By Rob Pickard
With Christmas round the corner, I’m sure the spirits fans amongst you will be dusting off those obscure bottles in the spirits cupboard and stocking up on the essentials for the annual period of experimental cocktail making. However if you are drinking out over the next few weeks in London and want to sample …
By Pete, TheFloatingRumShack.com
I strongly suspect that Alexandre Gabriel, the President of Cognac Ferrand and creative genius behind the portfolio of Plantation rums is something of a magician. I imagine him weaving spells involving great rum from the Caribbean islands and a variety of interesting casks that have enjoyed a previous existence holding …
By Rob Pickard
At this week’s Imbibe Live, Bibendum’s Tastemaster bus was not just about wine, with the Bibendum Spirits team and their awesome spirit brands also in attendance. Alongside Pierre Ferrand Cognac, Citadelle Gin, Villa Lobos and El Tesoro Tequila, was the mighty Plantation Rum.
Owned by Cognac Ferrand, Plantation Rum is one of the Caribbean’s leading distilleries, creating some of the finest …
By Rob Pickard
Yesterday evening the Bibendum Tastemaster left Imbibe Live after a thoroughly enjoyable two days of full-on wine and spirit antics. In our previous Imbibe Live post earlier in the week, we posted a few photos of the arrival of the Tastemaster at Earls Court and the set up, well here is a quick rundown on our …
By Rob Pickard
This week sees the return of Imbibe Live to the Earls Court arena in London. A two day show packed full with the wonderful offerings of the On-Trade Drinks Industry, it’s a must for any company or individual with an interest in the On-Trade sector. So yesterday we packed up a huge range of wines and spirits and headed off …
By Kat Hounsell
Welcome to Tiki Bar, a Bibendum Spirits pop-up bar bringing sun shine to the attendees at Taste of London 2011, amongst a very wet June weekend. And despite the severe weather warnings festival goers re-lived summer holiday memories by joining Bibendum Spirits for summertime Plantation Rum cocktails, World class El Tesoro Tommy Margaritas and refreshing Aussie Coopers Ales.
Not …
By Will Lowe
Ageing in oak barrels is a critical part of the production process for many spirits. Once distilled, every spirit is completely clear, and it is only in the barrel that they take on their colour.
Barrels come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but are almost always made from oak, since the grain is tight enough to ensure the barrel remains water tight, but …
By Will Lowe
Distillation is a very simple process for separating two liquids in a solution from each other, utilising different boiling points. In the same way as evaporating sea water leaves salt behind, so heating a low alcohol solution will allow the alcohol to evaporate whilst the water content remains. By collecting and condensing the vapour as it evaporates, we separate out a concentrated alcohol.
The equipment …
By Will Lowe
Calvados is a unique French brandy, in that it is made from apples, rather than grapes. Whereas Armagnac and Cognac are essentially distilled wines (from grapes), Calvados is to all intents and purposes a distilled cider. The Calvados region lies in lower Normandy, in the north of France. Whilst the area is too cold to grow grapes, it is home to some seven million …
By Will Lowe
In Armagnac, the soil, climate, distillation and ageing techniques are completely different to those used in Cognac, and the resulting spirit is unique. The AOC Armagnac region sits in the South West of France within the Gascony region, close to the Atlantic Ocean and at the base of the Pyrenees Mountains. There are three sub-areas (the Bas-Armagnac, Ténarèze and the Haut-Armagnac areas) within the …
