The Price Of Fizz Rises As Travel Declines
The bubbles in beer and soft drinks come from added carbon dioxide, which is a byproduct of making ethanol. Ethanol is mixed into gasoline by federal mandate, but with drastically decreased air and ground travel due to COVID-19 lockdowns, the demand for gasoline has been low, forcing many ethanol plants to close. As a result, carbon dioxide production has fallen by about 30% compared to last year’s levels, according to the Compressed Gas Association. That has caused the price of carbon dioxide to go up.
A spokeswoman for the Coca-Cola Company reports that the decrease in carbon-dioxide production has been offset by decreased demand for soft drinks in restaurants and stadiums, most of which are still closed. “We do not foresee any concerns about supply at this time,” she said. However, brewing companies are already feeling the pinch. Since April, Vinnie Cilurzo, owner of Russian River Brewing, has been paying 25% more for the carbon dioxide that goes into his company’s beer. Bob Pease, president of the Brewers Association trade group, says that brewers may soon begin passing cost increases on to customers as restaurants and stadiums begin to reopen.
In Thailand, Strawberry Fanta Has Become The Preferred Spiritual Offering
Thailand, a predominantly Buddhist country smaller than Texas, has become the fourth largest market for Fanta soft drinks–but not just because it tastes good. Many Thais buy Fanta to please the spirits. According to Bangkok bartender Vipop Jinapha, red strawberry flavored Fanta can help you convince the gods to grant your prayers.
Shrines and spirit houses dot the streets and countryside of the small Asian country, providing shelter for the animist spirits, whose traditional homes such as trees and fields are often destroyed by construction. Worshippers who want the spirits to answer their prayers leave bottles of strawberry Fanta as an offering at the shrines, straws at the ready. The red color is key, says Bangkok resident and nonprofit staffer Christina Krause. Many residents of Bangkok have family roots in China, where red is a lucky color, she explains. The color is also close to that of a more traditional sweet offering, nam ya thai thip, a mix of palm sugar and herbs. Red, sweet, and convenient, strawberry Fanta just happens to hit all the marks for worshippers. Plus, as Jinapha says, “It just tastes good.”
Climate Change Puts The Squeeze On French Wine
Merlot, one of the world’s most popular red wines, may be at risk of extinction. Warmer temperatures have been ripening the grapes faster, leaving them with additional sugars, which eventually affects the wine’s alcohol content, acidity level, and even its color. Scientists say Merlot will be the first traditional grape variety at risk due to climate change.
Bordeaux, France, is widely considered to be the world’s wine capital, accounting for 16% of all wines made worldwide, and about 60% of Bordeaux vineyards consist of Merlot grapes. France is also the largest international wine consumer, and the wine industry now rakes in 7.6 billion euros in exports while employing over half a million people and attracting 24 million visitors to France’s wine regions annually. To help preserve France’s vibrant wine culture far into the future, laboratories in Bordeaux are now experimenting with replacements for Merlot, new wines that can survive in a changing climate.
Since the 1980s, Bordeaux’s harvest has been occurring earlier and earlier, giving French wines higher levels of alcohol. Some French regions, like Champagne and Alsace in Northern France, have benefitted from these warmer temperatures. Winemakers in these regions report that, since 2017, droughts have actually helped reduce the amount of mildew on vines. However, as average temperatures are expected to soon rise by 2° to 4°C, other French winemakers are scrambling to adapt. To help, the Science Institute of Vine and Wine (ISVV) is researching grape varieties to see how they handle different temperatures and diseases. Likewise, the Laccave project has gathered experts from various French institutes and universities to measure how climate change is affecting vineyards across and to offer winemakers guidance on adapting to changing conditions.
