Why Not Do Some Wine Tasting Courses?
April 30, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Wines And Spirits
Wine tasting is an art, and something that is equally enjoyable and interesting to learn. Have you ever watched in admiration as a fellow diner captured the attention by expertly swirling the wine, sniffing and magically announcing its name? All this is now possible with a wine-tasting course. All the learning is in the tasting, so it is a very enjoyable lesson indeed, one that educates the palate as well as the brain!
Like all good things, a good quality wine is to be savored and enjoyed. The greatest pleasure of good wine is learning about its complexities. Everything from the amount of sunlight received by the vineyards when the grapes form to the pouring out of the wine into the wine glass contributes to the taste and aroma. It takes experience and knowledge to discern the subtle aromas and flavours in the wine and how various aspects of the vines cultivation come together to make a beautiful, intricate and well-crafted wine.
Wine tasting courses are for those who are passionate about wine and are willing to invest their time in learning its nuances and caprices. Classified on basis on effect on the taster’s palate, each wine has its own story to tell and it takes an experienced taster to understand the delicate language of its flavor and aroma. Professional wine tasters are much sought after for the tasting, judging and label ceremonies. Wines are classified by body-type, wines can be light bodied, medium bodied or full-bodied – on basis on increasing tannin and alcohol content. Wine descriptions can sound strange and unconnected to the grape juice where it originated from: some of the words used for descriptions are ‘leather’, ‘pepper’, ‘nutmeg’.
Professional wine tasters often can distinguish between subtle flavors characteristic of a specific kind of grape and the flavors that result from other factors in wine making. The flavor elements in wine are often intended to give it a better taste, and are imparted by aging in oak casks; sometimes the wine maker adds chocolate, vanilla, or coffee to make the flavour more rich and interesting.
The wine tasting course usually takes the learner through basics of the kinds of wine, the effect of climate, important vintages, soil and grapes varieties, winemaking trends and important producers. The wine tasting course also teaches what makes the wine unique, what food to serve with particular wine and the most important, if the wine gives value for its money.
Wine tasting and wine education is now a full fledged professional course with many well known colleges offering certificates from simple wine appreciation courses to Masters in wine. Many organizations also organize wine tasting and judging competitions that help to demystify the world of wine.
Wine tasting can be learnt in many ways. Local wine merchants and wine clubs offer wine tasting events that are informal and can be fun for the beginner. To know more about wines a visit to a winery in France, Spain or Italy can be a wonderful experience. There are wine-tasting trips, excursions and holidays available and what better way to learn about the wine world…a fascinating world of chateaus, vineyards and vintages.
A comprehensive Beer Information resource
April 30, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Ale and Beers
r has been around for such a long time, as such beer makers have had ample opportunities to change the drink for the better by improving brewing techniques. Although the recent economic meltdown has stifled entrepreneurial activities in a number of sectors, it could hardly do anything to dent the passionate ambitions of those who dream of brewing their own beer and offering it to the world. Beer-Keg.info, a Web site for beer enthusiasts, provides all the beer information of your interest. If you’re exploring the site as a beer brewer, I bet it won’t take much of your time and brains to learn the bare truth that producing just one beer keg will not suffice. Never make blunder of waiting for the first starter keg to be refilled once it is emptied. I’m sure you’ll want to get started in your next batch and so you will need one keg and probably even more. Be it the best deals on beer keg refrigerator/ kegerator or the best ice beer, Beer-Keg.info features every piece of informative yet interesting information for their engrossed group of online readers. And for all my beer brewer readers out there, here’s yet another site picked kegerator info to be shared. Had you been looking around for the best beer keg refrigerator with quality beer tap then, Haier Keg Refrigerator has come up with it for you. Priced at only $650, the kegerator gives you the pleasure to draft a chilled beer like a pro. Designed with a Sankey beer tap system, automatic defroster and adjustable thermostat inclusive of a CO2 tank and separate hoses for air and beer, this beer keg promises to live to the expectation of ever beer brewer! It’s their constant strive of betterment and perfection that had made the webmasters at Beer-Keg.info host a number of links to their site vis-à-vis the support forum, suggestion section, development blogs, documentation and the like. Feel free to explore any of these sections and pen down your ideas and suggestions to make the site a better resource for all breweries and beer drinkers.
Why Hair Alcohol Testing is Better Than Urine Alcohol Testing
April 30, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Alcohol Shots
For parents trying to prove their innocence in child custody battles, defendants needing a resource that shows they were not drinking at the time of an accident a month ago or employers looking to hire sober employees, hair alcohol testing is the new alcohol and drug screening technology that is proving the sobriety of parents, convicting the guilty of high alcohol abuse during the moment of a crime and giving confidence to employers to hire safe pilots, surgeons and child care workers. How is hair alcohol testing better than urine alcohol testing?
