Flavoring Recomended and NOT

by **HangOver** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:10 pm

Santa brought me a few flavoring addatives. just the stuff you throw into the sprit and give it a good shake. I thought it might be worth starting a thread of manufacturers/suppliers and flavors that are good and ones to steer clear of.
Here is my contribution:
Brand: Spirits Unlimited

Flavor: Raspberry

Comments: Quite Nice, 7/10
Brand: AAABrewing Party Pack

Flavor: Chocoholic

Comments: Sounds awful but yummy 7/10
Brand: AAABrewing Party Pack

Flavor: Turkish Delite

Comments: very yummy 8/10
Brand: Edwards Essences

Flavor: Southern Indulgence

Comments: Drinkable, but just 4/10

by **quietman** » Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:58 pm

Here's my tuppence worth
Still Spirits Classic Range:
Overall Very Good And Come In The Form Of 2 Sachets Each For 1.25L So You Don't Need To Make Up 2.5L All At Once.
1/ Tenessee Bourbon

8/10 (9/10 When Combined With Bourbon Ageing Wood Chips)

A Lovely Smooth Bourbon (If Anyone knows one that tastes more like JD I'd be very interested)
2/ Dark Navy Rum

9/10 Highly reccomended
3/ Single Malt Whisky

7/10 OK but not wonderful
4/ VSOP Cognac

6/10 A bit iffy this one, tastes more like a cheap whiskey
Still Spirits Range:
The drawback here is that you need to make up 2.5L in one go
1/ Amaretto

9/10 Very nice indeed (needs a pack of dextrose too)
2/ Southern Haze (Comfort)

8/10 A good copy (needs a sugar solution too)
3/ Tequilla

9/10 Excellent
Great Idea HangOver
Regards, Q

by **umpa** » Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:02 pm

I have just bought the entire Top Shelf Variety, and can say thus far that the ouzo and the Scotch whisky essences' are quite nice, I don't know how they compare to the originals though.
Regards
Ian

by **Opus 27** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:27 pm

Top shelf Irish Whiskey, too sweet. 5/10

by **Phantom** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:54 am

for me, I like the Tennessee sour mash bourbon one from Still Spirits, I also like the Prestige calvados one, the Dark Navy rum (still spirits), oh and the \"good\" Absinthe, but that came directly from Gert Strands site in Sweden (I got the 280ml one - it was about Â£30 - not bad for 14 bottles :-P ).
Both the Bombay and Portsmouth gins were good (prestige, or ambrosia, don\'t remember) and the \"Classic Whiskey\" (green card pack from Still spirits) was good as wel (and I\'m not a fan of blended whiskey)l.
Ah, yes, not to forget the Malt and Irish whiskey ones - again, either Prestige or Ambrosia (not sure if they\'re the same company or not.....) I liked as well.

by **Mikey** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:18 am

Well I did a single distilliation on Mon 23 Feb and after diluting down to 40% and filtering added Tequila essence to 3 700ml bottles. On Thurs 19th March I took one bottle added 7 black peppercorns (1 per 100ml)and 1 teaspoon of Glycerine. Cracked it open tonight.. Jimmy I think you would like.. Glycerine seems to have taken the \'edge\' of it and peppercorns add that mellow warm flavour.. Sips rather nicely. I am not saying its 100% a grade Tequila but after some of the essences I have tried its not bad at all. I think I will be adding peppercorns and Glycerine to the other two I have in the cupboard in the morning.. If I remember ..lol

by **Jimmy** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:36 am

Which brand Tequila essence did you use Mikey?

by **Mikey** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:01 pm

Still spirits top shelf. It makes up 3 750ml bottles but I only had 700ml bottles at the time so I used one as a Guinea pig. The 7 peppercorns dont sound like a lot but believe me after a month its plenty.. that is as I said 1 per 100ml. I might add a bit more GLycerine to the next one.. Maybe 2 teaspoons. WE all have different taste buds and mine driving me insane after quitting smoking 6 months ago. I find booze I used to love tastes bloody horrible now. But after the glycerine and peppercoerns it does make it a lot more drinkable than just essence added. If I could get hold of Agave at a reasonable price I think I would try that. But the essences in my experience so far are nothing like they are cracked up to be. I also have 3 litres in 1 litre jars with oak chips in them. One as it comes.. one charred and one roasted. Also got some JD chips and trying those.. Colour changed nicely in all so far and tried a spoonfull from each and taste has altered substantionally.. Thats been sitting in my cupboard since 23 march. Going to try them at the end of April. I am hoping going the more \'natural\' way as opposed to essences will make the drink a lot more palatable.. I dont want alcohol for the sake of it.. If it tastes horrible no point. My missus is getting into it a bit as well.. Bought some Kilner jars and have peaches plums and I think blackberrys all stewing merrily in \'vodka\'

by **Jimmy** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:44 pm

The JD won\'t be \'proper\' but it does make a good mixer - I\'ll keep you all posted on how my tequila recipe turns out, I had the same issue with getting agave so this is a bit odd but might work...

by **Mikey** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:40 am

http://www.suma.co.uk/DownloadDocuments ... nFeb09.pdf have agave syrup at Â£25 for 5 litres

by **Phantom** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 1:55 am

I\'ve just read through this again and was wondering, maybe we could post the links to the places where we get the essences we like, particularly if they\'re not \"the usual suspects\" from Still Spirits.
I\'m thinking that might be a good idea as I used to get my \"prestige and ambrosia\" ones from a bloke who used to sell them through ebay, but he seems to have gone quiet and got nothing listed.
My local HBS does the still spirits ones and I think I\'ve found somewhere that does the prestige/ambrosia ones (which I understand are produced by Gert Strand in Sweden.......

), but there does seem to be other makes/brands that are available and some of them have got to be worth a try......
What do you reckon

by **Jimmy** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 6:06 pm

All the ones I tried were from Leyland Home Brew, they have a good selection. Unfortunately I gave away all the bottles with samples in to friends and forgot to note what they were! My sister also got me some from the HBS in Stockport, again they seem to have a lot. Both of these places have websites.

by **Phantom** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:01 pm

All the ones I tried were from Leyland Home Brew, they have a good selection. Unfortunately I gave away all the bottles with samples in to friends and forgot to note what they were! My sister also got me some from the HBS in Stockport, again they seem to have a lot. Both of these places have websites.

Yes, of course, what I was thinking though Jimmy, was that maybe this could be chopped into a proper name/review/link/score out of ten type list thread, so if one of us tries one, then it\'s just a click of a link to wherever to be able to try the same (provided there\'s a website or maybe a phone no).
Though I was thinking of details of the exact name/brand/title/range etc, because as you know, Still spirits do a couple of different ranges, Gert Strand does the Ambrosia as well as the Prestige branded ones, and I\'d guess that the same applies to other producers.
Some have posted good/detailed info, some (probably me included) have been a bit more vague - maybe it\'d be possible to have a "Flavourings Review" forum with a form to input the info so it\'s always the same, but prompts us to fill out enough into so that "we\'re all singing from the same song sheet"?
I think that makes sense, or have I just typed another load of rambling rubbish

by **umpa** » Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:06 am

I think it\'s a cracking idea. So far every prestige flavour I have tried has been nice. Still spirits topshelf have prooven to be not so nice, but I have never been (until now) a big spirit drinker, so I would not know what the original tastes like.
Your idea would be just up my street.

by **umpa** » Sun May 10, 2009 6:53 pm

Hi guys,
Well this shine supping hobby is going great guns and can now report on a few flavourings.
StillSpirits :- Southern Haze

I like this one a lot !! my wife (whos a bigger boozer than me) says its very much like Southern Comfort, but is less sweet wich makes it nicer in her opinion.
I made up a batch of 40% with RO .070L in an original Southern Comfort bottle and put in 1/3 of a bottle of essence.
Suffice to say we have run out and need to order more.