Storing Spirits

[Condi]

Not ghosts, but vodka, gin, brandy etc. I know vodka wants to be in the freezer, and I would usually keep gin in the fridge, but what about other spirits? Ive got some apricot brandy liqueur, whisky, mead and a whisky and honey liqueur, all of which want to be drank straight, but should they all be left out at room temperature or warmed/cooled before serving?

[Papa Hotel]

Without wanting to hijack your thread, I was going to ask a similar question.

I've just (half an hour ago) found a bottle of Goldschlager hidden in the darkest corners of my mother's kitchen. It has been opened, about half of it has been drunk. I bought it about 15 years ago... Is it drinkable?

[Taita]

Papa Hotel said:

Without wanting to hijack your thread, I was going to ask a similar question.

I've just (half an hour ago) found a bottle of Goldschlager hidden in the darkest corners of my mother's kitchen. It has been opened, about half of it has been drunk. I bought it about 15 years ago... Is it drinkable?

Try it it won't kill you.

[GavinPearson]

Goldschlager is cinammon schnapps and is 87 proof so it should store indefinitly.

[GavinPearson]

To the OP's question - spirits can be stored indefinitely in any warehouse, so the best place is the liquor cabinet. I think it's best to avoid chilling any liquor - think about why people use brandy glasses and you may see my point, the heat from the hands warms the drink and allows the drinker to smell the aroma. Also you need to have the drink at a temerature where your taste buds can tell you just how good the drink is.

[P101]

We found a bottle of Cointreau at the back of a cupboard in my wifes parents house, priced at £4.50, it had been opened, we recon it must have been at least 30 years old. We drank it, it was fine.

[F-Stop Junkie]

The longer a bottle has been opened, I believe it deteriorates losing both flavour and strength, but probably not enough to notice.

I've read in a few places now that vodka shouldn't be stored in the freezer. While it does the thick, gloopy consistency thing, drinking it that cold means you don't get the same flavours and what have you from the spirit.

[Mastodon2]

F-Stop Junkie said:

The longer a bottle has been opened, I believe it deteriorates losing both flavour and strength, but probably not enough to notice.

I've read in a few places now that vodka shouldn't be stored in the freezer. While it does the thick, gloopy consistency thing, drinking it that cold means you don't get the same flavours and what have you from the spirit.

Without wanting to get into an argument over the "flavour" of a largely flavourless spirit, I find that room temperature vodka just tastes of the alcohol as it is evaporating so quickly, and doesn't the drink itself doesn't have a rich base flavour to counteract the alcohol. Out of the freezer, it's much less volatile, so I find the flavour to be much improved.

As for storing spirits, I recently finished a bottle of Smirnoff Nordic Berry vodka that I opened about 5 years ago. Tasted no different to how it did when I bought it.