When urine alcohol testing use to be the only proven technology to show whether a person has consumed alcohol, it limited the validity of the results because alcohol evaporation rate is extremely quick, not allowing testers to accurately account for blood alcohol concentrations in urine alcohol testing.
According to Alliance for Worldwide Alcohol Research and Education, 5-10% of ingested alcohol is excreted unchanged in urine, sweat, and expired air. The remainder is turned into carbon dioxide and water. For example, a shot of 80 proof alcohol, a 4 ounce glass of wine or 12 ounces of beer will be completely cleared from the body in approximately 1.75-3.5 hours.
For that reason alone, urine alcohol testing hasn’t been able to fully calculate a person’s accurate blood alcohol concentration. Now, hair alcohol testing is helping to convict the guilty as well as the innocent.
How Hair Alcohol Testing Works
With only an inch and a half of hair cut from the scalp of a person, a hair alcohol testing laboratory can find out what a person’s approximated consumption of alcohol has been up to a 30 day history and if the hair sample is longer, as much as a year of alcohol consumption can be tested. A series of assessments called FAEE, fatty acid ethyl esters and EtG, or ethyl glucuronide EtG alcohol testing are done to measure the amount of FAEE and EtG markers that are revealed in the tests only found in a person’s hair if they have consumed alcohol. The more alcohol a person has consumed, the more markers will be present on a test, which remain indefinitely.
Only shaving one’s head will affect the results of the test as there would not be any evidence which to test. Other body hair can be tested but the concentration of blood to the rest of the body’s hair does not give an accurate test result. Only scalp hair reveals an accurate enough assessment. Bleach, hair dye or other external contaminants will not affect the outcome of the test.
Hair alcohol testing is a fairly new discovery. Hair drug testing has been around for awhile, but until now, urine alcohol testing was the way to test a person for alcohol consumption. Hair alcohol testing reduces re-occurring random drug testing, hair alcohol testing is less invasive and by far proves more than a weeks worth of abuse.
More and more employers and government agencies are turning to hair alcohol testing for accurate, professional and tactful testing over urine alcohol testing.
With Etg Testing, What is the Difference Between Urine Alcohol Testing and Hair Alcohol Testing?
April 29, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Alcohol Shots
Ethyl glucuronide or EtG is a metabolite only produced when alcohol is in the bloodstream. It is identified as a marker in alcohol hair testing, through a patented analytical process that provides forensic evidence of the pattern of alcohol abuse – or absence of it.
EtG, alcohol testing (ethyl glucuronide) is a relatively new way to test someone for alcohol in their blood. The big deal behind EtG testing is being able to test for alcohol in a person’s blood, long after a person has consumed it. Because drugs are easier to detect longer after they have been consumed verses the rapid dissipation of alcohol consumption, EtG alcohol testing is an exciting advancement in alcohol testing.
EtG hair drug testing has been around for a little while, but EtG hair alcohol testing and EtG urine alcohol testing is fairly recent. So what is the difference between the two?
The more alcohol a person consumes the greater amount of EtG markers are present in the hair. EtG alcohol testing is unique compared to other alcohol tests in that it allows you to segment testing results into months instead of only days, if you were to test for urine alcohol testing. Only EtG alcohol testing in hair can prove month to month activity- with urine alcohol testing, evaporation, dilution and other factors are the concern for testers to accurately account for blood alcohol concentrations.
According to Alliance for Worldwide Alcohol Research and Education, 5-10% of ingested alcohol is excreted unchanged in urine, sweat, and expired air. The remainder is turned into carbon dioxide and water. For example, a shot of 80 proof alcohol, a 4 ounce glass of wine or 12 ounces of beer will be completely cleared from the body in approximately 1.75-3.5 hours. With EtG hair alcohol testing, a tester can fully calculate a person’s accurate blood alcohol concentration weeks after the person consumed alcohol.
EtG lasts for up to five days in urine, and confirms beyond all doubt that someone has had a drink in that time. The presence of EtG in EtG, alcohol testing through hair alcohol testing now shows whether drivers or workers who have been involved in an accident last week, were drunk at the time, even if they are not tested until a month later.
Features of EtG alcohol testing
• Identify long-term alcohol addicts, offer help and improve treatment success rate– an alcoholic’s treatment can be monitored periodically as their hair grows
• Prove a parent is fit to have custody of their children because they show no signs of abuse.
