Five Easy Home Beverage Service Tips
Posted August 11th, 2010 by sean@bevx.com
We are often presented with great questions regarding home drinks service. In the course of answering these numerous inquires I have stumbled upon the fact that we have neglected to share some basic no or low cost tips for better enjoying beverages at home.
Here are five easy tips that don’t require you to convert your under-stair closet to a wine cellar or your cellar to a bar. (Although these may be fun and fruitful projects.) These are simple tips that can be utilized this week and forever more if you so wish. Enjoy.
1. Decant Your Red Wines – Many of us have a decanter or two at home. The decanter has become a favored clichéd gift for home warming parties, weddings, and other occasions that would cause one to fill out a gift registry. However, far too many allow this valuable item to lie about collecting dust. By valuable I refer to its valued function rather than the price tag. In fact, the monetary value of your decanter may be a roadblock to its use. (Too fancy for everyday use.) If so, or if you don’t have a decanter, step out to your local home shop and purchase a simple decanter. A good example can be found for roughly $20.
Another barrier to decanting is the ritual. Whether it be live and in person or on television most everyone has seen the ritual of decanting wine. The bottle is carefully presented making certain to cause as little vibration as possible. The cork is extracted and the neck of the bottle is carefully maneuvered overtop a lit candle. The wine is cautiously poured into a decanter with a vigilant eye looking for any solid matter or fine sediment. While this is a useful, and sometimes necessary, practice it is not required for a vast, vast majority of wine consumed in homes across the land.
Today, most wine is made with remarkable clarity and filtering practices that are so vigorous that very few wines sold today will ever throw any sediment. Couple this with the fact that most wine is served within five years of its birth and the result is a rather sediment free zone.
So, fancy lead crystal wine decanters, the seemingly difficult ritual, and the fact that most wine is drunk young have conspired to keep our decanters tucked away in the cabinet. This is a shame, and in my view, a mistake. While most red wines are not showing any sediment, most red wines do benefit from brisk wake-up that is offered by decanting.
Don’t be dainty about it. A 2007 California Cabernet, for instance, will do well with a good, turbulent splash into a decanter. The wine has been locked up for some time in the bottle and it will show its best if you allow it breath a little. It’s quick, dead easy, and it will most definitely improve (or help reveal) the aromatics and flavors of your wine.
2. Buy (or use) a cocktail shaker – I say buy or use as many of you already have a cocktail shaker. Like your decanter, it is likely dusted more than washed which is a great waste.
Shaking is a vital technique in the cocktail world. You should be getting your cocktail shaker to work for margaritas alone (You’re not still making this great cocktail in a blender, are you?) Shaking perfectly chills your drink, mixes the various elements, adds a needed dose of cool water, and aerates the drink for maximum expression.
Check out our cocktail department where you will find hundreds of uses for your cocktail shaker. If you don’t yet have a cocktail shaker you can find one at your home store near the decanters.
3. Pour your Beer in a glass – This may seem simple because it is! Far too often at both parties and bars I witness quality, craft Beer being drunk straight from the bottle. Why?
Like decanting your wine, pouring your Beer into a glass allows the aromas and flavors to blossom with the interaction of some much needed oxygen. Like decanting, don’t be too gentle when pouring your beer. Head on a Beer is a good thing.
Like wine, and even more so, Beer types have their ideal glass match. If you want to get that detailed and specific great, but don’t let the fear of serving a Beer in the wrong glass get in the way of getting the Beer out of the bottle. Any glass is better than no glass.
4. Chill your Red Wines – While this may seem ridiculous at first, hear me out. Most red wines, particularly in the summer months are served too warm. Room temperature in January is quite a different thing tan room temperature in August. Most red wine will do well served at 65°F. Don’t bother getting your thermometer out; you need not be that precise.
Some wines such as Beaujolais, light Pinots or Grenache will benefit from a good chill. Lighter, fruity reds with little or no tannins can be chilled nearly as long as whites. A good chill accentuates the vibrant fruity flavors of youthful, fruity reds. This is especially true in the summer months.
Even big and bold wines with plenty of alcohol strength and tannin will show better when served with a slight chill. When wines like these are served too warm, which sadly they are, the alcohol shows too prominently and the rich and complex flavors become a bit muddy. Serving big and serious wines mildly chilled, not cold, will allow you appreciate the wine to its fullest.
