All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S05E08.Liqueurs.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

GREGG WALLACE:
From amaretto to sambuca,

we drink an
astonishing 40 million

liters of liqueurs every year.

Whether you prefer them
neat or on the rocks--

- -or in a classy cocktail--

- -we shell out over 1 and 1/2
billion pounds a year on them.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Whether citrusy, nutty,

or fruity, liqueurs
are simply sweetened

and flavored alcoholic drinks.

To find out how they're
made, we've come to Ireland--

- -to the country's
largest liqueur factory.

How is it doing that?

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
I'm Gregg Wallace.

That's too fast. I can't
even see what it's doing.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
And I'll be finding

out how they put the flavor--

Oh, that's a heady mix, innit?

- GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
- -into this creamy concoction.

You're almost making a dessert.

All right.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
I'm Cherry Healey.

And I'll be
digesting the science

behind these popular drinks.

Some of them have
got pizza sandwiches.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
And historian Ruth Goodman--

I feel a burn of pepper.

- GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
- -discovers

how liqueurs were once thought
to be the cure for all ills.

No matter what
was wrong with you--

stubbed toe, dandruff--
have a glass of this.

Over the next 24
hours, this factory

will produce an astonishing
540,000 bottles of liqueur.

Welcome to "Inside the Factory."

[theme music]

This is the Baileys
factory in Dublin, Ireland.

150 people work here,
knocking out their liqueurs.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
They make different flavors,

from salted caramel
to strawberries and cream.

But tonight we're
following production

of their original Irish Cream
in 700 milliliters bottles.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: A
blend of alcohol and cream,

sweetened with
chocolate and vanilla,

it all begins with a base
spirit, Irish whiskey.

To get hold of some, I'm heading
55 miles up the road to one

of Ireland's biggest
distilleries,

the Great Northern Distillery.

It churns out more than 19
million liters each year.

I'm heading to the intake
area, where production starts

with a delivery of grain.

Guiding the lorry in is
distillery manager Brian Watts.

- Good morning, Brian.
- Good morning, Gregg.

Good morning.

Why have you got a jar
of stuff in your hands?

I've got a jar of
maize, because we're

making a grain whiskey.

How much maize is on that truck.

BRIAN WATTS: There's
30 tons in that truck.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Otherwise known as corn,

the maize is dried
to stop it going off.

BRIAN WATTS: It gives a sweet,
light, buttery type of spirit

that goes well in
a cream liqueur.

You're not actually
Irish, are you?

No.
I'm from past Ireland, Scotland.

How did a Scotsman end up
making Irish whiskey, please?

Well, the Scots and
Irish have a long history

going back of making spirits.

So 30 tons on there.

And how often does one of those
trucks full of maize come in?

I'll be putting it in about
nine a week to keep us going.

Well, we can't hang about then.
We better unload it.

Let's go then. Let's get going.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
I'm not sure why I'm hurrying.

Because turning this lot into
whiskey will take a while.

- Right.
- Ready?

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
As I set the maize free,

the clock starts on our longest
ever production timeline.

There's enough
maize on this lorry

to produce 30,000
liters of whiskey.

What's the basic principle
of turning this into whiskey?

BRIAN WATTS: This is just
starch inside a packet.

We've got to break it open.

And then we have to break
that starch down in sugars.

Yeast will then eat the
sugar to produce alcohol.

But, first of all, we've
got to get the starch out.

We've got to expose the starch.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: And
that is no walk in the park.

Our maize faces an
extreme assault course

before it can become whiskey.

First it drops through
a grate in the floor.

Then it rattles through
a series of sieves, which

remove any husks and stones.

The clean golden
kernels shuffle on

to the hammer mill,
where they face

their biggest challenge yet.

BRIAN WATTS: This is where we
break down the corns of maize

and make it into a
very fine corn flour.

GREGG WALLACE: Tell
me how this works.

Well, let's have a little look.

The maize is fed down
through these pipes,

and it lands right in
the path of these flails.

These will spin round
and smash the maize corns

- as they come around.
- Wow.

And it's going at
such a speed that it's

forcing the crushed up
maize against the side.

And out the other side comes our
maize flour or our corn flour.

Yes.

The finer you mill it,
the easier it is to bust

open the starch granules.

Right. Well, we better get this
started then, haven't we?

Let's get it going then.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: Every
hour, 3.7 tons of maize drops

into the path of 200 flails.

They spin against it at
1,500 revs per minute,

smashing it into corn flour.

Now known as grist,
it rushes along

pipes and drops down
into the still's masher

for its next workout.

