Tasting rules
To drink brandy is a real skill with its rules and rituals adjusted by time.
- Step 1. Brandy is dished up at room temperature.
- Step 2. It is usual to drink brandy out of a snifter or tulip glasses.
- Step 3. Carry a snifter with brandy to some illuminant, estimate color of the beverage, its limpidity, brilliance, richness.
- Step 4. Carry a snifter slowly to your nose (but not too near) and sniff the first wave of bouquet. On this stage there are most brilliant and diffusive notes of brandy felt.
- Step 5. Dip your nose into a snifter and sense the second wave of bouquet that has harder, richer notes.
- Step 6. Make a first sip and hold it in the forepart of your mouth to define the taste of brandy i.e. its balance between sweetness, sourness and bitterness as well as to ‘touch’ it i.e. to feel if it’s full, warm. The second sip is spread throughout your mouth to define less diffusive notes of bouquet.
- Step 7. Swallow the brandy and define longing, limpidity, richness of finish.
- Step 8. Enjoy and mind your limits!
We offer you to take on-line classes in the School of cognac and gain a diploma of a Cognac Expert!
Gastronomy
Nowadays brandy is no more a drink served as an aperitive (to give an appetite) or a digestive (as a concluding chord of a meal). Large brandy houses have started paying attention to gastronomy inviting vet chefs for special brandy carte composing. Inimitable taste and aroma of brandy combined with well-matched gastronomic pair afford great pleasure to the noble beverage lovers. Moreover brandy is regularly used as a full ingredient of dainty dishes.
Gastronomic pairs
The keystone of a fitting product selecting consists in the following: its taste shouldn’t pale beside brandy and at the same time it shouldn’t spoil it. The dish’s taste should fit and set off brilliant and memorable taste of the beverage but shouldn’t be a clone of it. For example, rich and peculiar taste of duck or lamb perfectly complements taste of brandy and flat, almost neutral taste of whitefish or lettuce disappears completely against it. It is common to serve brandy with meat (especially poultry or lamb), fruit (grapes, apples), dried fruit (raisins, dried plums), chocolate, coffee, and desserts. Brandy and French cheese is an interesting and regale combination.