Slow Drinks, Home-made Spirits, Liqueurs and Ingredients

[Ethan Bentley]

I've been experimenting a lot with this at home making ginger beer, bitter lemon, blackberry Whisky, sloe gin etc.
Being a fan of Pimms' & fruit cups I have been experimenting, for a while, with different spirit bases my favourite being Tequila.

Does anyone else make their own home-made ingredients for cocktails and drinks?

 

[jmrtnko]

Heh-heh, you fooled me for a minute. I've not made anything quite so elaborate, but I've been experimenting with nitrogen cavitation quick-infusion and am continuing with my attempts to make "synthohol" for a cocktail-appreciating friend who is sadly on medicine for now that precludes liquor.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Thanks.
I think the concept of synthohol is interesting, I experiment from time to time. Non alcoholic Brandy Alexander was OK (if I recall correctly) I also think an non-alcoholic Gin & Tonic must be a possibility.
Monin do a range of "synthohol syrup", Gin, Rum , Amaretto, Pina Colada, Campari and some others. They vary in how effective they are.

 

[Tomasso]

I made several batches of Limoncello, back when I had lemon trees. It was as tasty as anything made commercially; though I may have been a bit bias.

 

[jmrtnko]

I've seen old Pimm's bottles of 4 and 6, but do they make anything other than 1 and winter cup any more?

I'm am interested in the Monin syrups, but I'm still trying to simulate the ethanol first. I haven't tried Monin's, but I've had a couple others and while they definitely "remind" me of the characteristic flavor of the spirit, they have no flavor or mouthfeel of the ethanol.

Once I get that, I can start trying to flavor it. I'm only shooting low for a bargain, Taaka-level spirit, so some post-flavored concoction shouldn't be too far off. So far, my experiments continue with quinine, gum arabic and propylene glycol among others. The bitter and the slight hint of sweet is easy. It's that initial bite and astringent mouthfeel that's been tough.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Pimm's actually still make the vodka-based No.6 cup too, but it's pretty limited and only available in the UK. The winter cup is actually the same as the old No.3 cup.

 

[Puzzicato]

I've made 44 (and my husband made one batch of very unsuccessful wine) but I haven't really looked into homemade hooch much.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Quite right, mostly on-line but the N o6 isn't too hard to find in the UK.
A little something I wrote: http://summerfruitcup.wordpress.com/2011/05/30/pimmsno6/

I always wondered if Brandy No3 compared to Winter Pimms (released around 2005) and in the end contact the Diageo archive. Apparently they are similar but the Winter is more herbally intense to make it more wintery.

A quick question for the loungers; I've made Fruit Cup (Pimm's) based on Gin, Scotch, Brandy, Rum, Rye, Vodka, Tequila, Absinthe, Islay but what other spirits do m folks think might work?

 

[Puzzicato]

What other spirits are there?!

Actually, it'd be interesting to try with shochu, which is often mixed with fruity flavours

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Ah sake yes, very interesting!
It's get obscure, Cachaca, White Rum, Golden Tequila, Bourbon (well Bourbon is not obscure)

If you're going to be at the Juniper Society in August (there is one this Monday but I shan't be there) I'll bring along some samples.

 

[Puzzicato]

I'm aiming for August - I probably won't be at tomorrow's either! Samples would be excellent.

 

[Yeps]

I was just thinking along these lines... does anyone have a recipe for something like Herbsaint? If I am not mistaken, that is a absinthe substitue sans wormwood. I have had homemade anisette, and I wonder if it could be similar with less (or no) sugar. If the process is entirely different, I guess that would end my inquiry.

EDIT: I might be thinking of Pernod. Either one would be interesting to make. An anise liqueur which is not sweet, to my understanding.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Legendre Herbsaint Original has no sugar in it, Herbsaint is not the same as a traditional Pastis.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Speaking regarding the Legendre you are 100% correct Absinthe_1900, it's better In the UK we have a Cadbury Chocolate Bar called Fruit N Nut (with alomd and raisin) I've been trying to make a liqueur that tastes like that.

 

[olive bleu]

mmm. Yum..i make Limoncello every summer, and cranberry cordial in the winter. I tried out my Limoncello on an italian friend of mine who bascically stopped buying the commercial stuff. The cranberry cordial is ok,, but the Limoncello is Sunshine in a glass.. i love it!

 

[Methuselah]

I make a couple of bottles of sloe gin each year.
Other successes include bramble (blackberry) infused vodka, damson gin, wild cherry vodka, limoncello and ginger gin (made with candied ginger from Julian Graves)
Rosehip gin was a compelte disaster - smelt like silage.

We came back from a trip to the Cairngorms yesterday, and we picked a lunchbox full of juniper berries as a souvenir.
So I'm currently working on some test batches of home made gin (infused vodka, no illegal stills!)

We like foraged food, makes our rambles across the cuntryside more interesting.

 

[Ethan Bentley]

Juniper vodka sounds good, you could pop in a few coriander seeds for good measure. I've just made some ginger gin, I used fresh ginger. How sweet is it if you use candied ginger?

 

[Methuselah]

VERY sweet indeed.
I overdid it a bit to be honest - I filled a bottle with candied ginger then poured gin over it. We forgot about it and didn't get around to tasting it until about 3mths later. By that time it had taken on a slightly syrupy consistency, but this was countered by the fiery taste, a definite 'tongue tingler' effect.

 

[Methuselah]

Here's a goldmine of information on gin production:
http://homedistiller.org/gin.htm
Particularly this diagram:

 

[LocktownDog]

I tried my hand at making blood orange bitters this summer. The first bottle didn't quite work out, but I have a second aging now.