apricot brandy, and I must say I’m delighted. It’s obvious these youngsters find a perfect way to blend traditional preparation, with the modern technologies and demands of the market. And the demand is huge. Their sales team did a great job with the product promotion, so you can buy the brandy in Germany as well.

Each apricot is handpicked and selected specifically for the purpose of producing the best brandy possible. When it rests for some time fruit is distilled twice. This helps the sugar to do its best and increases the alcohol value of the final product. Before it’s in the bottle brandy first spends three years in an oak barrel. This type of tree helps the fruity flavors to grow and finally become one with the spirit.

Every step in the making adds the value to the quality. Every single bit of this brandy, from color to aroma brings joy. Golden stream fills the air with the sweet smell of fruit, but only when it is in touch with your pallet fulfills its purpose. The taste is rich, every note is perfectly defined. Aftertaste is fruity, almost like a fresh apricot.

Overall this brandy is one of the best among the apricot competition for sure. I recommend it to both hard and soft liquor lovers. Even though it’s a bit strong, it can suite to mild pallets if it’s chilled properly. It goes great as a digestive with a piece of fruit pie or a fruit cake.

Why Quince Brandy is So Rare and Expensive?

For some people that plan to buy quince brandy in Germany, this fruit may be totally unknown, a brandy made out of it even more. The fruit itself it’s very rare and it doesn’t grow everywhere, like apple or pear for instance. Quince is unique for other things like it’s taste, smell and the amount sugar and juice in it. This is the first reason why this brandy is so expensive. There are a lot of varieties of this brandy on the Balkan market, but just a small percent of it is authentic and actually got from quince.

Over 90 percent of brandies, you will buy are yellow, very sweet and with strong quince scent. This might sound nice, but in reality is a total opposite of what this brandy should be. If the brandy is made just from quince it should be transparent, unless it was in an oak barrel for at least three years. Second, of all, the smell of it can’t be as hard as of the fruit. The source of the quince’s smell is in its crust which loses its essence when distilled. Sweet and the vivid taste are a clear sign for high sugar level or worse, artificial additives.

Now, let’s talk about the real deal! Real quince brandy can’t contain sugar, apples or yeast. The amount of quince needed for one pure brandy is somewhere around 20 kilos for 1 liter of brandy. Which is a lot! This comes from a lower natural level of sugar and juice in the fruit. In its nature quince is very dry and pungent. Thant’s why its smell can’t be too strong and taste too intense. The taste of real quince brandy should be a bit harsh, and a bit sour, with just a note of sweetness. Aroma of the real brandy is supposed to be floral, but just in traces.

Knowing all this think twice before you buy next bottle of quince brandy. The price should be the first indicator of quality. If you want a good spirit don’t spare a single penny on it.

Why It’s Better to Use Wooden Barrels in Brandy Production

This practice is normal when it comes to wine and hard liquors. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that some distilleries are switching to cheaper barrels, in order to save money in the production. Also, what makes them so positive about this is the amount of space they can save. In addition, with some modern techniques, anyone can fake the wood scent, feel, and color to the drink. When it comes to brandy, I can’t agree with using shortcuts at all. These are some features that can’t be masked, at least not from someone with a vast knowledge and respect towards this type of spirit.

Smell

The first thing anyone feels right upon the opening. If the brandy was not in a wooden barrel for some time, its nature won’t allow it to have that well-balanced smell. One side of the drink will take over, and usually, that’s alcohol. If your brandy reeks of alcohol it won’t be pleasant for drinking for sure.

Color

You can notice this right from the bottle. Brandy which is kept inside of a glass or metal container can’t adopt that rich amber color. Even with the oak stick trick the drink can’t soak enough like from the whole wooden barrel.

Density

Once it’s poured into the glass, you can notice that the stream is too transparent, or even worse, water-like. When brandy spends enough time inside of the wooden barrel, it becomes honey-like. You can clearly see the way liquid mixed with the sugar. This is what makes the brandy perfect!

Taste

The container where the brandy lies before it’s bottled affects the taste in a similar way it affects its smell. The drink simply gets that sterile taste, or in some cases, it takes the taste of the container. This way, the whole point of the drink is lost, and the whole process of making goes down the drain. It is almost impossible to feel the fruit from the brandy.

Maturation

One of the main factors to a good overall of one brandy is in its age. When the drink spends enough time in a nice oak barrel, each fragment of it can rest and express itself fully. Last, but not least, maturation process gives that specific note which classifies and marks that drink as THE ONE.

Why Family-Owned Distilleries Are Better?!?

I had a lot of discussions with my friends on the subject, is it better to buy drinks from a local, family-owned distilleries or from a well-known brand. I’m always keeping the side of a regular folk, and I do believe their products are always better. These are my points why I think brandies you can buy in the UK are better if coming from an underground distillery.

Quality Over Quantity

It’s simple, established brands are doing their job for profit. The main goal of any brand is to produce as much as possible, with minimal investments. While on the other hand, families are doing this to maintain the tradition and legacy that has been left for them. By following the original recipe, these distilleries produce high-quality drinks, with a rich taste.

