Roemah Minoem

CLASSIC SPANISH SANGRIA

Sangria’s roots can be traced back to 133 B.C., when the Romans residing in Andalusia quenched their thirst during the hot summer months with a mixture of fruit juices and the local rudimentary wine. Spanish Sangria began simply as a blend of the juice of fresh oranges with a light red wine, with a light red wine, with a little sugar and lemon juice mixed in, and was served as a chilled punch. From there it evolved into the classic formula given here-juicy, fresh slices of citrus fruit, fortified with brandy for warmth and depth, and served chilled with the additional effervescence of club soda. Sangria’s inherently versatile nature has inspired many variations on the classic, including versions made with white wine, champagne, and rose, and with other liqueurs in place of the brandy, as well as a wide variety of other fruits.

A light, fruity red wine, such as traditional Spanish red Rioja, is best in the classic recipe. Some sangrias may include slices of apple and ginger ale or even grapefruit soda, but the following is the quintessential traditional recipe, serving 4 to 6. It can be multiplied if needed and served in a punch bowl with a floating block of ice.

BITTER AND BITTER LIQUEURS

As the name suggest, the term “bitters” refers to any number of spirits that have a bitter or bittersweet taste acquired from the use of bitter roots and herb-berries, seeds, flowers, and bark-as flavoring agents. Traditionally used as a digestif, appetite stimulant, and hangover cure, many bitters began as complex herbal remedies. They frequently include extracts of cinchona bark, a source of quinine, which is known for its medicinal aid and ability to soothe digestive. gentian root to quinine to Seville oranges, which lend a bitter, aromatic flavor.

Perfect for mixing with other ingredients, enhancing whiskey-based drinks, juices, and sparkling and fortified wines, bitters vary in their level of alcohol content, from the intense, high-alcohol cocktail bitters, which come in a variety of flavors, to the shippable variety, with much lower alcohol levels.

The bitters covered here are a selection, from the most popular to the not so well-known. They range from the shippable, such as Campari, which can be enjoyed like any other spirit, served either over ice or with an added splash of club soda, to those so bitter and concentrated that they are added only a few drops at a time to flavor another drink.

COCKTAIL BITTERS

So intense, a few drops is all you will need.

- ANGOSTURA AROMATIC BITTERS
This is the bitter most widely used in cocktails. It is a concentrated elixir containing an infusion of gentian root, a flowering alpine plant, that is rendered down to a bright yellow essence and combined with herbs on a strong rum base. Gentian has been used for centuries as a tonic, antifever remedy, and cure for malaria in folk medicine. Angostura bitters was formulated by a German doctor (Johan Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert), who was in Angostura, Venezuela, in 1818, serving as surgeon general in Simon Bolivar’s army. He administered his creation as a tonic to stimulate the appetite and improve the health of the troops. Now made in Trinidad, it is still taken as a digestif as well as used as a flavoring in foods and drinks, and at a potent 90 proof, a dash will do you.

- PEYCHAUD’S BITTERS
A closely guarded family recipe made with a number of botanicals. It was originally made in New Orleans by Antonie Peychaud, an apothecary in the late 1800s, who is credited with making the first cocktail by mixing his bitters with French brandy. This relatively sweet anise- and orange-flavored bitter is the essential ingredients for the Sazerac, the New Orleans classic cocktail.

- ORANGE AND PEACH BITTER
Essential ingredients in many of the classic cocktails mixed in the early 1900s. Abbott’s in the United States makes an orange bitter, and English bitter such as Holloway’s orange bitters are still a popular choice. Peach bitters are no longer in such high demand and can be hard to find.

BITTERS SERVED AS APERITIFS AND DIGESTIFS

- AMER PICON
This dark, maroon hued, orange-flavored French bitter is an aromatized wine similar to vermouth, with a bitter taste. When mixed with club soda it is enjoyed as an aperitif, but it is also used in cocktails. Invented as an antimalarial remedy by an army officer serving in Algeria, it is made from spices, gentian, orange, and cinchona bark, the base for quinine.

- APEROL
An Italian bitter with herbs, produced by Martini. It is lighter and slightly sweeter than its cousin, Campari.