Here it's mixed
with water to create

a thick liquid called mash.

This is what's come out
of the still's masher.

- Can I taste it?
- You can, indeed.

God, that is really acidic.

Mate, if they're
drinking that, they're

not gonna be very happy.
What's gonna happen to it next?

What we're going to
do with that is we're

putting it into the steep tank.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
In this 6,500 liter tank,

the mash faces
another ordeal as it's

heated to 75 degrees Celsius.

As the temperature increases,
the starch granules

swell up like tiny balloons.

Then they're blasted with
jets of superheated steam,

which explode them, finally
releasing that valuable starch.

So all of these
processes-- all this heat,

all these tanks--
that's just to get the starch.

You haven't even turned
the starch the sugar yet.

We are nowhere
near what we drink.

Nowhere near it.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: It's
taken three hours to release

the starch from the maize.

But now another
transformation is required.

Our cooked mash is
cooled to 64 degrees

and pumped into another still
tank, where an ingredient

containing natural
enzymes is added to break

that starch down into sugars.

The enzymes come
from milled barley.

Barley?
I thought it was all maize.

No, up to 10% of the recipe
comes from malted barley.

Why don't you add the
barley right at the start?

You would kill the
enzymes by adding it

and too early in the process.

You have to cool everything down
and then add the malted barley.

It makes you wonder why
people from years ago bothered,

doesn't it?

Well, I think the end
results have left the boiler.

Yeah, you would.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
The enzymes make quick work of

the starch, turning it
into sugars in just 90 minutes.

The resulting liquid is
now known as sweet wort,

and is pumped into one of the
distillery's 126,000-liter

fermentation vessels
before it embarks

on the next stage of this
complex production process.

As I'm discovering,
making whisky

is a complicated business.

And ordering it's no easier,
as Cherry's discovering.

[jazz music]

CHERRY HEALEY
[VOICEOVER]: Single malt,

blended, aged 12 years,
triple distilled,

cask strength, Irish, Scotch--

When it comes to
whisky, it can be really

hard to know what to order.

What is the difference
between a single malt,

a blended, and a bourbon?

CHERRY HEALEY
[VOICEOVER]: To find out--

- Hi, Jaega. Lovely to see you.
- Hey, Cherry.

- CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
- -I've invited drinks expert

Jaega Wise to pull up a stool
with me at the bar.

Behold a dazzling
array of whiskies.

JAEGA WISE: Yes.

How on Earth do you tell
the difference between them?

Well, it can be
quite complicated.

Even the type of grain that's
used, whereabouts it's made,

the type of cask--

all of these differences
will determine

a difference in flavor, and
ultimately a different whisky.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]: Well,
let's get this lesson started.

First up--

CHERRY HEALEY: What makes a
single malt a single malt?

JAEGA WISE: OK. Well, the single
part of a single malt

means it comes from
a single distillery.

And the malt means it has to be
made with 100% malted barley,

which looks like that.

- Is there leeway with that?
- No, not at all.

And there are actually
strict laws that govern this.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Next, bourbon.

JAEGA WISE: Bourbon is a
type of American whiskey,

traditionally associated
with the state of Kentucky.

What is the main
characteristic of a bourbon?

What makes a bourbon
a bourbon is it

has to be made with at
least 51% maize or corn.

How specific, 51%.

51%.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]: Just
like the Irish whiskey that's

going into our liqueur,
bourbon's taste

is influenced by the subtle
buttery flavors of maize.

So you're probably thinking,
what's the other 49%.

Well, it can be a whole
myriad of other grains.

It can be barley,
it can be wheat,

or it could just be more corn.

Whiskey makers are very
strict, very specific.

People take their whiskey
very, very seriously.

[music playing]

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]: But
the grain is just the start.

Oh, wow. Look at this.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
How the alcohol

is distilled is also crucial.

This looks like a kind
of cartoon character

from a children's animation.

JAEGA WISE: This is called a pot
still, which is made of copper.

And copper helps to strip the
impurities from the whiskey.

The higher the surface
area of copper to whisky,

the more impurities are removed.

So if the still is
taller then there's

a higher surface area,
which means you have a more

lighter, more delicate whiskey.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
So the type of still can have as

big an impact on taste
as the type of grain.

But whiskey makers
have even more ways

to play around with flavor.

So we've tried a single
malt. We've tried a bourbon.

So this here is a
blended whiskey.

OK. Let's give it a go.

Do people say the word earthy?

- Yeah. Yeah, it's quite earthy.
- OK.

What is the word blended
mean in this context?

A blended whiskey can
mean a mix of whiskeys

from multiple
different distilleries.

