Brandy

Brandy is short for the word Brandywine, which in turn is derived from the Dutch word Brandewijn, which means burnt wine. Its a spirit produced by distilling wine which has first been produced through the fermentation of grapes, it can also be made from wine which has been fermented from other fruits and pomace. Brandy is usually drunk as an after-dinner drink and the alcohol by volume level varies between 36% to 60%.

Different types of Brandy

Some brandies are aged in wooden casks, while most are colored with caramel coloring to try to imitate the effect of aging. There are three different branches of brandy, and here is a small introduction and a list of different known varieties from each kind:

Grape Brandy – Made from the distillation of wine made from grapes. Popular varieties of grape brandy are known as Cognac, Armagnac, Brandy de Jerez, Pisco, Coronet, Korbel, and many others from all around the world.
Fruit Brandy – Distilled from wine made from different fruits such as apples, plums, peaches, cherries, elderberries, raspberries, blackberries, or apricots. Different kinds of fruit brandy are known as Applejack, Buchu, Calvados, German Schnaps, Palinka, Palinka, and a lot of more.
Pomace Brandy – Made from the fermentation and distillation of grape skins, seeds, and stems that remain after grapes has been pressed. Examples of pomace brandy from around the world include Grappa, Marc, Orujo, Grozdova, Komovica, Komova, along with many more. There are also three different methods for storing brandy:
No aging: Most pomace brandy and some fruit brandy are commonly clear and colorless because they have not been aged before bottling.
Single barrel aging: Natural golden or brown colored brandies have often been aged in oak casks, however, as mentioned before, the color could be simulated by adding caramel coloring.
Solera process: A process of aging commonly used in Spain where the beverages from different aged barrels are mixed to create a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues.