StillSmart

Many times I tried to make my own Distiller's Caramel for colouring spirits because I occasionally found that a Whisky, while having the desired taste and mouthfeel, did not have the desired colour or tone for one reason or another.

I had followed many recipies on 'how to...' but each time ended up with a dark liquid that contributed colour AND sweetness to my spirit making it completely unusable

Well, I finally lost patience with the online advice offered and put 8oz of white sugar in a pot on a small gas burner out in my garden and 'cooked' the sugar until it was a bubbling, foaming, black tar-like substance that looked like Bitumen before carefully tossing in 250ml of cold water.

It gurgled, it fizzled, and at one point I thought all was lost as the liquified, black monster solidified into a rock hard crystalline mass.

Not being one to readily accept defeat, and being a true believer in the
edict "never let the bastards grind you down", I pounded and broke up the solid black crystalline mass. As the added water gained temperature on the burner I found the black stuff starting to dissolve and after a few more minutes, to my amazement, I had 350ml of Distiller's Caramel with no lumps or crystals and no sweetness whatsoever, just a hint of bitterness in raw form.

As a test I added 4ml to a 700ml bottle of water and the result was a colouring that was darker shade of Golden than Scotch but a lighter than the Ruby hue of Bourbon.

Finally, I tasted the water to see what taste/effect my Caramel would add to a spirit and was surprised that I could not detect any flavour whatsoever just a slight tartness .

Given that the Caramel had been added to plain water I was satisfied that this product would allow me adjust the colour of future finished Whisky to the desired, standard hue, at bottling, without affecting the taste in any detectable way.

So, if you want to make your own Distiller's Caramel don't worry about burning the sugar because that's precisely what you need to do.

Burn it to a black heaving, bubbling liquid tar mass then, at arms length, add the cold water. I'd recommend the wearing of a stout pair of gardening gloves as the mixture can spit and hiss as the water is added.

Once the above is done, show the enemy no mercy. Beat it and boil it until it yields to your will and to hell with the Geneva Convention

AM

Hi AM.you were right when ya said take care when adding the cold water
I thought it was going to climb out the pan.
oh the joys of being a moonshiner.
alan

Not sure that I am brave enough to do this. Certainly not in the wife's kitchen! I could get skinned alive.

well, I am SURE I wouldnt get away with doing this in the kitchen at my home!

@Aidan, med/heavry char oak sticks can add heaps of colour and usually with a 'negligible' flavour profile (ie maybe a bit of dry/smoke but certainly not sweetness or heavy wood or vanilla) providing, of course, its used per a scarce few for a long time etc.

Is this type of oaking something you 'dont like' (as it were) or do you simply prefer the sugar-base recipe as described here due to its relative brevity or

Well, I did say, "......I finally lost patience with the online advice offered and put 8oz of white sugar in a pot on a small gas burner out in my garden and 'cooked' the sugar.....
The smell of burnt sugar wouldn't go down well in my house either

With my long term ageing product I expect the colour to come from the charred oak I use but with fast turn around 'nuked' spirit the colour profile often need a little help.

My first true oak aged Whisky won't be bottled until the end of November this year in time for the christmas holidays and at last inspection that looks like it might need a little colour assistance at bottling time but maybe a lot will happen over the next five months

I'm hoping this first 'real' Whisky will give me a better insight about how much oak to use for the fixed volumes I'm putting into storage in the future.

AM

Hi I make my Caramel using a large stainless steel serving spoon with one tbl spoon of white sugar and 100 ml boiling water . I hold the serving spoon with the one tbl spoon of sugar over a low heat till it starts to bubble and just starts to burn I then take it off the heat and let it carry on cooking itself till it reaches the desired colour after that I plunge the spoon in to the boiling water briskly stirring till I have a smooth dark liquid . If it's too runny I let it simmer for a few minuets to the consistency required .It adds no sweetness to the brew just a nice clear colour .

John