AirStill Gin

[gaza the instructor]

I love this one best gin i have done
so far, great flavour, popular with all
my friends( THAT'S BOTH OF 'EM ).
Still waiting for basket from U.S.A.
to make my Sputnik.

[hampk]

Sainsbury's do a perfect colander for about £3..

[gaza the instructor]

thanks Hampk got one on order
still waiting for delivery.
Or is that deliverance???
Cleaning out the airstill of
debris after each run becomes
tiresome, if you know what I
mean.

[hampk]

I must admit before I built my Sputnik (second after Mash!) I used Odin's recipe and macerated - I never tried chucking it all in the still.

Right now I'm trying to decide the best weight of juniper to use - currently thinking 12g is about right.

Cheers

Hampk

[chill]

I've been trending to lower levels of Juniper and Coriander. Lately I have used 7g of Juniper and 0.5 of Coriander in 2L of neutral. The Juniper I have now is very fresh and oily. Differences in quality and freshness of the Juniper can have a large effect on the end result. If you do end up with a Gin that is too potent, you can just dilute it with neutral until you like the result. I like making Gin almost as much as I like drinking it!

[Easydrinker]

You make a very good point, re: the condition/state of the botanicals,rather than quantity. Food for thought.

Robert.

[hampk]

Interesting, Chill - interesting.. My last batch was 10g in 2L and it seemed a bit bland, hence my idea of a bit more juniper. Quality and age of the botanicals must be key though, and I have a new bag of berries waiting to be opened. We shall see!

Cheers

Hampk

[Mash]

I am using 12g in 1l

[hampk]

To clarify, I meant 10g in 1l neutral diluted to 2l. So we are not miles apart Mash. I did a half bottle tonight 7g juniper and some tea - more tea needed but lovely juniper notes.

Cheers

Hampk

[chill]

Yes, the Juniper makes all the difference. I found some fresh, very oily berries and stockpiled them in vacuum bags in the freezer. They are aggressive! I have had to use far more with other supplies to get the Juniper forward taste that I like. The same goes for things like Cardamon.

A friend brought me some very, very fresh Turmeric powder and black pepper from village production in Northern Burma. The whole black pepper smell like freshly ground pepper, I can't describe the result when they are ground! I feel a new Gin recipe coming on.

[Mash]

Hampk. Yup.

Just goes to show the benefit of good ingredients.

[chill]

Turmeric powder and black pepper was a success. I both distilled with them and added some after for a quick soak followed but a filtering session though coffee filters and then cotton wool. A bit of Kaffir Lime rounded it out. It is peculiar, spicy, and not something I would want to drink every day. But it is good, or as my Gin loving friend described it "WOW!"

[Easydrinker]

[quote="chill"]Turmeric powder and black pepper was a success. I both distilled with them and added some after for a quick soak followed but a filtering session though coffee filters and then cotton wool. A bit of Kaffir Lime rounded it out. It is peculiar, spicy, and not something I would want to drink every day. But it is good, or as my Gin loving friend described it "WOW!"[/quote


That is one odd sounding recipe, peculiar indeed.
If time allows I may try it.

Robert.

[Mash]

Odd indeedy. Just so I am not missing anything. Can you share the whole recipe please?

[hampk]

Here's one for you to try - juniper, coriander and angelica, in whatever proportions float your boat, plus the contents of a teabag.

I ran that in 500ml 40% neutral diluted to 1L, collected 375ml, WOW!