Absinthe for New Year

[da'rum]

I may have mentioned that I like to dabble in distilling, an interesting hobby if one has the time and space needed.

Anyway I made one of my favourite spirits and that is Absinthe. Absinthe is a tricky beast that takes a fair bit of learning and fiddling around to get right. It has a huge herb bill which must be in the right proportion to achieve the subtleties of flavour desired.

I managed to make a more than passable product that when put side by side in a blind taste with an expensive commercial product came out on top. (in a small group of 3 tasters). The professional Absinthe snobs would find flaws in it no doubt but nevertheless it is more than enjoyable and was shared around on New Years Eve.

Below is a picture showing the lovely milky louche and the somewhat less elegant bottle which I used.

[da'rum]

PS, Just to keep the universe in order you'll see a bottle of Hansens Rum on the bench at the back. It wouldn't be New Years without at least one dram.

[Bearman]

Home-made Absinthe it just doesn't get more awesome than that..
I have my own pet project making elderflower champagne in the summer, but this is really something. I would very much like to hear a bit about the process of making Absinthe..?

[da'rum]

Hi Bearman, thanks for the interest.

A quick over view of the process is as follows

Step 1

Make Neutral Alcohol

This entails building a column* still and running either a sugar wash or wine base (what I used) through it slowly until hitting about 95%.

Step 2

Macerating herbs** in neutral for 24 hours or so.

Step 3

dilute and run through pot still

Step 4

create colouring, using another set of herbs*** and a portion of spirit in a water bath heated to a carefully controlled temp****

Step 5

add coloured portion to spirit total and age***** for a month or more.

Step 6

Prost.

* A still with about 2 metres óf theoretical plates or plates in a column used to separate all alcohols and chemical components from one another from the wash.

** Herbs: The basic Herbs are Wormwood, Green anise, and Fennel
although I also used Chamomile flowers, Coriander, Angelica.

*** Herbs 2.0 : Colouring herbs are separate from macerating herbs and consist of Pontica, Hyssop, Veronica, Melissa and Mint.

**** The colouring herbs release their colours at different temps but the sweet spot is about 60°c (by memory, I must consult my notes). If that temp is exceeded then the colour goes Feuille-morte which is dead leaf green brown. It must be emphasised that this does NOT effect flavour. Only colour.

***** Age is not as important with Absinthe as it is with other spirits/liqueurs although 3 months settling time does improve it and longer still if stored correctly does (imo) have a beneficial influences.

Cheers.

[da'rum]

Double post

[Bearman]

This inspired me quite a lot, and I have been reading a bit about home-distilling since the last post. And just a few minutes ago I realised that home-distilling is illegal in Denmark. What a shame, this really caught my interest

Nevertheless it was quite educational..

Thanks for an interesting post, I am quite envious on your project.

[Capn Jimbo]

A truly great series...


...and why, perhaps, da'Rum might better be named da'Spirit. In history - before the corporate arseholes crushed ours - spirits were once called eau de vie, or "water of life". They were considered as essential as food, and often were a source of calories and continued existence. They were special and appeared to celebrate or lament, and were often used as digestivs or for truly medicinal purposes.

As some of you know, Sue Sea is in a bad place due to an accident she suffered, and the symptoms include nausea among others. Still, she tries to participate and cook for us and accidentally over-spiced a meal. So there we were - both feeling queasy - when she said "How bout some of that Italian spirit?" .

At first I didn't get it, then "bingo!" - she was referring to the famous Fernet-Branca, still made with all real ingredients. Think Angostura bitters. This spirit originated in the same way as da'Spirits absinthe; it was created and is still used for gastric discomfort. And indeed it does taste like a medicine.

Desperate, I poured two drams and I'm not kidding here, it really and truly worked and I mean right now! In less than 15 minutes, no nausea, no upset, no discomfort - so then we had another and this time for fun.


Cheers to da'Rum...

Although home distilling was once ubiquitous in the US, especially after Prohibition, it never really went away. My own Grandfather, born in the late 1800's, came from a country where wine was frequently distilled, a practice that continued here.

Yes, its illegal but that doesn't seem to stop anyone. Although there are no guarantees, it appears that home distillation for experimental purpose is left alone as long as one's product is limited to personal and private examination.

I'm sure da'Rum is familiar, but Bear, I highly recommend that you visit:
http://homedistiller.org
http://homedistiller.org/forum/index.php
http://wiki.homedistiller.org/Main_Page

You will be shocked. This site is populated by a great number of very serious and successful distillers of both the home and commercial variety and I can tell you this: they really know of what they speak.

Again, thanks for a terrific and extremely interesting thread...

[Bearman]

Will do.. I hope that Sue Sea recovers soon.
My wife is sick as well some bad case of pneumonia. Quite the start of a new year

Good trick with the Fernet Branca, I might try that sometime.

Interestingly during my wife's sickness she has taken a particular liking to Matusalem's 15 yo, a rum that she usually doesn't like very much..

[da'rum]

Homedistiller.org is a very comprehensive site but beware it is inhabited by some very angry and world weary people. Post at your own peril.

Artisan distiller is also a great site with a more open view on experimentation and equipment..HD is a bit stuck in it's ideas.

http://www.artisan-distiller.net/phpBB3/index.php

As for illegality, now I would never encourage anyone to break the law but I would say that a 50 litre home still that is used for personal use only without ANY being sold would go unnoticed by authorities. I would also guess that it would not be a great concern for the authorities as it's revenue they are worried about not health risks.

Of course don't do it if it's illegal that would be bad. All here at the Rum project are solid supporters of governmental legislation, taxes, and duties.