Once you receive your tasting pack follow the steps below to get ready for your virtual tasting experience.
Your white and rose wines need to be served at 8 -10 degrees. If you have a wine cellar or wine cooler then please store at that temperature. Otherwise, store them in your refrigerator and take them out 20 minutes before the tasting.
There are different traditions regarding red wine temperature. It can vary depending on the room temperature. If you are in the a hot area like the South of Spain or Italy then you might fancy it a little cooler. However, in general the right temperature for a red wine should be between 12 and 18 degrees. The age of the wine also plays a part. You may be surprised to know that a young wine in La Rioja will often be served chilled.
For best results. keep the wine in a dry, cool and dark cabinet in horizontal position until the tasting.
The sparkling wines need to be served at a cooler temperature, between 5 and 7 degrees is when you taste all their qualities.
In theory, each wine needs a glass as the shape of the glass will help enhance the wine qualities in a different way and there’s some science that backs this up. Read more here
However for your wine tasting prepare a wine glass for each wine you have received, make sure is cleaned and doesn’t have any detergent perfume or even worse cupboard smell if you haven’t used them in a while. In that case wash them and rinse them with plenty of water.
There are a variety of wine accessories but the one that you really need for your tasting is a corkscrew.
It would be great if you could open the red wines 20-30 minutes before the tasting. This will oxygenate the wine and bring out its aromas and taste. The young wines and white wines don’t need opening earlier. But if you are receiving an older vintage you might even want to consider pouring it in a decanter or in the glass.
Either way, try not to drink the wine before the virtual tasting!
Important, keep your beers in a vertical position to avoid oxidation and avoid sediments of yeast in your glass of beer. Also, keep them away from direct light.
The perfect temperature for your beer is 10 degrees. That said it’s pretty unlikely that you have a beer cellar. So you will have to store them in your fridge at a lower temperature. Remember to take them out 30 minutes before the tasting to taste them in the best conditions.
Our advice is to drink them during the tasting once opened. Please don’t give in to temptation and drink them before! There are craft beers that last well if maintained in perfect storing conditions. But if you want to get the most of the hops of an IPA it’s sooner rather later.
The right glass for the right beer tasting is a long debated topic. Get some of our tips here.
Please wet your glass before pouring if possible. This allows a good head to form and enhances the aromas of the beer.
How we get acquainted with beer is such a journey, some of us have been shy and others have already tasted all the beers on the planet and chosen their favourite.
Wherever you are in the journey we hope you enjoy the beers we sent you and feel ready to discover something new.
If you have received other products for pairing follow the instructions above. For now let us say that we can pair beer with everything! Music, trips, art, cinema and of course the master of all – Food!
You can find plenty of tips online we suggest:
IPAs · matured cheese
LAGER · Seafood
STOUT · Chili, patatas bravas
HELLES LAGER · Bratwurst
DOPPELBLOCK · Roasted pork
BROWN ALES · Pumpkin
PORTER · Black chocolate
Keep the cheese well sealed in the fridge until 30 minutes before the tasting. We suggest you take it out and open the package to help the cheese reach its natural conditions.
Same as the cheese really, keep the product in the fridge until 30 minutes before serving. unpack for full flavour and texture
The correct serving- temperature for the cheese is between 18-20 degrees for soft cheese and 22-24 degrees for hard cheese.
If you still have some products after the cheese virtual tasting and ham virtual tasting pack them well sealed and store them in the refrigerator. Soft cheese and charcuterie are best eaten within a week of opening but hard cheese can last longer.
There are no rules but we have some suggestions:
1· Go with where the product is from, for example for your Parmesan buy Prosciutto
2 · Find Contrast: blue cheese with sweet sherry
3 · More contrast: Pear and Feta
Liquors are much more durable than wine. If you keep the bottle sealed it won’t mature nor spoil . Keep them upright to avoid the cork degrading or infusing a bad taste to your liquor.
Keep them in a dark and cool place, away from extensive changes of temperature
Keep them in the fridge until the cocktail virtual event, mix well before serving.
We don’t always send fruit purés because it depends on the cocktail recipe, but if you have received them please store them well sealed in the fridge.
Store them in the fridge until the virtual tasting event.
Some tasting kits include tools. If you haven’t received them don’t worry. It just means you won’t need them, but please keep a bottle opener to hand. If you did receive tools then rinse them and keep them ready for the online session.
Make sure you have some ice for your cocktails. In general the ice you can buy at supermarket tastes better than the ice you can make at home in your freezer.
There are plenty of options and we encourage you to explore and try new pairings, but here we have some suggestions:
GIN TONIC · Cold cured smoked salmon MARGARITA · Nachos with guacamole
FRENCH MARTINI · Chocolate mousse
DRY MARTINI · Grilled sea bass
Some more ideas here
In your tasting pack you will find 4 different chocolates:
Treat chocolates as you would treat your red wines, keep them in a dry and cool place. They don’t like temperature changes, nor too cold or too hot environments.
Let us give you a couple of rules here…
Don’t put them in the fridge!
Don’t eat them before the tasting, we’ll find out!
We don’t expect you to measure the temperature of your chocolates, just make sure they are at room temperature.
You might want to try your chocolates with wine or even in a chili salad!
Cocoa is a super food, really good for both your energy level and your soul, there are so many foods you can combine chocolate with, do you have a favourite?
