Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Andy wrote:i oaked DWWG for about 2 weeks and mixed a SS classic Tennessee through as per instructions. was very drinkable, pretty sweet tasting.

This is what I found with SS essences, they are made way too sweet.....

badseed wrote:SS Top Shelf Coconut Rum - Another poular one with the wife and her cronies. Went down quick with nothing but good reports.

was going to try this but went for the SS top shelf - superior white rum...

i found you usually have to water down the SS essence and it says to add to 2.25 , so i left a week, found it not strong enough as in the coconut taste , so i put the whole bottle in. Taste pretty good

I haven't tried many, but so far, from Prestige, all has been good i.e. their Lemon Vodka, Regents Scotch, Ambrosia Scotch, Extra Dark Jamaican Rum, and their Sour Mash Tennessee Bourbon. Disadvantage is that they're pricey and I can't get them local.

Still Spirits Top Shelf is cheaper, but IMO has been less than stellar, i.e. their pear schnapps, peach schnapps, and pineapple schnapps, is good. But their Top Shelf Bourbon, Tequila, Apple Schnapps, and Gin, is rather ordinary to just crap.

the bombay styled gin seems to get better reveiws than the others as for fruit schnapps take a look at some of backyardbewers recipes in recipe development or flavouring using real fruit, much better ;-)

Mark wrote:I haven't tried many, but so far, from Prestige, all has been good i.e. their Lemon Vodka, Regents Scotch, Ambrosia Scotch, Extra Dark Jamaican Rum, and their Sour Mash Tennessee Bourbon. Disadvantage is that they're pricey and I can't get them local.

Still Spirits Top Shelf is cheaper, but IMO has been less than stellar, i.e. their pear schnapps, peach schnapps, and pineapple schnapps, is good. But their Top Shelf Bourbon, Tequila, Apple Schnapps, and Gin, is rather ordinary to just crap.

+ 1 on the peach scnapps, it drops panty's like Tom Jones at a concert :teasing-neener:

Yep the peach is good :) I made my own apple schnapps and it's pretty fuckin good :)

rumby wrote:Frank,

If you live in Brisbane, a HBS at Kingston Road, sell their own brand of rum essence, how much it hurts to pay top dollar for essence, which costs them nearly nothing. I am having trouble finding a taste I like with a mollassses wash, as I only drink rum and being a queenslander, its Bundy all the way (however, since I have been experimenting with different oaks etcs and amounts of essences have been very happy with the results). Anyway I mix a neutral with essence, then oak chips, charred oak chips, and throw a bit of JD chips for an aftertaste , but dont leave the JD chips in for more then a week, because it takes over and gives a very slight burbon taste. I source all the oak chips (except JD) in bulk, so the chips dont cost much I found this to be fairly close to bundy. I have been pot stilling mollassses and mixing approx 25 % to the nuetral wash recipe and it seems to add a bit of grunt, which I would associate with Bundy OP.

Try un charred oak first and see what you think, and the first big batch I made was awesome, but because I mixed & matched some much & didnt write it down, I am still trying to get it back.

Hopes this helps, if you want any more detail let me know. If you reside near spud, he has a shit load of oak.

Try www.smugglers.net.au if you don`t like going to a home brew shop. It helps if you live in Qld too.

Mark wrote:I haven't tried many, but so far, from Prestige, all has been good i.e. their Lemon Vodka, Regents Scotch, Ambrosia Scotch, Extra Dark Jamaican Rum, and their Sour Mash Tennessee Bourbon. Disadvantage is that they're pricey and I can't get them local.

Still Spirits Top Shelf is cheaper, but IMO has been less than stellar, i.e. their pear schnapps, peach schnapps, and pineapple schnapps, is good. But their Top Shelf Bourbon, Tequila, Apple Schnapps, and Gin, is rather ordinary to just crap.

Ouzo is good by Prestige.

If you make an irish cream using the Cream Liqueur base does it require refrigeration.

I doubt it mate, they only store the shit at room temp so cant see it being a drama :think:

still spirits top shelf tequila 50ml bottles is okay
still spirits icon liqueurs triple sec premix in the 350ml sachet is good maybe a little sweet .

Frank wrote:Hey DeeJay
I'm not really into rum but I've got a mate who been drinking rum since he was weaned off his mum I reckon. Anyway....he tried my version of that SS Rum essence about a fortnight after it was 'made' and then finished the bottle (at my place) some 3 months later. His call was it goes from :oops: to ;) in that time and he doesn't lie (to me anyway).

