Author: Thomas G.

I was excited about this whisky tour. I’ve had whisky a few times before (responsibly and under parental supervision since I’m underage in the US), and I’ve always liked how it feels more intentional than other drinks. There’s a kind of ritual to it. People swirl it around, smell it, and discuss flavor notes like smoke, honey, or oak, and while that may sound dramatic, I’ve always found it interesting.  I thought this would be a cool tasting, maybe a few sips and some fun facts. But I ended up walking away with a scratch-and-sniff whisky card, a better understanding of fermentation than I ever got in a science class, and a deeper appreciation for how important whisky is to Scottish culture

Our guide started the tour with a line that stuck with me. She said, “The rain of yesterday is the whisky of tomorrow.” All whisky is made from just three things: water, barley, and yeast. But where those ingredients come from and how they’re treated makes a huge difference. In Scotland, every distillery has its own water source. Springs, rivers, or rain filtered through the rocks. People here believe that even the minerals in the water shape the taste. I’d never really thought of water as something that could affect flavor, but it does. Barley gets soaked to start germinating and then dried out to stop it. That’s called malting. If they want that smoky flavor, they’ll dry it over a peat fire. The grain is mashed with warm water, cooled down, and mixed with yeast. The yeast feeds on sugar and produces alcohol. That mixture called the wash, gets distilled, usually twice, in copper stills. I didn’t realize that even the shape of the still can change how the whisky ends up tasting.

The distillation process is separated into parts called the head, the heart, and the tail. Only the heart gets used. It’s the cleanest part, and it gets poured into oak barrels at around 63 percent alcohol. That’s where aging starts. They use American or European oak depending on the flavor they want. American oak gives a sweeter vanilla kind of taste, while European oak is spicier and more complex. Over time, about two percent of the whisky evaporates each year. That’s called the angel’s share. The guide said that adds up to around 150 million bottles lost to the air every year. That blew my mind a little.

What stuck with me was how much whisky is tied to Scottish identity. It didn’t start as some fancy product. Farmers used leftover barley to make it, and when the British government taxed it in the 1700s, people kept distilling it in secret. It was part of everyday survival and resistance. Now it’s one of Scotland’s biggest exports and something they’re known for worldwide. It’s more than just a drink. Its history pride and tradition are all bottled up. At the end of the tour, we each got a scratch-and-sniff card that showed the five whisky regions. I only got to taste one, Speyside, which was fruity and smooth and easily my favorite. But the card explained the rest. Lowlands are grassy and light. The Highlands are floral and bold. Campbeltown has this salty toffee flavor. Islay is the intense smoky one that smells like the ocean and a campfire. Even just from the card, you could tell how much place influences taste.

Back home, whisky is kind of niche. Most people my age aren’t really into it and if they are, it’s usually in a mixed drink. In Scotland, it’s just part of life. People grow up around it, know the distillery names, and talk about flavor like it’s second nature. That stood out to me. Next time I have a glass of whisky, legally, of course, it won’t just be a drink. I’ll be thinking about where it came from, how it was made, and everything that went into it. That makes it feel way more special!

I didn’t choose this cooking class. Our study abroad group was told we were going, and I figured it’d just be a fun thing where we cooked a little and ate something decent. But it turned out to be one of the most interesting things we’ve done on the trip so far. It wasn’t just about food. It was also about history and culture and how something as simple as rice can say a lot about a place.

Before we even got into the kitchen, our instructor Monisha, who is world famous Indian food chef and has written 17 books, took us to a nearby Indian store. She walked us through the shelves and explained different spices and ingredients. She pointed out the best kind of rice to use for these dishes, which is aged basmati. Apparently, it not only holds flavor the best, but it also becomes fluffier when cooked. We looked at spices like cumin, turmeric, and coriander. Some of them I recognized but had never used properly or knew what they did for a dish.

After the market, we went to the cooking class space where Monisha gave us a full explanation of how Indian food became such a big part of British culture. She explained that during British colonial rule in India, a lot of British people brought back spices, recipes, and even Indian cooks. Over time the food got changed to fit British tastes and that is how dishes like chicken tikka masala were created. It is not something you would find in India but over here it is seen as a classic. That really surprised me and made me think about how food travels and changes depending on where it goes.

Then we started cooking. We made five dishes. Pulao is rice cooked with spices. Egg Curry with a tomato and fenugreek sauce. Chicken Korma with a sunflower seed (due to allergy restrictions). Channa Masala which is chickpeas in tomato curry. And Vatana Usal which is green peas cooked with coconut and chili. It smelled amazing the whole time. I had never used fenugreek before, but it gave the Egg Curry a unique flavor and smell. That one might have been my favorite.

Something I didn’t expect was Monisha teaching us how healthy a lot of these dishes were. None of them used butter or cream and a lot of them were plant based. According to nutritionvalue.com the chickpeas and peas are full of protein and fiber. And the spices like turmeric and cumin are known to help with digestion and inflammation. It kind of changed the way I think about comfort food. Curry doesn’t have to be heavy or unhealthy.

Coming from the US, Indian food is something I’d get every now and then, but it is not really part of everyday life for most people. In the UK it feels different. Curry is everywhere here. People are more familiar with it, and it is a normal part of the food scene. I felt like an outsider at first but being able to learn about it this way helped me connect with it more.

This class wasn’t just about learning to cook. It was about understanding how food tells stories. I learned a lot about how dishes got here, why they matter, and how they’re made. And now I feel like I could actually try to make one of these again at home. I probably won’t try to cook all five but I’ll definitely pay more attention next time I eat curry.