Bartenders Embrace Ube As Key Cocktail Ingredient
Ube (pronounced OOH-Bay) is a purple yam, now used as a cocktail ingredient. Ube’s unique flavor caught traction after its use among second-generation Filipino chefs in 2017. Ube gave ice cream a purple-tint, and in chicken and ube waffles at New York’s Maharlika. Around 2018 and 2019, bars started using ube typically with tropical-style ingredients. White spirits became fundamental for ube drinks, as they helped highlight ube’s violet hue.
Stephen Andrews, general Manager of Chicago-based gastropub Billy Sunday, uses ube powder and concentrate for his Tropic of Cancer cocktail. Like other bartenders, Andrew mixes ube into syrups rather than using it straight, as only a small amount is enough. Only two to three drops allows for a starchy texture and some vanilla aroma. Ube has more uses than just it’s eye-catching purple appeal.
Brewers Dump Unsold Beer, Distillers Turn It Into Whiskey
As restaurants and sports stadiums remain closed due to the coronavirus, many food and drink businesses have pivoted to find new markets for their products. In Minneapolis, Bauhaus Brew Labs was forced to dump 900 gallons of its craft beer because it had reached its point of peak quality in storage. Beer distributors nationwide are sitting on stacks of unneeded kegs slowly approaching their expiration dates.
Some breweries are getting creative, providing crowlers (32-ounce cans) filled with draft beer. However, cans are in short supply and crowlers require expensive sealing machines. Crank Arm Brewing, in Raleigh, North Carolina has turned to plastic instead. Every week, Crank Arm sells 150 gallons of draft beer in plastic milk jugs.
Vermont beverage distributor Farrell Distributing is delivering kegs of beer to the Aqua ViTea Kombucha company. At Aqua ViTea, they decant and distill the beer, then donate it to Caledonia Spirits to make hand sanitizer. WhistlePig distillery in Shoreham, Vermont is making whiskey out of Farrell’s decanted beer. While these grassroots efforts help, most beer at craft breweries around the nation will not be saved.
Hybrid Grapes May Improve Wine Sustainability
One species of grape vine, Vitis vinifera, accounts for 98 percent of the wine we drink today, including varietals like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The remaining 2 percent comes from hybrid vines, and the wine world may be looking at a new normal working with more and more hybrids. The challenge with vinifera is their inability to naturally fight off diseases. For centuries, winemakers have routinely sprayed copper and sulfur on the vines to combat disease, and modern winemakers also use fungicides. However, concerns over the environmental impact of these viticulture practices have pushed wine experts to experiment with more and more hybrids.
Hybrids have historically been viewed as a lower quality alternative to vinifera. For instance, New York’s Finger Lakes region had been a hybrid-based wine industry until Ukrainian immigrant, Dr. Konstantin Frank, introduced vinifera to the region. Vinifera developed a reputation for producing more serious, dry wines, while hybrids became associated with cheap, sweet tasting wine, a perception that continues to this day.
But hybrids are showing promise not just in the field but also in the glass. The hybrids generating the most interest today are crossbred grape varieties with at least 85 percent vinifera in their genomes. These so-called PIWI or Pilzwiderstandsfähige (fungus-resistant) vines significantly reduce the environmental impact of treating vinifera. Jan Matthias Klein, a German winemaker who has been experimenting with PIWIs, says, “Quality-wise they’re on a par with traditional varieties.” Hybrid wines have been doing well in blind tastings in the area, and winegrowers have high hopes that hybrid wines may be on the brink of a resurgence.
Beyond Tequila: Diverse Agave Spirits Available In More Markets
The U.S. imports more tequila than any other country. Technically, tequila is a type of mezcal, a term encompassing any spirit that is distilled from the agave plant. Tequila is distilled from a particular species of the plant, Agave tequilana Weber var. azul or blue agave. But other spirits distilled from agave go by different names, including raicilla, bacanero, and sotol. These spirits taste more complex than most tequilas with a wide variety of flavor notes, including hints of cured ham, soft cheese, and cilantro.
