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Learn How to Taste Wine – Some Amazing Wine Tasting Tips for Beginners

The wine tasting culture has been around for generations, perhaps even since before recorded history, and is focused mainly on a sensory examination of the beverage’s character. However, the modern-day version has turned into an opportunity for wine-lovers to visit their favorite vineyards, try various selections, and take them home directly from the winemakers.

Great news for beginner wine lovers! From wine tasting tips to ideas for a wine tasting party, we’ve got you covered! Here are some helpful wine tasting tips for beginners.

DRESS COZY

Dressing properly for the occasion is one of the savviest wine tasting ideas. Since the trip will involve walking around for a while, casually comfy clothes and shoes can make a big difference between having an alright time and a blast. Dangling sleeves, long hair, or anything that may get in the way should be taken care of appropriately.  Nobody wants to be walking around a vineyard in stiff, uncomfortable shoes. Also, it would help if you stick to a darker wardrobe to avoid permanent and visible stains from accidentally spilled wine. A small backpack or purse will help keep everything handy as you walk through the vineyard and struggle to find enough hands to hold your glass, food, notes, and other stuff.

PLAN AHEAD

Planning out a wine tasting budget beforehand can help avoid overspending since there are so many options available, and it’s easy to get carried away after a few glasses. Hence, knowing your financial limits is essential to avoiding next-day regrets. Getting a list of all the wines featured at the event and deciding your preferences beforehand is one of the best wine tips for beginners. With preemptive planning, you can ensure that you go home with bottles of your favorite wine as a souvenir at the end of the day.

Are you on the lookout for an Online liquor store with the best wine in stock? Look no further than Arrow Liquormart, the right place to find exactly what you’re looking for – from the comfort of your home!

BE CURIOUS

The expert wine tasting professionals gladly share everything about the featured wines they pour. Amateur or professional, they love and appreciate the enthusiasm. Hence, it’s the perfect opportunity to clear all the wine-related doubts you’ve collected over the years. You may even get the chance to meet the winemaker in person and learn about the rich history and intricacies of winemaking or why they prefer certain species of grapes to make their wine. Since the tasting room personnel and the winemakers are the foremost experts on the beverage, you should ask them any questions you may be pondering about wine in general, like the best-tasting wine for beginners. Make sure to bring a notepad to jot down all the fun things you learn!

LEARN THE TECHNIQUE

One of the most critical wine tasting tips for beginners includes knowing how to hold your glass correctly. Using the proper method to grip your wine glass can enhance your tasting experience. Never cup the glass bowl as the heat from your hands can alter the flavor profile and smudge the glassware. You should always pinch the glass stem and swirl the wine before tasting to increase the oxygen content and help the wine breathe and release the best flavor.

SMELL THE WINE

Wine tasting calls for more than just your tongue, as a massive part of the taste is dependent on your olfactory receptors.  Enjoying a nice whiff of the wine before drinking is known as “wafting”. Generally, it is considered important to smell the wine so as to get acquainted with its tasting notes before sipping. A musty or raisin-like smell is a strong indication that the wine has gone wrong. You should also avoid wearing perfume, deodorant, or cologne on your wine tasting trip, as such potent scents can interfere with the ability to take in the delicate flavors of the wine.

RINSE & REPEAT

It is vital to ensure that you’re adequately hydrated while consuming significant amounts of alcohol. Wine is no exception. You should keep drinking water throughout the tasting to avoid thirst or lightheadedness. It would help if you also rinsed out your glass every time you change wines to prevent mixing flavors. One of the most influential wine tasting tips for beginners dictates starting with light-toned wines and working up to darker options; The darker the wine, the stronger the flavor.  This will make it easier to wash the lighter notes out of your glass before turning towards the stronger flavors.

Wondering where you can buy liquor online? Look no further – Arrow Liquormart has everything there for you in the stock to select from.

KEEP SNACKING

Wine tasting on an empty stomach is an easy way to get tipsy too quickly and start feeling nauseated, making it hard for you to enjoy the rest of the day. You can prevent this by taking a light meal before the event begins to give your body enough sustenance. Healthy snacks are the perfect food for wine-tasting party ideas, and most wineries also offer a variety of food options.

