Liquor Trends - LiquorWise traced an interesting article about the surprises whicy 2012 may hold – “ liquor wise”. 2011 was a most interesting year and, from all reports, 2012 promises to be even more so.

In 2011, Cognac came roaring back. Craft beer grew more eclectic, more expensive and overwhelmingly more popular. Mixologists began raiding their pantries for all sorts of culinary cocktail ingredients. Vodka makers found a bevy of new flavourings, from smoked salmon to cupcake frosting. And Champagne, of all wines, continued its comeback by building on its unexpectedly strong growth in 2010.

The following are the opinions of some well-known professionals on they see rising on the 2102 horizon :

Doug Frost, wine consultant: “Portugal may be due for its coming-out party. The relatively cooler conditions along its coast create wines with a bit more freshness and crispness than many of Iberia’s other offerings, [and] as consumer awareness lags behind quality, prices for Portuguese wines are very good.”

Sandy Block, vice president of beverage operations for Legal Sea Foods: “Not sure if I’m behind the curve, but we’re seeing rising interest in aged tequilas [añejo and reposado] in cocktails, providing the spirit has enough zip, structure and pure agave flavor to balance the sweet elements.”

David Wondrich, author of “Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl”: “The biggest trend I see is bringing mixology down to the fun/dive-bar level — making new bars that are casual and unpretentious but will serve you a real drink, like The Prizefighter in Emeryville, Calif., Viktor & Spoils in New York City, and a bunch of other places whose names escape me.”

Jim Meehan, head mixologist at New York’s PDT and author of the new “The PDT Cocktail Book”: “Cocktails on tap, wine on tap, vermouth on tap — 10 years after many bars abandoned the soda gun, it seems as though many are growing trigger happy.”

Noah Rothbaum, editor-in-chief of Liquor.com and author of “The Business of Spirits”: “In the coming year, more people will be drinking local spirits made by the hundreds of craft distilleries that have opened around the country.”

Christine Sismondo, author of “America Walks into a Bar”: “While Americans are probably never going to be won over to the anise category, there is hope for caraway. We’re starting to see aquavit being taken up by bartenders as a cocktail ingredient. Kümmel [liqueur flavored with caraway, cumin and fennel] is all the rage in England and will hit here eventually.”

Michael Roper, co-owner of the beer-focused Chicago bar-restaurant The Hopleaf: “I think that high-flavor/lower-alcohol beers are going to be on the rise. There has been so much emphasis on huge, high-gravity beers that there is a great thirst for beers you can actually drink in a quantity of more than one. Bars and restaurants also want good beers that they can make some money on, too, [since] the patron who lingers over a 13.9-percent double imperial stout is not a profit center.”

Kip Snider, director of beverage for the beer-oriented Yard House chain: “I see an increase in the blends of styles already making a splash, like amber pale ales, Belgian [India pale ales], black IPAs and white IPAs — beers that please the taste buds with two flavor profiles.”

John Szabo, wine consultant: “For wine, thin is in, so expect to see the end of 15-percent alcohol, unbalanced prune juice and an embracing of lightness.”

John Hansell, editor and publisher of The Whisky Advocate magazine: “Whiskey companies have maxed out capacity, [and] producers don’t want to put barely legal product on the market, [so] they blend it with some of their older stuff to make it taste better. Since the age statement on a bottle has to be the age of the youngest whiskey in the blend, they will give the whiskey a name, instead. We’ve been seeing a lot of whiskey with names instead of age statements, and we will continue to do so.”

