Cognac "Hennessy" - reviews, description and cooking at home

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Cognac is one of the strongest alcoholic drinks. Expensive types of cognac are always elite. This is the French "Hennessy", the production of which is checked personally by the country's authorities. From the article you will learn what Hennessy cognac is, reviews about it and a recipe for cooking at home.

Description

Strong alcoholic drink of the French manufacturer. The original drink includes more than 40 types of grape spirits - that's what Hennessy cognac is. Reviews about it are made by the most famous sommeliers and blenders from all over the world, and producers value their national drink as well as its recipe.

Different types of drink cost from 2 thousand rubles to 32 thousand dollars. The price mainly depends on the number of varieties of alcohol that are used in the manufacture and their aging. Cognac "Hennessy VS" always deserves special reviews.

Manufacturer

The factory is located in the province of France in the department of Charente. There are not only production facilities, but also rooms for visiting tourists - both at the factory itself and in the Hennessy cognac house. It contains a kind of history museum, where tourists can see different years of formation and development of production.

The factory provided not only a full cycle of cognac production from growing raw materials (white grapes of a special variety Ugni Blanc - high acidity berries resistant to diseases), but also independent production of containers for storage, aging and bottling. Like many years ago, strong oak is the raw material for barrels - a tree that does not warp over time and does not lose its properties. It is Hennessy cognac stored for aging in oak containers that receives the most enthusiastic reviews.

The drink is stored in huge barrels from 2 to 200 years, and it is bottled in author's glass bottles with the trademark of the plant.

Each bottle has one feature that will help the buyer to recognize whether the cognac is real in front of him - three-dimensional letters on the glass under the main label of the bottle.

Interesting fact

The name "cognac" gave the drink a place (or rather a provincial town), where for the first time in 1765 they began the active production of this strong alcohol.

But the Hennessy trademark appeared from the name of the person who laid the foundation for the creation of the plant inFrench province. Now the plant itself and the territories adjacent to it are protected by special laws of the state. In particular, it controls even the very preparation of cognac. For example, French law strictly prohibits the use of sugar in the fermentation of grape spirit to produce the finished product. Some other laws are related to the fermentation and distillation of the raw alcoholic liquid.

Cooking at home

The original cognac recipe is stored within the walls of the factory, but we will try to make a decent quality "fake" at home. In general terms, the preparation can be described as follows:

1. Harvesting sour white grapes - dry weather only.
2. Squeezing juice from berries without damaging the pits.
3. Juice filtration.
4. Juice fermentation without the use of sugar - about three weeks.
5. Distillation of the resulting liquid in a special distillation apparatus.
6. Aging the drink in a dark room and sealed containers (you can use small oak barrels).

Use only white grapes with a high degree of acidity that ripen in late autumn as the basis for cooking.

Another of the main points - the berries should not have traces of dirt, pests or any disease of the plant itself. Each of these factors can lead to deterioration of raw materials and fermentation of vinegar instead of quality alcohol.

Thus prepare in advanceraw materials to make cognac "Hennessy" at home. Reviews about it will be most positive if the alcohol is aged in a dark place for about a year or two.

What products will be needed:

• 3 liters of high-quality alcohol or home-made moonshine from white grapes;
• 1-2 allspice peas;
• 1-2 black peppercorns;
• a pinch of fresh lemon zest;
• 2 dried clove florets;
• 2 tsp black loose leaf tea;
• 1 tsp granulated sugar (white).

How to cook:

1. So, allspice and black peppercorns, together with zest, tea, cloves and sand, combine in a small linen bag. Tie tightly. It is important that the fabric for the bag is a solid beige or white color without dyes or synthetics.
2. Dip the bag into a jar of moonshine and close tightly with a silicone lid. Place in a dark place and leave there for 3-4 weeks.
3. After a while, strain the liquid through a layer of sterile gauze and bottle. Seal them tightly.
4. Place the aging bottles in a cellar or other slightly cool, dark place.

You can not use the indicated bag at all, and throw the components for insisting directly into the jar. But then the process of filtering the liquid through gauze will be a little difficult. It is also likely that a flocculent sediment will appear in the jar during storage. This must be remembered if you want to produce high-quality cognac."Hennessy". Reviews will depend on the cooking process.

It is important that at the time of infusion of alcohol with spices, there are no bright-smelling foods nearby - onions, garlic and others. Even if the drink can is closed, the smell can still penetrate and noticeably spoil your cognac.

Additional ingredients

As additional ingredients, you can take other spices to your liking. You will get a separated copy of cognac, but it will have exactly the taste and aroma that you appreciate.

Reviews

Reviews of cognac "Hennessy VS" from the masters of blending say that:

1. Deep flavors of prunes are clearly felt in every sip, the aroma is tart and deep with hints of milk chocolate, spices and flower honey ("Hennessy XO" 40%).
2. The taste of the drink is slightly vanilla, a cinnamon and nutty shade is given out, the finish of the drink is creamy, refined with a chocolate bouquet (Hennessy vsop cognac).

Reviews about homemade drink will be somewhat different, the bouquet is more pronounced, the taste is deeper and bitter.