|
print
BUZZ - Trends, News and Views
By Editor: September 2007,
 |
||
 |
Want to read more? |
|
 |
||
Our quick (and unscientific) look at some of the trends and news we find interesting and relevant.
Chilled, dry sherry a great summer pick-me-up
So says Globe and Mail columnist Beppi Crosariol in the August 1st edition, in which he sings the praises of sherry (the dry version; not the sweet, amber variety) as the wine equivalent of a “bracing, dry martini. I think of dry sherry as the 19th-century, dime-a-dozen oyster of our time –“ writes Crosariol, “wildly affordable decadence to be hoovered down before some wise-guy capitalist clues in and starts jacking up the price.” The full column offers a good in-depth look at sherry varieties, and you can read it here.
Cocktails go on a health kick
In an era of “natural” cigarettes, trans-fat-free chips and low-carb beer, it is probably no surprise that that last guilty pleasure, the cocktail, is trying to atone for its sins. Fans of organic food and low-sugar diets are embracing the “healthier cocktail,” and mixologists at trendy bars, restaurants and clubs in New York and Los Angeles have begun creating concoctions from organic fruit and vegetable purées and vitamin-filled sports drinks instead of gooey syrups. At the same time, a new generation of liquor brands built around herbal extracts and antioxidant-rich ingredients like green tea, pomegranate and the Brazilian açaí berry (the current “it” fruit) have hit the market. A contemporary example: The Vitamin Dj, mixed from freshly juiced organic carrots, Granny Smith apple juice, elderflower liqueur and vodka, introduced a few weeks ago at the Midtown Manhattan restaurant Django.
(excerpted from The New York Times)
Cork vs. the screwcap: An environmental issue?
It seems your wine bottle stopper isn’t just a way of keeping the wine in the bottle.
On one side, after hundreds of years of tradition, more and more winemakers are turning away from cork closures toward screwcaps. They argue that cork’s unpredictability can lead to tainted wine (from a compound called TCA, sometimes present in cork), and because a typical wine cork contains millions of air-filled cells, can cause inconsistent aging of the wine. Screwcaps, on the other hand, let in less air, and since their cellular composition is man-made, their proponents say the caps offer a more controlled oxidation process that allows wine to age as the winemaker intended.
On the other side is the centuries-old cork industry. The cork oak tree, whose thick, regenerating bark is shaved off to make cork, covers about 10,400 sq. mi. (2.7 million hectares) in its native Mediterranean habitats of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Italy, Tunisia and France. Yielding cork oaks aren't ever cut down; once a decade or so, their thick bark is harvested in huge strips from the trunk of the tree. Today, the survival of cultivated cork forests, many of which are on private land, depends on their worth. If nobody is buying cork, landowners will use the farmland for something else. This led the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to launch a program in 2004 encouraging consumers to "choose cork" to protect the forests, the biodiversity they support and the thousands of rural jobs they create. It seems, however, that Americans, along with Canadians, Danes and Germans, have been slow to give up the "pop" of their wine-drinking experience -- cork stoppers are still atop 80 per cent of wine bottles, and conservationists hoping that number doesn’t go anywhere but up.
(with files from Time magazine’s August 22/07 issue)
FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS FROM OUR FRIENDS AT TETLEY TEA 
What’s at the top of every great host’s
entertaining essentials list? Aside from
delightful company and delicious cocktails,
perfect music for the occasion is the key
to setting the party mood. Tetley makes
putting together a party playlist a breeze.
Shake up your favourite tea-tini for your
guests while they enjoy the great tunes
you’ve downloaded from the Tetley Music Lounge!
Get two Free Music Downloads every month from your favorite Canadian artists and take advantage of contests, special offers, product updates and more by signing up to be a
Tetley website member at the Tetley Music Lounge »
Ever tried a Tea Martini? Check out our article on creating one »
