This blog offers technical articles dedicated to spirits professionals
and written in collaboration with our network of experts.
It is designed to allow you to navigate through various topics.
New articles will be regularly added.
How sugar contributes to aluminum beverage can corrosion
Aluminum, malleable, lightweight, recyclable, and safer than glass, is widely used for beverage cans. Its resistance to corrosion depends in part on the quality of the protective internal coating. When this coating presents defects in application or uniformity, corrosion can develop, particularly in the presence of sugar.
This article explains the mechanisms involved and proposes a protocol to evaluate the quality of can coatings.
When two analytical results don’t match: How to approach discrepancies ?
In quality control, production, or research, comparing analytical results is part of everyday practice.
But what happens when two professionals — each confident in the reliability of their work — observe a discrepancy between their measurements?
It’s a common situation, often leading to tension, misunderstanding… or rushed decisions.
Example: Two laboratories measure the alcohol content of the same spirit sample. One reports 40.1% vol, the other 39.8% vol.
Who’s right? Are the results truly incompatible — or simply different within the range of measurement uncertainty?
This article provides a practical framework to interpret such differences rigorously, understand the role of measurement uncertainty, and assess whether two results can be considered technically consistent.
Liqueur, Cocktail, and Cream Recipes:
Anticipating the Effect of Sugar on the Final Alcohol Content
When making a sweet alcoholic drink (liqueur, cocktail, cream, etc.), calculating the final alcohol content might seem as simple as adding up the volumes of alcohol, water, and sugar. But once sugar dissolves, it takes up space — and that extra volume can throw the math off.
👉 Can we really predict the final ABV from the starting ingredients alone?
👉 And why does sugar make the calculation so tricky?
It all comes down to how sucrose behaves in a water–ethanol mix — a process still not fully understood.
To shed light on this, we teamed up with Labox Applications to:
Measure the actual volume that dissolved sugar occupies in different mixtures,
Explore the dissolution process in water and ethanol,
Test whether the final ABV can be calculated accurately.
Full results in the article.
Best Practices for Using Portable Digital Density Meters
Portable digital density meters calculate alcohol content at 20 °C from density and temperature.
Compact and robust, they are ideal for quick measurements in the field — in cellars, tank rooms, or at the base of transport containers.
This guide will help you achieve reliable results, avoid common errors, and get the most out of your equipment.
Consequences of climate change on the quality and stability of spirits – Part 3
Wood maturation is a highly complex process, and many of its mechanisms remain only partially understood. Today, spirits professionals are increasingly concerned about how climate change may impact evaporation rates and the overall quality of barrel-aged eaux-de-vie. Can we anticipate and mitigate these effects?
This article outlines key insights into the ageing process, the challenges posed by global warming, and possible strategies to adapt—reducing evaporation while preserving the quality of the spirit.
Best Practices for Spirits Tasting
Tasting is a key quality control tool for spirits, but to ensure reliable and reproducible results, certain best practices are essential, especially for eaux-de-vie derived from fermented products. From the tasting environment to sensory evaluation methods, discover the recommendations for an optimal and rigorous analysis.
OPTIMIX: A Blending Optimization Tool
Discover how OPTIMIX, an innovative application, is revolutionizing the art of blending by optimizing your creations through a detailed analysis of your stock of product and your qualitative and quantitative objectives
Consequences of climate change on the quality and stability of spirits – Part 2: Distillation
After discussing the origin of volatile aromatic compounds in fermented raw materials, this second article focuses on the role and importance of distillation control in achieving the desired eau-de-vie quality.
The final part of this series explores the key physicochemical changes that eaux-de-vie undergo during barrel aging.
This three-part series will conclude with an analysis of the impact of climate change on the composition of barrel-aged eaux-de-vie and the measures that can be implemented to maintain quality control
Consequences of Climate Change on the Quality and Stability of Spirits – Part 1: Fermentation
Climate change spares no domain, and the production of spirits, especially their aging in barrels, is no exception. The influence of climate variations on the organoleptic properties and stability of finished products is becoming a key concern for quality-conscious producers.
To understand the impacts of climate change, it is essential to revisit the origin of the compounds that form the very essence of spirits. Since only volatile compounds from the fermented matter remain in the distillate after distillation, this first article focuses on the origin and organoleptic impact of these compounds.
Blending of eaux-de-vie, a very strange phenomenon of contraction
When diluting a hydroalcoholic mixture with water, the final volume is lower than the sum of the volume of water + the starting volume.
This article explains its origin. He presents a study which demonstrates that in the case where analysis by distillation requires dilution, it is nevertheless possible to obtain good precision in the measurement of the alcohol level.
Alcohol content measurement – Part 3 : Distillation with dilution
To measure the alcohol content in a spirit, the official method by distillation is still the most used method because it is the most universal and the least expensive in investment.
There are different types of distillation devices (direct distillation or steam entrainment), more or less automated, but which all have a maximum field of application for measuring the alcohol level.
This article explains how to use the device even if the alcohol level is above its use limit, while obtaining accurate results using appropriate methodology.