- CALISAY
A popular aperitif from Barcelona, Spain, that falls into the liqueur/ bitter hybrid category, a sweet, herbal, and bitter digestif made from chinchon bark, herbs, bitter orange, and wormwood, and enjoyed as an alternative to absinthe. A similar but sweeter aperitif from Spain is Chinchon, made from the extract of anise and cinchona bark, a botanical yielding quinine, that is native to South America. It is part bitter, part liqueur, and part anise drink.

- CAMPARI
Italy’s most famous bitter aperitif, created in the 1860s in Milan by bartender and restaurateur Gaspare Campari. It is spicy, with bitter orange undertones from the peel of Seville oranges and a jewel-like bright red color created by the addition of cochineal, a natural colorant. Bitter Campari, or Campari Aperitivo, has an astringent, bittersweet flavor; there is also a sweeter version. For a refreshing aperitif, it is uasually served chilled and over ice, or with a splash of club soda. Once it is opened, store Campari at room temperature or, better yet, in a cool. Dark place for up to a year. Campari is a crucial ingredients in many cocktails, such as the Negroni and the Americano.

- CHINA MARTINI
Made by the famous Martini & Rossi, this popular Italian bitter liqueur has a distinctive herbal-quinine flavor. It is bittersweet and syrupy and is typically served as an aperitif or after-dinner drink.

- CYNAR
This Italian bitter is made with artichoke hearts (and leaves) and several herbs, and is relatively light and sweet for a bitter. Enjoyed either as an aperitif oar a digestif, it is usually sipped on the rocks with a slice of orange. It is also used in mixed drinks.

- FERNET BRANCA
An intense bitter from Italy that dates back to 1845, this slightly peppermint-accented biter is enjoyed not only as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite, but also as a digestif that is highly regarded as a hangover cure, settling digestive distress. A deep brown liquid with an extremely aggressive bitter flavor, Fernet Branca is made from 40 herbs and spices, including cinchona bark, gentian root, rhubarb, cardamom, cloves, angelica, myrrh, chamomile, and peppermint. It is taken straight or on the rocks, as well as in mixed drinks, and can be added to coffee after a meal.

- GAMMEL DANSK
Very popular in Denmark, this dark-amber bitter is made from herbs and fruit and has an intensely herbal, peppery flavor that is extremely dry, not at all sweet.

- JAGERMEISTER
A favorite German aperitif since its conception in 1878, made with a complex aromatic melding of 56 herbs, roots, and fruits. It is usually consumed as an aperitif or after-dinner drink but is also used in cocktails.

- PUNT E MES
An aromatic aperitif categorized partway between a vermouth and a bitter, although it is softer and sweeter than other bitters. Frequently used in a variation of the Manhattan.

- UNDERBERG
Made from a secret recipe (aren’t the all?), this intensely pungent digestive bitter from Germany reportedly works wonders as a hangover remedy. Another German bitter popular as a digestif is Stonsdorfer.

- UNICUM
This deeply colored bitter was originally a Hungarian specialty but is now made in Vienna (by Zwack, since 1840). It balances its bitterness with a slight sweetness.

OTHER BITTERS

- AMARO MONTENEGRO
An Italian digestif bitter given a boost with sweetened wine

- AVERNA
A digestif from Italy

- BRANCA META
A bitter Italian liqueur flavored with peppermint.

SAKE

An ancient craft motivates the principal methods behind this fine Japanese brewed beverage. Sake is neither a rice wine nor a spirit, neither distilled nor created from fruit, but basically brewed like a beer. This supremely natural libation is made from a grain (rice) and brewed to produce a clear, uncarbonated beer with a higher alcohol content of 15 to 16 percent.

Truly fine sake is made by toji, sake brewmasters whose technical expertise is crucial to bringing together all the elements of rice, water, yeast, climate, and region, by a complex method involving precise subtleties. The process of brewing sake, in very simplified terms, begins with washing and steam-cooking the rice. Yeast and koji (rice cultivated with a starch-dissolving mold) are then added and allowed to ferment in a fermentation process called shikomi. In the following days more rice, water, and koji are added three more times. The mash sits anywhere from two weeks to a month, with crucial temperature adjustments to produce particular flavors. The sake is then pressed, filtered, and blended.