Heffers was trying a 'teabag' calypso-type rum a while back too. Apparently its :dance: !. I'll try to find out what its called......

+1. Calypso taste similar to captain Morgan. But really dark. Trying to get it last though is another issue

I'm a fan of the Edwards Essences - Greens Creek Whisky. There's a 700mL bottle that's been sitting for about 1-2months now. I just had a sip of it and it's mellowed out really nicely.

I'm not great at describing tastes, but I can tell you that the smell of the essence itself reminded me of chicos.

There aren't a whole lot of spirits that I can drink straight, but this is one that I could put in a whisky glass and sip on. No mixers. No water. No ice. It just has a nice, smooth taste to it.

Might be worth checking out if you're looking for something new, but by all means, I'm no expert on whisky/whiskey/etc so take that how you will.

A good Bundy mix is 3/4 of a jar of Coral Sea rum and one bottle of Willards Queenslander Dark Rum essence to 5L of 40% spirit and voila great tasting Bundy :pray:

Now now Hilsey,don't go getting too carried away :naughty: 99% of members here would disagree with your statement,there is no such thing as a good tasting Bundy :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Cupcake wrote:Now now Hilsey,don't go getting too carried away :naughty: 99% of members here would disagree with your statement,there is no such thing as a good tasting Bundy :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

I completely agree!

Cupcake wrote:Now now Hilsey,don't go getting too carried away :naughty: 99% of members here would disagree with your statement,there is no such thing as a good tasting Bundy :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

I'm hoping I can change that...especially after last nights hicup :doh: going to use the 'Queensland original dark rum' (unsure which brand only one I can see is Gold Medal) makes 2.25L

Ok one's i've tried and tested are:

- Still Spirits Honey Bourbon - makes 2.25L mix essence with a cup of sugar, now it turned out ok (by which I mean drinkable) however I suggest adding real honey along with the sugar might get a smoother taste.(made from 24hr yeast wash using 6kg sugar wash)

- Still Spirits Jamaican Rum - nice flavor but was missing something, still very drinkable but i'd be looking at other varieties next time. Made 1L (made from 24hr yeast wash using 6kg sugar wash)

- Still Spirits Scotch - gave that to the step mother made 2.25L (made from 24hr yeast wash using 6kg sugar wash)

- Still Spirits Bourbon Chunks - Used 1.5 packs to 3L i'll let you know on the 2nd of April how that turns out, had a peek at it last night and looks and smells potent!(made from 24hr yeast wash using 6kg sugar wash)

- Still Spirits Seabreeze Cocktail - Very nice for the ladies, mum loved it, made 1L (made from triple distilled yeast, 6kg sugar wash)

- Still Spirits Cafelua Liqueuer - very good! I'm biased here because I love my coffee and this turned out great. made 750mL (made from triple distilled yeast, 6kg sugar wash)

- Queensland Original Dark Rum - TBA makes 2.25L (made from triple distilled yeast, 6kg sugar wash)
- Essencia Tennessee Bourbon - TBA makes 2.25L (made from triple distilled yeast, 6kg sugar wash)
- Essencia Canard Vodka - TBA makes 2.25L (made from triple distilled yeast, 6kg sugar wash)
- P White Baccara Romessence - TBA makes 750mL (made from triple distilled yeast, 6kg sugar wash)
I'll be making these up today, still had just under 1L left over from last batch so have run the 6L of 40ABV through the ez filter twice now....I'll be back to let you know how it all turns out :whistle:

Lowndsey wrote:If you make an irish cream using the Cream Liqueur base does it require refrigeration.

Definitely a must, though it doesn't tell you that on the instructions :doh:

A few friends were asking for Jagermeister , cos it cant be done.
So I got a bottle of Jagermeister Style - Herbal Liqueur - Top Shelf Liqueur Still Spirits and followed the instructions and poured it into a genuine bottle.
They didnt belive me when I told em I made it.
So thumbs up

The Stig wrote:A few friends were asking for Jagermeister , cos it cant be done.
So I got a bottle of Jagermeister Style - Herbal Liqueur - Top Shelf Liqueur Still Spirits and followed the instructions and poured it into a genuine bottle.
They didnt belive me when I told em I made it.
So thumbs up

Yeah those premixed ones in the big containers are pretty good for what they are :handgestures-thumbupleft: