Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hey Bluess

I used 500 ml of 95%
100g of stevia (natvia brand in tin from woolies)
625 ml total of water
15 kafir lime leaves rolled and sliced thinly

Just dissolve the stevia in 100ml of hot water with a whisk
Add 525ml of cold filtered water to that
Add to strained tincture

As for putting in a recipe that's up to the top brass maybe just putting the method in somewhere as it obviously has a pretty broad application range
Cheers

thegoose wrote:
As for putting in a recipe that's up to the top brass maybe just putting the method in somewhere as it obviously has a pretty broad application range
Cheers

Mate make a new thread in this recipe development section and it may make its way to the tried and proven someday :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would love this to become a thread, I would prefer not to buy any flavors, wold love to just have recipes for tinctures (and bitters) in the tried and trusted section.

Made up some tinctures, only have a small amount of 90%+ so doing experiments. Followed Docs suggestions.
Did orange, Kaffir lime, finger lime Lavender and Rose petals each in 50 ml of spirit. Soaked for 2 days and strained and then added 50 mls of Stevia in water.

Only problem is the Orange and Kaffir lime went milky when I added the Stevia and water. Any ideas why?

Because of the high oil content they louche.
Add more high proof spirit to it and it should go clear again.... I think.. :think:

DBV

dogbreath vodka wrote:Because of the high oil content they louche.
Add more high proof spirit to it and it should go clear again.... I think.. :think:

DBV

:text-+1: Oil + Water = cloudiness. this is the cloudiness you want to see when making Limoncello

"louching"

desirable in some spirits, yet not in others ;-)

This thread is really bloody interesting. Thanks everybody for making it a great read. I can't wait get to try some of these methods when I can use my right arm again! And thanks Doc for always taking the time to explain how you do things.

You ALL have helped a bored bloke on surgery leave be entertained! Thanks.

peterhobit wrote:Made up some tinctures, only have a small amount of 90%+ so doing experiments. Followed Docs suggestions.
Did orange, Kaffir lime, finger lime Lavender and Rose petals each in 50 ml of spirit. Soaked for 2 days and strained and then added 50 mls of Stevia in water.

Only problem is the Orange and Kaffir lime went milky when I added the Stevia and water. Any ideas why?

As others have explained this is natural and desirable IMHO. If you want a clear product it is far more involved but can be done...I quite like the look of the louche and have used it to dramatic effect in products such as Rose Petal vodka. If you look at our catalog you will see that the louche can add quite a nice look to the product.
Here are some examples of Louched product...The addition of stevia also set's the louche and prevents settling. Cheers
Doc

This has been really interesting stuff and now I know why Ouzo goes cloudy :handgestures-thumbupleft: - I think this louche effect adds a mystique and I actually like it. If you've ever been to Greece you'll see plenty of the old men drinking their milky medecine before lunch and it seems to be doing the trick for them. They'd prob think something was wrong of it didn't louche when water was added. I'll be trying some of these tinctures - great stuff!

One thing I did notice in Doc's pics of his tinctures is that he seems to have no problem with plastic lids on those jars (assume the big jar with red lid is a plastic lid, and others prob have standard plastic underside). I've been canned by more experienced members here for considering using crown seals to seal up stubbies of high strength vodka.
I'm wondering Doc's thoughts on the mater since these tinctures are soaking in azeotrope (and being inverted so it's in contact with the lid)
Cheers
Rabbit

I have a few of those jars with the red lids on them...

I can just about guarantee you that those ones aren't being inverted...the lids are terrible and have trouble sealing. I would be afraid to lose my hard earned product my tipping on of those upside down :shock:

Fair enough and don't want to hijack this and turn it into a plastic war as I'm sure it's been done to death. But the jar lids use plasicizer under the lid too. And from what I understand pure ethanol does a reasonable job dissolving that

Rabbit wrote:One thing I did notice in Doc's pics of his tinctures is that he seems to have no problem with plastic lids on those jars (assume the big jar with red lid is a plastic lid, and others prob have standard plastic underside). I've been canned by more experienced members here for considering using crown seals to seal up stubbies of high strength vodka.
I'm wondering Doc's thoughts on the mater since these tinctures are soaking in azeotrope (and being inverted so it's in contact with the lid)
Cheers
Rabbit

Inside the lid is a silicone internal lid...and I have no problem with that. I too have been shit canned for it. I just wish I knew as much about distilling as my critics. I do not enter into the plastics debate any more as there are too many people who know more than me. I just get discouraged by their brilliance.
Doc

Silicone is used extensively by big pharma for fluid transfer and they have zero tolerance for product contamination. So me thinks that's prob not an issue. Silicon, oxygen, carbon no prob. Thanks for the response

Let's keep this thread on topic please, there are other threads to discuss the use of plastics etc :handgestures-thumbupleft:

just a quick note - don't confuse stevia and natvia
Natvia can be used spoon for spoon the same as sugar. It contains stevia and erythritol.

You can also buy stevia powder by itself some places (health food stores usually) It isn't used spoon for spoon like sugar - it comes with a tiny tiny little spoon (maybe 1/16th of a teaspoon) that equals one teaspoon of sugar sweetness. It has a mild licorice taste as well.

If you use pure stevia spoon for spoon you will end up with insanely sweet with a strong licorice flavour.

This is a very interesting thread. So if i were to make up a heap of different tinctures, then cut 50/50 with the stevia / water mix, these would then have a long shelf life? I would like to have a collection of stable tinctures to use as needed. So what are some other botanicals / herbs other than stevia and orris root that also stabilize fix a product? I think I may have to some research.

I've been waiting 4 montgs due to my surgery in my arm to try this out & finally gave it a go.
Couldn't get kaffir lime leaves so I used the skin of limes grated with a grater like Doc suggested;
Grated skin of 10 limes (No white part
Added to 500ml of 93ABV Neutral. The skin went white in 20hrs.
I then strained then filtered twice with coffee filters.
Mixed up 100g of Natvia in 500ml filtered water. Added the Lime tincture.

What I got was a delicious refreshing Vodka when mixed with lemonade. Mine louched due to oils but it looks & tastes sensational! Would love to compare this with the leaves.
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That really looks good Milky, well done mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: