The chill has definitely set in and while a good old fashioned drink like mulled wine can help warm you up, it can get boring and many people don’t actually like it. So what other hot alcohol drinks are available?
Hot Toddy: Often recommended as a remedy during the colder months, this drink is rumoured to ward off colds and flus. It also helps for sore throats.
Rum Hot Chocolate: Why not infuse you regular hot chocolate with some rum? Or you can substitute the rum with whisky, the result is just as delicious and warming.
Wine dates back thousands of years and a drink with such a long history will naturally develop variations and cult followers.
Source: Vogue.com
But have you ever wondered what all those terms we often hear from wine connoisseurs actually mean?
I have, so I decided to find out. I came across an interesting article on QZ.com which answered these questions and providing definitions for the most common wine terms.
Body – This is one used often that I’ve been quite curious about. Well in the post on QZ.com it compared wine to milk. Like whole milk tastes thicker that skim milk, some wines have a thicker feel in your mouth than others. Within this category there is light bodied, medium bodied and full bodied which is as thick as heavy cream. Examples of full bodied are cabernet sauvignons whereas pinot noir is a light bodied wine.
Tannins – This is how QZ.com explains tannins,
If you’ve ever had over-steeped black tea, you know exactly what tannins feel like. Tannin is a compound in the wine that causes your mouth to feel dry and can taste slightly bitter and/or astringent. In right doses, tannins contribute to the wine’s longevity by enabling it to age. Nebbiolo (e.g., Barolo), cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and petite sirah are all prime examples of high-tannin wines. On the other end of the tannin spectrum, we have pinot noir, merlot, barbera, grenache, gamay, and ainfandel, all of which have softer tannins.
3. Acidity – If you’ve ever tasted a lemon, you know what something with alot of acidity tastes like. Wines with acidity are refreshing and after a few glasses it can begin to taste quite tarte. Experts also say that acid allows wines to age better and this helps with the balance of the wine. Examples of high acid wines include Riesling and Zinfandal. Now more about Balance.
4. Balance – Well we’ve all tasted drinks that were too much of one thing, for example too sweet, too much alcohol etc. Those drinks were unbalanced. That is what balance is, “harmony between the different sensations (alcohol, tannin, acidity etc),
5. Structure – The writer goes on to explain:
We can all appreciate the difference between a 2D image and a 3D image. The former is flat, like a wine that lacks structure, while the latter has shape and depth — a wine with excellent structure. Structure is the texture and mouthfeel, or lack thereof, of the wine on your palate, which is determined by the wine’s level of acidity, alcohol, tannin, and sugar.
We all know hangovers are the worst, and we all do our best to avoid them, drink alot of water, eat before we drink, drink moderately but it still seems some tipples cause a worse hangover than others.
Not all hangovers are created equal and in fact some make you a little miserable while others have to bedridden, but the question is why.
According to one study the presence of congeners in alcoholic drinks is to blame. Congeners are the substances that flavour and colour your drinks. That is why drinking lighter coloured drinks is a good way of preventing hangovers.
Are you really aware of the number of calories in the drinks you’re consuming?
In fact we may have been misled about alcohol making us fat? According to a post I read on News.com.au, beer and wine, the most commonly consumed drinks on a regular basis, are not as ‘fattening’ as we may have thought.
It’s even more important to know how many standard drinks you are consuming, than the number of calories in your drinks because this will impact your health and safety. Find out about Responsible Service of Alcohol.
A tablet app is being trialled in South Australia and Queensland that is expected to assist attempts to curb alcohol addiction in Australia’s Indigenous communities.
The Grog Survey iPa app allows peolpe to keep track of how much they’re drinking electronically and anonymously submit the information.
Researchers say they can use this anonymous information to inform policy and community efforts to tackle alcohol and drug abuse.
As part of a review of small bar liquor laws, Liquor and Gaming NSW is inviting feedback from the public and members of the industry.
The review is inviting feedback on the small bar laws which affect 50 venues across the state. These bars are limited to a maximum of 60 patrons, offering many an automatic 2am trading option.
Currently small bars aren’t allowed to provide gaming or take-away alcohol sales.
Would you like to brew beer the way you do coffee, from the comfort of your home? Now it is possible with the BeerDroid.
The machine can brew 10 litres of beer at the push of a buttom, dispensing fully carbonated beer with the usual frothy head, without any CO2.
Marketing manager for BrewArt Scott Harris, said that the BrewArt system was designed to suit the modern lifestyle.
This is not the only home brewing machine on the market, as home brewing becomes a global trend. SodaStream International and PicoBrew ave also released machines.
The Brisbane community have teamed up to protest the Labor government’s lockout laws that came into effect on Friday, 1 July.
Brisbane based community group No Curfew, in collaboration with Keep Queensland Open took to the streets to protest the lockout laws last Sunday.
Meeting at Reddacliff Place, the community members will gather directly in front of Brisbane’s Treasury Casino, to highlight community concerns that it was exempted from the laws.
Some of the speakers at the rally included key industry workers, politicians opposing the laws and musicians who say the laws will negatively impact the music scene.
