Techniques for Flavouring and Colouring Spirits

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the methods and terminology associated with flavoring and coloring spirits, including maceration, re-distillation, and the use of botanicals.

Botanicals

A term commonly referring to the vast array of fruits, herbs, and spices used by distillers to add natural flavouring to spirits.

Maceration

A technique where botanicals are placed in alcohol to extract a full range of flavours, as well as colour and bitterness; if the spirit is highly rectified, it is often diluted with water.

Tincture

A term used to describe a spirit that has been flavoured specifically through the process of maceration.

Re-distillation

The process of placing a diluted neutral spirit in a pot still with botanicals and heating it so that volatile aromas rise as vapours to be concentrated.

Distillate

A term used to describe a spirit that has been flavoured through the process of re-distillation.

Botanical basket

A vessel located on the lyne arm of a still, rather than in the boiling liquid, used to hold botanicals for flavour extraction.

Vapour infusion

A technique where spirit vapours pass through a botanical basket to extract flavours, resulting in a lighter style of spirit.

Vacuum still

An expensive, specialized still that allows liquids to boil at lower temperatures to capture delicate flavours, such as cucumber, that would be damaged in a normal still.

Purchased natural flavourings

Pre-prepared botanical extracts bought from specialist producers by brand owners who choose not to work with raw botanicals themselves.

Artificial flavours

Man-made flavours approved for human consumption that are typically similar to those found in nature, often used by producers for consistency.

Cold compounding

The technique of blending purchased natural or artificial flavours into a base spirit to create the final beverage.

Natural colours

Colours extracted from plant material via maceration; they can be unstable and may require spirits to be bottled in dark brown glass to prevent variation.

Artificial colours

Chemical dyes approved for human consumption that are used to create the vivid array of colours often seen in liqueurs.

Neutral Vodka

A style of vodka intended to be smooth, light, and dry on the palate, with Smirnoff being the best-known example.