Brandy

The origins of brandy were clearly tied to the development of distillation. While the process was known in the classical times, it wasn't used for significant beverage production up until the 15th century. Earlier distillation was on a very small scale and was mainly for perfumes and medicine.

Initially wine was distilled as a preservation method and as a way to make it easier for merchants to transport. In the early 16th century, a Dutchman trader invented the way to ship more wine in the limited cargo space by removing water from the wine. Then he could add the water back to the concentrated wine at the destination port in Holland. The Dutch called it "brandewijn," meaning "burned wine," which later became "brandy." It is also thought that wine was originally distilled to lessen the tax which was assessed by volume.

It was discovered that after having been stored in wooden casks, the resulting product had improved over the original distilled spirit. In addition to removing water, the distillation process led to the formation and decomposition of numerous aromatic compounds, fundamentally altering the composition of the distillate from its source. Non-volatile substances such as pigments, sugars, and salts remained behind in the still. As a result, the taste of the distillate was often quite unlike that of the original source.

As most brandies have been distilled from grapes, the regions of the world producing excellent brandies have roughly paralleled those areas producing grapes for viniculture. At the end of the 19th century, the western European markets, including by extension their overseas empires, were dominated by French and Spanish brandies and eastern Europe was dominated by brandies from the Black Sea region, including Bulgaria, the Crimea, and Georgia.

Cognac was born during the 17th century, when the Cognacais began double distillation. Cognac is still produced by double distillation in pot stills and aged in new oak casks for one year. After the distillation, it is transferred to used oak casks for aging. Back then, Brandy was one of the essential French products for their economic growth. It was first exported to Holland and spread to England, Far East, and New World. In the New World, brandy was first produced by the Spanish Missions in California in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, American brandies are mostly distilled in California where the grape grows.

Fruit brandies are made from apple, peach, apricots, blackberry, and cherry etc. Applejack, Apple brandies and Calvados are distilled from apple cider.