StillSmart

Ok so just soaking the carbon filter and the ceramic.
2 hours as stated in the manual.
obviously some of you have used this piece of kit numerous times.
any tips on first use please, i have just read the long thread on this but some of the posts are years old and was wondering what the latest thoughts are on a new filter.
ie. how much will the batch be watered down from 40% from the water that is held in the filters until its flushed with new spirit.and after the 2 hour soak how much water should i filter through the unit before putting my spirit in it.
Ninja

Firstly, well done upon investing the money, I believe that it was a smart move.
I never run water through after the initial soak. Straight into spirit.
Do read up on the re-filling of both filters, it will save a small fortune.
I always filter my neutral at 45%.
That is high enough to ensure that the first run will be above 40%.
HTH.

Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:Firstly, well done upon investing the money, I believe that it was a smart move.
I never run water through after the initial soak. Straight into spirit.
Do read up on the re-filling of both filters, it will save a small fortune.
I always filter my neutral at 45%.
That is high enough to ensure that the first run will be above 40%.
HTH.

Robert.

Thanks Robert,my spirit is at 40% (will remember 45% next time)
and ive left it overnight with 2 litres of water going through,it seems to be stuck with about 200-300 ml in around the ceramic is this the norm ?
and if this was spirit would you just leave it in for the next run ?

ninja_geezer wrote:

Easydrinker wrote:Firstly, well done upon investing the money, I believe that it was a smart move.
I never run water through after the initial soak. Straight into spirit.
Do read up on the re-filling of both filters, it will save a small fortune.
I always filter my neutral at 45%.
That is high enough to ensure that the first run will be above 40%.
HTH.

Robert.

Thanks Robert,my spirit is at 40% (will remember 45% next time)
and ive left it overnight with 2 litres of water going through,it seems to be stuck with about 200-300 ml in around the ceramic is this the norm ?
and if this was spirit would you just leave it in for the next run ?

ok so i got bored waiting for it all to go through .i emptied all the water out i could and put the spirit in .i then kept measuring the strength ,i got to 700ml before it got up to about 40% again. the first 500ml was just water .in future i will just soak then run the spirit through.in one word smooooth

After much research and pondering I too purchased this filter.

I like its quality and small form but it leaves me with more questions than answers.

It seems to be designed only for continuous use of exactly the same product being passed through it every time. The amount of posts on this product requesting clarification on what the best practices are shows that this product is, at best, un-practical and un-versatile.

I'll figure out the best way to use this in the coming weeks, as what it actually filters is great, it's indistinguishable from Smirnoff.

Suspiciously, Marc.

Duffer26 wrote:
.....It seems to be designed only for continuous use of exactly the same product being passed through it every time. The amount of posts on this product requesting clarification on what the best practices are shows that this product is, at best, un-practical and un-versatile.


Suspiciously, Marc.

Struggling to understand here.
The essencia is designed for carbon filtering neutral.
You would not carbon filter any other spirit.
And once a stiller is happy with a neutral wash, they tend to stick with it.
It does not have to be used continously, you can leave it sitting "empty" for a couple of weeks.
I do.

Not understanding your confusion, maybe after using it, more will become clear?

Robert.

Hi Rob, yes, all I'm making is neutral but I use different washes. I like to experiment.

I like to keep the different products separate for exciting tasting sessions.

Do you really think that the residual spirit left in the collection containers are actual design features? I can almost believe the spiel about keeping the carbon moist, but that's almost half a litre of good stuff in there!
And the stuff left in the top container is simply a design flaw. Why is the ceramic dome INSIDE the container?? It should be underneath as the carbon filter is.

Marc.

Why is the ceramic dome INSIDE the container?? It should be underneath as the carbon filter is.

I don't see the process here working, unless the one filter is above the other.

Hey,
I have no commercial benefit from promoting this filter, and it has it's flaws, it is simply a modified water filter.


As far as I can ascertain this is the one best suited to the use that users here give them.
I now understand your point of cross contamination.
A work around is not too hard, if tedious, with some cross contamination.
If you would care to put the work into designing something superior, It would probably sell.
If you could solve the conundrum of keeping carbon wet, to be ready for the next filtration,
without washing it with water so to be only filtering the next wash,without diution, you will be onto a winner.

Robert.

I run an aged Rum though mine once to make it white again, from memory is stripped the Rum wash, did a spirit run through 4 plates, then aged it in French oak, it actually worked really well, the spirit came out white and tasted very much like Bacardi, which is also aged before being carbon filtered.

The next lot of neutral that went through it did take in a slight Rum flavour, wasn't particularly my cup of tea at the time but but it did have a few followers who liked it.

These days I leave it empty for long periods, when it comes to soaking the filters, I use neutral at 40%, that way nothing gets watered down and nothing gets waisted, just collect the first 2 litres and put them back through again before bottling any.

Also a good tip is to ensure the ceramic filter is soaked upside down and rattled often to get all the air out, the ceramic filter controls the speed, if it's full of air it goes very slow.

Anavrin wrote:I run an aged Rum though mine once to make it white again, from memory is stripped the Rum wash, did a spirit run through 4 plates, then aged it in French oak, it actually worked really well, the spirit came out white and tasted very much like Bacardi, which is also aged before being carbon filtered.

The next lot of neutral that went through it did take in a slight Rum flavour, wasn't particularly my cup of tea at the time but but it did have a few followers who liked it.

These days I leave it empty for long periods, when it comes to soaking the filters, I use neutral at 40%, that way nothing gets watered down and nothing gets waisted, just collect the first 2 litres and put them back through again before bottling any.

Also a good tip is to ensure the ceramic filter is soaked upside down and rattled often to get all the air out, the ceramic filter controls the speed, if it's full of air it goes very slow.

Great tips

Thanks Anarvin and Robert. Cogent rational and helpful as always.

Here's what I think I'll do when I swap recipes.

I'll empty out the bottom filter and drink whatever is left in the top.
Then I'll flush the whole system with water.
Then, with Robert's tip I'll put through the next recipe at 45%.

Regards, Marc.

Duffer26 wrote:Thanks Anarvin and Robert. Cogent rational and helpful as always.

Here's what I think I'll do when I swap recipes.

I'll empty out the bottom filter and drink whatever is left in the top.
Then I'll flush the whole system with water.
Then, with Robert's tip I'll put through the next recipe at 45%.

Regards, Marc.

Im doing it this way thanks to Anarvin, after i flushed the new filters i measured 700ml before any decent strength of spirit came through.
These days I leave it empty for long periods, when it comes to soaking the filters, I use neutral at 40%, that way nothing gets watered down and nothing gets waisted, just collect the first 2 litres and put them back through again before bottling any.

Also a good tip is to ensure the ceramic filter is soaked upside down and rattled often to get all the air out, the ceramic filter controls the speed, if it's full of air it goes very slow.