Apricot Schnapps

Schnapps is an alcoholic beverage that has no single form, it is in general a grain spirit that has a fruity, spicy and herbal flavour in it. It can thus be created the way liqueurs are created by steeping botanicals in grain spirits and filtering, or like a brandy be distilled from a fruity wine, or even simple infusion of botanicals, syrups or even artificial flavouring agents in a neutral spirit.

Schnapps are typically raspberry, apple, pear, plum, peach, cherry or appricot flavoured.

In Europe Schnapps usually takes the form of an Obstler or Obstbrand, which are traditionally made by fermenting macerated fruit and then distilling the fermented liquor in a process akin to the process of making a brandy.

Obstler ( the German for Fruit, Obst ) has similarity with several verities of Rakija of the Balkans and Easter Europe.

The other form that a Schnapps can take in Europe is a Geist. Geist is created by steeping and infusing berries into neutral spirits for weeks and then distilling it. This too is pretty similar to a fruit brandy.

The third form a Schnapps takes is of a liqueur, these are created the same way all liqueurs are created by infusing fruits, berries and herbs in neutral spirits and filtering the product into a clear liquid.

In America, Schnapps take the form of an inexpensive, heavily sweetened liqueur. American Schnapps are typically between 15% and 20% ABV (30–40 proof), while European Schnapps are usually 30% to 40% ABV or 60-80 US proof.

Wine

Red wine is a table wine made from dark grape varieties. There are around twenty different grape varieties that are extremely popular around the world, while grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir get most of the attention from connoisseurs. The other popular grapes are Syrah ( or Siraz ) of the Rhone Valley of France, Malbec the national grape variety of Argentina, Grenache of Spain, Sangiovese grapes of Italy, Tempranillo the noble grapes of Spain and many more. Read more on them here.

Younger wines are usually an intense violet, while matured wines are brick red and ild wines are brown. The colour of the wine comes from the anthocyan pigments in the skin of the grapes, and thus although the juice of these purle grapes is greenish-white. the colour red is extracted from the skin of the grapes.

Wines are fermented alcoholic beverages and thus there are several stages of fermenting the pressed juice obtained from the fruit must, then allowing a second fermentation known as Malolactic fermentation, a process where certain bacteria is allowed to convert malic acid present in grape juice into lactic acid. This is followed by a racking stage where the lees ( yeast and other solid sediments ) is separated from the wine. Then ready wine is then aged and some pass through a stage of filtration for better clarity.

Wine is an alcoholic drink created by fermenting grapes. Yeast breaks down the sugar in grapes into ethanol and carbon dioxide. Wines and their classes and varieties are mostly based on the variety of grape used and the strains of yeast. Grapes develop specific biochemical characteristics depending on the cultivar, variety, temperature of the place of origin, the terrain and thus a wine's character depend on these and the production process, thus wines are strictly regulated by appellations and geographical indicators.

Although by wine, we mostly refer to Wine fermented from grapes, rice wine and other fruit wines have been in use since time immemorial.

To broadly classify wine, we can classify them into five major categories like Red, White, Rose, Sweet or Dessert and Sparkling.

1. White Wine a wine that is fermented from white wines, or even red or black grapes, it actually doesn't matter what colour the grape is, its the pigment anthocyanin that gives a Red Wine the colour. What wine is a wine that is fermented without the grape skin in contact. The colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured pulp of grapes, which may have a skin of any colour.

2. Red Wine is a wine made from dark coloured grape varities, the colour can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, brick red for mature wines and brown for older wines. As mentioned above other than the uncommon teinturier varieties of grape, which produce a red juice, the colour of wine comes from the skin of the grapes.

3. Rose Wine is a Red Wine that is not Red enough, so doesn't qualify as a red wine. It is the oldest known type of wine, and the colour varies from pale onion skin orange to a vivid near purple with a general pink colour in most, depending on the grape varieties and the wine making technique. it is the easiest to produce wine using the skin contact technique. The different techniques of producing rose wine are skin contact, saignée and blending.

Skin Contact or maceration is allowing the crushed grapes to macerate in spirit and release its compounds into the pre-fermentation must. The saignée technique is slightly more involved and it involves bleeding the juice and reducing the juice to fruit skin and pulp concentration in the must so that the wine has a richer texture and colour.

4. Dessert or Sweet Wines are hard to define but are generally sweet and strong and are drunk with a meal or typically served with a dessert, and to be precise, it is wine which has a pronounced sweetness and higher alcohol concentration than average, thus, even a Red Wine that is legally Red but is too sweet and strong, can be a Dessert Wine.

5. Sparkling Wine is a wine with natural carbonation, where carbon dioxide is created using a traditional method of a second fermentation of the wine by adding sugar to the fermented wine and letting it ferment again, either in a bottle or a tank. A Champagne and Blanquette de Limoux are two most important examples of Sparkling Wines.

Claret is a British name, used unofficially for Bordeaux Red Wine. Bordeaux Red Wines are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The term Claret is also used, again unofficially to designate Bordeaux style red wines produced outside France.

Lychee Wine is a Chinese dessert-wine made from 100% lychee fruit. The wine is golden in colour and has a rich, sweet taste. It is a low alcohol wine with 10% - 18% Alcohol by Volume.

Pineapple wine is a very potent and different wine, different from what we know as wine. The taste of pineapple wine is strong and highly acidic, despite the fruity flavour of pineapple, this comes from the fact that although pineapple is naturally sweet, fermentation makes pineapple very acidic and strongly bitter and winemakers counter that with added water and sugar. Because of higher concentration of tanins and flavonoids, the wine has a bitterness along with high acidity.

A wine cooler is akin to a beer, with 4 to 7 percent ABV. It is made from wine and fruit juice and often in combination with a carbonated beverage and sugar. Since fruit and sugar mostly obscures the flavours of the wine, cheap wine is used in making a wine cooler.
West Coast Cooler is a brand of Wine Cooler.

Soda

Soda refers to carbonated water, sweetened, flavoured or plain, but there is a difference between Soda and plain Carbonated Water or Sparkling Water, which is known as Seltzer Water, while Seltzer Water is plain water carbonated to add fizz, Soda water contains potassium bicarbonate and potassium sulphate in the water, and according to research Seltzer Water is safer for teeth health and sparkling water provides true hydration and is better at it than regular soda or diet soda.

Ice

Ice is so obvious in most drinks, be it a straight drink or a mixed drink, that we often forget it's importance or even reason behind using a crystal clear good quality ice in a glass of whisky, or crushed ice in a tall glass to enjoy a cocktail.

Ice tempers a hard liquor, and as is in the case of whisky for example, if you prefer the flavours of whisky reach your nose without the hard note of spirit lingering around, or want to avoid the mild sting of a neat whisky, a cube of ice mellows the strength down a little and as it melts slowly, the aroma and flavour is released from the whisky slowly and makes whisky progressively weak, lingering and palatable.

Ice in Vodka helps release the little flavour a Vodka has, slowly, instead of letting the Vodka hit your nose all at once,

In mixed drinks, ice plays an important role in creating the perfect temperature a certain drink requires and bartenders use ice in several different ways, crushed ice for long drinks that will allow the cocktail to slowly water down like a Mint Julep, Moscow Mule, Rum Swizzle, Sherry Cobbler and other Tiki drinks, a large block or cubes of ice for drinks that are spirit heavy, such as the Old Fashioned, Negroni, and Manhattan