well...what else is there to do in Iowa?

[GentlemanGin]

Hello All!
New member from the mid western USA here. I've been lurking around the forums for a few weeks now and decided it as time I join in on the fun. Ok, fine, I want to use you all for your vast knowledge of the distilling arts!

I'm a big fan of gin. It's been my go-to spirit for a decade now. For Christmas this year, The Girl got me the "Make Your Own Gin kit". Since then, I've been cranking out a batch or two of cold compound gin a week. I've made some truly fantastic bathtub gin and some that was merely... interesting.

From here I'd like to start distilling my own. My thought is to start with a base of cheap vodka, like I did with the bathtub gin, but this time re-distill it in a pot still with the botanicals in the pot. I'm also considering making a pot still with a gin basket to vapor infuse the product a la Bombay Sapphire. I'm aware this method will be much more costly than making a mash and distilling from scratch, but did anyone really get into distilling to save money?

I'm still working on plans for my pot still (i'm painfully "house poor" at the moment) but I plan to have enough cash to put one together by the middle of next month.
I plan on keeping notes of everything I do so if you have any questions (or even better, advice) Send me a message.
Thanks!

[Braz]

Welcome GG,
Gin is a good quest. It is my favorite, but I have not yet been able to come up with just the right mix of botanicals. My method is to make a good neutral running Rad's All Bran through a reflux still then re-running it through a pot still with a gin basket in the riser.

[Bigbob]

Welcome GentlemanGin, fair amount of gin drinkers here, I'm not one of them , make sure to read what we call mandatory here. Start with crankys post in novices called "a little spoon feeding for new distillers". This will answer most questions you'll have,then check out tried and true for some great recipes! Enjoy the forums!

[hawgwrench]

Welcome to the forum! Never tried gin, that's settin the bar pretty high to start out! Good luck an be safe!

[GentlemanGin]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. The " Spoon Feeding" section will be my before bed reading tonight. I want to go into this as well equipped as I can and this seems to be the place to learn.
Thanks again all!