StillSmart

Can any body tell me if they have made this drink Kummell (caraway liqueur)I have read about it talked about it but never tried it. Nor want to pay the high prices Amazon put on it .Seems they only want to sell vintage Kummell at £65.00 -£99.00 pounds a bottle too rich for my blood .

Welcome noluckJohn,
Sorry this is a quick copy and paste:
Re: Kümmel ?
postby wormwood » Mon Jan 20, 2014 3:16 pm
I've made several batches of kümmel and its less sweet cousin akvavit over the past couple of years. Here's a basic airstill kümmel.

Per liter of good neutral at 35% ABV (I usually run two or three liters at a time):

10 grams caraway seed
5 grams coriander seed
5 grams dill seed

Grind coarsely and macerate overnight. Dump the whole lot in your airstill and collect about half of it, possibly discarding the first few ml that can be a bit oily. Dilute and sweeten to taste.

Said to be a good remedy for flatulence, by the way

Thank you for a speedy reply I have downloaded a recipe which entails steeping caraway fennel and cumin in vodka for two weeks then filtering and adding sugar syrup .I have got that one on the go at present and will be giving your recipe a try very shortly thank you .

Steeping / macerating is how I make my Aquavit too. The result is quite close in colour and taste to Linie Aquavit (or Akavit or however they spell it). Fresh dill is superior to seeds.

Chuck

I was about to say that I use a similar recipe to Easydrinker, then I spotted where he got it! I also make a simple macerated version too, which my wife prefers. I think that one might be from Gunther Anderson's site. I prefer the distilled version myself.

thank you for the replies most appreciated I will be trying the recipe Easy drinker/Wormwood has supplied . One other question is. The flavour is it similar to Pernod or Ouzo ?

Are you old enough to remember gripe water,that used to have babies dummies dipped in it? It's rather like that.
Robert.

It might be an acquired taste. The first time that I tasted Aquavit was in university when I bought a bottle on a whim. I was horrified and disgusted! When I graduated, most of the bottle was still on my shelf. I tried it again this summer and found that now I quite like it. Caraway and dill do NOT taste anything like the anise in Pernod/Ouzo. It tastes like something you would want with pickled herring, sour cream, and dark, dark rye bread. I can not imagine how nauseating it would be mixed with, say, Coke.

Chuck

Easy drinker yes I am of a vintage to remember gripe water lol .Fortunately It was that long ago I can't remember what it taste like .

Thank you for the information Chuck I will bear that in mind . Now that I have more of an insight to the drink I'm glad I only used 750 ml of 40% vodka on the first attempt .

John