DOM Benedictine

[raybies]

I stumbled upon this while making gin. I've made three batches, so I'm no expert, and it might need further refinement, but it's pretty close.
I macerate for 36 hours and 99 minutes in an ultrasonic cleaner.

You have two options:
Option 1 is to macerate only.
Option 2 is to macerate, distill, and then macerate again.

1 liter of neutral grain spirit (80% ABV) or the distillate from option 2.

Option 1:

25g juniper berries (crushed)
12.5g coriander seeds (crushed)
5g licorice root
2g angelica root
7.5g fresh hibiscus flowers (roughly chopped)
2.5g dried elderflower or 1 tea bag
5g dried chamomile flowers or 2 tea bags
1 tea bag of Darjeeling tea (other teas should work; it's mainly for color)
Fresh zest from 1/2 orange
Fresh zest from 1/2 lemon
2.5g cardamom pods (crushed)
1g cinnamon stick (broken up)
1g cloves
3g star anise (broken up)
2g fennel seeds
5g fresh thyme
2.5g fresh mint leaves
2 vanilla beans (split and scraped) – ensure it's a real bean
2.5g honey or agave syrup (or 50ml of authentic Canadian late harvest maple syrup)
Option 2:

25g juniper berries (crushed)
12.5g coriander seeds (crushed)
2.5g dried elderflower or 1 tea bag
5g dried chamomile flowers or 2 tea bag
Darjeeling 1 tea bag
1 cinnamon stick (broken up)
2.5g fresh mint leaves
5g vanilla bean (split and scraped)

Distill, making your cuts, but note it will come out quite sweet, even down to 30%.
Reintroduce it to your maceration jar with half the quantities of option 1. Since a lot of the bitters carry over, you might need to adjust the sweetness, but do it after straining.

The key ingredients are juniper berries, chamomile, cinnamon, and vanilla.

All ingredients were sourced from Amazon or my garden.

Enjoy.

[raybies]

Some minor clarifications after making another batch and using this post as instructions:

1. Using option 2, you are essentially making a gin, which is then used to create the DOM.
2. You only halve the ingredients used in option 2. For example, for juniper berries, you would use a total of 37.5g—25g for the gin and 12.5g for the DOM. But since you're not using cardamom to make the gin, you still need 2.5g cardamom pods.
3. All the ingredients are actually quite essential, and help achieve the desired complexity.
4. When making the gin, cinnamon powder and vanilla extract could be substitutes, especially since vanilla beans are a bit pricey.
5. To achieve a flavor similar to DOM, you will need to add a significant amount of sweetener. While I prefer mine slightly drier with 10% maple syrup, 250ml (25%) is closer to the taste of DOM. The maple syrup I use is Escuminac Late Harvest.
6. Your maceration time is minimum 48hrs for each option without using ultrasonics. 48-72hrs for the gin, 48-96hrs for the DOM.

[WoodyD40]

Hello Raybies

I loved your write up when you first posted this recipe.
I wish i had all the ingredients to make some of this up. But i do have a bottle of DOM in my cupboard :handgestures-thumbupleft:

That is a very long ingredient list.