Whiskey and water?

[RichardE]

I'm out of pop (or soda if you call it that..)

Anyone ever try Whiskey and Water with lemon?

 

[xanis]

Crown Royal

GO

 

[keird]

Just a drop of water, though. Seriously. It warms the whiskey chemically. It brings out the bouquet.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: keird
Just a drop of water, though. Seriously. It warms the whiskey chemically. It brings out the bouquet.

Hmm, so no ice than? Chilled whiskey with a drop of water?

 

[keird]

You can drink your booze however you want. For single malts, just a couple of drops of water for the above results.

Edit: Use a snifter for single malts, too.

 

[LS21]

"bourbon and branch"

 

[compuwiz1]

Originally posted by: LS21
"bourbon and branch"

Michelle Branch?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I just drink whiskey on ice. When I was younger I drank it with Coke, then 7-11, then club soda, and now just on the rocks, with a separate glass of water as a chaser.

 

[clamum]

I've seen my uncle drink whiskey and water before. He said he did it to lessen the hangover cause of the water. I've had Crown and water at the bar a few times, pretty good stuff.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: keird
You can drink your booze however you want. For single malts, just a couple of drops of water for the above results.

Edit: Use a snifter for single malts, too.

I find that a single-malt glass (e.g. Riedel's) is better than the traditional snifter.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Cut the whiskey with same amount of water. No ice.

 

[Descartes]

I think it depends on the serving temperature. I'm not a chemist, but being a bit of a wine fanatic I know that the alcohol tends to be more pronounced at higher temperatures. In my experience, the same is true of whisky. People serving it at the average room temperature is too warm.

I prefer it just slightly below room temperature (~65-70F), so for that a little bit of cooler water will suffice. With ice, all the nuance of a good whisky is gone. I think it's fine for blended though, and I love to drink a Rusty Nail with JWB or even Glenlivet.

Oh, and not to be snobby about it, but people here are interchanging whisky and whiskey. Not the same thing.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Descartes
I think it depends on the serving temperature. I'm not a chemist, but being a bit of a wine fanatic I know that the alcohol tends to be more pronounced at higher temperatures. In my experience, the same is true of whisky. People serving it at the average room temperature is too warm.

I prefer it just slightly below room temperature (~65-70F), so for that a little bit of cooler water will suffice. With ice, all the nuance of a good whisky is gone. I think it's fine for blended though, and I love to drink a Rusty Nail with JWB or even Glenlivet.

Oh, and not to be snobby about it, but people here are interchanging whisky and whiskey. Not the same thing.

Might be an old wives-tale, but I was under the impression that room temperature in scotland is actually ~ 10F cooler than what we have here in the states. With that said, i do enjoy my whiskey around 50-60 F. Oh man, I have a desire for Glenlivet Rusty Nail right now

 

[Taejin]

Originally posted by: compuwiz1

Originally posted by: LS21
"bourbon and branch"

Michelle Branch?

what happened to her anyways? was pretty attractive songwise and lookwise

 

[grohl]

I used to have whiskey and a splash of water on ice.

Then I skipped the water, then the ice, usually drink it straight up at home.

Definitely have to have a taste for it.

 

[Babbles]

Drink shitty whiskey anyway you want.

I am a fan of Scotch and I like to put a very small splash of carbonated soda - seltzer - into my Scotch. I think the carbonation helps with the flavor, but regardless to really drink good whiskey you should put a splash of non-flavored water into it.

 

[sjwaste]

Originally posted by: Babbles
Drink shitty whiskey anyway you want.

I am a fan of Scotch and I like to put a very small splash of carbonated soda - seltzer - into my Scotch. I think the carbonation helps with the flavor, but regardless to really drink good whiskey you should put a splash of non-flavored water into it.

So something that's 50-60% water needs just a couple drops more to open it up?

Come on, the only thing worse than a beer snob is a whiskey snob. You put water in it to cut down on the alcohol flavor so you can pick up everything else. You put more than a couple of drops in, too.

It's funny, my Scottish buddies don't talk like this. They add water so it doesn't taste purely of alcohol, and they're not shy about it. Ice too.

If you want to drink it straight, go for it, but don't pretend a couple of drops of water does anything to it.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: sjwaste

Originally posted by: Babbles
Drink shitty whiskey anyway you want.

I am a fan of Scotch and I like to put a very small splash of carbonated soda - seltzer - into my Scotch. I think the carbonation helps with the flavor, but regardless to really drink good whiskey you should put a splash of non-flavored water into it.

So something that's 50-60% water needs just a couple drops more to open it up?

Come on, the only thing worse than a beer snob is a whiskey snob. You put water in it to cut down on the alcohol flavor so you can pick up everything else. You put more than a couple of drops in, too.

It's funny, my Scottish buddies don't talk like this. They add water so it doesn't taste purely of alcohol, and they're not shy about it. Ice too.

If you want to drink it straight, go for it, but don't pretend a couple of drops of water does anything to it.

I don't recall saying "couple of drops" - if that is exactly what I said then please show me exactly where I said this. In fact I will double-triple-dog dare you to find exactly where I said this (I suppose you can define "splash" as a couple of drops, but I think that puts you in some sort of super idiotic minority).

Also, and I know this is going to blow your small-minded view awry, but volumes are relative.

I'll allow a moment for this to sink in.

I typically only drink a finger (or so) nightly and as such I put a small splash of water in it. If I had a larger amount, then *gasp* I would put in more than a "couple of drops" (your words, not mine) into the whiskey. I am not even sure what point you are trying to pointlessly aim for with "50-60%" water has to do with anything, but depending on volume a small amount of additional water may very well change the concentration of "50-60%" water or alcohol. Go drink a near beer at 3% alcohol by volume compared to one at 5% alcohol by volume; a little water may make a significant impact.

Than you have the change in potential vapor pressure of the esters and alcohols in the whiskey. But, what do I know I've only done analytical chemistry professionally for ten years.

It has nothing to do with snobbery but rather with personal taste.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: sjwaste

Originally posted by: Babbles
Drink shitty whiskey anyway you want.

I am a fan of Scotch and I like to put a very small splash of carbonated soda - seltzer - into my Scotch. I think the carbonation helps with the flavor, but regardless to really drink good whiskey you should put a splash of non-flavored water into it.

So something that's 50-60% water needs just a couple drops more to open it up?

Come on, the only thing worse than a beer snob is a whiskey snob. You put water in it to cut down on the alcohol flavor so you can pick up everything else. You put more than a couple of drops in, too.

It's funny, my Scottish buddies don't talk like this. They add water so it doesn't taste purely of alcohol, and they're not shy about it. Ice too.

I agree with everything else, but the ice I highly doubt.

And your point isn't really valid. They grew up with whisky, so not only do they not call it scotch they don't treat it with the same level of reverence that we do.

America is great for a lot of things. If anything, credit is due to giving higher treatment to something that might otherwise be very ordinary for most people. This goes for wine, tea, coffee, whisky, beer, etc.

It reminds me of a commercial: America might not make a lot of the products you buy, but we make a lot of the products you buy better.

If you want to drink it straight, go for it, but don't pretend a couple of drops of water does anything to it.

I agree. Like I said in my earlier post, temperature can have a lot to do with moderating the alcohol flavor without killing the body with water.

To each their own. I don't care if the Scottish drank it with turpentine.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: sjwaste

Originally posted by: Babbles
Drink shitty whiskey anyway you want.

I am a fan of Scotch and I like to put a very small splash of carbonated soda - seltzer - into my Scotch. I think the carbonation helps with the flavor, but regardless to really drink good whiskey you should put a splash of non-flavored water into it.

So something that's 50-60% water needs just a couple drops more to open it up?

Come on, the only thing worse than a beer snob is a whiskey snob. You put water in it to cut down on the alcohol flavor so you can pick up everything else. You put more than a couple of drops in, too.

It's funny, my Scottish buddies don't talk like this. They add water so it doesn't taste purely of alcohol, and they're not shy about it. Ice too.

If you want to drink it straight, go for it, but don't pretend a couple of drops of water does anything to it.

I don't recall saying "couple of drops" - if that is exactly what I said then please show me exactly where I said this. In fact I will double-triple-dog dare you to find exactly where I said this (I suppose you can define "splash" as a couple of drops, but I think that puts you in some sore of super idiotic minority).

Also, and I know this is going to blow your small-minded view awry, but volumes are relative.

I'll allow a moment for this to sink in.

I typically only drink a finger (or so) nightly and as such I put a small splash of water in it. If I had a larger amount, then *gasp* I would put in more than a "couple of drops" (your words, not mine) into the whiskey. I am not even sure what point you are trying to pointlessly aim for with "50-60%" water has to do with anything, but depending on volume a small amount of additional water may very well change the concentration of "50-60%" water or alcohol. Go drink a near beer at 3% alcohol by volume compared to one at 5% alcohol by volume; a little water may make a significant impact.

Than you have the change in potential vapor pressure of the esters and alcohols in the whiskey. But, what do I know I've only done analytical chemistry professionally for ten years.