SPIT OR SWALLOW?

A full day of wine can make you quite drunk if you’re chugging it like beer. Controlled sipping rather than gulping or chugging is one of the best wine-tasting ideas to keep you upright at the end of the day. Seasoned wine connoisseurs spit into a spittoon when they’re done tasting. Spitting or pouring out the wine you unlike is an entirely acceptable practice. Since everyone at the wine tasting event will be spitting into a common container, you should practice precise spitting at home before the day to avoid wine backsplash on you!

STAINED TEETH

One of the most vital wine tips for beginners; too much red wine can temporarily stain your teeth. Hence keeping yourself in check while at the vineyards can help keep your teeth sparkling. Also, almost every person will have to face the same problem, so you don’t have to worry about them. However, it would be best if you refrained from brushing your teeth right after the tasting ends because the blend of toothpaste and wine is like an enamel scrubber. Drinking water and chewing gum work better.

HAVE A BLAST

Finally, it all boils down to this. All the wine tasting tips fail if you don’t have fun with the whole experience. Be serious about the tasting but not stressed about doing it like a pro. Take it as an opportunity to spend quality time with your loved ones on a classy and chic experience since there’s no obligation to impress anyone.

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Best Whiskeys to Buy at Any Liquor Store

Finding the best whiskey to buy at any liquor store can be a daunting task. There are thousands of options available, and every liquor store delivery claims to be the best around. However, if you know what you are looking for, it can be much easier to find what you want precisely when you go into our liquor store in Colorado.

Bulleit Bourbon

Bourbon | 45% ABV | Kentucky, United States

Bulleit Bourbon is medium amber in appearance with gentle spiciness and a sweet oak aroma inspired by the whiskey made by Augustus Bulleit over 150 years ago. Its complexity comes from the unique blend of rye, corn, barley, select yeast strains, and pure Kentucky water. The soft mid-palate features maple, oak, and nutmeg tones.

Its exceptionally high rye content offers a bold and spicy character with a distinctively clean and smooth finish. The long, dry, and satiny finish leaves a light toffee flavor that lingers on. The bourbon is still distilled and aged in the Bulleit family tradition. The limestone-filtered Kentucky water provides a base for the character, and charred American oak barrels lend a smoky backbone.

Crown Royal Fine Deluxe Blended Canadian Whisky

Whiskey /40% ABV / Canada

The silky texture and hints of oak and sweet vanilla in this 80 proof whisky provide a refined flavor that enhances your mood. This deluxe whisky is matured to perfection as the standard of excellence for Canadian whisky. Crown Royal is blended with 50 distinct whiskies to assure decadence in every bottle.

Fireball Cinnamon Whisky

Flavored Whiskey /33% ABV / Louisiana, United States

Imagine standing face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon who just devoured a whisky barrel full of spicy cinnamon. Fireball Cinnamon Whisky tastes like heaven but burns like hell because you get smooth whisky with a fiery hot cinnamon kick. You can enjoy it as a straight shot or with your favorite mixer.

Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey

Whiskey /40% ABV / Tennessee, United States

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is one of the world’s best whiskey to buy. Every drop is distilled and bottled at America’s oldest registered distillery, the Jack Daniel Distillery, established in 1866 in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It is made from the choicest grains like corn, rye, and barley, mixed with the iron-free water from the Cave Spring on the distillery grounds. It is charcoal mellowed through ten feet of sugar maple charcoal and matured in handcrafted white oak barrels, imparting distinct smoothness.

Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey

Whiskey /40% ABV / Tennessee, United States

Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack is an exceptionally smooth Tennessee whiskey featuring a rich taste and gentle finish. It is crafted by combining traditional methods with a unique process as it undergoes secondary charcoal mellowing to achieve exceptional smoothness.

