Panayiotis Savva – gourd ageing
Panayiotis Savva of the Barrel House Bar in Larnaca, Cyprus used his time at home to write this piece about gourds.
Words by: Panayiotis Savva
Since I remember, I have always spotted gourds at village houses, traditional coffee shops and taverns around Cyprus. Most of them are for decoration, though some of them are for household use, as carafes, located in taverns.
The gourd is a vegetable of the marrow family that hangs from a climbing vine and comes in a range of shapes and sizes. It's a plant that you can easily notice at the verandas of village houses in Cyprus. The bottle-shape gourd is the most well known here on the island because of its use as a wine carafe, candlestick holder, container for salt or olives and, with its side cut off, as a water ladle. It was also used by shepherds as a wine or water carrier, which is where I was inspired to use the gourd as an ageing/preserving container.
Back in the days, there were three types of gourd used by the Cypriot shepherds to transport wine and water: plain, beeswax coated and pine resin coated. Unfortunately, the pine resin coated version is extremely rare to find nowadays in Cyprus, therefore I had the chance to experiment only with the other two versions (plain & beeswax coated). Nevertheless, the search for the pine resin gourd will not stop, so, keep an eye on my profile. I placed various liquids (spirits, cocktails, etc) inside the pots (plain & beeswax coated) for some days or in some cases for months and I have tasted the results over different periods.
The gourd, one of the oldest cultivated plants and used by humans as a functional and decorative object throughout history, is a unique vessel. When used as an ageing/preserving container, depending on the gourd style, it impacts a special character to the drink, both in terms of taste and texture.
My three most successful experiments are:
1)Gourd Aged Negroni
Negroni is preserved in a plain gourd for 15 days. The gourd absorbs sugar into its surface, all three ingredients meld together and the result is a fine rich extremely balanced liquid with less sweetness, bitterness & minerality than the original "fresh" Negroni.
2) Hybrid Martini preserved in plain gourd
After I took out the preserved Negroni from the plain gourd, I placed inside the gourd a classic Martini cocktail for 12 days. Again, the result is a rich balanced cocktail with a tremendous hint of Negroni at the end! Technically, a hybrid between Martini and Negroni.
3) Gourd Aged Cognac Old Fashioned (Gourd Fashioned)
The result of this procedure is an Old Fashioned with a twist. Instead of using whiskey I use cognac and instead of sugar I use honey. I place the cognac and the bitters (angostura bitters previously aged for two months in an x-tequila barrel) in the beeswax coated gourd for 10 days. Beeswax gives sweet honeyed and earthy notes to the cognac that are blended with herbal, spicy and woody notes from the bitters. Then the cognac is used to make a twisted Old Fashioned with a honeycomb as a garnish. An overall balanced, lightly textured cocktail which you can either enjoy at my bar (Barrel House Bar, Larnaca) or by making yours at home as you can order your bottle of Gourd Fashioned online (https://www.sunmoonhospitalityservices.com/product-page/gourd-fashioned).
Stay safe during the COVID-19 times that we are all facing right now!
Links:
My profile: www.instagram.com/pansavva
My Bar: www.instagram.com/barrelhousecy/
The store: www.sunmoonhospitalityservices.com/shop
My projects: www.instagram.com/madpancy/
