Good blackberry brandy?

I'm looking for a decent blackberry brandy. It's only in a handfull of tiki drinks, but i'm a completist.

Anyone recommend a good brand?

I saw that Marie Brizard makes a blackberry liqueur, but is it a brandy? I usually swear by them and their apricot liqueur is a brandy even though it's not really labelled that way. On the other hand, Marie Brizard's peach liqueur is NOT actually a brandy as far as I know. Tricky.

Bols

it's not too hard to infuse your own.
get a decent brandy - even a cheap one. throw a bunch of blackberries in a jar; sprinkle some sugar; add brandy - let sit for 2 weeks than strain - keep in fridge it will last longer - very tasty stuff (and no artificial ingredients!)

I might go with Bols, thanks for the suggestion. They're usually my second choice after Marie Brizard.

Is there a website out there (besides this one) with good reviews of various liquor?

For instance, a good sweet vermouth, a good sherry for us non sherry drinkers who might only want to use it for a float etc.

I like the drink boy message board, but I can't seem to find a search function on that damn thing.

On 2005-06-03 10:14, JaredB wrote:
Is there a website out there (besides this one) with good reviews of various liquor?

For instance, a good sweet vermouth, a good sherry for us non sherry drinkers who might only want to use it for a float etc.

Tastings.com by the Beverage Tasting Institute is by far the best review site.

http://www.tastings.com/

For mixing, any sweet vermouth will do, but I like using Italian brands like Cinzano vs. American brands like Gallo, but you might want to splurge and try a good Spanish brand for great Manhattans. Christan Brothers or other domestic sherrys are fine for mixing, but I like to drink Spanish sherries straight.

[ Edited by: thejab on 2005-06-03 11:46 ]

On 2005-06-03 10:10, dangergirl299 wrote:
it's not too hard to infuse your own.
get a decent brandy - even a cheap one. throw a bunch of blackberries in a jar; sprinkle some sugar; add brandy - let sit for 2 weeks than strain - keep in fridge it will last longer - very tasty stuff (and no artificial ingredients!)

Would you advise mascerating the berries first? Just cutting the berries in half after washing & drying, tossing with a little sugar & letting them sit in the fridge for 1/2 an hour will extract alot of juice before adding the brandy. But covering the berries with the brandy right away will keep the berries from oxidizing & adding any "off" flavors.

I'd actually advise using a cheap, young brandy for something like this, since you want the flavor of the fruit to be out front instead of the flavor of the brandy.

On 2005-06-03 12:16, freddiefreelance wrote:

Would you advise mascerating the berries first? Just cutting the berries in half after washing & drying, tossing with a little sugar & letting them sit in the fridge for 1/2 an hour will extract alot of juice before adding the brandy. But covering the berries with the brandy right away will keep the berries from oxidizing & adding any "off" flavors.

I'd actually advise using a cheap, young brandy for something like this, since you want the flavor of the fruit to be out front instead of the flavor of the brandy.

I use the cheap stuff too - the fruit covers any alcohol flavor - but I know there are purists on board here. Korbel brandy, in my opinion, is both decent AND cheap - but I'm not a brandy expert.

I don't macerate the fruit. I think the flavor is imparted to the drink without maceration; it's less bothersome (chopping EACH berry in half? Aye, me!); and you don't want to dilute/water down the brandy with too much juice otherwise it might go bad sooner, or if you stick it in a freezer, it is watery enough to freeze solid.

On 2005-06-03 10:14, JaredB wrote:
Is there a website out there (besides this one) with good reviews of various liquor?

Here is an excellent site, but in my opinion you would either need to be a connoisseur-in-training or in the “industry” for a tax write off, as it's a subscription service (I'm cheap).
F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal

Then there is the Wine Spectator's archives of their Spirits Buying Guide... but the reviews are a year old. Free, but old.
Wine Enthusiast

"The only time I ever said no to a drink was when I misunderstood the question."

Will Sinclair

[ Edited by: JerseyRED on 2005-06-03 13:40 ]

All good links. Thanks.
Any sites like this with message boards for discussing booze? This place is great for tiki, but what about cocktails in general?

Well, THE number one site would have to be the DrinkBoy MSN message board. You can get to it through Robert Hess' website, DrinkBoy.com.

On 2005-06-03 15:33, JaredB wrote:
All good links. Thanks.
Any sites like this with message boards for discussing booze? This place is great for tiki, but what about cocktails in general?

The one stop shop for all things food and drink E-Gullet will fit the bill for you I should think. Here's the forum list for drink alone:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showforum=86

Enjoy.

Ahu

JerseyRed, thanks for putting the link to drinkboy up here, I agree it's great. But as I said above, I can't find a damn search function on it. Am I doing something stupid? Is it right there in plain site and I just could find it?

Also, though the posts on drinkboy are always top notch, it doesn't seem to get a whole lot of traffic.

Yea, not having a search engine is the worst aspect of the site.

And though there aren't many posts, you can glean a lot of information (or may even receive a direct answer) from some great bartenders and/or authors such as Gary Regan, Dale DeGroff, Ted Haigh, Audrey Saunders, David Wondrich and of course Robert Hess.

(Almost forgot someone...)

"The only time I ever said no to a drink was when I misunderstood the question."

Will Sinclair

[ Edited by: JerseyRED on 2005-06-06 17:10 ]