When do we drink it???
"Don't drink it, savour it!"
A famous gourmet radiobroadcast in France is named "Don' gobble it, eat it"For the greatest Cognacs, I have a natural tendency to say : “Don’t drink it, savour it”.
The best Cognacs deserve to be tasted, not only drunk. It took so much time, so many efforts to create them. All Cognacs, even coming from the biggest companies, take their roots in craftsmanship, at the pot-still level. Some of them are luxury products. A few of them are artworks, not even speaking of the bottles.They deserve curiosity, even admiration.
They will also offer you much more pleasure if you give them attention.
Great Cognacs are just like an excellent dinner, good music or a good book: you’d better choose the place, the moment, the company to fully appreciate them. But there is a time for fireplace confidences, and a time for other occupations.In recent years, the « fireplace lovers » seemed to had become an endangered species…so the Cognac producers developed other types of products, designed to be drunk not as digestives but as pre-dinner drinks, or for the adepts of clubs or dance floors : younger blends, easier to take on ice, to mix with tonic.
Some people think it is a pity that all the eaux de vie are not led to full maturation, but why should we refuse other pleasures? Cognac can be appreciated in many ways.
A time to drink
People in Cognac will propose you younger blends with water or tonics as an “aperitif”. This is not at all a revolution: in France, our fathers and grand fathers were drinking “Fine à l’eau”: Cognac with water. Young and supple cognacs, VS with light aromas of pear, lemon, white flowers or fresh harvested grapes are delicious with water or tonics as an “aperitif”: fruity, fresh, thirst-quenching…During all Cognac festivals, thousands of litres of younger qualities flow with ice, Schweppes, orange juice, curaçao etc..
I am not at all as specialist of cocktails, so do not expect recipes!
But take my advice about the Cognacs to be used: if you mix the first Cognac you find withwater, it might not be a revelation.
If the Cognac is not well balanced, adding water, bubbles or ice enhances the tannic impression : your drink will taste woody and harsh. And if the Cognac is not of excellent quality, or has been bottled too early it may keep a « pot-still nose »...a vague note of petrol…Perhaps you do not smell it in the Cognac at first, but the note will explode when you add water ..a super tanker in your glass. Good tasting!!
This bad experiences will convince you that making a good young product is not so easy.Quality product does not mean only old.Creating a very good young blend is a challenge for Cognac producers.
Time to cook
Cheaper cognacs are very useful in a kitchen : cognacs are a romatic concentrates, afew drops in the saucepan where you have cooked a veal cutlet will tranform it into a gourmet dish, or add the French touch to a chocolate mousse.
Time to taste
Back to the fireplace. Well, the fireplace is optional, but being quiet is recommended. And if it is a Cognac you don’t know, give it time and attention.
The best Cognacs can be light or strong, they will always surprise the patient taster , by the variety of their aromas, their strength or their finesse, their length, their slow evolution revealing never-ending waves of new sensations
They can be married with chocolates, pastries, cigars…you have not finished to discover good matches.
You can be interested only by the best elixirs, or be curious to play with Cognacs and other delights, or be impatient to create your own cocktails…in all cases, it is better to learn how to find your way in the forest of aromas and flavours.
Do not hesitate…
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