Do you ever wonder what people are talking about during wine tastings, on late night Food Network, or in your favorite food blogger’s Instagram post? We gotchu covered in this list —keep reading, my friend.
1. Body
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Just like how our boy JT wants to rock your body, so does your favorite vino. Body is basically how full the wine feels in your mouth when you’re drinking it. It can range from full and powerful (like T-Swift’s squad) to as light and delicate as your favorite Essie summer polish.
2. Breathe
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Although our favorite wine won’t help us with our yoga flow (looking at you, Warrior Three), it can definitely teach us a thing or two about breathing. Letting a wine breathe (especially those reds) helps bring down super potent flavors and release *~aromas~*. Namaste!
3. Dry
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Other than this being literally one of the most unappealing words to use when talking about wine, it’s one that you’ll probably hear the most often. In simplest terms, the sweeter the nectar, the less dry it is (and vice versa). If you’re enjoying your vino across the world, check here for tips and tricks.
4. Oaky
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This is just one of those terms where most people are like ….? Both red and white wines spend a lot of QT in oak barrels before getting put into bottles, and as a result of that bromance, the wine takes on some of the wood’s flavor. Real talk: seasoning to food = oak to wine.
5. Antipasto
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Arguably the best (and first) part of an Italian meal — besides gelato, obvi — is the antipasto platter. This gift to mankind is usually composed of cured meats, cheeses, olives, and roasted red peppers. Don’t be ashamed if you’re drooling, we’ve been there, too.
6. Charcuterie
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Essentially the French version of antipasto heavenliness but with BREAD *bows down*. If you’re curious about how much you’re gonna love this dish, check this out and we’ll let you know.
7. Confit
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Popularly found on menus in relation to duck, confit (cohn-fee) is a method of cooking something over a long period of time to get it juuuuuuuustttttt right. As a gal that studied abroad in the south of France, trust me when I say that anything confit is the bomb.com.
8. Brûlée
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To brûlée something is to burn it (seriously), but in a really pretty and tasty way. FYI, you probably won’t be able to get out of burning your roommate’s chicken in the oven by saying you brûlée’d it.
9. A La Carte
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This probably describes the way we’d all like Zac Efron’s abs to be (call me, Zac) but real talk, things that are in the “a la carte” section of the menu can be ordered separately from a pre-set menu.
10. Beer-Battered
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AKA the best way that any food can be prepared, beer battering something simply means that you add beer (read: amazingness) to the batter which makes it flaky and a million times more *yummy.
(*Not an actual fact but it’s true in 99.99% of cases so YOLO.)
11. Hoppy
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While this doesn’t directly correlate with people’s attraction to hopping up on elevated surfaces after a couple beers (guilty), this is basically just how bitter your beer tastes due to the hops that are added to it. Don’t know if you like hoppy beer? Take this quiz and we’ll let ya know.
12. Head
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More prevalent in stouts and heavier beers like Guinness, the head of your beer is the foam at the top. The trick to lovin’ dark beers? Tilt the glass up high enough so that you drink below the foam instead of through it.
13. Shandy
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Easily one of the best kinds of warm weather beers, shandies are beers (usually pilsners or light ales) that have been mixed with citrus. The most common is lemon shandy, but if you ever get the chance, definitely try some of the more funky ones like blood orange and grapefruit.