Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Information about fruit/vegetable type washes.

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JohnsMyName
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Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Post by JohnsMyName »

I've done a ton of research and it doesn't seem anyone does this? As we know, that fresh fruit essence is lost in the process of fermenting for various reasons, namely oxidation. I'd like to drive some of those flavors back into my distillate. I know I can cheat and use some dried fruit in my aging process, but I'd like to keep things "pure" if I can. All that said, I don't have a thumper, but do use a potstill. In the past I've made a "grappa" by distilling old white wine. I threw in an orange, a few cloves and a small piece of cinnamon. It was horribly perfumey for a couple of months, but after that it mellowed and after 6 months it was a fantastic after dinner drink. I'd like to use some fresh fruit cut up in say an apple or pear wash, anyone have thoughts on this?
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NZChris
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Re: Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Post by NZChris »

There are no set rules, so just do it then tweak your recipe for next time.
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JohnsMyName
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Re: Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Post by JohnsMyName »

I guess I was looking more for a "don't waste your time" or "it works great, but try ... " kind of response.

I will be fooling with ways to get more aroma and flavor to carry over and will try to share my successes and failures on here. I'm very interested in Paulinka's method of cooling and freezing the first heads and then collecting the volatile fruit oils from the surface. For those that haven't read his thread on Pálinka, it's a very good read and stickied to the top of this forum. His writings below.
To secure some "high scent" I collect the head in mini sections: yes, most will smell only like acetone/nail polish/paint thinner, you name it, but some will also hold the freshest smell of fruit that will give a sparklingly vibrant soul to the spirit. Especially pears and apples are a good training ground for this, after a few batch you can even tell the color of the fruit which the spirit is made from by smelling it!

Ok, but we don't need the acetone/thinner part, is there a way to separate it without poisoning ourselves? Easy: dilute the head-sections carrying desirable flavors with 1:1 ice-cold water, and immediately put them in the freezer overnight. Next day carefully harvest the concentrated volatile fruit-oils from atop with a syringe and inject it into the heart. There we go, with enhanced dimension of the fruit-character: and we tamed the feared methanol to our friend.
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JohnsMyName
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Re: Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Post by JohnsMyName »

Not to digress, but while it's being mentioned I found this chart interesting.

Image
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still_stirrin
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Re: Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Post by still_stirrin »

John,

Here's a good thread for fruit flavor & aroma in the spirit:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p7396734

A lot of good info there.
ss
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JohnsMyName
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Re: Fresh fruit in wash before cook?

Post by JohnsMyName »

still_stirrin wrote:John,
Here's a good thread for fruit flavor & aroma in the spirit:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p7396734
A lot of good info there.
ss
SS, thanks for the link, great stuff in there!
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