You would tend to blend
whiskey to get a flavor profile

you particularly wanted.

In the way that a painter
might use different colors

- to get a very specific color.
- JAEGA WISE: Yeah, exactly.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Despite their complex

differences, there
is one simple thing

all whiskeys have in common.

They must be aged in oak casks.

These casks are
often second hand,

and have had a previous life
maturing other drinks like

sherry, port, and even wine.

One of the things
that I've noticed

is there seems to
be a real emphasis

on where the whiskey is made--

Scotland, Ireland,
Japan, America.

Does that actually make a
difference to the taste?

It makes a huge
difference, and that's

largely because they all
have different whiskey

making traditions.

And they all have different
geography, as well.

So things like the
type of water will

have a massive difference on the
flavor of the finished product.

So if you are a
whisky aficionado,

you are going to notice the
difference between a Japanese

and a Scottish whisky.

- Yeah, absolutely.
- I might not.

- Give it time.
- CHERRY HEALEY: OK.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Back at the distillery,

it's less a question
of which whiskey

than where's the whiskey.

Three hours and 45
minutes after our maize

arrived, it's still a long way
from being an alcoholic spirit.

Our 125,000 liters
of non alcoholic wort

are about to be introduced
to the ingredient that

will perform that
transformation-- yeast.

Can I help?

You can certainly
help, if you want

- to jump up in the platform.
- Certainly.

OK. So I know we've got
our sugary liquid. Right?

What does the yeast
do to our sugary wort?

Yeast are living mechanism,

and this will
work on the sugars.

And it will convert
that sugar into alcohol.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: We
dissolve 200 kilograms of yeast

in 2,000 liters of water,
creating a gloopy mix.

GREGG WALLACE: Are all
sacks the same yeast?

Nope.

There are four different strains
that go into our fermentation.

One will be a fast starter.

One will finish
the whole process.

And two in the middle
will give me the flavor

compounds that I'm looking for.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: 1,000
liters of this powerful yeast

mix join 125,000 liters
of sweet wort

inside one of our fermentation
tanks.

The yeast feeds on the sugars,

slowly converting them
into alcohol.

And--

three days later, we have
a boozy liquid called wash.

But there's a problem.

The wash isn't boozy enough.

At just 10% alcohol
by volume, it's

not even as strong as wine,
and falls well short of

the requirements for whiskey.

That problem is solved
in distillation.

Wow.

Now, they look beautiful.

Welcome to my still hall.

GREGG WALLACE: What's
happening in here?

BRIAN WATTS: What
we're doing here

is taking out 10% alcohol
from the fermentation process,

and we will purify that
up to 94.6% alcohol,

take away all the water,
all the impurities,

and give us the spirit
that will eventually

become Irish whiskey.

GREGG WALLACE
[VOICEOVER]: This process

relies on the different boiling
points of alcohol and water.

Our wash is pumped into
a distillation column

and heated to 85
degrees Celsius.

This is enough to
boil the alcohol

and turn it into
a vapor, but isn't

hot enough to boil the water.

The steamy booze we're after
rises to the top of the

still, where it's pumped out
and cooled back to a liquid,

while the unwanted
water is sucked out

through a pipe at the bottom.

Basically, adding
heat and the alcohol

is being caught as
evaporation in the top.

That's essentially
what distilling is.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
The wash cycles

through three distillation
columns, which

successively increase
the alcohol content

and remove impurities.

What happens if you
only distilled it once?

It would be a bit rough.

It would be harsher spirit.

So why not do it
six or seven times?

You would end up with
no flavor, just alcohol.

We want flavor.

GREGG WALLACE: So
in three distils,

you'll go from 10%
alcohol to 94% alcohol.

The volume of liquid
must have reduced down.

Dramatically, yes.

We're feeding it
15,000 liters an hour,

and we all have around about
1 and 1/2 thousand liters

of alcohol an hour
coming off the still.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
And before it's allowed

to travel on to the next
stage of production,

it has to be sampled.

Sounds like a job for me.

Well, this is where the
spirit comes off the still.

This is the 94.6% alcohol.

Ah!

Sorry. I got too close.

Wow!

That's like getting a whiff of
a really strong paint stripper.

It is. Too strong to drink.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
We dilute the spirit

down to 40% alcohol
with water, to preserve

my precious taste buds.

But that's not
whiskey color, is it?

No. This is whiskey spirit.

Ooh.

That's better.
It's getting almost toasty now.

- Can I?
- BRIAN WATTS: You can.

It's got a sweet start,
but it ends in heat.

It's not unlike a grappa.