The best premium sake is made with just three ingredients-polished rice, water, and koji-to make junmai-shu, or pure sake. Using quality water and rice are key, as 80 percent of sake is made up of water. Some styles of sake have neutral alcohol added as a preservative. Most mash is pressed by machine, but the preferred method used by breweries making the best-quality sake is a more ancient method. They fill canvas bags with the mash (or moromi), which they squeeze, or leave to drip, to extract the fresh sake.

Most sake is pasteurized at least once, and some again after the aging, which kills off bacteria and stabilized the flavor and color. The sake that are not pasteurized, called namazake, have a distinctly fresh sake flavor, and must be refrigerated. Unlike wine, most sake is not aged any more than six months, just enough to smooth out the flavors. Nor does it age well in bottles-sake is meant to be consumed within seven to eight months of bottling, so don’t even bother drinking it if it is more than a year old.

There are five basic types of sake, requiring different brewing methods and different degrees of rice milling. The rice ranges from unmilled (or unground) to having a specified amount that must be ground or polished away. The amount of milling influence the taste. All styles but namazake can be similar enough in flavor, and the differences are sometimes hard to discern. Although ginjo sake is considered the premium sake, it is closely followed by other high-quality sake styles such as honjozo and junmai.

- JUNMAI-SHU-
This is pure sake. No other grains, starches, or distilled alcohol are added. Brewed using rice with a minimum of 30 percent polished (ground) away, this is a full-bodied, slightly tart sake that is not as fragrant as other types.

-HONJOZO-SHU-
For this sake style, at least 30 percent of the rice is polished away and a tiny amount of distilled alcohol is added. Although heavier than ginjo-shu, due to the larger amount of the grain remaining, it is lighter than junmai-shu. It is also more fragrant and earthy due to the auspicious addition of alcohol. If you insist on warming your sake, this is the perfect style for doing so.

-GINJO-SHU-
This delicate, light sake is made with rice that has been polished at least 40 percent. Ginjo sake has added alcohol (whereas junmai ginjo does not) and is a premium sake made using intricate and intense methods that produce a complex and fragrant brew.

-DAIGINJO-SHU-
At least 50 percent of the outer layer of rice must be polished away for a sake to be labeled daiginjo-shu. Sake made with added alcohol are simply labeled daiginjo; those without alcohol are labeled junmai daiginjo. Either way, this is a very fragrant, full-bodied style of sake.

-NAMAZAKE-
An unpasteurized sake that can be made in any of the above styles. It should be stored cold; otherwise it loses its fresh, lively flavor.

SUBCATEGORIES OF SAKE

-NIGORI-SAKE-
This is a sweet, unfiltered sake that still has the kasu (or less) in it, which are bits of rice that make it cloudy, some brands are better than others. The lesser-quality brands have the less added back in after processing to produce the cloudy effect.

-NAMA-
Similar to nigori-sake, this is also an unfiltered sake, but the lees are removed. It is typically not pasteurized, so if found in the United States, it more than likely has been pasteurized. Some will also have a natural carbonation due to the active yeast still remaining.

Many of the high-quality sakes may be crystal clear and colorless, but there are also rough-filtered, cloudy sakes on the market today. Momokawa Pearl sake is a great example of this style. Emulating the traditional fresh and unfiltered sakes of Japan, it is actually produced in the United States. Sakes can be sweet or dry, soft or acidic, and the relatively light mouthfeel can sway from full-bodied to delicate. Whether you prefer a floral fruity sake, spicy and nutty, or one with a straightforward rice flavor, there are sakes for every taste to choose from today. Both imported and domestic sakes offer varying qualities, from an inexpensive domestic Hakusan sake, a moderately priced high-quality domestic Momokawa Diamond Junmai Ginjo, to a high-end superpremium Hakuryu Daiginjo sake from Japan. Many aficionados suggest that be the best for sipping include either an unfiltered sake such as Nigroni Dreamy Clouds, said to be reminiscent of citrus, or a Dewazakura Izumi Judan, with tropical fruit notes.