5 Drinking ‘Rules’ to Banish Forever
VENTURE OUT to your local bar and you’ll soon stumble across a self-appointed ‘expert’ eager to unload their personal drinks rulebook on lesser mortals.
With the greatest respect, those guys suck. It’s time to do away with life-limiting traditions – as they say, rules are made to be broken…
When it comes to sharing knowledge about the spirit world, there’s a fine line between enthusiasm and snobbery. At MoM, we’re a staunch proponent of the drink-it-however-you-want movement, which naturally has no place for haughtiness.
If whisky and coconut water is your go-to serve, that’s great. Should you prefer to make Mimosas with sparkling cider instead of Champagne, go for it. When your favourite gin only tastes right mixed with a can of Mountain Dew, well, more power to you.
Thankfully, there are plenty of forward-thinking producers out there who are equally keen on liberalising our libations. Here, we look at five persistent stereotypes surrounding beer, Tequila, rum and more, and shine a light on the brands seeking to dispel them…
They say: Never mix single malt whisky
We say: It’s single and ready to mingle
Devout single malt fans may hiss and wail, but they’re missing a trick. As Ervin Trykowski, global brand ambassador for The Singleton, posited so succinctly on this very blog: Nobody wants to drink cask-strength whisky in Marbella at 11AM. However, pop that same whisky in a long, vibrant, possibly citrusy highball?
Hey, now we’re talking…
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Obviously, it pays to do a little research beforehand – bulldozing your spirit’s complexities with reckless mixing will leave a sour taste in your mouth both figuratively and literally – but in diversifying our collective approach, the category doors open ever wider to whisky newcomers. And that’s only going to be a good thing.
They say: Rum is *only* for mixing
We say: Rum is neat. Let’s drink it that way, too.
Listen, we enjoy a Mai Tai as much as the next person, but it’s high time we showed rum the same reverence as its grain-based barrel-aged counterpart (i.e. whisky). Historically the category has struggled to shrug off its party image, mostly because of the sweetened, flavoured, spiced or almost-flavourless white rums that have ruled the roost in speed rails the world over.
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But peer beyond the big-name bottlings and you’ll find premium liquid, artisanally distilled and lovingly aged by the barrelful, such as that made by Foursquare Distillery in Barbados and Hampden Estate in Jamaica.
They say: Alcohol-free beer has no flavour
We say: Good beer knows no ABV
With the greatest respect, “alcohol-free beer has no flavour” sounds suspiciously like something a person who has never tried alcohol-free beer might say. In the same way that not all beers are created equally, nor are all booze-free brews – if you turn up your nose at Wetherspoons’ taps, chances are you won’t like their zero-alcohol offering either.
But specialist breweries like Big Drop Brewing Company and dedicated brands like Lucky Saint have made it their mission to create flavourful, complex and truly excellent alternatives to the full-strength stuff.
They say: Tequila = shots
We say: The long-reigning salt and lemon ritual has been dethroned
Frankly we could write a soliloquy condemning shot culture, but that isn’t why you’re here. Tequila, one of the few drinks categories to be governed by strict geographical rules that seek to preserve the quality of its liquid, somehow volunteered itself to this bizarre ritual – and lost itself along the way.
Fast-forward to now, and there are a bevy of super-premium alternatives to the industrial agave that sits patiently in Britain’s speed rails until 11pm onwards. And the makers of these fine liquids – Fortaleza, Ocho, Tapatio, El Rayo – implore you to sip and savour or better yet: stir into T&T (Tequila and tonic).
And don’t say, “but I like doing shots”. No one likes doing shots.
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They say: Cocktails are too sweet
We say: Have you heard of the Negroni, or…
Good lord, is it 1980? Are we drinking layered shots and lurid green Grasshoppers? Sure, there was a time when ‘cocktails’ meant fruit juice from concentrate and packet sour mix, but that was almost four decades ago. Just like the Walkman made way for Spotify, and the Atari console made way for virtual reality gaming, so too have cocktail ingredients evolved and refined.
Take environmentally-conscious liqueurs range Muyu, launched this year by bar luminaries Alex Kratena, Monica Berg and Simone Caporale. To capture flavours for their remarkably low-sugar range, the team harnesses techniques like steam distillation, C02 extraction, enfleurage and more.
Until next time… Happy Distilling!
Cheers
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