BRIAN WATTS: Very, very similar.

And you can hopefully
get the buttery notes

coming through there.

That's a characteristic
of the maize.

OK. And has that now
passed your test?

That has passed my test. Yes.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
This clear whiskey

spirit might not look or
taste much like whiskey yet.

But Brian assures me that
it's nothing some time

and carefully chosen wood work
won't sort0 out a little later.

The whiskey spirit
we have produced

is diluted with water
down to 68.5% alcohol,

and piped over from
distillation to casking.

Now, these are attractive.

What wood is this?

This is American oak.

Why do you have to keep

the whiskey spirit
in a wood barrel?

The wood will give color

and will contribute about
55% of the final flavor.

- No way.
- Yeah.

Over half the flavor
comes from the wood?

Well, that's a bit
subjective, but yeah.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
But it's not just the wood

itself adding that flavor.

The barrels have previously been
used to age American bourbon,

which helps add caramel
and vanilla flavors,

and create a golden
colored whiskey.

How do you get the spirit
in here, with a big funnel?

Very nearly.

No.

[chuckles] Really?

That's a fuel pump. Right?

It's a pump.
It can be used for fuel.

- We use it--
- Mate.

Mate, listen.
Anybody watching this

will identify this as what
they fill the car up with.

Have you got a meter?

The meter is here in the wall.

- OK.
- The meter is here.

If I do this six times,
do I get a free Teddy

- or a set of gardening gloves?
- You could try.

- Right.
- Try it.

- Yeah. Ready?
- Go for it.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
It takes just 15 minutes

to fill each 200-liter barrel.

But it'll be a long time before
the whiskey is ready to go

into our cream liqueur.

How long will our
whiskey stay in here?

A minimum of three years.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Our whiskey spirit

will sit in a warehouse,
slowly maturing

for the next 1,095 days.

Only then will it
be grown up enough

to be called Irish whiskey.

Thankfully, Brian planned ahead
and has a barrel he prepared

earlier for me to taste.

Yeah. Come on then.

The wood's added the
color to the spirit.

- Yeah. It's made it golden.
- BRIAN WATTS: Yep.

That's its natural
color after three years.

Ooh.

Cheers.

Oh, that's deeper, richer.
That's-- that's more open.

That's definitely sweet,
very mellow.

You know what you're
talking about, you. Do you?

Thank you. Yeah.

Listen, I've got
a cream liqueur to make.

Thank you, sir.
Thank you very much.

- OK.
- Not too much of that.

[chuckles]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
After three years, three days,

and five hours of production,
Brian's matured batch

of whiskey is ready
to become liqueur.

So I follow 24,000 liters of it

south to the liqueur factory.

At intake the tanker's hooked
up and the whiskey's pumped out.

But it's not the only
ingredient Darren

Keagen is seeing in today.

- Darren.
- Hi, Gregg.

- That's our whisky. Right?
- That's our whisky.

- What is that?
- DARREN KEAGEN: That's cream.

- GREGG WALLACE:
Fabulous. Of course.

It's a whiskey cream liqueur.
Right?

DARREN KEAGEN: Absolutely.
Yeah.

How much cream on that truck?

DARREN KEAGEN: 28,000 liters
of cream on the tanker.

That will make 100,000 liters
of liqueur, which in turn will

make 140,000 standard bottles.

Roughly what percentage
of the drink is cream?

- 25%.
- No wonder I like it.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: With
two of these deliveries a day,

it's no surprise that 3% of
all milk farmed in Ireland

goes into producing the
cream for this factory.

But before it's clear
to head inside,

there's one vital check
we need to carry out.

[triumphant music]

[laughs] It's like "Star Trek."

You know, I have seen many
lorries emptied before.

I've never been
on the top of one. Go on.

OK, let's go.

What are you sampling for?

So we're sampling
the temperature of the cream,

to make sure that
it's 49 degrees.

Because any more than that

and it's starting to go off.
Right?

DARREN KEAGAN: It's
starting to go off. Yes.

So as you can see there,
Gregg, we're at 6.2 degrees.

GREGG WALLACE: Perfect.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
The next ingredient

is one I've never heard of.

Darren, what's all
these big sacks of casein?

DARREN KEAGAN:
This is casein powder,

which is a milk protein.

GREGG WALLACE:
It comes from milk.

DARREN KEAGAN:
It comes from milk.

But during the cream and
milk separation process,

we lose the casein.

You lose it when you
take the cream off?

Absolutely, yeah.

And you have to
put it back in again.

We have to put it back in
because adds to its shelf life.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
All we need to do now is

get that casein into our cream.

