It is customary to drink real cognac slowly. In no case should it be drunk in one gulp, like vodka. After all, being able to drink cognac correctly is a good example of education and intelligence.
One of the most important components of cognac is its aroma. Cognac is poured into special glasses called snifters (from the English word sniff - to smell). The snifter has the shape of a paunchy, tapering glass on a leg. Snifters are made in different capacities - from 70 to 400 grams. Cognac is poured into such a glass at the maximum level of the widest part. When tasting, glasses are used that are smaller in size, more elongated, but still narrowed at the top.
So, how to drink cognac correctly?
Pour a little (30-40 ml) brandy into a glass and touch the outer wall with your finger. Note if fingerprints are visible on the other side of the glass. If they are visible, then you are holding an excellent quality cognac in your hands. Next, start rotating the glass around its own axis and watch how the cognac flows down the inner walls of the glass. If traces of cognac linger on the walls for five seconds, then in front of you is cognac of five to eight years old. If fifteen seconds, then a twenty-year-old cognac. For more aged cognacs (fifty years old), traces will remain for eighteen seconds.
Cognac has three stages of aroma. The first stage, which is usually subtle vanilla tones, can be caught at a distance of 5 cm from the rim of the glass. At the edge of the glass, you will feel light floral or fruity aromas. The last stage is the aging smells. Having tasted all kinds of aromas, taste the drink with a small sip, and notice how it "opens" in the mouth.
It is customary to drink cognac in a circle of close people, in a modest atmosphere. It is not customary to eat cognac with anything. And the familiar way of eating cognac with lemon was introduced by Emperor Nicholas II.
Serve cognac slightly above room temperature. Warm a glass of cognac only in the palms of your hands. Warming cognac over a fire is a sign of bad taste. It is customary to drink cognac after dinner, before serving tea or coffee, because it is impossible to feel the taste and aroma of cognac if you drink it with a meal.
Drinking cognac in French means keeping to the CCC rule (Cafe, Cognac, Cigare). That is, you first drink coffee, then cognac and then light a cigar. Now it is becoming popular to mix cognac with ice and martini, serving it as an aperitif.
For the preparation of cocktails, short-aging cognac is used, since such cognac is most successfully combined with coffee, cream, ice cream, juices, liqueurs and carbonated drinks.