Jameson Irish Whiskey

Whiskey /40% ABV / Ireland

Jameson Irish Whiskey is a crisp, sippable drink that has stood the test of time as perhaps the most notable whiskey available in our liquor store in Colorado. It offers hints of vanilla, cream, and fresh-cut grass with a touch of sweetness and is aged for a minimum of four years, resulting in the quintessential triple-distilled smooth and versatile liquid. The aroma is lightly floral and peppered with spice, and it boasts a perfectly balanced flavor profile with spicy, nutty, and sweet notes.

Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey

Bourbon /40% ABV / Kentucky, United States

Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey is the world’s best-selling bourbon passed down through seven generations of the original family. It uses distilled corn and malted barley aged twice as long as the law requires for unmatched flavor, setting the global benchmark for bourbon.

The liquor is aged in charred oak barrels for four years, imparting a medium body, characteristic caramel color, and distinct taste. You can taste the oaky, vanilla, and spicy backdrop in every swirl, and your taste buds are overwhelmed with a five-pronged attack of sweetness, grain, oak, char, and fruit when you finally raise your glass.

Johnnie Walker Black Label Blended Scotch Whisky

Scotch Whisky /40% ABV / Scotland

2020 Drinks International Awards recognized Johnnie Walker Black Label Blend as one of the world’s top-trending Scotch whiskies. This spirit is an impressive blend of Scotch whiskies aged for a minimum of 12 years from the four corners of Scotland with an unmistakably smooth, deep, and complex character.

Larceny Small Batch Bourbon

Bourbon /46% ABV / Kentucky, United States

Larceny Small Batch Wheated Bourbon is made with wheat instead of rye as the secondary grain to deliver a hard-to-resist smoother taste. It offers fine-tasting notes of butter, caramel, honey, and vanilla and can be paired with anything from beef and cheese to desserts.

Maker’s 46 Bourbon Whisky

Bourbon /47% ABV / Kentucky, United States

Maker’s 46 was created by Bill Samuels, Jr., inspired by the lovely flavors of Maker’s Mark. Starting with fully matured Maker’s Mark at cask strength, the innovative wood stave finishing process places seared French oak staves into the barrel. A slightly longer finish in a limestone cellar results in a bolder and more complex liquor without the typical bitterness of long-aged whiskies. This 94 proof whiskey exudes French oak and sweet caramel aroma and has a smooth and subtle finish. It has very intense flavors of wood blending nicely with richly complex notes of vanilla and caramel.

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Bourbon /45.2% ABV / Kentucky, United States

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey was first crafted in 1812 at the Woodford Reserve Distillery, a Historic Landmark built around flavor. It features a perfectly balanced taste composed of more than two hundred detectable flavor notes from bold grain and wood to sweet aromatics, spice, flowers, and fruits.

If you are old enough to buy alcohol online and are looking for the best whiskey to buy, you can order them from our online liquor store Drizly and have it delivered directly to your door, or you can pick it up from our liquor store in Littleton.

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Five Tips for Keeping Your Beer Fresh and Drinkable!

Nothing lasts forever. This saying applies to everything – vacations, delicious meals, and, unfortunately, even beer. Any beer connoisseur is aware of the degradation that happens to the aroma-producing oils and acids of beer with exposure to time, air, light, or varying temperatures. So, on the occasions that you cannot drink all the beer you have in a timely manner, you are left with quite the conundrum: how do I store beer to ensure it tastes just as fresh the next time I am craving a cold one?

Passionate beer enthusiasts have always had varying opinions about the best way of the care and keeping of ales, but most beer storage ideas are straightforward and intuitive. Once the basics are grasped, you will have the know-how to store beer to keep it fresh for the next time you need to unwind.

Here are some of the key points you ought to know about the best practices for long-term beer storage. Use these tips to keep your beer tasting crispy and fresh for days, weeks, months, or possibly even years at a time!

1. Know What You’re Drinking: Not all Beers Age the Same

Unfortunately, there is no reference book with down-to-the-day accurate charts and timelines for when a particular beer will age into the “not fresh” category. However, you can use several conventional rules of thumb of beer storage to figure out whether you should be worried about the beer’s freshness, or whether you can still stash it and enjoy a fresh beer at some point down the road. There are three main rules of thumb to consider:

Rule 1: Check the Alcohol by Volume (ABV)

You generally do not need to worry about rushing to drink a beer if it has higher than 8% ABV. Beers with higher alcohol content take far longer to go stale, as the alcohol content itself at such levels begins to act as an effective preservative.

