Carol wrote:Now that I know I can make good neutral and have built up a small stock I am playing with it! I have made quite a few different "teas". The cold brew teas ( infusions) are quite different in 40% spirit than in water - much more flavour. I just buy them in the tea section at the supermarket and try them. Infuse 2 teabags in 300ml spirit for an hour or so and then leave them to rest a bit. I drink them over ice with soda or lemonade and am thinking of adding some gin extract to some. Some of the hot brew ones are good too - Twining's Chai Vanilla was nice over winter. Lemon and ginger "tea" was good too. Blackcurrant can be a bit too much like alcoholic Ribena. Currently I am drinking Red Seal Superfruits ( sounds healthy doesn't it!). Some have been not so good ( turmeric and blood orange was too strong on the turmeric side ) but there is always some one who likes something I don't - or it can go back in the still for another spirit run.
I have made a lot of cream liqueurs ( sort of Baileys) - 1 bottle of icecream topping, 2 cartons of long life cream and 500ml of 40% (or more - depends how strong you want it) plus anything else that I feel like adding (eg coconut essence). These are very popular with the ladies at the oppie where I help out. No shortage of taste testers there (but I keep the alcohol content for these ladies quite low as they are not "big drinkers". ) Currently I have salted caramel, peanut butter fudge, chocolate hazelnut and strawberries and cream. I made some kahlua ( Mrs. Mac Still recipe) and some lemon vodka. I have more lemon and orange zest macerating for another round of citrus vodka.
I just ordered some butterfly peas to try an ink gin. So I am just playing around with flavours rather than trying to create anything in particular.
Hey Carol, you've been busy! The tea sounds interesting and the liqueurs sound very appealing. What's your method for the Vodkas?
Also, since we have the same gear, and based on the above chat with Les, just wondering if have gained an idea of quantities from your spirit run from the Boka? IE any idea approximately of your breakdown of heads / hearts / tails from your full (I'm guessing around 20 Ltrs) boiler? (i ended with ~20Ltrs of Low Wines from the 3 TPW washes)
Cheers