• Identify an alcohol abuser in a safety critical job before you hire them.
• Prove someone does not have an alcohol problem and is fit to lead for a position in public office, for example.
• Prove someone is long-term abstinent and a suitable candidate for a liver transplant
When it comes to advances in drug and alcohol testing technologies, there is a growing need for this its uses. And just as importantly, the need for hair alcohol testing to prove a history of alcohol abuse is just as necessary to disprove any abuse.
Good Wine
April 29, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Wines And Spirits
Committal to writing this article for you was a pleasure, I want it be likewise for your to read it. A good wine is one that has aged well and you can try the smooth flavors that are stage in the wine. With the many another(a) wines that are available you should be able to find one that will appeal to your taste. You will be able to see the various good white wines and the red wines that are available. Before you decide to buy any of these wines though you will need to have some selective information that will let you know the versatile wines and what you should expect from these.
When you have looked at the versatile selective information that you can find for these wines the next step is to savor them. As there are many varieties of wine to be found you will need to select one character of good wine in the beginning and see how it tastes. This taste session will allow you to form an feeling of the wine. You should remember that a good wine will have a pleasant aroma. This smell is the very first indication of whether you will want to try the wine.
The next step for you to take in learning about a good wine is to see how the first savour of this wine is like. For example does it slip down your throat and leave a liquid try or do you feel your mouth puckering as if you had a bitter taste beverage. The best way to experience this sensation of mouth puckering is to select a brand of white wine and drink a little.
Since most white wines are known to be dry wines you will know if you have elect a dry vino or a wine-colored that is on another line of taste. In the count of choosing a good wine from the white wines you have a broad choice. There are the Chardonnay family of white wines, Riesling wines, Gewürztraminer wine, Chenin Blanc and many others.
You can consider the many varieties of Champagne as a good wine to select for special occasions and celebrations. In the many dissimilar red wines you can select Merlot, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and many others. As with the white wines you should look carefully at the red wine-colored that you are selecting.
As you see with so many dissimilar wines to select from you will need to see what character of wine that you want to have on your table. All of these red and white wines may make your alternate of a good wine difficult. There is a good chance though, that you will like the taste of the dissimilar wines that you have bought in your selection, in which type you will know that you have lots of great taste good wine combinations to enjoy whenever you want.
I’m glad you have found this clause I want you found the info useful.
Why people use drugs and alcohol as a means of escaping reality
April 29, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Alcohol Shots
It is no secret that life is full of difficult decisions and scenarios. It’s wonderful to have someone there with you to help shoulder the load, maybe a close friend or family member. But imagine if that friend took the form of liquid in a bottle, or a pill that you only had to swallow. The reality of responsibility virtually disappears… that is… until you come down from the high.
Splitting my four years of drinking into two stages aptly displays positive and negative types of alcohol use.
During my first two years I was drinking with friends often and always having a blast. The ultimate result of the frequent imbibing was happiness. The next day we would talk about what happened and laugh, and someone would tease him or herself about how terrible of a hangover they suffered. There were smiles, laughing, and an overall sense of gaiety that could not be overlooked.
The last two years were quite the opposite. I was quick to slam a few shots down upon waking, and throughout the day I was amply “sauced.” Another dangerous symptom I noticed within myself was my hiding my habit from others. Even from my drinking buddies who probably wouldn’t care, and they might of even joined me! I was just too busy escaping the life I didn’t want to lead. I was angry at the world, at myself, at everything, and I just wanted to disappear.
It’s easy to forget the positive purposes of alcohol and drugs. A drink or two can calm your nerves. An acid or mushroom trip can open your mind. Marijuana can help you relax. But when impressionable people figure out that excessive use of these double-edged swords can make them become someone else and reside in a different realm… all hell breaks lose.
Eating Good Food With Vitamins
April 28, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Food And Beverage
It is essential that a person is aware of what constitutes good food health vitamin intake. The federal drug administration produces a recommended daily allowance for the majority of vitamins which it regards as a good food health vitamin intake. These figures vary according to a person’s age, sex and some other factors so that the good food health vitamin intake for a young woman is going to be different to that of a man in his seventies.
The food health vitamin intake amounts of certain foods are included in the nutritional labelling. This labelling is important for a person to consider and helps ensure that they are receiving the correct food health vitamin intake from the foods that they eat. The nutritional information is often represented as a percentage of the recommended daily allowance of each vitamin and mineral and can help assess the value of the foods in the quest for good food health vitamin intake.
There are also a number of items that a person may want to restrict in their diet as part of their good food health vitamin intake. Again, the nutritional labelling of certain foods can help a person to see how high a product is in these undesirable contents. Salt and fat, for example, may be items that a person wants to consider limiting as part of their good food health vitamin intake even though they are not strictly vitamins. The majority of people actually refer to nutrients when they use the word vitamin and food manufacturers are aware that a person is looking at minerals and other items when they are considering their good food health vitamin intake. Fiber is another element that many people are more aware of as forming an essential part of a balanced diet and is necessary for good food health vitamin intake.
If a person is on a restricted diet for any reason then they need to pay even more attention to their good food health vitamin intake. Obviously, some foods contain different nutrients to others and this is applicable to vitamins as well and it may be more difficult for a person to achieve their good food health vitamin intake if they are unable to eat certain foods. Vitamin supplements can form an essential part of a good food health vitamin intake for people who are unable to obtain their vitamins from their normal diet. It is also worth remembering that the good food health vitamin intake for a person varies throughout their life depending on their general health.
The Main Alcoholism Fact is That it Ruins Lives
April 28, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Alcohol Shots
When we talk about an alcoholism fact there are many interesting things related to alcohol. There will not be any exaggeration if we say that the word “alcohol” has become very common word in the international dictionary. Some other words, which have been exploited badly, are “sex” and “Internet”. People from all occupations have abused no matter for what reason or use, “alcohol” since centuries.
For many centuries the world has abused alcohol and other related substances for different reasons. When we discuss alcoholism fact, it must begin with the reason that makes this substance so popular. Actually when alcohol is taken in the body and eventually the brain, it secretes some chemicals called dopamine and serotonin. It is due to these chemicals that induce a state of euphoria, goodness and well-being for the drinker.
Most of the time when any drinker drinks alcohol he feels good and a sense of euphoria is induced in his brain. That is the main reason a drinker drinks alcohol repeatedly. Only due to this feeling, a social drinker becomes an alcoholic personality.
Let us see some alcohol facts and myths here. Readers please note that these fact and myths are research based. One of the main myths is that alcohol destroys brain cells, whereas fact is the moderate consumption of alcohol does not destroy brain cells. In fact, it is often associated with improved cognitive or mental functioning.
Another common myth is white or red wine is a good choice for a person who wants a light drink with less alcohol. Whereas the surprising alcoholism fact is a glass of white or red wine, a bottle of beer, or a shot of whiskey or other distilled spirits all contain equivalent amounts of alcohol.
Another important alcoholism fact is that regular consumption of alcohol produces tolerance to the substance. That means regular consumption makes a drinker used to a specific quantity of alcohol. As a result, alcohol does not get high on it and there is either no euphoria or little euphoria.
One of the most important alcoholism facts is people abuse alcohol to get that sense of euphoria or well being. Another remarkable alcoholism fact is tolerance increases with the regular consumption of alcohol. Suppose a person drinks alcohol on a regular basis, his tolerance or capacity increases with the time. This means he would have to take more alcohol to get that feeling of euphoria or well being.
As generally seen, physically for men and women of the same height and weight, the effects of alcohol are different for both of them. Studies show that as compared to men women are affected more rapidly because they tend to have a slightly higher proportion of fat to lean muscle tissue. That results in concentrating alcohol a little more easily in their lower percentage of body water. In addition to that, women also have less dehydrogenase, an enzyme responsible for metabolization.
Another important alcoholism fact is that the effects of same amount, quality and in take have different effects on different body. That means the effects differ severely from person to person. For example, if one addict has severe liver damage the other has pancreatitis. However, it is interesting to note that the first organ to bear the impact of the alcohol intake is always the stomach. That is because of the acidic nature of alcohol.
Liver damage is one of the commonest health problems amongst alcoholics, beginning with hepatitis and ending with cirrhosis.
Lastly, when it comes to stomach then apart from other body organs, the liver gets affected more severely. As we know, the liver is the organ responsible for production of many enzymes, clotting factors and breakdown of food. Therefore, damage to liver disrupts many body functions. Therefore, as far as possible we should stay away from heavy use of alcohol, otherwise chances of us becoming another statistics would be increased drastically.
The history of beer
April 28, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Ale and Beers
According to archaeologists, Beer was originally made in Peru from corn. It was generally used as a ceremonial beverage to bring priests and worshipers to a higher plane of consciousness. That plane was called “teotitstetlan”, roughly translated to English as, “shit man I’m wasted.” Surprisingly, Peru has one of the lowest shares in the world beer market today, having sold its ancient brewery/temples to the Spanish, who converted them, unfortunately, into massive rumpus rooms for the viceroyalty.