No Shortcuts

For some spirits maturing time is everything, and when the demand for the drink is great, some shortcuts are a must if you want to survive on the market. That’s why mass producers use “cheats”, in order to mature their drinks faster. That’s something you’ll never experience from a traditional distillery. Every step of production must always be obeyed. The maturing is always standard, from three years and above.

Full Taste

What I’ve always hated, and it’s used more and more are additives. This taste enhancers are something almost every factory uses. Yes, the taste is there, but it’s fake. If you want to have a quality spirit, you have to respect its nature. The additive of any kind can never be as good as fruit or rye that was hand-picked and prepared with love.

Background

Even though most well-known brands have their story, over the time they took a detour from it in order to expand their production. It’s good to hear them all, but I bet something from their vault can’t match anything on the market. Family-owned distilleries maintain the storyline and keep everything the way it was.14

What Makes Good Slivovitz a Good Slivovitz?

Like with any other liquor, there is a philosophy behind the quality of some slivovitz. Some speculate about the making process, some about the maturation, but I think we can all agree that each segment matters. The critics on the other side, have their own points of view, like characteristics, specs, and categories on which they are rating the drink. When it comes to slivovitz, I think there are a few foundations that have to be obeyed in order to get a quality product.

Fruits Not Sugar

By this, I don’t mean sweetness of the products, but the quality of the fermentation. In order to enhance the alcohol level and reduce the expenses, some producers add sugar to their batches. First of all, this kills the good fruit sugar, secondly, it ruins the natural taste of the drink. If you want a good slivovitz it has to be made strictly from homegrown, handpicked fruit.

Color

This doesn’t count for the drinks that are supposed to be transparent, like one’s that are made from grapes, for example. But, again, these see-through drinks should have some density instead. Colored slivovitz should have that nice amber, or golden shade with a nice garland of bubbles when shaken steady.

Aroma

Depending on the type of slivovitz, the aroma on the cork and one rising from the bottle should match the smell of the fruit that the drink was made of. Also, it’s ok to feel a light scent of wood or smoke in it. This confirms a proper maturation inside of a wooden barrel.

Taste

Probably the most important factor when it comes to slivovitz. The balance between alcohol, and the original fruit taste should be perfect. If any wages over, we can’t say this is a quality spirit. Some producers reach out for additives to enrich the taste of their product. If the taste is too intense, we are talking about artificial taste coloring.

Try Something New – Banana Brandy

Over the centuries people have experimented a lot with different plants, fruits, and cereals all in order to indulge their desire for a one-of-a-kind drink. These innovations brought us what we know today as wine, beer, whiskey, brandy, etc. But, residents of one village in Serbia had another idea when it comes to making good quality liquor and tried bananas in the traditional slivovitz-making process. The outcome, totally original spirit with high quality.

The pioneer in this venture was Zlatko Sremcevic, a man with a good background when it comes to slivovitz production. One day he realized that he could get tons of overripe bananas for a minimal investment and try distilling them into brandy. The outcome was surprising and a trend-setter in Budjanovci, his village.

It’s well known that slivovitz can be made from anything with a high percentage of sugar. After Zlatko’s venture, many have started trying out new fruits in their production. But, his original idea showed the greatest results. The first time he made banana brandy he used around 700 liters of banana husk, which turned into 90 liters of brandy. The alcohol percentage was a bit over 40 degrees which are almost industry’s standard. When it comes to taste, it’s really something! The scent of this exotic fruit is present, but not too hard, making the brandy easy to drink. Aftertaste brings that banana flavor again, which makes this brandy a great digestive.

If you somehow get the chance try this brandy, I highly recommend it. It is quite tasty, and it can be suitable for the ladies as well. Among his friends, its called a “Monkey Brandy”, so you’ll get a dose of humor with your spirit. No matter what your preferred taste is, this is truly an inspiring brandy, worth of mentioning, and of course trying.

Legacy Lives On With “Stomaklija”

Each nation on this planet has that one thing that ties them with their past and bridges to the future, its legacy. Tradition, culture, land, are all a part of the legacy. When it comes to culture, food and drinks are as important as language, music or dance. They are written on a pallet of every person coming from one region. That’s why everyone likes their national cuisine the most.

Alcohol beverages are another common thing to almost every culture in the world. Social events or interactions of any kind are always marked with a glass of alcohol. French have wine, Italians have grappa, Irish have whiskey, and on the Balkans, there’s slivovitz.

One of the most loved brands in Serbia is definitely Prokupac. Even though distillery was out of business for some time, they managed to pull through and proceed with making two types of slivovitz which left legacy for generations to come, “Stomaklija” (*Stomach Cure) and “Manastirka”(*Monastery Brandy). There was no home in the ex-Yu that didn’t have at least one of these two.

The reason – respect for the rich taste and quality of the product.

Manastirka is made by the old monastery recipe. Only the best fruit are being used, and the preparation process remained the same for centuries. Every liter of Manastirka must rest for some time in the barrels until its color is golden, and smell enchanting.

