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Post by inume on May 9, 2008 19:02:44 GMT -5
Yay! People aren't ready to throw perfectly good produce at me. The Apricot Death sounds frightening, but good. Strawberry surprise, as of two Pennsics ago (the last time I went), is unfortunately still around. Now they have a little favor with a strawberry on it that they give to anyone brave/stupid enough to drink it and not vomit for 15 minutes. I do not, nor do I ever plan on, having such a favor. If it doesn't taste good, why drink it? One last note on honey - I was making up a wheat beer and I wanted it to have a honey taste. But, the problem is, the yeast will just eat it all up and leave nothing but lots of alcohol. So, I did some research and found lots of conflicting opinions. On one forum I found a method that worked: use 3/4 of a cup of honey as the primer for the beer rather then the same amount of priming sugar. I dubbed the brew "Celtic Honey Wheat" and it was a massive hit. So, throw that bit of info into the deep recesses of your brewing brains and have a great weekend. So, Hime, when are you going to start your plum wine? Let us know how things are going - I'd love to try the recipe if it turns out decent...
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bovil
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Post by bovil on May 9, 2008 19:32:24 GMT -5
I do not, nor do I ever plan on, having such a favor. If it doesn't taste good, why drink it? These days I might think about trying it, but I might scare them by sipping it. I've become rather partial to chipotle and wasabi vodkas. Unfortunately, each was a single run by the distiller (200 cases). I've got about a half-case of the chipotle left. It's smoky and rich and has a delightful burn that goes well with lemon, soda and turbinado sugar. I've got 2.5 bottles of the wasabi left, but the flavorings in wasabi are chemically unstable and 3 years later (even unopened and stored in the dark) it's a poor shadow of the original brilliance. I'm kind of hoping the next Alchemist Series (#3) will be Christmas Tree vodka. I got a taste of an experimental batch of Christmas Tree last summer, and it's very strange but very yummy.
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Post by inume on May 10, 2008 2:02:03 GMT -5
Bovil-dono, have you thought of experimenting with cordials? It's a simple infusion process that might be able to come close to or replicate your beloved chipolte vodka. Fill a mason jar half way with the peppers of your choice and then pour some decent quality vodka (better ingredients do make a difference) over the peppers, leaving 1/2" of head room. Leave it for 4 weeks, shaking a few times a week. Strain and bottle in a swing top or other tight lidded glass container of your choice. I'd suggest some dried peppers for a bit of a smokey flavour but experiment.
The original recipe for this type of cordial uses fresh or frozen fruit and about 1" of sugar in an 8 oz mason jar. Brandy can be used, but vodka lets the flavours of the fruit sing. For chocolate cordial, substitute chocolate wafers (not the sandwiched kind, but like the Nilla wafers kind). Turns out kind of creamy.
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Post by dianet on May 10, 2008 4:06:14 GMT -5
Ogawa-dono I've got to get the supplies first before I do that. But first, I have to bottle the maple syrup mead. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to water it down a bit. *blushing* it came out TOO sweet. So I'll be doing it half and half with water when it gets bottled. As to the plum wine. I when I start it, I'll definately let everyone know. I only have a gallon carboy, so it's just one set of alcohol brew at a time.
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Post by inume on May 10, 2008 5:10:00 GMT -5
No shame in that, Hime. The Romans often watered down their wine - since it sat in clay jugs, it evaporated and concentrated. (see penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/wine.html). A tip for cheap brewing equipment: buy a gallon jug of wine and empty the contents, preferably with a friend. Now you have a glass carboy, all you need is a stopper and airlock. Hooray for recycling! This is the type of set up I use when I make cider.
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Lash
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Post by Lash on May 10, 2008 9:15:13 GMT -5
Lady Ogawa I have always wanted to learn how to make cordials is it really that easy or are there a little more involved instructions? I tried a blueberry cordial at Estrella this year that was amazing and I would olike to try and copy it. Origato gozaimashita
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bovil
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Post by bovil on May 10, 2008 9:44:58 GMT -5
Bovil-dono, have you thought of experimenting with cordials? Unfortunately, it's the skillful redistillation that really makes these vodkas, bringing everything into balance without needing sweeteners.
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Saionji Shonagon
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on May 10, 2008 13:16:54 GMT -5
Unfortunately, it's the skillful redistillation that really makes these vodkas, bringing everything into balance without needing sweeteners. It should be noted that the flavored vodkas Bovil-dono mentions come from a professional distillery here in the bay area. I must differ with him on their merit on the simple basis that I don't particularly care for vodka to begin with. Their absinthe, however, is very special. www.stgeorgespirits.com/
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Post by inume on May 10, 2008 16:31:24 GMT -5
Ah, I see what you're saying Bovil-dono. You'd definitely need the right balance to have both flavour and heat. Makiwara-hime....mmm... absinthe.... Lash, it is indeed that easy to make fruit cordials.... I thought it was more involved too, but our local group did a class on it. Here's roughly the recipe used: www.liqueurweb.com/fruitliqueurs.htmYou can get into some really great herbal/nut period cordials... a friend of mine makes a walnut one to die for. The definitely improve with age, too.