5. Mix it up – One of BevX’s enduring mantras is for you the beverage drinker to keep out of a rut. There are far too many wonderful Wine, Beers, and Spirits being offered today for you to settle into one or two labels. Remember, it’s a journey of discovery.
Source:
Sean Ludford, BevXHere are five easy tips that don’t require you to convert your under-stair closet to a wine cellar or your cellar to a bar. (Although these may be fun and fruitful projects.) These are simple tips that can be utilized this week and forever more if you so wish. Enjoy.
1. Decant Your Red Wines – Many of us have a decanter or two at home. The decanter has become a favored clichéd gift for home warming parties, weddings, and other occasions that would cause one to fill out a gift registry. However, far too many allow this valuable item to lie about collecting dust. By valuable I refer to its valued function rather than the price tag. In fact, the monetary value of your decanter may be a roadblock to its use. (Too fancy for everyday use.) If so, or if you don’t have a decanter, step out to your local home shop and purchase a simple decanter. A good example can be found for roughly $20.Another barrier to decanting is the ritual. Whether it be live and in person or on television most everyone has seen the ritual of decanting wine. The bottle is carefully presented making certain to cause as little vibration as possible. The cork is extracted and the neck of the bottle is carefully maneuvered overtop a lit candle. The wine is cautiously poured into a decanter with a vigilant eye looking for any solid matter or fine sediment. While this is a useful, and sometimes necessary, practice it is not required for a vast, vast majority of wine consumed in homes across the land.
Today, most wine is made with remarkable clarity and filtering practices that are so vigorous that very few wines sold today will ever throw any sediment. Couple this with the fact that most wine is served within five years of its birth and the result is a rather sediment free zone.
So, fancy lead crystal wine decanters, the seemingly difficult ritual, and the fact that most wine is drunk young have conspired to keep our decanters tucked away in the cabinet. This is a shame, and in my view, a mistake. While most red wines are not showing any sediment, most red wines do benefit from brisk wake-up that is offered by decanting.
Don’t be dainty about it. A 2007 California Cabernet, for instance, will do well with a good, turbulent splash into a decanter. The wine has been locked up for some time in the bottle and it will show its best if you allow it breath a little. It’s quick, dead easy, and it will most definitely improve (or help reveal) the aromatics and flavors of your wine.
2. Buy (or use) a cocktail shaker – I say buy or use as many of you already have a cocktail shaker. Like your decanter, it is likely dusted more than washed which is a great waste.Shaking is a vital technique in the cocktail world. You should be getting your cocktail shaker to work for margaritas alone (You’re not still making this great cocktail in a blender, are you?) Shaking perfectly chills your drink, mixes the various elements, adds a needed dose of cool water, and aerates the drink for maximum expression.
Check out our cocktail department where you will find hundreds of uses for your cocktail shaker. If you don’t yet have a cocktail shaker you can find one at your home store near the decanters.
3. Pour your Beer in a glass – This may seem simple because it is! Far too often at both parties and bars I witness quality, craft Beer being drunk straight from the bottle. Why?
Like decanting your wine, pouring your Beer into a glass allows the aromas and flavors to blossom with the interaction of some much needed oxygen. Like decanting, don’t be too gentle when pouring your beer. Head on a Beer is a good thing.
Like wine, and even more so, Beer types have their ideal glass match. If you want to get that detailed and specific great, but don’t let the fear of serving a Beer in the wrong glass get in the way of getting the Beer out of the bottle. Any glass is better than no glass.
4. Chill your Red Wines – While this may seem ridiculous at first, hear me out. Most red wines, particularly in the summer months are served too warm. Room temperature in January is quite a different thing tan room temperature in August. Most red wine will do well served at 65°F. Don’t bother getting your thermometer out; you need not be that precise.Some wines such as Beaujolais, light Pinots or Grenache will benefit from a good chill. Lighter, fruity reds with little or no tannins can be chilled nearly as long as whites. A good chill accentuates the vibrant fruity flavors of youthful, fruity reds. This is especially true in the summer months.
Even big and bold wines with plenty of alcohol strength and tannin will show better when served with a slight chill. When wines like these are served too warm, which sadly they are, the alcohol shows too prominently and the rich and complex flavors become a bit muddy. Serving big and serious wines mildly chilled, not cold, will allow you appreciate the wine to its fullest.
5. Mix it up – One of BevX’s enduring mantras is for you the beverage drinker to keep out of a rut. There are far too many wonderful Wine, Beers, and Spirits being offered today for you to settle into one or two labels. Remember, it’s a journey of discovery.