Raicilla earned DO status (denominación de origen) in June 2019 and is made mostly in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, including in Puerto Vallarta. The agave there grows near the sea, often lending this spirit a minerally, briny taste along with hints of black pepper and citrus.
Bacanora was granted DO status in 2000 after being prohibited as moonshine for most of the 20th century. This spirit is made only from Agave Pacifica (A. angustifolia) in the dry Sonora desert region that borders Arizona and the Gulf of California. The dusty climate gives bacanora a drier, less smoky taste.
Sotol is made with the desert shrub Dasylirion, a different plant altogether. Various species of Dasylirion create different flavor nuances in sotol, but sotol usually has a gentle smoky finish from various woods such as acacia, mesquite and oak used to roast the shrub before distilling the liquid.
Cristalino Clearly A New Type of Tequila
There’s a relatively new tequila in town. Just don’t call it tequila. Cristalino is a clear, oak-aged tequila filtered with charcoal similar to the way many white rums are made. Mature tequila may be labeled blanco (white, aged 2 months or less), Joven (young or gold, typically a blend that’s colored with caramel coloring), reposado (aged at least 2 months), añejo (extra-aged at least 1 year), or extra-añejo (ultra-aged), depending on whether the spirit was barrel aged for two months or for several years. Cristalino is white like a blanco but must be aged for at least two months, so it tastes more like a reposado or añejo. The amber color imparted from barrel-aging is removed via charcoal filtration, giving the spirit its name.
The first commercial cristalino was launched in 2012 by Don Julio as “Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro.” It was recently renamed, Don Julio Añejo Cristalino. Many tequila producers have released cristalino bottlings, but use other terms without referencing “Cristalino” in the name, making the category more obscure as a whole. Producers also have more labeling freedom because cristalino may be barrel-aged anywhere from 2 months to several years, deepening the flavors, yet the spirit remains clear in color.
Coronavirus Shakes Up American Wine Industry
American wineries are beginning to lose their nerve as business customers in restaurants, bars, and tasting rooms dwindle amid the pandemic shutdown. Much of the wine industry is scrambling for solutions.
Matt and Sara Licklider—owners of Lioco Wine Company, a small wine producer in California—recently furloughed their nine-person staff, including themselves. The decision came after the company faced steep revenue losses due to restaurant and tasting room closures, which make up for the majority of its sales. As the coronavirus eats away at the hospitality industry, independent businesses owners aren’t going down without a fight. “We aren’t going anywhere,” Sara Licklider said. “But I’m not sure what our business will look like on the other side of all this.”
While some wineries simply put things on hold, others have been able to hang in there with meager sales. “I expected sales to crash for months,” said Phillippe Langner, owner of Hesperian Wines, “but in fact they haven’t…I can still work.” Langner has been able to keep his business alive with cost-cutting measures such as dropping the price of his $150 cabernet by half and maintaining a small staff.
As circumstances grow tense in the hospitality industry, American wineries are both hopeful and fearful of what’s to come.
Yes, Women Drink Beer and Brew It Too
Beer bros aren’t the only players in the game. Mariana Schneider launched Gangsta Ladies of Wort (GLOW) to prove the point. GLOW is a global activist organization that brews collaboration beers and advocates for marginalized people in the brewing industry, including women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. GLOW aims to provide marginalized beer professionals with employment opportunities, financial aid, education, safety, and when necessary, counseling.
According to a 2019 survey by The Brewers Association, a craft beer trade group, only 7.5% of breweries employed women in brewing roles, while 54% of service positions were staffed by women. The study also revealed that among the 54% of breweries owned by a single person, 96% were owned by men. These gender disparities run through typical brewery salaries as well. Data from the popular beer website Beervana (based on information from Glassdoor and Payscale) shows that the average salary for entry-level brewery employees is between $22,000 and $29,000 in San Diego. However, entry-level female brewery employees can expect to earn 11% less than males. Part of GLOW’s mission is to overcome these employment and economic disparities.
