Crafting Tasting Experiences at Home
… and why it’s important.
BY: JENN MURLEY, WATERSHED DISTILLERY MARKETING AND EXPERIENCE COORDINATOR
My love for bourbon began in a tasting room. After an hour-long tour around a distillery, soaking in the sights and delicious smells, I ended the experience by sitting around a u-shaped table neatly set with glasses of amber liquid, chocolate, and bottles of water. A friend of mine had come to visit me in Kentucky from Chicago, and I felt the obligatory bourbon tour was a must. The only problem was, I didn’t like bourbon. Sitting down at the table felt intimidating. I felt obligated to try some of the spirits I’d spent an hour learning about. The guide walked us through the tasting, discussing the characteristics and production methods, and some of the charms of each bourbon expression. At that moment, the story, history, and background merged together in that glass. I fell in love.
A lot has changed since March of 2020, and with this new shift in society, we find ourselves longing to recreate our favorite experiences in the safety of our home. Companies promoting at-home gourmet cooking have exploded amid the pandemic, and virtual/online cocktailing has become a weekend adventure for many households. While restaurants, bars, distilleries, wineries, and breweries will always hold a special place in our hearts by allowing us a very unique on-site experience, I love the trend of cultivating and creating special memories in your home to share with loved ones.
The old adage “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day but teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime,” comes to mind when I think of at-home tasting experiences. If you understand the basics of how to conduct a tasting, you’ll be able to craft, experiment, and execute the kind of memories that satiate the soul.
Just as a man who has been given the fish can’t understand the knowledge, labor, and uniqueness of his meal, so it is equally as hard to understand the beauty of a spirit without proper education. Wine has been sold with compelling stories for decades, and liquor is no different. When you settle in with a nice glass of bourbon, the experience does not begin with the liquid hitting your lips – it begins with the earth in which the seeds of corn, barley, wheat, or rye were planted. Its story is the ebb and flow of time. Like rings on a tree, every summer rain, every snowstorm, or soft spring morning is recorded, remembered. Good spirits are good records of where we have been and where we are going. The following is an overview that will help you introduce your favorite spirits to friends old and new.
Every stage of creating tasting experiences is exciting: from picking out your favorite products to learning the stories behind them, to sharing them with your people and creating new memories of your own.
PLANNING YOUR TASTING
Choosing Your Spirits
Most tastings have 3-5 products to taste, with typically a quarter of an ounce in each glass. Each commercial tasting you attend is under strict tasting guidelines set forth by the state, which may limit quantity. However, when you are creating your own experience, the guidelines are set forth by you. With this in mind, know that tasting alcohol at 40- 60% alcohol is much different than tasting beer or wine at 5% - 18% alcohol. The goal of a tasting is to educate and explore preferences – not to stumble home drunk. Please be responsible with your pours.
The first thing to think through is the family of spirits you would like to explore. Want to do a gin tasting? Perfect! I bet you already have a favorite gin you know you want to include. But let’s say you don’t. Where do you start? Every family of spirits (Okay, every family in general, am I right?) has some conflicting personalities. With gins, you have the classic London Dry gins and the lighter, modern gins and then a whole host of varieties in between. It’s best to get a variety of flavor profiles that are thread together with a common theme. For instance, you could do an Old World Vs. New World or Flower Vs. Fruit. Or maybe you’re a part of a Jane Austen book club that just read Pride and Prejudice and you want to do a flight inspired by the book’s main characters (I’ll take Mr. Darcy on the Rocks, please), you can do that! Get creative, make it interactive and educational.
Once you have your products picked out, you should learn as much as you can about them. First, go to the distillery’s website. Write down mash bills (what grains were used in making the product), flavor profiles, and brand origin stories – anything you think will resonate with the group. Hop on YouTube and watch reviews. (Be sure to take all reviews with a grain of salt. Everyone’s palate is different.) Learn everything you can.
