Everyday Drinking_ The Distilled Kingsley Amis - Kingsley Amis [86]
1. Give the derivation of the word “rum.”
2. Rum is made from various products of the sugar-cane.
(a) What is sugar-cane botanically, i.e. what type of plant is it?
(b) On which islands was it first seen by Europeans?
3. Grog was traditionally a drink of rum and water introduced into the RN in 1740. Whence the name?
4. The rums made in the various islands and in Guyana differ widely, being made by different methods, but all are the same colour when they leave the still. What is this colour?
5. Rum is or was reputedly known as Nelson’s Blood. Is there more to this than affectionate metaphor?
6. A Cuba Libre is a drink nowadays made of white rum, Coca Cola and lime-juice (rum ’n coke to unworthy persons), the name meaning “Free Cuba.” Free from what or whom?
7. White rum, lime-juice and sugar produce a delicious cocktail which could legitimately be called a Rum Sour, but is usually given a more particular name. What is that name, and whence is it derived?
8. Planters’ Punch is traditionally made from dark Jamaica rum, lime-juice, sugar and water or soda-water. Can you recite the doggerel rhyme that states the recommended proportions?
9. Apart from the British and Americans, rum-drinking nations include the Australians and the Mexicans, who make their own, and the French, who import theirs—from where?
10. Rum is indeed made in many countries, islands, regions. Which of them is the top producer in quantity?
COGNAC AND ARMAGNAC
These two are by common consent the finest brandies in the world. To a lot of people they are rather similar, but then a lot of people never get the chance, or just possibly cannot be bothered, to move about among the many and various brands and grades of each and make comparisons. Connoisseurs seem to think Cognac is quite different from Armagnac, and in trying to describe the difference excel even themselves in high-flown writing. The excellent Pamela Vandyke Price admits to having written that the appeal of Armagnac is emotional whereas that of Cognac is intellectual. If you have to go to such heights, or lengths, to distinguish the two, well, perhaps a lot of people are not so wrong after all.
1. As well as being the names of drinks, Cognac and Arma-gnac are names of places, regions of France. Roughly where are those regions?
2. Again by consent, the product of Cognac is the finer of the two. Name the area within it that produces the best Cognac of all.
3. When do we first hear of something like brandy being made:
(a) in Cognac
(b) in Armagnac?
Roughly.
4. Arrange in ascending order of quality:
VSOP VSTO VO Three Star XO
Cordon Bleu.
5. Which of the following substances may legally be added to Cognac during manufacture?
Neutral spirit Sugar Burnt sugar or caramel
Martinique rum Infusion of oak-chips.
6. Name the odd man out:
Otard Hine Delamain Delaforce Camus.
7. What kind of still is used in the making of:
(a) Cognac
(b) Armagnac?
8. How long on average should a high-grade Cognac or Armagnac be allowed to mature in bottle before drinking?
9. Is there such a thing as Napoleon brandy?
10. What part of Cognac is said locally to be consumed by the angels?
BRANDY ( ONE STEP DOWN )
Nowadays most brandy in this country is drunk either after full-dress meals or for medicinal purposes, and a brandy and soda or brandy and water before or between meals is rarely seen. In the past, however, these diluted versions were very popular and were often served at table alongside wine. On the other hand, some early brandies may well not have been brandies at all, but primitive and no doubt quite vile forms of whisky. The restriction of the term “brandy” to mean “distillate of wine” is comparatively recent. Fruit brandies, as plum brandy, pear brandy, distillates from