Stomaklija is totally different story, and it really helps with stomach aches. It’s recommended to consume one chilled shoot of it before lunch to maintain good digestion. The secret is in herbs that are added to the bottle of sweet slivovitz.

Thanks to the internet which has connected the entire globe we can now buy both of these brandies in the UK as well. It’s always good to have a bottle of high-quality liquor at home, you never know when you’ll need a stirrup cup of pure heaven.

How to Make Your Brandy Mature Faster

It’s well-known fact that every drink gets its full taste and quality after years of maturing inside of barrels. Some drinks like wood more, while some prefer metal or glass. In both cases, this maturing process helps any drink gain in taste, color, texture and of course originality. Sometimes, especially in mass production, there is not enough time for the drink to mature well. But, there are some techniques that help producers speed up this process.

First and foremost none of these methods can’t be harmful to the consumers! Secondly, the methods used can’t drastically change the nature of the spirit. If you are into making good brandy, especially slivovitz, these few will help you with its maturing process.

Mixing

The basic way the most distilleries use is simple mixing of two brandies. Freshly distilled one is left to rest for at least six weeks, and after that is mixed with equal amount of old, well-colored and mature brandy. The barrels are rolled around for few hours, so the brandies can blend perfectly. The is applicable for both colored and transparent brandies. The only difference is the barrel material. For colored you should use wooden and for transparent glass barrels.

Express Maturing

A bit unconventional method, but it’s working. The fruit that is used for the destination is frozen and then defrosted in a microwave until it lets out the juice. That juice is added into the barrel. This juice will increase the intensity of taste, and improve the color of the brandy.

Oak Stick

This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it serves the purpose. The stick is first laid inside the 0,5% solution of sodium hydroxide for three days. Afterward, it’s put into the 0,5% solution of potassium permanganate, also for three days. When this is done, the stick is tanned on the fire and put inside the barrel. After only five to six months you’ll have a well-matured brandy.

Honey for the Honeys

Brandy production is a usual thing in the Balkan area. The people are doing it for centuries, and it’s quite rooted in the culture of each nation there. Usually, the men would distil fruits in the fall, gather around the batch and tell stories while drinking fresh or old brandy. With time, this practice changed and the girls got involved it the whole story. That’s how we got some pretty smooth, but still strong brandies over the last few decades.

The most famous brandy that is delicate for the women in Balkan is brandy with honey. This came out of nowhere almost, and now holds one of the highest positions when it comes to sales. Because of its mild taste, but yet strong alcohol contents this type of brandy found its way everywhere, from fancy restaurants to clubs.

Usually, regular grape or plum brandy is left to rest in an oak barrel with the honey or the whole honeycomb inside. After some time, sugar from both would blend into one, increasing the intensity of taste and density. Almost every honey brandy I have tried is almost oozy, but thanks to this characteristic the richness of the taste is amplified and it stays inside of your mouth longer.

What is also interesting about this kind of brandy is its strong floral aroma. There is no alcohol odor at all, which makes it very drinkable. The best way to consume it is if it sits on ice for some time. This helps the brandy to become denser and to slide better down the throat. The feeling on the pallet is like if you take a spoon of honey, literally. Just don’t be fooled with its sweetness, because it will strike you hard after only a few shots.

A variety of honey brandies could be bought in the UK as well, so don’t hesitate and give it a try. In my opinion, it’s a great thing to serve by the pool or even heated during the long winter nights.

Elderberry – Cure and a Liquor

Staying healthy should always be one of the priorities of every modern man/woman. Over the last two decades countless programs, diets, etc. were developed in order to help us live better and longer. But, what seems to be forgotten is that simple, old-fashioned principle of how to stay in shape and to look for a better tomorrow. Also, most of this modern method are not meant for pleasure, which takes all the fun from it.

My grandfather always had a glass of wine or a shot of brandy each day, and he lived way longer than I think I’ll live. The alcohol doesn’t have to be bad necessarily. The secret is in the way is consumed. Also, it can be used as a medication as well. What came to some genius’s mind is to combine one of the most healthier plants with alcohol and make a brandy out of it, elderberry brandy!

Elderberry‘s use is versatile. First of all, it cleanses the blood cells and respiratory system. Secondly, it’s helping the organism to stay well-protected from any outside attacks. Juice made out of elderberries is quite famous and on top of that, very tasty. When I heard about the brandy made from them, I was simply delighted.

At first, it doesn’t look anything special. Just a clear liquor, something like vodka. But once you pop the cork you can feel the delight. The smell is the same as from juice or syrup. The texture, on the other hand, is not, since it’s transparent, and not that dense. But, what is very interesting that even with alcohol it still contains all the healthy features of elderberry. It takes around 30 pounds of the ripe elderberry to produce one liter of the brandy, but it’s worth it. The taste is very rich, both in terms of alcohol and the aroma. It runs smooth to your stomach and you can feel refreshment once it’s down.

The production of this brandy is still not that massive, but you can buy it in the UK if you know where. I highly suggest it to the healthy-oriented person who knows how to drink. It’s not that hard, so it’s great for the ladies as well.