Tasting Mats
Tasting mats are handy to have for your tasting as they house information the taster can refer to, they provide a space to jot down notes, and they can be a fun keepsake from the evening. Mats or boards aren’t a necessity, but they add a fun layer. Better still if you can print out or track down some tasting wheels specific to the spirit family you are tasting. These wheels are used by experts to help narrow down the flavors and smells you find. It’ll help you take “nutty” to “roasted almond” in no time.
The Right Glassware
The kind of glasses you taste out of is important. There is a reason why different wine varietals are put into distinct glasses. It all affects the tasting experience. The most common liquor tasting glass is called a Glencairn glass. This glass originated for tasting whiskey but has quickly replaced every tasting glass in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and most of the US. While the shape of its bowl is inspired by traditional tasting glasses, its tapered mouth allows for a smooth tasting experience. If you don’t have a Glencairn in your repertoire, I encourage you to make the investment. Snifters and neat glasses work very well also. If you don’t have the money to spend on glassware (depending on how many people you invite to your tasting, this could get really pricey), shot glasses or plastic tasting cups will do as well.
Other tasting items to consider:
· Water for each guest
· Water dropper (optional. Good for “opening up” bourbon or whiskey)
· Foods like chocolate, nuts, or crackers
· Different fruits, herbs, grains, or plants to touch and smell (optional, but always a fun addition)
· A pad of paper and a pen, or room on the tasting mat to take notes
· A tasting wheel printed out for guests to look at
CONDUCTING YOUR TASTING
Arranging and Preparing the Spirits
The order in which you arrange your products depends on your theme and spirit assortment. If you are setting up a bourbon tasting, I would move from least spicy to most spicy. The gradual change in heat will be more pleasant for your guests. For London Dry gins vs modern gins, I may offer the London Dry first as they are a little more “traditional” and the modern’s second to introduce the change in flavors. Arranging a tasting is like arranging a playlist – you may like Bach and Metallica, but hearing them back to back could be a little jarring. You want your tasting to flow as you move through.
As a purist, I think alcohol should be tasted “neat”, that is, without water, ice, or another additive. You may have some guests that will balk at that. I’m also a big advocate of, “drink what you like”, but in order to know what you really like, tasting it in its purest form is essential. As always, have water or ice available, just in case.
Discussing your Spirits with Guests
One of the most common fears I have encountered while training tour guides is the fear of leading the tasting. Science is science but, as I have already mentioned, tasting can be subjective. That’s why, when you lead a tasting, you should lead with passion. Explain the story behind the product, give a narrative to the tasting. Discuss the grains used and the notes listed on their website.
First, talk about what you smell. Take time smelling and thinking and talking. Don’t be afraid to say what you think! I’ve heard people who taste for a living describe a product as, “The stereotypical bubblegum chewing blonde in high school,” and, while it may sound silly, it definitely helps convey an idea. Once you’ve gotten your smells in, move on to the tasting. Slowly swirl the product around in your mouth like mouthwash for about 5 to 6 seconds, then swallow and breathe out through your mouth, then in through your nose, and out through your mouth again. This is called “shocking the palate” or, back in my hometown, “The Kentucky Chew.” This process helps your taste buds acclimate to the high proof of the liquor.
Talk about what you taste! I once heard a wine described as a tart cherry pie on the fourth of July and when I took a sip, I swear I saw fireworks. It’s all about how you present. Encourage your guests to write down different notes or thoughts when they taste the product. After you express how you feel, go around the table and let everyone talk about what they wrote down for each product – this is where the connection and comradery are formed. Some people like to taste through once without sharing and then sharing at the end, others like to talk through each product - it’s all about what feels right!
These suggestions come from years of leading experiences and tastings for thousands of people, but there are no real rules to setting up a tasting. You can be as creative as you want. The most important thing is to help educate your loved ones about the products that bring you joy. A bottle of gin on a shelf isn’t just a bottle of gin on a shelf – it’s years of hard work and dedication. A spirit is the culmination of the land it came from, and our understanding of that is essential to a well-rounded drinking experience.
Please reach out to me with questions or tips on how to host a tasting at home. And be sure to tag us if you include Watershed spirit in your tastings! We’d love to see and share. Cheers.
- Jenn Murley