Well here is our weekly drinking thread that has moved to a new Time slot: Saturday. In the tradition of  past threads I will describe what I am drinking tonight. It is a South American liquor called Aquardiente. This liquor is really only for shots and is very strong. Some brands have anywhere 30-70% Alcohol content. I am drinking this tonight because my Step Dad has returned from a Month long trip to Colombia so I’m having a few shots with him. We are watching the Cotto-Pacquiao fight tonight and talking politics.

Here is a description of what Aguardiente is and it’s popularity in South America.

In Colombia, aguardiente is an anise-flavoured liqueur derived from sugar cane, popular in the Andean region. Each department of Colombia holds the rights to produce it, but aguardiente produced in one region can be sold in another. By adding different amounts of aniseed, different flavours are obtained, leading to extensive marketing and fierce competition between brands. Aguardiente has a 29% alcohol content. Other anise-flavoured liqueurs similar to aguardiente but with a lower alcohol content are also sold. Aguardiente has maintained since the Spanish era the status of the most popular alcoholic beverage in the andean regions of Colombia with the notable exception of the Caribbean Region in which the Rum is king. Colombians in the andean regions drink it straight as individual shots and they rarely use it in cocktails.

In Chile, aguardiente is an alcoholic beverage of 45% and higher alcohol content by volume. It is made, like Italian grappa, by distilling the grape residue, primarily the skins and pulp (orujo) plus the stems (escobajos) and seeds, left over from winemaking after pressing the grapes. It is used to make several other flavored liquors like the murtado or enmurtillado (using sun dried murtilla, an orange-reddish wild rose fruit), the enguindado (soaking sun dried morello cherries) and licor de oro (flavored with saffron and lemon peel). Dried mint, peeled walnuts, almonds, and other aromatic herbs are also used to flavor the aguardiente. It is mainly consumed by itself, or as a base to make cola de mono (“monkey tail”).

In Brazil, an aguardente known as cachaça or pinga, considered distinct from traditional aguardiente, is made from sugar cane. Cachaça, like rum, has two varieties: unaged (white) and aged (gold). White cachaça is usually bottled immediately after distillation and tends to be cheaper. It is often used to prepare caipirinha and other beverages in which cachaça is an ingredient. Dark cachaça, usually seen as the “premium” variety, is aged in wood barrels and is meant to be drunk pure. Traditionally no herbs are used to flavour the cachaça and its flavour is influenced by the fermentation agent, time spent in the cask or type of wood from which the barrel is made.

Read the rest.

Firewater would be it’s English named equivalent. For those wanting to try this drink, most liquor stores have the Cristal Brand from Colombia.

In honor of Colombia I present these videos.

Here’s Lebanese-Colombian singer Shakira’s Hips don’t lie.

Enjoy your Saturday Night and treat this as an open thread.