(Article from Beer, Wine & Spirits, edited by LiquorWise)

Liquor Store – George Park Liquor Store of the Strand (Western Cape) as announced that it delivers all liquor products free of charge in the Helderberg area. It boasts that its beer prices are the best, hard liquor very competitive and promises a great wine list. Ice is free if a minimum order is place. They will deliver for Xmas parties and functions. (Article by LiquorWise)

SAB, the South African subsidiary of SABMiller recorded good growth in emerging markets, but complains of the government dragging its heels to lift the Gauteng moratorium on new liquor licences. The would-be tavern owners will be hurt by the current moratorium on granting new liquor licences in Gauteng. Norman Adami, managing director and chairman of South African Breweries (SAB), said that the lack of capacity was frustrating. "We want to see a healthy industry that is normalised, but in order to have a healthy, normalised industry, you need to have an appropriate number of licences to serve the broader society," said Mr Adami. He compared South Africa to Poland and Colombia, which have similar figures for gross domestic product per capita and population size. Colombia has 480000 licensed liquor outlets and Poland more than 300000, but South Africa has only 60000, which suggests there could be as many as 180000 unlicensed outlets alongside the country’s legitimate resellers. "It’s very much a vestige of the past — an overhang from the Nationalist government," Mr Adami said. He added it was a form of "reverse discrimination", and that although SAB did not expect to sell any more or any less beer in the short to medium term as a result, the industry needed certainty to attract long-term investment. "The previous government tried to police the shebeens out of existence for 40 years without success. Why would this government be any different from the last?" he said. The global brewer expects emerging markets to account for most of its growth over the next few years. In the US and Europe, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation moved down 6% in the period. "Within each business they are optimising their performance — we don’t foresee that in the next six months conditions are going to change materially, but we also believe emerging markets are going to perform and will be able to offset any temporary weakness," he said. In South Africa, the company increased revenues and profits, despite steady beer volumes and a fall of 3% in soft-drink sales. "We were very pleased with our performance given relatively soft economic conditions in South Africa with the consumer under pressure," Mr Adami said. "Castle Light performed particularly well selling at a premium price," he said. Analysts had expressed concern about whether margins in South Africa would hold, but Mr Adami said the company had been able to grow margins for the past two years. "The South African business reflects a consolidated margin of the beer, soft drinks and Appletizer business and our share of Distell . That would give a lower margin than the beer business," he said. (Business Day Article, edited by LiquorWise)

Three student food technologists have come up with an innovative way to get more women to drink beer - they have made it pink. The Durban University of Technology (DUT) students have created a strawberry-flavoured beer called Pink Fantasy. Their invention forms part of DUT's Biotechnology and Food Technology 2011 Food Product Launch, which took place on Wednesday. Simone Beeharie, 20, Mishal Pillay, 20 and Sarisha Devnath, 19, are among 12 teams from the university who are creating original products. The three, all second-year students, said they designed the drink to be more appealing to women. "Beer is mainly drunk by men, so we decided to make something for women that has a less bitter flavour. Our beer has a strawberry aroma and is pink. It is more feminine," said Devnath. The trio started the project in September, using a home brewing system. They said the feedback from both genders had been encouraging. "All positive results so far, but men are still a bit apprehensive because it is pink," laughed Pillay. Some of the other projects include a black liquorice ice cream which is melt-proof, a rooibos energy drink, a nonalcoholic amarula malt drink, a nutritional light stout, the first alcoholic ripple ice cream and gluten-free bread. The trio are hoping to have their product on the market soon. "We would like to sell it and see how far we can go with it after the launch," said Beeharie. They didn't see a problem with their alcoholic invention. Their parents were aware of the beer and supported them. Devnath said they were not concerned their beer promoted the drinking of liquor among women. "We just wanted to create gender equity in alcohol," she quipped. (Sunday Times article - edited by LiquorWise)