We're gonna lift it
up using this device.

If you would like to
do the honors, Gregg.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Lucky for Darren,

I'm a dab hand with a hoist.

Whoa. Did I go the wrong way?

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
OK, maybe not.

Oh, I got it upside down.
[laughs] Sorry.

- Not a great start, was it?
- No. No.

Up she goes.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Each 1-ton bag

provides enough casein for
57,000 bottles of liqueur.

- Whoa!
- Very good.

- That's a big ol' weight.
- Perfect.

I couldn't have done
it better myself.

So what we now need
to do is open the bag.

Gregg, if you want
to pull that--

Whoa.

As I'm loosening the
knot, so you can just feel

the pressure of it coming down.

- Whoa!
- DARREN KEAGAN: That's it.

Is that actually now coming out?

You can feel it moving there.
You can see it traveling.

I can feel it kicking.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
From here the casein

is mixed with cream, creating
what they call the cream blend.

It's the key
ingredient that will

transform our whiskey from
neat spirit to smooth liqueur--

something that's often drunk
before or after a meal,

as either a digestive
or an aperitif.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Often, when out for a nice meal,

we offered an aperitif
to get us in the mood for food.

Thank you.

It's meant to stimulate
our appetite.

But whichever one of these
liqueurs that we choose,

do they really get
us ready to eat?

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
To check out the science

behind these drinks--

- Hi, Sam. Lovely to meet you.
- Hi. Nice to meet you, too.

- CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
- -I've invited biopsychologist

Dr. Sam Caton to join me.

CHERRY HEALEY:
Thank you Why do we

drink aperitifs before a meal?

Traditionally, aperitifs
are quite light,

and quite often quite
bitter as well.

The bitter taste
stimulates saliva,

and they're said to prepare
the taste buds and the stomach

for up and coming food.

What is it that's
in the aperitifs that

give us that extra appetite?

Well, actually, it's
probably just the alcohol.

In the laboratory, we've
simply offered beer or wine,

and we've still seen this
stimulation of appetite.

Is there a way that we
can test your theory out?

Yes.

And it involves a rugby team,
some beer, and lots of pizza.

I'm ready.

[upbeat music]

Hello. Welcome.
Team A, over here.

Team B, you're all over here.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]: We
split the lads into two teams.

All right, Sam, what's the plan?

SAMANTHA CATON:
Team A will be given

two pints each of normal lager.

Team B will be given two pints
each of alcohol-free lager.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Our rugby boys

think they're here to test
the effects of alcohol

on their decision making
skills by completing

some mental exercises.

Now it's time to serve the beer.

Here we go.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Alcoholic for team A,

non-alcoholic for team B.

OK, guys, you've
got your beers now

and you're more than
welcome to start drinking.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Both groups think they're

drinking alcoholic beer.

OK. So they finished their beer.
What happens next?

We're gonna give them pizza.

And, in theory, team A
that are having the alcohol

should eat way more.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Each team is allowed

to eat as much as they want.

But what they don't know is that
this is the real experiment.

Some of them have
got pizza sandwiches.

They've layered them.

I think team A are
eating a little bit more.

But they have had the alcohol.

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
After 30 minutes,

we take everything
that's uneaten and weigh

the scraps to work
out exactly how

much each team has wolfed down.

Finally, it's time
to come clean.

I'm afraid to say we
actually lied to you.

We actually wanted to see
the effect of the alcohol

not on your cognitive function,
but on how much you ate.

[groans, laughter]

So team A, you were the
ones that consumed alcohol.

And you consumed 8% more
pizza compared to team B.

[laughter, applause]

Group B, you had
alcohol-free lager.

[laughter]

CHERRY HEALEY [VOICEOVER]:
Taking into account

the alcohol consumed,
that's roughly

320 calories more per person.

Why does alcohol
make you eat more?

One line of thinking is that
alcohol promotes food intake

via stimulating hormones
that make us feel hungrier,

or dampening down those
that make us feel full.

It could be that it
makes the food tastier.

It could be a loss
of inhibitions,

and therefore the diet simply
goes out of the window.

I definitely know that feeling.

If you want to avoid overeating,

then it may be a good idea
to avoid the alcohol as well.

So there's nothing
magical in an aperitif.

It's just the alcohol.

Yeah, that's right.
It's just the alcohol.

[upbeat music]

CHERRY HEALEY: So it
turns out that the person

who came up with the
idea of aperitifs

really was onto something.

And we have the
science to back it up.

They really do put you
in the mood for food.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
In Dublin,

our cream blend is sorted.

