The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is Pastis, Exactly? - The Louche Effect and How to Serve It - Pastis vs. Ouzo vs. Absinthe - Cocktails and Modern Uses - Food Pairings - Why Pastis Works for a Group Tasting - Common Questions - Building Pastis Into a Corporate Tasting - Planning a Pastis Tasting for Your Team - Further Reading I've poured a lot of anise spirits for corporate groups over the years, and pastis is the one that consistently gets the most confused reaction. People know absinthe by reputation and ouzo from vacation, but pastis — despite being the actual best-selling spirit in France, outselling whiskey and cognac in its home market — barely registers outside wine and spirits circles here. That's a shame, because it's one of the easiest anise spirits to build a group tasting around: lower proof than absinthe, more approachable than straight ouzo, and it comes with a built-in ritual — the slow pour of water that turns it cloudy — that gives a group something to watch and t...

Table of Contents - What Is Pastis, Exactly? - The Louche Effect and How to Serve It - Pastis vs. Ouzo vs. Absinthe - Cocktails and Modern Uses - Food Pairings - Why Pastis Works for a Group Tasting - Common Questions - Building Pastis Into a Corporate Tasting - Planning a Pastis Tasting for Your Team - Further Reading I've poured a lot of anise spirits for corporate groups over the years, and pastis is the one that consistently gets the most confused reaction. People know absinthe by reputation and ouzo from vacation, but pastis — despite being the actual best-selling spirit in France, outselling whiskey and cognac in its home market — barely registers outside wine and spirits circles here. That's a shame, because it's one of the easiest anise spirits to build a group tasting around: lower proof than absinthe, more approachable than straight ouzo, and it comes with a built-in ritual — the slow pour of water that turns it cloudy — that gives a group something to watch and t...

Table of Contents - What Is Sambuca, Exactly? - Con la Mosca and the Flaming Ritual - Sambuca vs. Pastis vs. Ouzo vs. Absinthe - Cocktails and Modern Uses - Running a Sambuca Tasting for a Group - Bringing a Sambuca Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I've written up pastis, ouzo, and absinthe over the past few weeks, and every time, someone in the comments or at an actual tasting asks the same question: "what about sambuca?" It's a fair ask. Sambuca is probably the anise spirit most Americans have actually had — usually as a shot with three coffee beans floating in it at the end of an Italian dinner — but almost nobody could tell you what makes it different from ouzo or pastis beyond "it's the sweet one." That gap between familiarity and actual understanding is exactly the kind of thing that makes for a great group tasting, so here's the real rundown on sambuca: what it is, where it comes from, why it gets set on fire in bars, and how it stacks u...

Table of Contents - What Is Sambuca, Exactly? - Con la Mosca and the Flaming Ritual - Sambuca vs. Pastis vs. Ouzo vs. Absinthe - Cocktails and Modern Uses - Running a Sambuca Tasting for a Group - Bringing a Sambuca Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading I've written up pastis, ouzo, and absinthe over the past few weeks, and every time, someone in the comments or at an actual tasting asks the same question: "what about sambuca?" It's a fair ask. Sambuca is probably the anise spirit most Americans have actually had — usually as a shot with three coffee beans floating in it at the end of an Italian dinner — but almost nobody could tell you what makes it different from ouzo or pastis beyond "it's the sweet one." That gap between familiarity and actual understanding is exactly the kind of thing that makes for a great group tasting, so here's the real rundown on sambuca: what it is, where it comes from, why it gets set on fire in bars, and how it stacks u...

Table of Contents - What Is Pet-Nat, Exactly? - How Pet-Nat Is Made - Pet-Nat vs. Champagne vs. Prosecco - Where Pet-Nat Comes From - Food Pairings - Running a Pet-Nat Tasting for a Group - Common Questions - Bringing a Pet-Nat Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading Every wine list in the country seems to have a pet-nat on it now, usually with a hand-drawn label and a name that sounds more like a band than a wine. I get asked about it constantly at tastings — people know it's trendy, they know it's "natural," and almost nobody can actually explain what makes it different from a regular sparkling wine. Which is a shame, because the actual answer is one of the more genuinely interesting winemaking stories out there, and it's a lot older than the trend cycle suggests. This guide covers what pet-nat actually is, how it's made, how it compares to Champagne and Prosecco, and how to build it into a tasting that turns a trendy word into something your group actually u...

Table of Contents - What Is Pet-Nat, Exactly? - How Pet-Nat Is Made - Pet-Nat vs. Champagne vs. Prosecco - Where Pet-Nat Comes From - Food Pairings - Running a Pet-Nat Tasting for a Group - Common Questions - Bringing a Pet-Nat Tasting to Your Team - Further Reading Every wine list in the country seems to have a pet-nat on it now, usually with a hand-drawn label and a name that sounds more like a band than a wine. I get asked about it constantly at tastings — people know it's trendy, they know it's "natural," and almost nobody can actually explain what makes it different from a regular sparkling wine. Which is a shame, because the actual answer is one of the more genuinely interesting winemaking stories out there, and it's a lot older than the trend cycle suggests. This guide covers what pet-nat actually is, how it's made, how it compares to Champagne and Prosecco, and how to build it into a tasting that turns a trendy word into something your group actually u...