Cut Brandy
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Cut brandy is a
liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...
made of
brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...
,
neutral grain spirit Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countr ...
and water. Sometimes,
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
is used to soften taste. It is often colored with caramel color.


Grades

Most cut brandies are graded by the relative amount of brandy it contains. Grades are represented by stars. * 0 stars, almost no brandy at all, only some bringing color to the grain liquor. * 1 star, one-quarter (1/4) of brandy * 2 stars, half of brandy (seldom used) * 3 stars, three-quarters (3/4) of brandy


Regional variants


Finland

The Finnish ''Jaloviina'' ("noble
Brännvin Brännvin (Swedish language, Swedish spelling; see ) is an old Nordic countries, Nordic term for distilled beverage, distilled liquor, generally from potatoes, grain, or (formerly) sawdust brandy, wood cellulose etc, and is today primarily used a ...
", colloquially ''Jallu'') is a cut
cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...
with 38% (one star) or 40% (three stars) ABV. It has a strong taste and 4–7 grams of sugar per liter, depending on the grade. Special or vintage batches are also bottled, these may have slightly higher alcohol and sugar content. The brandy used for Jaloviina is cognac. Jaloviina Tammi is a limited-edition bottling to celebrate the Finnish independence. Because of the stars used to grade Jaloviina, different varieties have acquired nicknames based on Finnish military ranks. No-star cut brandy is called ''vääpeli'' (non-commissioned officer), one-star cut brandy is called '' vänrikki'', two-star cut brandy is called ''luutnantti'' (
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
) and three-star cut brandy is called ''kapteeni'' (
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
). Another popular nickname for one-star cut brandy is ''seriffi'' (
sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
). In the Second World War, cognac rations distributed to troops in celebration of Marshal Mannerheim's birthday on 4 June 1942 were actually cut cognac. The bottles were labeled simply with plain military supply labels. In 2017, Lignell & Piispanen started selling a reproduction, labeled ''Puolustuslaitos Leikattua (konjakkia ja viinaa)''.


Germany

In Germany, particularly in former
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, cut brandy () is widespread. German cut brandy is never graded; a large majority of the cut brandy on the German market would fall into the zero stars category. A typical characteristic of German cut brandy is its unusual low alcohol content, generally between 28% and 32%
alcohol by volume Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of Alcohol (drug), alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest ...
. Therefore it has a very soft taste which is possibly the reason for its popularity in Germany. German cut brandy also has a very distinct taste, quite different from genuine brandy and other cut brandies like Finnish Jaloviina. Most brands of cut brandy in Germany are of East German origin and the eastern
states of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...
are also the most important market for cut brandy. This has historical reasons. In the East German
planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...
there was very often a shortage of brandy and cut brandy was produced as a substitute. Eastern German cut brandy is traditionally called ''Goldbrand'' (cut brandy with at least 10% brandy) or ''Goldkrone'' (cut brandy with at least 20% brandy), both colloquially called Goldi. The very few cut brandies of
West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...
origin do not use these names. The most popular German cut brandy is ''Wilthener Goldkrone'' which is also the most popular
distilled beverage Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. While the ...
in Germany. As of 2002, it was the best-selling spirit in Germany by volume. However, only relatively few Wilthener Goldkrone is sold in former West Germany since cut brandy is much more popular in the eastern part of the country. German cut brandy is often used for rather simple mixed drinks. If drunk neat, it is generally cooled and served in
shot glass A shot glass is a glass originally designed to hold or measure spirits or liquor, which is either imbibed straight from the glass ("a shot") or poured into a cocktail ("a drink"). An alcoholic beverage served in a shot glass and typically consu ...
es. Some, however, prefer to drink it like brandy from snifters and at room temperature.


Philippines

The largest-selling brand of cut brandy in the world, by product volume, is Emperador, a brand primarily sold in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. The brand had total annual sales volume in the range of 270–300 million liters in 2012 through 2015. The highest-selling variant of the brand is Emperador Light, which is a 27.5% ABV blend made from Spanish brandy and spirits from
sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
– likely to be in the zero-stars category. In the Philippines, it is simply called brandy, with no clear indication that it is not 100% brandy.


References

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