Chilled or room temperature? The right serving temperature

Cold or warm: what temperature does to the aroma

What we smell in a brandy are volatile compounds rising out of the glass. How many of them reach the nose depends heavily on temperature. The warmer the brandy, the more evaporates — aromas as well as alcohol. The colder it is, the less rises up.

That creates a window. If a brandy is too warm, say on a summer evening or after being cradled in the hand too long, the alcohol pushes forward and stings the nose. If it's too cold, it stays silent. It then seems mild, because the sharpness is dampened too, but it shows hardly any fruit. That's exactly why harsh, simple schnapps is often served ice-cold: the cold hides its weaknesses.

The right serving temperature for Obstbrand and Obstgeist

For clear fruit brandies, many distillers recommend a serving temperature slightly below what we think of as room temperature, usually around 16 to 18°C (61–64°F). That keeps the fruit lively and stops the alcohol from dominating. A kirschwasser, a Williams or an apricot brandy shows the most character in this range.

The same goes for Obstgeist such as raspberry Geist. Their bright, fresh aroma is delicate and vanishes especially quickly in the cold. If you take a bottle from the fridge, let the glass sit for a few minutes before tasting. A brandy from a cool cellar, by contrast, is usually already close to the right temperature.

With grappa, things are a little different. Young, colourless grappas are often served somewhat cooler than wood-aged ones. The details on pomace brandy are covered in the chapter on grappa, since origin and style shift the recommendation.

Cognac, brandy, Calvados: room temperature and steady hands

Wood-aged spirits need a little more warmth. Their aromas from the oak cask — vanilla, caramel, nut and dried fruit — are heavier and unfold better at room temperature than when cold. That applies to Cognac and Armagnac as much as to brandy, Calvados or a cask-aged fruit brandy.

The old habit of warming the snifter for a long time in the hand should be treated with some caution. A few minutes in the hand can help a cool Cognac. Too much warmth, though, sends the alcohol rising and masks the finer points. Also familiar from the past is the custom of warming the glass over a candle. It does nothing for the flavour beyond adding more alcohol vapour, and an open flame next to a glass of 40 percent alcohol isn't a great idea.

Does schnapps belong in the freezer?

A spirit at 40 percent alcohol doesn't freeze in a household freezer. It just becomes syrupy and ice-cold. That's not dangerous, but for a good fruit brandy it's a waste. The cold holds back exactly the aroma compounds the distiller selected the fruit, mashed it and carefully distilled it for.

For a spirit meant to taste as neutral as possible, like most vodkas, this may look different. There, the cold mainly removes the sharpness. With a brandy made from fruit or wine, though, losing the sharpness also means losing the fruit. Storage follows a different rule: cool and dark. Stone-fruit brandies shouldn't be kept in the light, since traces of hydrocyanic acid can form the unwanted compound ethyl carbamate under light exposure.