Pear brandy, made from pear juice or cider, is distilled and aged in oak containers. Poire William brandy contains a whole pear inside the bottle, grown inside the bottle. It is usually consumed after a meal and can be used in cocktails and desserts.
Pear brandy, known in French as eau-de-vie de poire, is a brandy that is distilled from pear juice or pear cider. While several varieties of pears can be used to make these pear drinks, the best-known pear brandy brands make use of the finest Williams pears grown in France and Switzerland. A brandy, known as Poire William, contains a whole, ripe pear inside the bottle; the presence of the whole pear in the bottle is more of a traditional sales practice or gimmick than a real necessity to maintain the quality of the brandy.
To make pear brandy, the best ripe pears are selected, washed and mashed into pulp. The pulp is mixed with water and yeast and left to ferment until the sugar in the fruit is released. The sugary pulp is then processed to separate the juice and this juice is then distilled into brandy.
Freshly distilled pear brandy can be bottled as-is or it can undergo an aging process in an oak container; aging brandy in this way is known to improve its taste. It is important to know that pear brandy that has been bottled will not undergo any aging; that is, there will be no difference in the taste of the brandy drink if the bottle is opened right away or ten years from now. It will help store the brandy bottle out of direct sunlight, and an opened bottle is best finished within a year or so.
In the case of Poire William Pear Brandy, as amazing as it might seem to see a large whole fruit inside a narrow-necked bottle, the process of getting the fruit inside the bottle is actually quite simple. The pear is placed in the bottle while the fruit is still very small and the bottle is tied to the branch, allowing the pear to continue growing inside the bottle. When the pear has reached its full size, it is peeled off its stem and the bottle is removed. The bottle, with the pear inside, is now carefully hand washed, dried and then filled with the pear brandy.
Like most brandies, pear brandy is usually consumed after a meal. It can be drunk as it is, or it can be diluted with water or soda. It can also be used as an important flavoring ingredient for making various types of cocktails and desserts.
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