But I'm going in
search of our whiskey,

which has been pumped to the
production area and is waiting

in a 15,000-liter mix tank.

Meeting me at the top
of it is Eamonn Oxley.

- Hi, Gregg.
- Eamonn.

- Right. What are we doing here?
- OK.

Firstly, we're gonna
make a flavor mix.

So we're gonna blend our
Irish whiskey with extracts

from cocoa and
vanilla, and we're

going to blend in some caramel.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Natural flavorings

are pumped in, beginning the
transformation of our whisky

to a rich, flavorsome liqueur.

Boy, that's a heady mix, innit?

You're almost making a dessert.

EAMONN OXLEY: Yeah.

Cream vanilla, cocoa, caramel--

why did you add the caramel?
Does that give it the sweetness?

It gives it a
little bit of flavor,

but it also balances the color.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Cocoa and vanilla

are both natural products, so
they vary in color from season

to season.

By subtly altering the
amount of added caramel,

they keep the color of the
finished drink consistent.

How many bottles
will that result in?

You can make up to
half a million bottles.

And how often do you
make a batch like that?

EAMONN OXLEY: Every day or so.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: Our
whiskey flavor mix is pumped

out of the tank and into this
high security room,

where sugar and water are fed in

along with another surprising
ingredient.

- What's in there?
- OK.

So we take our flavor
mix that we've just made,

and we blend it together
with neutral spirit.

You've already got a spirit.

- You've got whiskey.
- Yes.

Well, we add a little bit more,
which has got a neutral taste.

We don't want to overpower
the flavor with whiskey.

So we put it in the
neutral spirit, which

brings up that alcohol
content without affecting

the flavor balance.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
The neutral spirit

is made in a very similar
way to our Irish whiskey,

but is left an eye watering
97% alcohol by volume.

GREGG WALLACE:
Can we go in there?

No, we can't.

There may be a explosive
atmosphere in there

due to the high strength
spirit that we use.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Three years, three days,

and nine hours into
production, our cream

and whiskey blends are almost
ready to combine and form

our liqueur.

Liqueurs are such
a simple concept--

booze, sugar, and flavorings.

But who thought of
bagging those ingredients

together in the first place?

Ruth is investigating.

RUTH GOODMAN
[VOICEOVER]: I've come

to the 14th century ruins
of Mount Grace Priory

in Yorkshire--

Jane, how lovely
to see you again.

- RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]:
- -to find out more

from drinks expert Jane Payton.

So why are we here then?

We're here in a former monastery

because the
development of liqueurs

around 800 years ago was
very much driven by monks.

Originally, they were medicinal
drinks with medicinal herbs,

and spices, fruits
with an alcoholic base.

RUTH GOODMAN
[VOICEOVER]: The secrets

of distilling alcohol
are believed to have

been brought to Europe
by Spanish scholar

Arnaldus de Villa Nova.

Arnaldus was an alchemist.

And he was looking
for the elixir

of immortality, which
he thought he might

find through distillation.

So he started
practicing it himself.

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]:
To boost their health

giving properties
and mask the often

foul taste of his
concoctions, he infused

them with herbs and spices.

Soon he was convinced he had
found the elixir of life,

and he referred to his liqueurs
as aqua vitae, water of life.

It really was considered
to be a magical potion.

You could drink it for
anything and it would help you.

No matter what was wrong
with you-- stubbed toe--

[laughter]

- -dandruff-- have
a glass of this.

[lively music]

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]: Monks
and religious scholars expanded

on Villa Nova's work and
created their own recipes,

including this one
from the 14th century

for Aqua Vitae Perfectissima.

JANE PAYTON: We've got a
selection of herbs and spices.

This is sage, and this would
have been used to rid the body

of venom and pestilence.

- Oh. [laughs]
- JANE PAYTON: Very important.

We have cloves and cinnamon.

They'd be very good at
getting rid of phlegm.

- RUTH GOODMAN: OK.
- We have ginger and fennel.

Now, they'd be very
good for digestion.

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]: We're
infusing our herbs and spices

into a base spirit of brandy.

JANE PAYTON: It looks a little
bit like pond life, doesn't it?

RUTH GOODMAN: It does at
the moment, doesn't it?

Why are they putting
them in alcohol?

The thing about alcohol
is that herbs and spices

dissolve into the alcohol.

So the active ingredient
will be there in the alcohol

in a way it wouldn't be
if it was water-based.

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]: After
heating, we pour our concoction

into a jar to infuse.

RUTH GOODMAN: Boy,
look at that sludge.

- Sludgy.
- [laughs]

That's where all
the goodness is.

