How to Drink Cognac

First, it is necessary to choose a proper wineglass. The specialists of cognac blending recommend a tulip-shaped wineglass, but the low, spherical wineglass will be OK too. 20-25 ml of cognac pour into the wineglass and heat in a palm for 8-10 minutes. If you warm up the wineglass in another way, for example by burn-in lighter, all aromatic matters will evaporate.

Take the wineglass and ? Look at the surface. The cognac color can tell you much. For example, the light-straw color points to young cognacs, straw-yellow, amber, golden and auburn-red - to older. Always look at the color ? it characterizes the age of cognac.

Then you should smell cognac. Put the nose to the edge of the wineglass and inhale " montant odors". It?s usually floral or fruit odors: violets, iris, rose, pear, cherry, apricot, plum, fig, quince, grapefruit, jasmine, chestnut, orange zest, nut, or peach. Come off and shake up cognac, now bring the wineglass to the nose again, inhale ...

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Now you are ready to try cognac. Make a small sip. The cognac will pass and make you to estimate all complication and individuality. We drink cognac in a circle of close friends and in pleasant atmosphere. Cognac perfectly combines with coffee (preferably with cognac XO), cigar (special cigar cognac) and chocolate (preferably with cognac VSOP or XO).

There is a great variety of ways how to drink cognac. Cognac is mixed with soda water or tonic. There are some recommendations how to obtain an excellent aperitif wine:

use cognac VS or VSOP for blending;

20 ml of cognac + 50-60 ml of tonic (or soda water) + pieces of ice;

combinations of cognac with citric or orange juice are possible.

Cognac is popularly used as the cocktails fundamental:

use cognac VS or VSOP for blending;

possible combinations with tonic, fresh juice;

a drop of liquor or syrup;

shake up in a shaker, add pieces of ice.

The dictionary of the terms used during tasting

Odor - all feelings outgoing from cognac.

Aroma - pleasant odor felt by a nose.

Bouquet - variety of odors and aromas combining in cognac.

Montant aroma - first odour, which the drink presented to you.

Duration - duration of montant aroma.

Smack - feel on the tip of tongue and palate.

Taste - mixture of continuous feelings in the mouth (smack + aroma).

Termination - taste, which remains on the palate, after drinking cognac.

Rancio - an exposition of taste, which belongs to very old cognacs matured in oak casks. It is the visiting card of cognac once tasted that impossible to forget.