It has nothing to do with snobbery but rather with personal taste.

If that's true, then can we put this water vs. no water, temperature, alcohol aroma/flavor, etc. on a proper footing?

People talk idiomatically about water, neat and with ice but don't know why; some people just say that's the way to do it.

Not being a chemist, in wine I always looked at certain aromatics with respect to their known surface tensions. Temperature would mean some with higher/lower surface tensions might be more pronounced. Likewise with whisky. So, what about the water? Cutting it reduces body and some of the aromatics in the process, so unless there's some chemical magic going on I don't see the point.

My only point is that cutting the temperature slightly has the effect of getting under that surface tension threshold of the alcohol and therefore better balancing the aroma and flavor.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: Descartes


I agree. Like I said in my earlier post, temperature can have a lot to do with moderating the alcohol flavor without killing the body with water.

I am not a food chemist and I do not want to pretend to be one, but temperature may be a placebo effect when it comes to alcohol. The boiling point of ethanol is ~78ºC or ~173ºF and as such one should not be losing any significant amount of ethanol when it is at room temperature or even slightly above (a la cognac). With that being said, though, the vapor pressure of ethanol is high enough that it is quite volatile at room temperature (obviously seen), however ethanol is more than highly soluble in water. Meaning that ethanol could preferentially dissolve into the water of the whisky rather than the headspace (i.e. air) above it.

So on one hand perhaps temperature does have a real measurable impact in regards to ethanol, but on the other hand based on my reasoning I really don't see how typically temperature that whisky is consumed may alone may significantly affect things.

Although, keep in mind, that so many alcoholic beverages typically have so many flavonoids, that to be concerned solely with ethanol is somewhat silly.

 

[sourceninja]

I always drink bourbon and ice.

 

[Babbles]

Originally posted by: Descartes

If that's true, then can we put this water vs. no water, temperature, alcohol aroma/flavor, etc. on a proper footing?

People talk idiomatically about water, neat and with ice but don't know why; some people just say that's the way to do it.

Not being a chemist, in wine I always looked at certain aromatics with respect to their known surface tensions. Temperature would mean some with higher/lower surface tensions might be more pronounced. Likewise with whisky. So, what about the water? Cutting it reduces body and some of the aromatics in the process, so unless there's some chemical magic going on I don't see the point.

My only point is that cutting the temperature slightly has the effect of getting under that surface tension threshold of the alcohol and therefore better balancing the aroma and flavor.

First off I think it is reasonable to say that the typical whisky is somewhere between 40 - 60% alcohol, which is really a pretty good amount of booze. As such I personally feel that there is probably be a 'magic' amount (I am sure different with each person) of water that can be added to slightly dilute the alcohol 'feel' of the drink without really making a significantly negative impact on the body and mouth-feel of the drink. Personally I really like the taste of Scotch, but I don't necessarily want to get shit-faced when drinking it either and as such putting a little splash of water makes it more enjoyable for me.

With wine I think - again I am not a food chemist - that it is a different story because you are talking about a different alcohol percent in the beverage. Nobody in their right mind would dilute wine with water.

I do think temperature plays a vital part of tasting alcoholic beverages but I don't think it is really so much about the alcohol itself but rather the other flavonoids in the beverage. A common sense test would be red win.

I do not think that "surface tension" would really be the right way of describing what's going on, but rather it has to do with the vapor pressure of the various compounds at a certain temperature. Obviously all of those sugars, esters, and alcohols are soluble in water, but if you change the temperature (and pH) you are going to change the solubility and as such the potential vapor pressure. Which that in turn can give you a different "nose" and/or body to the drink. In that mix of things which are affected, is ethanol (i.e. alcohol) itself, but I really do not know how much of an impact you are going to get going from cellar temperature to slightly above room temperature (a reasonable range, in my opinion, of where one may typically experience wine and whisky).

Anyhow, getting back to water and whisky, I think the trick is to add enough to sort of "open up" the alcohol while still leaving a good body. Diluting whisky with too much water just totally ruins the body; this is pretty obvious.

I whole heartedly agree that temperature has some sort of effect, but I think it goes beyond just the alcohol (i.e. ethanol) but rather affects all of the various compounds in the mixture. I *think* that it could get so complicated that as the percent by volume of alcohol changes, the solubility of other flavonoids changes and as such the concentration of those compounds in water versus the headspace changes. Therefore, due to the concentration of one compound, the aroma and body can indeed change based on temperature (and other factors).

Essentially, nothing is simple and that is what makes a good wine and whisky so enjoyable!