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]:
Seven days later,

it's ready to cure all ills.

That's powerful.

Very spicy hot, isn't it?

[laughs] I could
feel a burn of pepper.

I really feel
the burn, as well.

But I already feel more
vigorous, actually.

- RUTH GOODMAN: Do you?
- I do.

And this, then, really is
the beginning of liqueur?

You could say this is
the mother of liqueurs.

[music playing]

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]: The
popularization of aqua vitae

around Europe in the 16th
century paved the way

for a boom in liqueur making.

Distillers started making them.

Apothecaries
started making them.

And suddenly they had
a commercial value.

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]:
The drinks got sweeter,

and their recipes even found
their way into the most

popular books of the day.

It has a wonderful title,
"Delightes For Ladies," which

includes tips for your home.

So liqueurs were
included in that.

So suddenly they've gone
from being medicine--

which is fairly prosaic--

to something that was a real
treat, and something to savor.

RUTH GOODMAN [VOICEOVER]: In
the 18th and 19th centuries,

the popularity of liqueurs
increased dramatically.

Many makers experimented
with their own flavors,

creating some of the well-known
brands we still see today.

But what of the monks who
first popularized them?

Even today, two of the
best known liqueurs--

- Chartreuse and Benedictine--
- Oh, of course.

- -are connected with
monks and monasteries.

Going back all those
800 years, we still

have that religious
connection in the monks.

[music playing]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Back at the factory,

we've got 3,600 liters

of non-alcoholic
smooth cream blend,

and 3,900 liters of flavored
alcoholic whisky mix.

And it's time to introduce
these very different

liquids to each other.

The venue
for their first day is the 7

and 1/2 thousand liter tank.

Let's see how this
liquid liaison is going.

Well, it smells like
a glass of whiskey

and looks like a cafe latte.

[laughs]

GREGG WALLACE
[VOICEOVER]: To me,

the two liquids appear to
be getting on swimmingly.

Is that it, now?

Are we ready to bottle this?

Not quite.

If we bottle the
liquid at this stage,

the product would
separate in the bottle

in a number of hours.

I have an example here.

The cream has risen to
the top, and your flavors,

your whiskey have
stayed at the bottom.

So how do you
stop that happening?

We put it through a
process of homogenization.

I've heard of that, but
I'm not sure what that is.

Come with me, and I'll
show you how it works.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: In
need of some quick relationship

counseling, our cream liqueur is
pumped down to the homogenizer.

So explain to me this
process of homogenization.

Ok.
This is the homogenizer valve.

So the liquid is pumped
with very high pressure

through this valve, and
through a very, very small

gap, less than 0.1 millimeter.

And that reduces the
cream droplet size

from about 5 microns to 0.3 of
a micron, so around 300 times

smaller than the
width of a human hair.

- Wow.
- Yeah.

So squeezing the liquid
through such a small hole

- stops it splitting.
- Yes.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Smashing these droplets

decreases their size
and buoyancy, meaning

they can't rise to the top.

And as they pass
through the valve,

they're coated in a
crucial ingredient--

the casein in powder
I added earlier.

This stops them
clumping back together.

Smaller casein-coated droplets
mean our liqueur won't split.

GREGG WALLACE:
That's it, isn't it?

That's the cream liqueur.
That's done.

This is the finished
cream liqueur.

GREGG WALLACE: That's the stuff
that's going in the bottles

- that go to the shops.
- EAMONN OXLEY: It is.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]: But
before it's allowed anywhere

near a bottle, we need to check
the relationship is rock solid.

If that's not right,
that doesn't go out.

No. We can't bottle it.

That's a lot of liquid
to throw away, mate.

It is.

GREGG WALLACE
[VOICEOVER]: The only way

to tell for sure is to stick
it under the microscope.

Yeah. You sit down, Eammon.
Don't worry about me.

Thank you.

Firstly, we want to look at our
sample from the homogenizer. OK.

Well, what are you
expecting to see?

Hopefully, not very much.

This is 400 times magnification,
and you can see the liquid

flowing across the lens.

There's nothing.

EAMONN OXLEY: The cream droplets
have been reduced to a very

fine size, so you
actually can't see them

under 400 times magnification.

So what would it look
like if it wasn't right?

I have a sample here.

So it'd be rather more
to see on this picture.

Oh, wow.

That looks like little islands
in a fast flowing stream.

- It is.
- That's very different.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
In this sample,

the fat particles are
keeping to themselves.

The relationship is doomed.

Those clumps would join together

and then they would
separate from the liquid.

Yes.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Whereas our homogenized batch

is happily cohabiting.

Does that mean that our
batch has got the all clear?

Yep. It's good to bottle.

My Auntie Hazel can I
have her drop at Christmas.

She can indeed. Yeah.

Aemonn, thank you for your time.

Thank you very much, Gregg.

GREGG WALLACE
[VOICEOVER]: Test, passed.

Our cream liqueur is destined
to stay together forever--

or at least until
the best before date.

7,500 liters skip merrily
to the bottling line.

Overseeing the process is
line manager Keira Cleary

- Keira.
- How are you?

- Very good.
- KEIRA CLOWERY: Great.

GREGG WALLACE: I want you
to teach me about bottling.

Why are they dark?

Because you make
it a cream liqueur,

which isn't unattractive,
but you can't

see it with a dark bottle.

KEIRA CLOWERY:
The reason for that

is that UV light
can actually damage

- the cream liqueur inside.
- Ah.

So by using the dark bottle,
we protect the cream liqueur

and prolong the shelf life.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Our factor 50 bottles trundle

into a depalletizer, which
bunches each layer firmly

together using a
hydraulic press,

then slides them 176 at a
time onto a conveyor belt.

The inside of each one is
blasted with a jet of sterile

air, which ensures
they're perfectly clean

and they're ready to
meet our cream liqueur.

What's happening?

So this is where
we fill the bottle.

GREGG WALLACE: That's it?
All those processes,

all that testing, the all clear
that is now going in a bottle.

GREGG WALLACE
[VOICEOVER]: Our liqueur

is pumped along
pipes in the ceiling

at a rate of 9,000
liters an hour,

and into the top of the filler.

Each bottle is lifted up
by a piston in the rotating

carousel, and forced against
the filler heads which pump

700 milliliters into every one.

GREGG WALLACE: So, at any
one time, how many bottles

are actually being filled?

KIRA CLOWERY: The line runs
at 250 bottles a minute.

But each bottle is being filled
in about 3 and 1/2 seconds.

But how does it do it?

It can't just pour it in because
it would-- at that speed,

- it would bounce back up again.
- You're absolutely right.

We have a specially
designed nozzle.

It fills in a
really special way.

The liquid flows along
the top of the bottle,

along the inside, and then
fills from the bottom up.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
It takes just 40 minutes

to pump our 7 and 1/2 thousand
liter batch of liqueur

into 10,714 bottles.

Then it's on to the capper.

KIRA CLOWERY: So we've
got eight capping heads.

Each of those is capping
30 bottles a minute.

- How is it doing that?
- That's too fast.

I can't even see
what it's doing.

So the aluminum caps
are coming down the chute.

And it goes all the way onto the
bottle under the capping head.

If you look at the bottle,
it already has the thread

in the bottle itself.

So when the cap is placed on
top, the pressure of the capper

actually presses the
top into those recesses.

And that's how you
get your thread going.

Gotcha. So the machine is
basically molding the cap

to the shape of the bottle.

Absolutely.

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
Precious cargo sealed inside,

labels are applied to the front,
back, and neck of each bottle.

More than three
years, three days,

and 10 hours after
production began, our bottles

of cream liqueur are
packed into cases of 12,

stacked onto pallets, and
taken to the distribution area.

In charge is dispatch
manager Dennis Minihan.

- Hello, Dennis.
- Hi, Gregg.

- Good to meet you.
- You too.

Right.

I love you guys because you

have all the crazy facts
and figures.

Yeah.

Tell me how much is on there.
How many pallets?

DENNIS MINIHAN:
There's 23 pallets

going into that container,
Gregg, 45 cases per pallet--

- [laughs]
- --which is 1,485 cases--

Right.

- -with 12 by 700 bottles per
case, which is 17,820 bottles.

Well, I knew you'd know it.
I absolutely knew you did.

I'm guessing Christmas
sales are the bigger sales.

Am I right?

DENNIS MINIHAN: Well, the plant
here is busy all year round.

But the lead up to
Christmas will be

the busiest time of the year.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE [VOICEOVER]:
12 lorry loads of cream

liqueur leave here every day.

With bottles heading
all over the world,

Americans are the
biggest drinkers getting

through 13 million liters
a year, followed by us

Brits, then the Germans.

Well, making a cream liqueur
is a lot more complicated

than I first thought.

And two things
really surprised me.

One is we don't make
whiskey, we just make spirit.

It's the barrel that
turns it into whiskey.

And cream and
alcohol do not mix.

It takes a great
deal of know how

and a fair amount of science
to make them happily blend--

a bit like me and Cherry.

[theme music]