Officer's Choice
Alcoholic beverages are the most commonly consumed recreational drinks. The beverages contain ethanol and it is the only type of alcohol present in drinks such as whisky, brandy, rum, beer, wine and distilled spirits.
One of the Indian brands of alcoholic beverages is Officer’s Choice (OC). The different alcoholic beverages offered by the brand are whisky, brandy and rum. The OC whisky is an international favourite and is made from a finely balanced malt blend.
The OC brandy is specially made for smoothness and a pleasant flavor. It is made from mature grape spirit and high-quality natural ingredients. It offers a rich taste and an authentic character.
The OC rum has a main fruity quality and offers sweet, heavy and wood flavours.
How are alcoholic beverages made?
The main processes used to make alcoholic beverages are mashing, fermenting, distillation, ageing and blending. To produce the different beverages different starting materials are used which give varying alcohol content. Different plant materials are used as starting materials like grains, leaves, fruits, stems and seeds.
Whisky
This alcoholic beverage is made by fermenting and distilling the grain mash. Various grains can be used to produce different varieties like corn, rye, wheat and barley. The grains are germinated and yeast is added to ferment the mixture. The fermentation process breaks down the sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The mixture is distilled to get pure ethanol. Whisky is typically aged in charred white oak barrels where the alcohol interacts with the wood to give it aroma, flavour and taste. Whisky contains an alcoholic percentage of 40% abv.
Brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine or pomace or mash or any other fruit. The base wine used to make brandy is made from early grapes to get a higher acid concentration and low sugar levels. The yeast sentiment produced due to the fermentation process can be kept or not kept depending on the brandy style.
Brandy is distilled in two phases, in the first phase a large amount of water and solids are removed from the base to get low wine. In the second phase, the low wine is distilled to get brandy. Brandy is aged in oak barrels. Brandy contains an alcoholic percentage of 35% - 60% abv.
Rum
Rum is made by fermenting and distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice, yeast and water. Sugarcane is first harvested, cleaned and cut into small pieces and milled. The quality of rum depends on the variety of sugarcane used. Yeast is used to start the fermentation process. The distillation process is done to get a rum. It is aged for at least a year in bourbon casks and then blended to get the right flavour. Rum has an alcoholic percentage of 35% - 40% abv.