The Three Drinkers in Cognac Wins Award For ‘Cultural Contribution to The Spirits Industry’

The Three Drinkers are delighted to announce that their TV series The Three Drinkers in Cognac has won the award for ‘Cultural Contribution to the Spirits Industry’ at The Spirits Business Awards 2024. Photo Credit Eva Slusarek.

What are the Spirits Business Awards?

Launched in 2019, The Spirits Business Awards is an annual, global competition, that Spanning five core areas – Retail and Marketing, Sustainability and Innovation, Tourism, Products, and People - celebrates excellence across the spirits industry.

This year, The Spirits Business Awards ceremony took place at The Underglobe in London on Thursday 14 November 2024 and was hosted by Claudia Winkleman, best-known for presenting TV shows Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors.

The Three Drinkers Managing Director Aidy Smith said “I am absolutely delighted that we have been recognised for this award. Our mission as always with The Three Drinkers series was to embrace not only the culture of the regions visited, but also to welcome more diverse faces into the industry. Through The Three Drinkers in Cognac, not only have we showcased the cultural identity of one of the most renowned, yet unknown regions on the planet but we have also ensured that we do our part to support the next generation of drinks talent from underrepresented communities. It’s been an ongoing mission to showcase that diversity in drinks is possible and we’re delighted to stand with our partners who have helped us make that a reality in this latest series. The fact that this has been recognised by the industry fills me with such hope for the future.”

Comments from The Spirits Business

‘A clear winner – The Three Drinkers stood out from a cultural contribution point of view. It has been rolled out to various territories, and brilliantly incorporates food and travel with a spirit-forward approach – and successfully brings people together. There’s a huge community representation, which was highly praised.’

Photo Credit Eva Slusarek

What is ‘The Three Drinkers’?

The Three Drinkers is a returning drinks and food travelogue TV series on Amazon Prime featuring a deliciously diverse revolving roster of guests. From Scotland to Ireland to Cognac, each season is created with the sole intention of showcasing the culture, drinks and food of the regions visited as well as giving those people and communities who struggle to be seen within drinks on TV a chance to shine.

Alongside the multi-award-winning Amazon Three Drinkers TV series, The Three Drinkers also run a drink, travel and lifestyle-focused online magazine thethreedrinkers.com and have a growing social media/influencer presence (@thethreedrinkers).

More about The Three Drinkers in Cognac

The Three Drinkers in Cognac follows Aidy Smith and Helena Nicklin as they embark on a cultural and gastronomic journey in and around the picturesque French region of Cognac. Featuring Virgin Radio presenter and Persian foodie fanatic Eddy Temple-Morris alongside a returning appearance for travel presenter, journalist and influencer Eulanda Shead-Osagiede, the team take a deep dive into highballs and cocktails, discover the unique dishes of the region, try their hand at chocolate crafting, shoemaking, beekeeping, and more.

In classic Three Drinkers style, and helped by famed houses Courvoisier and Remy Martin, alongside the world-famous orange liqueur of the region, Grand Marnier, The Three Drinkers bust the misconceptions about cognac through their light-hearted, on-screen approach, helping the audience to discover brand new ways of enjoying this world-class spirit. They also check out local, pioneering gin makers, Audemus Distillery while discovering the fascinating world of mixers, sodas and tonics with Franklin & Sons. This is a series for those who seek to be inspired and learn through humour, quirky facts and takeaway titbits of drinks knowledge.

If you would like to watch any of The Three Drinkers series on Amazon Prime, you can do so by clicking on the links below:

The Three Drinkers in Cognac
The Three Drinkers in Ireland
The Three Drinkers do Scotch Whisky

The Beginner’s Guide to Cognac

The Three Drinkers in Cognac takes you on a full-on and fabulous exploration of the spirit of cognac and the beautiful region itself, but we know that not everybody is au fait with it. So, we’ve pulled together a complete beginner’s guide to cognac to give cognac newbies the best start.

Whether you know nothing at all about the rich world of cognac or if you’d simply like a refresher on its resurgence and what it’s all about, read on…

What is Cognac?

Cognac is a brandy, which means it’s an aged spirit distilled from fruit. To be called cognac however, the spirit has to be made from specific wine grapes, be subject to stringent production laws and, most importantly, it must originate from its namesake region in South-West France. All cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is cognac!

A BRIEF history of Cognac

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch slowly fell in love with French wine but when they tried to transport it home, they found it couldn’t withstand shipment. To combat this oxidation, they began distilling it into eau-de-vie and named it ‘brandewijn’, aka - ‘burnt wine’. With space on the ships at a premium, merchants started distilling it twice over to produce higher-strength spirit.

