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Celebrate in various colors and modes, a beautiful day with friends and colleagues, everyone is shouting something about the clouds in the sky and the sunshine that is keeping things dry. Indeed every celebration needs something special, some sweets some music, the things we do not have on a routine day. Drinks and cocktails are like the choice in bikinis, some are two-piece, some are plain, and some have the polka dots while others are barebacked. Well, you cannot just dive in, but then merrymaking has a beginning. The best way to start the ball rolling is to set up the bar and keep the cocktail shaker, well shaking.
The Preparation
Types of Alcohol are categorized mostly by the way they are prepared. Distillation and fermentation sum up the procedures and some of them are also aged. The material of choice since the old days has been a cereal or grain though fruits or vegetables are also used. There are fermented sometimes buried underground in large urns, till they are rich in alcoholic content. The alcohol thus formed is distilled repeatedly till the liquid is strong enough. This pure form of distilled spirits form the first class of alcoholic beverages. Whisky, gin, vodka and rum fall in the category of spirits. The spirits are sometimes stored in oak casks to age and give them a special flavor. Natural flavoring agents like caraway seeds or fruit flavoring is added manually. The oak casks give the liquor a strong base note, which indicates the strength. Spirits made from a single grain meaning whisky having the same place of origin will have a special flavor and are known as single grain whiskies.
Rejoice with the times
Sparkling skies and refreshing breeze brings forth the vitality that arouses the creative juices in people especially the young ones. There is no limit to imagination and one does not have to play poker or strip poker to obtain your drinks. It is merely the choice that one makes as with every meal, it lasts only as long as the person relishes the flavor. The liquor may have cherries in a highball glass, while the Collins glass may have a Sex on the Beach in it with a lemon peel. Choosing the drink is paramount; one does not want to long for cherries where the relish in your drink is a lemon wedge.
Wines and Champagnes today
Wines are made from grapes and the best wines are made in France primarily because the tradition of wine making began there. Champagne was used to commemorate special coronations and ceremonies of kings of the French people in the early 1700’s and the support it got made it popular.
Even today, champagnes are very much revered both for the cultural value as well as for the unique taste. Champagnes are also called ‘bubbly wine’s cause they have a lot of bubbles trapped in the drink that tickles the taste buds as one drinks it. Proper fermentation of the grain or a cereal makes wines what they are and the sweetness of the wine is determined by the amount of sugar that is added before the second bottling. Before the entire fermentation of the wine is accomplished, the first bottle is opened, and the sugar is added. They are then re-corked and left to ferment for some more time. Wines age in the bottles unlike spirits that stop aging once they are bottled.
Raising the toast is like a calling to the bull, the matador has got his red cape ready and action begins. Of course, in the course of the evening, toasts would be drunk and the bulls would be found raging at every corner. One has to be discreet; keeping the drinking moderate helps one to appreciate the celebration more.
Beers are the most common type of alcohol. Beer is another class of alcoholic beverage that is almost as popular as tea. Fermentation and brewing of starches derived from malted barley, corn, wheat and rice produces the beer. A preservative is added to the beer and this is why it is so bitter. Beer is classified into lagers and ales. It is intricately connected with the cultural festivities of various people around the world and many festivals see this popular drink-playing host. The strength of beers is only around 4-8% though there are quite a few which have 40% alcohol in them. Beer bottles in the early days could not be made strong enough to resist exploding. This happened when the fermentation produced gases, which increased the pressure inside the bottles. Eventually they were able to make bottles strong enough and you may see even today the beer bottles which are of vintage quality is made of tough glass.
For what man has died for if not for love and liquor the old wag would say, he has seen the light of day and is ready to hit the sack. When the wine is in, man loses his inhibitions and new social bonds are formed. It is a great peacemaker and one that has been around since the prehistoric ages. To keep the liquor in is to be a man. And when you are a man you make friends; it keeps the social circles turning.