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Post by takadainotora on May 10, 2008 22:36:27 GMT -5
Cordials really are that easy. One of my favorites starts with one whole small pesticide-free orange, 40 whole coffee beans and 3/4 cup white sugar or 1 cup brown sugar plus vodka. Wash the orange and use a small knife to cut/poke 40 small slits through the peel. Insert a coffee bean into each slit. Put the orange into a wide mouth quart canning jar or one of those glass-topped jars with the wire holders, add the sugar and enough vodka to fill the jar. Put the lid on and shake gently for a couple of minutes to dissolve the sugar. Put away in a cool, dark location (closet floor is good), take out every day for a month and shake gently 10-12 times, Let it sit for another month before you taste. Take out the orange, strain the cordial if needed, taste and adjust flavorings to suit--it might need more vodka or a shot of brandy if you like the flavor, it might need a little more sugar. Bottle in a clean container with a tight lid, enjoy. Most of my cordial-making has used shochu as a base; I like the lighter flavor especially with fresh fruit.
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Post by solveig on May 14, 2008 23:10:15 GMT -5
Noble Cousin!
Greetings from Solveig! If you are insisting on adding some sort of sugar source to your mixture, then I recommend that you use maltose made from rice (available at Asian groceries) and not sucrose.
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Post by takadainotora on May 15, 2008 22:51:50 GMT -5
Solveig-hime, The orange-coffee liqueur recipe doesn't even pretend to be SCA-period appropriate or Japanese. I posted it as an example of how easy and low-tech cordial recipes can be. I have finally found a source for maltose in syrup form and have started using it in Japanese recipes, but not yet for anything having to do with flavored alcohol.
Luighseach
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Post by Ishikawa Yoshimasa on May 16, 2008 12:55:35 GMT -5
Maki??? absynth??? I presume this is the anisette based synthetic, but still I heard it was about as bitter as the real thing. but not having a taste for bitter things I have not tried them myself.
anyway cordials are not that difficult to make, and while MOST seem to be vodka based, other liquers are known to be used.
I have sampled a number of them along the way, but have not personaly have not spent much time looking into them too deeply outside of drambuie <SIC?> which a localish friend turned me onto a while back... wiskey and honey... almost enough to convince me to drag my kilt out of the closet<G>
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Saionji Shonagon
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Post by Saionji Shonagon on May 16, 2008 13:21:53 GMT -5
Maki??? absynth??? I presume this is the anisette based synthetic, but still I heard it was about as bitter as the real thing. but not having a taste for bitter things I have not tried them myself. Nope, it's the real deal: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/05/MNQJTO9FM.DTLIt's not bitter, but if you don't like black licorice, you probably wouldn't like it.
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bovil
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Post by bovil on May 16, 2008 14:00:21 GMT -5
Maki??? absynth??? I presume this is the anisette based synthetic, but still I heard it was about as bitter as the real thing. but not having a taste for bitter things I have not tried them myself. "Absinthe," please. Other spellings connotate different spirits. "Absinth" (without the "e") is commonly applied to the Czech crap high-thujone/anise-free Czech spirit. It's served with a burning sugar cube, because sugar ash actually makes the stuff taste better. It was popularized in the 1990's among American frat-boys traveling to Prague after the Iron Curtain went down, and bears little resemblance to either earlier Czech absinths or the great French and Swiss spirits of the 19th and early 20th century. "Absynth," "Absente" and other odd spellings usually actually refer to pastis, the French anise liqueur that clouds like absinthe when cold water is added. Real absinthe is a late 18th-century Swiss invention, quickly adopted and improved upon by the French. It's a complicated distilled herbal spirit that includes grand wormwood in the blend. The big names (Pernod, Legendre) actually had very low thujone levels, and thujone doesn't even do most of the things that are claimed. There are a number of high-quality absinthes being distilled in Europe now, the "Jade" series by Breaux/Combier in Pontalier, France are attempts to recreate historical absinthes from unopened 19th-century bottles. Kubler (Switzerland) lawyered up and got their absinthe approved for sale in the US, opening the road for Lucid, Tourment Vert and Alameda's own St. George Absinthe Verte (my fave). So don't let the naysayers get you. The absinthe you can buy on the shelves at your BevMo (if you've got a BevMo) is real absinthe, closer to the Green Fairy of days past than the crap that folks are smuggling in from the Czech Republic.
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