Around this time, the brandy emanating from the Cognac region in Charente proved to be the cream of the crop and so strict production rules came into play to maintain quality and the region’s reputation. By the 18th century, renowned cognac houses appeared with the first being Martell in 1715 and Rémy Martin a decade later. Today, the region is dominated by the Big Four: Rémy Martin, Courvoisier, Hennessy and Martell, with lots of smaller, boutique houses to also discover.

Cognac became extremely popular, particularly with smugglers who struggled to meet their demands for the stuff! Trademarking and provenance became more desirable, and by the 20th century, six traditional Cognac regions were enshrined in law. By 1980 though, cognac was being seen as an old man’s drink, and going into the 1990s, the region started to run into a bit of economic trouble. Cognac’s fortunes started to change however, when an unlikely combination came together – cognac and rap music!

Before and after the turn of the millennium, cognac started to become fashionable again. Can’t Knock The Hustle by Jay-Z, and more significantly, Busta Rhymes’ Pass The Courvoisier II, promoted the spirit’s qualities to a brand new audience, and it became a stalwart of American music videos and then thanks to that, bars and clubs. This relationship continues today, with Martell making the lead rapper of Migos called Quavo, a brand ambassador in 2018.

It's worth pointing out that in Japan and China, cognac’s popularity sustained throughout this period as a symbol of status and quality and to this day, China match the US in how much they import.

Cognac is now enjoying a new wave of popularity, boosted by the growing trend for home mixology that came out of the Covid lockdown. With this in mind, let’s dive a little deeper into this resurgent spirit and look at the various styles and terminology you can find:

What are the different types of Cognac?

Three different white grapes are used but the resilient Ugni Blanc is by far the dominant pick, making up 98% of production. The spirit must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged for at least two years in oak barrels. Cognac is all about blending different ages of singular spirits, or ‘eaux de vie’, which is what makes it so deliciously complex. Producer nuances aside, there are distinct quality levels of cognac that can be recognised by large letters on a label, which are essentially age statements. Here’s briefly what you need to know, but there’s a dedicated article on this here for you if you want a deep dive!

VS: Very Special and aged for at least two years. Often used in cocktails.

VSOP: Very Superior Old Pale where the youngest eau de vie is at least four years old. Another for cocktails

Beyond this, you will find variations of older cognac, most commonly, XO and XXO:

XO: Extra Old where the youngest eau de vie in the blend must be 10 years old or above.

XXO: Extra Extra Old using eaux de vie that is at least 14 years of age, but usually a lot older!

There is another term that you’re likely to come across if you’re into your cognac and that’s ‘Hors d’âge’:

Hors d’âge: Meaning ‘without age’. this is a term assigned by Cognac’s governing body for liquids that are particulalry old.

How do you drink Cognac?

Cognac might surprise you with how deliciously versatile it is. Quality nuanced blends in the XO area are often sipped neat, over ice or with a splash of soda or ginger ale for a gorgeous highball. However, as with so many spirits, cocktails make for a fantastic entry point, particularly for VS and VSOP bottles.

Which Cocktails Can You make with Cognac?

So many memorable cocktails appear throughout The Three Drinkers in Cognac, and you can find more recipes across our website including some delicious Grand Marnier cocktails that bring Cognac to life in a whole new way. However, for a beginner, we think the three below offer a good place to start:

Cognac Gala Highball

Highballs are simple and easy ways to get into a new spirit because they allow the essence of the liquid to breathe and not be overshadowed whilst taking any edge off that might put off a complete newcomer. You can use whatever your preference would be for a mixer, be that premium tonic water, ginger ale, or our choice in Episode One of The Three Drinkers in Cognac – Sicilian Lemonade.

Ingredients                          
30ml cognac
80ml Sicilian Lemonade (Franklin & Sons)
Plenty of ice

Method
Simply pour everything over ice and enjoy. Easy and delicious.

Sidecar

One of the most famous ways to enjoy cognac is the Sidecar. The combination of tangy lemon, orange liqueur and rich cognac is the perfect tart and sweet balance. You can check out Aidy making this in Episode Three!

Ingredients
30ml cognac
20ml orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)
10ml fresh lemon juice

Method
All you have to do is shake shake shake with plenty of ice, strain and pour. To be a bit extra, we learnt a trick on the show, which is to rub lemon over the outside of the glass so that you smell it before you taste it!

French 75

A classic that cemented its place in cocktail history when ordered in Casablanca, The French 75 is fantastically bittersweet and although gin is often used these days, cognac is the traditionalist’s choice and works incredibly well.

Ingredients
30ml cognac
10ml fresh lemon
10ml syrup
champagne to top up

Method
Shake everything apart from the fizz with ice, strain into your flute and top up with that gorgeous Champagne. Lemon twist for garnish! 

With all the incredible cocktails and discoveries made along the way, we’ve got a load more Cognac content across the website!