If last night's discussion is any indication, proponents of beer and liquor being sold in convenience stores, should not expect New Tecumseth council's support. At least not from Ward 4 councillor Fran Sainsbury or Ward 7's Bruce Haire who both said last night they were against making "access to alcohol easier" and sought council to support the request by MADD Canada, the Ontario Public Health Association, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, "to oppose any plan to put liquor, beer or wine in convenience stores." The lobby effort from the three organizations is in response to a current effort by the Ontario Convenience Store Association to convince the provincial government to ease controls that limit the sale of alcohol to the LCBO and its agency stores, and The Beer Store chain, which is mostly owned by Labatt and Molson Coors and regulated by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. "Province-wide, there are approximately 1,000 LCBO and Beer Store retail sites," according to the letter signed by the CEOs of each organization. "The estimated ratio of convenience stores to LCBO and Beer Store locations is 7 to 1. That means beer and wine would be sold at an additional 7,000 locations in communities across the province. (...) From your own community's perspective, consider the number of convenience stores in your municipality and what the outcome may be if they begin selling alcohol and beer. Consider the proximity to many of those stores to local high schools." Deputy mayor Rick Milne came out in support of the changes, noting "I can't see anything wrong with allowing free enterprise in the stores." In New Tecumseth there is an LCBO and Beer Store in Alliston and Tottenham, and Beeton is served by an LCBO agency store at the Foodland. Zehrs Alliston operates a wine store. In the end, council referred the matter to the Police Services Board for its views, and will return back as a future committee item for further direction. Ultimately it's a decision of the provincial government. (Article by Madhunt – Edited by Liquorwise)

Foster's executives were forced to defend the takeover before around 200 shareholders at what is likely to be the brewer's last annual meeting, saying the deal offered the certainty of cash in a volatile global environment. "You are now presenting us with a bright future for Foster's and you are turning around and getting rid of this company. It is disgraceful of the board," said one small shareholder, Douglas Fleming, to widespread applause. Another shareholder's question was inaudible as she broke down in tears. In September, Foster's agreed to accept a sweetened A$9.9 billion ($10.4 billion) offer after an acrimonious three-month battle by SABMiller to win over management. The A$5.10-per-share offer was a A$0.20-per-share increase on a previous bid. The takeover, which requires approval of 75 percent of votes at a meeting due in early December, has wide support from institutional investors. Foster's, the maker of Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught and Pure Blonde, will also undertake a 30 cents-a-share capital return and pay a final dividend of 13.25 cents under the deal. Foster's shares traded flat at A$5.31 on Tuesday. The company has been struggling with declining volumes as demand for traditional beers falls, and its market share has fallen to 50 percent from 55 percent. But it said there has been some improvement in consumer confidence in recent months. Chief Executive John Pollaers told shareholders the company was planning a "massive" marketing campaign over the next few months to help arrest the slide in volumes. "We believe that once Australia moves through this period of economic uncertainty, the beer category will return to the long-term trend of moderate growth," Pollaers said. After SABMiller, the London-based brewer of Peroni, Miller Lite and Grolsch, takes control of Foster's, about 90 percent of Australian brewing will be in offshore hands. The remaining 10 percent is mainly with small craft breweries. But he cautioned the outlook in both markets was still uncertain and could deteriorate. (UK Reuters article – Edited by LiquorWise)

Xavier Sierra, a 22-year-old Orlando resident, tried to buy the beer at a Chevron outlet. When told it was illegal to sell beer at that time of day Sierra shoved the clerk and told him to hand over all the money. Sierra didn't think to move elsewhere. He also tried the old trick of sticking his arm in his jersey, pretending he had a gun. The wily clerk wasn't going to fall for that one and refused to give him the cash. Sierra then grabbed the beers and ran from the store. The clerk called police who arrived minutes later to find Sierra sitting on the kerb drinking the beer. The clerk's instinct was right and Sierra had no weapon but was charged with robbery.

South Africa’s largest beer festival will be hosted at the Hamilton’s Rugby Club(Green Point) from Friday, 25 to Sunday 27 November. The public can expect world-class brewers, local micro-breweries, local entertainment, fantastic food and other activities. Some of the world-class breweries who will be present are Camelthorn, Darling, Bavaria, Camelthorn, Castle, Carling Black Label, Cobra, Corona, Darling, Duvel, Erdinger, Jack Black, Mitchells, Napier, Oettinger, Maredsous, Paulaner, Singha, Tiger, Valentines and more. (The Taverner article, edited by LiquorWise)