When I look in the mirror and see that one extra white
hair in my goatee or that one less hair on top of my head or when I awaken to
body aches of unknown causes, I always chalk it up to the unwanted consequences
of aging. Or when my SUV starts making unusual sounds that don’t sound like the
purr of a brand new engine or when the desktop or laptop slows to a crawl and
seems to need rebooting several times a day, even inanimate aging seems
inevitable.
But there are occasions when aging isn’t just welcomed
but desired. Like when the milk from purely grass fed vacche rosse or the red cows from the Reggio-Emilia region is
allowed to curdle naturally then drained, salted and aged for 30 to 40 months
producing not just the famed Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese but the Vacche Rosse
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese of the Gods. Buttery, rich, salty with crunchy bits
of crystalized amino acids and loads of umami,
it’s meant simply to savor either as is or with a couple of precious drops of
Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena or true balsamic vinegar.
The True Balsamic
Vinegar
After the juice of Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes are
cooked slowly for 12 to 24 hours until it’s reduced by 50%, it’s then barreled
and allowed to ferment with natural yeasts for up to 3 weeks then aged in
wooden barrels that allow acetic acid bacteria to convert the alcohol to acetic
acid producing a rudimentary form of balsamic vinegar. As the aging progresses,
several different wooden barrels are employed including oak, mulberry, ash,
chestnut, cherry, juniper, and acacia and the barrels get progressively smaller
as aging causes evaporation. Once the vinegar has been aging for 12 years, it
is bottled as affinato (fine), vecchio (old) for vinegar 15 to 20 years
old and extra vecchio for vinegar 20
to 25 years old. However, each individual barrel is never fully drained but
simply topped off with a newer volume of younger vinegar. Needless to say,
these aren’t the “balsamic” vinegars you’ll find at your local supermarket
unless your neighborhood happens to be Beverly Hills as just 100ml (a little
more than 3 ounces) costs between $75 to $200 depending on the age of the
vinegar. So these vinegars aren’t meant for vinaigrettes but the precious drops
are either placed on Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, gourmet ice creams or vine
ripened fruits.
What to Drink?
Well, that should be obvious. It’s not coffee, soda or
water. Cheese’s partner on the dining table is that other fermented beverage,
vino! And while fruitier, higher acid white wines usually pair with most
cheeses because fruit flavors in white wine complement the rich and salty
qualities of most cheeses the same way fruit compotes pair with cheese, there
are also several red wines that marry well with cheese. One red wine in
particular complements Parmigiano-Reggiano the same way that aged Balsamico di
Modena works. Amarone di Valpolicella has those same sweet and sour flavors as
a great Balsamico, just not as intense so that you can enjoy a full glass of
Amarone instead of just a few precious drops. You see, the aging with Amarone
di Valpolicella doesn’t involve letting those bottles age for years in your
wine cellar but the aging occurs before the grapes are even pressed. Ripe
Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes in looser bunches traditionally are
left on straw mats for 120 days to slowly dry thus concentrating their flavors
and sugars. The additional aging time also causes chemical polymerization of
the tannins in the grape skins balancing the flavor profile of the finished
wine. After 4 months, the semi-dried grapes are pressed then fermented like
traditional Valpolicella (the same Valpolicella wines found in your local
supermarket) but the additional dry aging creates a richer, concentrated wine
like the concentration found in Balsamico.
What Else Ages
Well?
Other than Lena Horne, Rita Moreno and Park Ranger Betty
Reid Soskin, distilled spirits also get better with age. There’s something
about letting any distilled spirit rest quietly in a wooden barrel for a year
or two… or twelve that mellows the alcohol and introduces a host of aromas and
flavors that changes it from simple moonshine to elegant libation. As Colonel
Sherman Potter from M*A*S*H once stated “there’s not enough O’s in smoooth to
describe it”. Of course this extended aging does increase your cost for the
final product as 3 year old bourbon is usually in the $25 range with 12 year
old in the $50 range and 20 year old bourbon pushing the $$$.
And spirits aged at the distillery aren’t your only options
to sample the favorable effects of aging. The younger generation of mixologists
are also creating their own barrel aged cocktails right here in the 50th.
The new speakeasy, Harry’s Hardware Emporium has a whole wall of barrel aged
cocktails. Christian Self of Bevy also has a wide range of barrel aged
cocktails and 12th Ave Grill always has their barrel aged Nolet gin
(one of my favorite gins) behind their bar.
And unlike paying the high cost for 20 year old whiskey
or ponying up $15 to $20 for these barrel aged cocktails, you can create your
own in the privacy of your own home…
Oak Barrels for
Sale
I first started aging my own libations several years ago
after reading a cocktail blog site and following that writer’s lead on securing
oak barrels from the website, https://www.oakbarrelsltd.com.
Several years ago the shipping rates, though expensive as usual for the 50th,
were within reason at the time since you can craft at least five different
cocktails from 1 barrel. However, those shipping rates started rising to the
point where the shipping cost for 4 barrels was the same as the four barrels
themselves. So I searched the next best site, Amazon which not only sold oak
barrels but some shipped for free or charged just a nominal shipping fee. So
I’ve been crafting my own barrel aged cocktails since then – some for personal
consumption, others bottled as gifts.
Prepping the oak barrel is actually very simple. You
first invert the barrel to let interior wood chips to exit through the top bung
hole. You then carefully pound the spigot into the barrel with a rubber mallet.
You then fill the barrel with water capping the bung hole and let it sit
quietly for about 1 week. During the first couple of days, you might notice
water dripping from the spigot or between the staves but once the wood soaks
the water and expands, it creates a water tight seal – though I still keep the
barrel in a plastic storage container that holds more than the liquid within
just in case of a catastrophic barrel failure. After a week, simply drain the
water then fill with your cocktail of choice and let it sit for 2 weeks.
Because the charred inner surface of the barrel “softens” the alcohol and adds
its own flavor nuances, each successive cocktail will take an additional week
to age. When I reach that 5th cocktail creation, I usually just add
pure gin to create my own barrel aged gin which exits just a little lighter than
straight whiskey.
Does barrel aging actually improve the quality of cocktails? My first libation was a barrel aged Manhattan using rye whiskey, French vermouth and a healthy dose of Angostura bitters. The Mrs. who usually only partakes in sweeter cocktails and usually winces when she sips whiskey based cocktails sampled a “fresh” Manhattan made with the same rye whiskey, vermouth and bitters… Cough, cough, cough… she then sipped the barrel aged version… Mmm… she actually pulled the glass away for 2nd and 3rd sips when I tried to retrieve it. Success if I say so myself. And just for the cost of an oak barrel and several weeks of aging. Aging that I can live with…
Comments