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Masters of Booze
Dear Reader,
Herewith I proudly announce that @SDeurope and I are now officially certified Masters of Booze (MoB ;) ) by the Austrian Chamber of Agriculture. MoB is my slightly loose translation of Edelbrandsommelier which does not really translate well. Such a sommelier has nothing to do with being a steward or waiter, another suitable periphrasis would be fine spirits connoisseur.
The education took 4 months and consisted of theory as well practical training. A good part of it was about describing, identifying and tasting (+ spitting) the spirits. On the first days we had to taste about 100 different products, even stuff like some very expensive whiskys and cognacs (not all of it made it into the spitting mug though). Drinking Tequila at 9:00 AM is not our usual habit, but these are the things we were ready to do for the greater good... This is what we often were welcomed with in the morning when entering the seminar room:
And this is what followed:
We learned a lot about distilling, from the mash to whisky, producing spirits of fruits and herbs. Excursions to distilleries and also learning about ageing and the proper wood was all part of the lectures. Also the common mistakes in distilling were discussed and of course tasted. Sometimes I was quite happy, that spitting was mandatory, we had to learn how to identify the different errors in flawed products.
Even a "cheese and spirit" seminar and short cooking course with spirits (something I'll show in another discussion) was included, I have to admit, we tasted the spirits a lot before we cooked with them, so we didn't listen to the lecturer that much, the food was tasty though. ;)
Legal information for Austria and in the European Union, followed by marketing and selling the products, designing the labels and a lecture about health care and alcoholism (yes!) has been on the schedule as well.
Our 20 fellow comrades were mostly farmers and professional distillers, who have been making spirits for a long time or since generations and now wanted to learn how it's done the proper way. Some of them are interested in buying or upgrading their stills, so we had some good talks about StillDragon too. The lecturers were world class distillers, practical teachers and science lab specialists from agricultural universities, some of them are tasters for whisky distilleries and for the Destillata, which is a famous spirits award here in the European Union.
Of course we had to work out a project for our final examination, and this is what we have come up with and presented to the board of examiners:
That's something we had in mind for quite a while now. It's about a platform for Austrian distillers and their products, which will feature a directory as main component, as well as a blog, forum and webshop featuring the finest products of our Austrian distillers. Something you should keep an eye on if you eventually want to try some really exclusive fruit brandies Austria is famous for, some of the products will be shipped worldwide.
The whole experience has been a blast, we made new friends and learned a lot. It's just great to be part of the draft! :)
Greetings,
Sunshine (your first female forum comrade ;) )
StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area
Comments
Seems like a great experience and loads of fun.
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
Wow! What an awesome course.
You wouldn't want to undertake the written exam after a full day of tasting :P Is that a specialized glass for smelling and tasting?
You can buy similar glasses to that at Dan Murphy's in Oz. They concentrate the aroma's in the neck of the glass.
Yes, that course was an incredible experience. Everybody was really invested and although we had a lot of fun, it is a serious professional training at a high level of sophistication here in Austria. Not something you can do casually, but required attendance for two hole days (from 9:00AM to 5:00PM) each week for about 4 months.
The shown glass is typical for tasting fruit brandies and other young spirits, we have another special more bulgy one for wood aged spirits and whiskeys. Selecting the proper glass for tastings and evaluations is quite important because the characteristics of smelling volatile components changes. The proper way of smelling and mouth feeling the spirits is a science on its own. ;)
StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area
Also I have read that the profile/shape/flare of the glass rim can make one inclined to tilt one's head either forward or more up right when sampling. Evidently the angle of your head can affect how one's nasal passage contributes to the tasting experience.
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
I had an email this morning about a short 4 day distilling course in Melbourne coming up at the start of July. I have asked the originator if he cared to sign up here and offer it, assumiong it is suitable to those doing 'recipe development in anticipation of applying for a license'. We'll see what he say's.
In the meantime if there is anyone who want's the details PM me and i'll pass them along
StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand
For sake of completeness I'd like to point to the conclusion of our exciting Masters of Booze education, which can be found here:
Masters of Booze Certificate Awards 2014
StillDragon Europe - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Europe & the surrounding area
Congratulations to all MoB ^:)^