Rule 2: Check the Brewing Style

Beers that are sour or smoked, like high-alcohol beers, stay fresh for longer. However, if your beer is an IPA or another hop-centric beer, like amber lagers, American pale ales, or strong ales, then your beer is more likely to spoil quickly. Even if the beer is 8% ABV or higher, if it is brewed heavily with hops it will spoil more quickly than a typical beer. Consuming them swiftly after purchasing is your best bet because of their hop aromatics, which add to the distinctive flavor of the beer but fade rapidly over time.

Rule 3: Check for Pasteurization

It needs to be pointed out that most craft breweries in America do not pasteurize their beers, so their shelf-life is shorter than mass-produced lagers. If beer is pasteurized, it will stay fresh for longer, meaning you don’t have to drink it as quickly after you buy it from the store.

2. No Storage? Best to drink it before 3 months after bottling

If it is an unpasteurized beer, best to crack and sip before three months after the beer’s bottle date. If you can’t figure out the brew date of the beer you’re having, get help and educate yourself on finding the bottling or packaging date on cans, bottles, or racks. Research suggests that beer storage in the following conditions will result in approximately equivalent flavor loss:

  1. Three days in the truck of a car (90° F)
  2. 30 days at room temperature (71° F)
  3. 300 days in the refrigerator (38° F)

This data suggests that you have almost an entire year to drink your purchased cans of pasteurized beer before it goes bad! And, if you can’t find time to drink some delicious beer in over 300 days, then perhaps beer just isn’t your thing!

Looking for beer without leaving the comfort of your home? Check out Arrow Liquormart, the best online beer store in Colorado. We have a wide selection of beers, wines, spirits, and anything else!

3. Best Before Three Months? Keep the Beer in the Fridge

Beer begins aging as soon as the brew has been bottled. The best way to elongate its lifespan? Chill out! Throw it in the fridge at home, even if you don’t plan to drink it until days, weeks, or months later. When your precious brew is stored at the optimum beer storage temperature of 38° F until it’s time to drink, it slows the oxidation process and flavor deterioration. Think of beer like bread or milk; when cold-stored below room temperature, the process of spoiling slows down dramatically.

Additionally, do everything in your power to maintain your beer at a consistent temperature for the long haul. If you are constantly taking it out and putting it back in the fridge, having it go from cool to room temperature and back, it will lose its flavor very quickly. This is called “skunking” a beer.

4. How to Store Beer Without a Fridge?

If you don’t have the extra fridge space required for long-term storage of beer, it’s best to put it in a dark, cool place. High temperatures aren’t the only threat to the vitality and freshness of your beer. Keeping it in a dark place, away from the light is one of the most crucial things you can do, especially if it is in a glass bottle. While a basement may lack the regulated cold temperature of a fridge, it does certainly check off the darkness box. Under the bed or in a closet are additional options for long-term beer storage locations.

5. Store Beer Upright

Make sure the beer is upright and not lying on its side whenever you store it. Keeping the beer upright is a great beer storage idea tip because it minimizes the amount of the beer’s surface area which is touching the air trapped in the bottle. As food researchers concisely explain, less air contact results in less oxidation of the beer, which means you’re preventing it from breaking down quickly.

Whether you’re hopped up on hoppy ales, experimenting with vintage beers, or want to crack open a cold refreshing light beer after a long day at work, knowing how to store beer to protect it from the elements of nature and time will ensure that you have a divine drinking experience, no matter what kind of beer you prefer. And now that you have received your diploma in beer storage, we hope you enjoy your crispy fresh beverage of choice!

Looking for your favorite beer? Look no further than Arrow Liquormart, the best online liquor store in Colorado! We have a vast collection of unique and hard-to-find beers, wines, and spirits, all of which can be delivered directly to your door!