Fighting for Brand Brandy

Sunday, 16 October 2011, THE ECONOMIC TIMES

Fighting for Brand Brandy

Say brandy,and the response in India is: ah,that cold weather,after-dinner drink.But brandy has got new champions now.Hotels and brandy connoisseurs are promoting it as a cocktail drink,even as an aperitif

:: Nupur Amarnath


Before you stole swigs off your dads liquor stash,or made secret rum-and-coke cocktails from his bar,chances are,he offered you your first drink even before you turned five.It was a classic in most households : feeling a sniffle,swig a little brandy with hot water.It was,and remains,the ultimate cold remedy for most.And unfortunately its this image that doesn't really help the cause of Brand Brandy.
Beverage consultant and mixologist Shatbhi Basu says the connection between brandy and older people or the drink as a restorative is what lets the spirit down.Even Rohit Dasgupta,food and beverage manager at The Trident,Gurgaon,says the classic image you associate with brandy is of a well-heeled gentleman probably sitting in his library smoking a cigar,and holding a brandy snifter.
Cognac is expensive and has the classic perception of being an after-dinner drink.Hence its fall,and not just in India, Basu says.And the big cognac brands (cognac is a variety of brandy made in the town of Cognac in France) Remy Martin,Hennessy,Martell,Courvoisier,Hine are trying to give it a young fillip by promoting it as a cocktail base.Remy Martin recently launched an Ice BoXX that helps bartenders serve cognac as chilled shots.Still,it is difficult and we believe that you must be older,richer and wiser to enjoy cognac, she says.
The cocktails that use cognac with a younger VS (Very Special),the VSOP (Very Special Old Pale) and XO (Extra Old) blends are meant to be had ye olde way.VS,VSOP,XO are part of the traditional quality rating system of brandy but are followed only by cognacs and armagnacs (yet another region).

Brandy vs Cognac

Simply put,all cognacs are brandies,but not vice versa.Technically,brandy is any distilled wine but cognacs are region-specific.Or as food and wine connoisseur Magandeep Singh describes it,Brandy is to cognac,what Indian whisky is to single malt. But adds that Indian whiskies are still more qualitative,with brandies you are not sure,what goes into it,alluding to the fact a blend of grapes and molasses spirits.All brandy is made from grapes,but now you have cherry,apple,coconut and fruit brandies.Most people see either cheap Indian brandy or expensive French cognac.But a brandy can be fruits other than grape.Singh leans more towards cognacs and suggests to drink it as an aperitif (with tonic or soda) and not as a digestif.
Christophe Bourrie,international brand ambassador,Louis XIII,suggests drinking cognac along with food.He suggests: spicy food,mainly Indian,Thai and Chinese cuisine,and adds,A cellar master glass is recommended to reveal the aromatic intensity,especially for neat tasting.

In the Mix

Theres no one way to enjoy your brandy,and it all depends on which type.Young ones can be made into a highball cocktail.The aged cognacs are best drunk straight.While fruit brandies are drunk cold,straight or even in long drinks and cocktails.Trident,like most hotels,has widened its brandy menu besides the classic brandy and benedictine cocktails,fuelled by a push from cognac manufacturers.
Basu says there are a lot many brands and types of brandy available in India.Theres Fundador a Spanish grape brandy,Nonino (a grappa from Italy) and Calvados (apple brandy) and Kirsch (clear brandy from cherries) now available here.The verdict is more towards French cognacs.And good cognacs dont come cheap with Louis XIII by Remy Martin and Richard Hennessy by Hennessy retailing between $1,900 and $2,500.

! DID YOU KNOW

The word brandy comes from the Dutch word brandewijn or burnt wine,which is how the Dutch traders who introduced it to northern Europe in the 16th century described wine that had been burnt,in order to distil it

Glass Act

FOUR BRANDY COCKTAILS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM

RECIPES BY : SHATBHI BASU

SIDECAR Glass: Martini



Take: 45 ml cognac,20 ml Cointreau (orange liqueur),20 ml fresh lime juice

Garnish: Twist of orange peel/half a slice of orange

Method:

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice.Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass.Drop the peel in

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE Glass: Martini



Take: 30 ml cognac,30 ml Drambuie,20 ml lime juice

Garnish: Twist of lime/ orange peel

Method:

Mix in a cocktail shaker half filled with ice.Strain into the chilled glass.Drop the peel into the drink

APPLEJACK Glass: Tall



Take: 45 ml cognac,1 cinnamon stick,200 ml apple juice

Garnish: Cinnamon stick or slice of apple

Method:

Fill glass with ice.Add the cognac and cinnamon stick (snapped in two).Top with apple juice and stir.Slide the apple slice in

DESPERADO Glass: Brandy Balloon



Take: 60 ml brandy/cognac,2 tbsp honey,2-3 lime wedges,2 cinnamon sticks,2 cloves,hot water

Garnish: Lime peel & spices

Method:

Pour brandy and honey in a glass.Squeeze the lime & drop the peels in.Break and add cinnamon and clove.Add water.Stir.