The Sumerians also brewed an early beer-like beverage from grain. It was used as a sedative in the plucking of eyes and teeth under the rule of the great king Hammerabi, best known in modern times for his code. The downfall of his kingdom, in fact, was the discovery of said code by a faction of Mesopotamian freedom fighters, who then used it to withdraw all of the king’s frankencense from the greatest bank of the time, The Bank of Sumerica. The king was later reported to have been heard moaning, “why did I get so drunk last night?” over and over again.
Fast forward several hundred years, and beer, now most generally brewed from malted barley, hops, yeast and the blood of vestal virgins, was the second most popular beverage in Ancient Rome, after a tonic, whose recipe is now lost, called “plumbum vinum”. Visiting barbarian diplomats, noticing the growing rotudity of the Roman legions, and increasingly annoyed at being called barbarians, realized that the fat, slow Roman centurion was no longer the man he used to be. And so the Franks, and the Visigoths, and the Beans united to overtake Rome. Charlemagne, the leader of the united barbarian forces, celebrated with a kegger at the Colliseum, and thus began the long German love affair with beer.
In fact it is the Germans who have since been most innovative in the advancement and diversification of beer. They first refined the ale, a beer that is top-fermented, which means that hundreds of spinning tops are let to skim across the surface of the beer, thus activating the yeast that converts the sugar in the malt to alcohol. This ancient technique, while it produced a delicious beer, was found to be too child-labor intensive. Nothing, however, was done about it until Martin Luther pegged his theses to the wall of the Cathedral at Wittenburg. While most of these have been forgotten, #33 has always been remembered for it’s profound effect on the history of beer. Translated, it says, “and why the hell can’t we ferment
Drink Recipes: Dessert cocktails
April 26, 2009 by rum lounge
Filed under Cocktail Recipes
November 6th is Saxophone Day. While it is not recognized as a national holiday, the saxophone player in this household will be tooting his horn proudly to know his musical instrument holds center stage for at least one day out of the year.
Adolphe Sax, a Belgian, invented the saxophone. It is the only woodwind that was never actually made of wood. It is a beautiful brass instrument originally intended to fill the middle range tones between the clarinet and trumpet. Although the saxophone came into existence in 1845 and was used primarily in military bands, it was not until the 1920’s that the saxophone gained its greatest popularity due to the rise of jazz music.
While it is true the saxophone was actually completed in Paris, its inspiration began in Belgium. The first things that come to my mind when thinking of Belgium are beer and chocolate.
Belgium has well over five hundred varieties of beer as well as the largest brewery in the world when measured by volume. The brewery is Inbev. You can find them at www.inbev.com.
What most women may know Belgium for is their chocolate; Godiva or Guylian to be specific. These are two of Belgiums most widely known brands of chocolates. While chocolate is well within reach in a candy wrapper or bowl near you, it has only been in the past couple of years that it has gained popularity on the cocktail scene. Godiva has been partially responsible for the rise in this trend by putting a quality name behind the product that gets shaken behind the bar.
Godiva has come out with a line of liqueurs that are absolutely exquisite. If you are a chocolate lover, these are liqueurs you should not miss. They offer Original Chocolate, White Chocolate, Mocha, and Milk Chocolate liqueurs. Their liqueurs are every bit as smooth and silky as their fine chocolates and equally as rich. If you are a supreme chocolate lover, try the liqueurs on the rocks. If you love your chocolate in truffles or with nuts and lots of yummy tidbits added in, go for a cocktail. Try the white or milk chocolate in your coffee in lieu of cream and sugar to change the tempo of your weekend brew. Below is a cocktail I came up with while dabbling with the Original Chocolate liqueur. On the surface it does not appear to have much Godiva in it at all. What you will find with the Godiva liqueurs is that a little goes a long way when it comes to flavor.
Chocolate Caf Noir Cocktail
1-1/2 oz Three Olives Espresso Vodka
1 oz Chambord
1/2 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
1 oz half and half
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake for 15 20 seconds. Strain into a well chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with skewered raspberries.
The Godiva liqueurs are fascinating to play with when it comes to dessert cocktails. Dessert no longer has to be eaten with a fork or spoon. It can now be shaken or stirred and then sipped indulgently. So, liven up your next dessert with a Begium inspired cocktail and remember the man who helped put jazz on the musical map with his saxophone. Cheers!
Go to www.godiva.com for more information about Godiva liqueurs and their own drink recipes.