gin blends

[sparky marky]

Just ran my first gin through my brand new converted stockpot built for the sole purpose of flavoring neutral.
Thought I'd share my recipe

6 liters 40% neutral (diluted from pretty much perfect 96%)
75g juniper berries 
10g coriander seed
0.9g of cinnamon stick
8 black peppercorns
1.5g each of Lemon,  clementine and lime zest
3 basil leaves
1tsp dill
4 almonds 

Crushed it all in a mortar and pestle and vapor infused. It seems to have come out well!! I will do some blending tomorrow but will most likely just mix all my jars together! The first part has massive juniper aroma, the second bit is full of coriander then there is cinnamon and nuts later in the run.
Not sure what my herbs and zest are contributing yet, il let it sit till tomorrow then do some serious tasting! Hopefully it will stand up well to the 5 liters of tonic I have in the fridge (was at tesco this afternoon and got over excited )
I'd like to thank kiwi and several other gin makers for their posted recipe ideas, now I need to go make gallons and gallons of 96% to play some more with flavours

[frozenthunderbolt]

Good to see some more recipies fo up. Ive got a gallon of 45% DWWGW that persists in being cloudy for some unidentifable reason, so i suspect it may be destined to become my first propper gin.
Ive got citrus, juniper, peppercorns, cinamon, caraway, corriander and fennel seed, the only Grains of Paradise i can find are $11 for 10gms though.
Opinions on how much they add to it?

[kiwistiller]

Hey mate, get out and grab some nice kawakawa leaves. The ones with holes in them from the insects are the ones you want (most delicious). You can dry them and they're a great gin botanical. should be heaps round you. Horopito also, but it needs judicious use - sub it in for peppery stuff with extreme caution. I've heard extremely mixed reviews of grains of paradise, but out of curiousity, where'd you find them?

[frozenthunderbolt]

Yep I can get Kawakawa no worries - what dose rate(ish). GofP is on Trade Me at the moment.

[kiwistiller]

Ah excellent. orris root used to be on TM as well but it seems to have vanished. was from a soap maker called Lizziebee if that helps. might be worth dropping them a line: http://www.lizziebee.co.nz/category.pas ... searchpku=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow Orris is the business, I love the stuff.

Use kawakawa in place of some of the "greener" (if you know what I mean) sort of aromatics like fennel, basil, etc.

here is a c&p of my first recipe using natives, should give you an idea of the proportions I use it in.

Shaky Isles Gin - trial batch. 2L of neutral 96 and 3.5L of water into the boiler. Botanicals in vapour path.
45g juniper
20g corriander
2.5g orris root
0.5g Horopito tips (dried, called "bush pepper") - I'm scared of this stuff. bloody peppy.
2.5g Kawakawa tips (dried, called "bush basil")
1.5g almond
1g each lime and lemon zest.

I've done a second batch, and tweaked it slightly and scaled up - ditched lemon and added 2g tangello, 1g increase of kawakawa, doubled almond, increased orris root to 4g (I love that stuff), and added a few leaves of lemon verbena (yum). scaled it to a 14L batch.

Next time I will ditch lime for yen ben lemons and take the almond back down a touch.

[LWTCS]

Kiwi are you implying that the previously nibbled kawakawa leaves are the best ones because the critters know best?
seems that way with the mangos.

[sparky marky]

happy with my first gin! I have a double with tonic and lime as I type. Sampled it neat first and I like the citrus nutty finish to the gin. Only thing I might change next time is switch out some of the lemon and lime for MORE Clementine and perhaps I will add something like fennel or liquorice root to see hOw I like it...

Almost time for sloe berries here.... I imagine pretty much everyone I know will be getting a sloe gin based Christmas gift this year

[kiwistiller]

Kiwi are you implying that the previously nibbled kawakawa leaves are the best ones because the critters know best?
seems that way with the mangos.

Yup, the Kawakawa Loper Moth catapillers love the tastiest leaves.

FTB, they're also fruiting at the mo, might be worth investigating getting some fruit to use or dry if you were interested. They look like this when mature. They area a kinda mango / pepper / grassy flavour. weird, but good. You'll have to fight the kereru for them though Not sure if you'd want them mature or not actually for a gin...

[frozenthunderbolt]

Kiwi are you implying that the previously nibbled kawakawa leaves are the best ones because the critters know best?
seems that way with the mangos.

Yup, the Kawakawa Loper Moth catapillers love the tastiest leaves.

FTB, they're also fruiting at the mo, might be worth investigating getting some fruit to use or dry if you were interested. They look like this when mature. They area a kinda mango / pepper / grassy flavour. weird, but good. You'll have to fight the kereru for them though Not sure if you'd want them mature or not actually for a gin...

Yeah i like to eat them myself when they are ripe but the Keruru usually beat me to it. I would think green ones would be better for gin - more spicy and less ammel-accetate flavour - i get a hint of rockmellon from the ripe ones that i dont think would work with the gin. green they are pungent though so could be a go.

Anyone used DWWGW as a base for gin before - I know Odin uses grain based for some of his. . .

[kiwistiller]

I've used dwwg refluxed to 95% as a base. I rate it highly. My favourite sugar wash for gin. If it's pot stilled I think you'd want it distilled a few extra times with very tight cuts.

[frozenthunderbolt]

I've used dwwg refluxed to 95% as a base. I rate it highly. My favourite sugar wash for gin. If it's pot stilled I think you'd want it distilled a few extra times with very tight cuts.

Its currently sitting, cut to 45%. semi refluxed - i've got a Super Reflux such as you wrote the tutorial on modifying (modified largely as suggested). MIght run it once more before using to maccerate the botanical then; bring it back up to 88% and make it a bit more neutral.

[kiwistiller]

Hey FTB, I found you an NZ source of orris root. bit pricey but a little goes a long way. http://www.lotusoils.co.nz/lotus-oils-w ... powder-50g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. Also, if you need a better reflux still to get a good neutral base, you're welcome to borrow mine for a run or two, it's not like it gets used that often (30L of neutral goes a long way). I'm going to have some SPP from user kiwi-lembic to test out soon too.

[frozenthunderbolt]

Hey FTB, I found you an NZ source of orris root. bit pricey but a little goes a long way. http://www.lotusoils.co.nz/lotus-oils-w ... powder-50g" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. Also, if you need a better reflux still to get a good neutral base, you're welcome to borrow mine for a run or two, it's not like it gets used that often (30L of neutral goes a long way). I'm going to have some SPP from user kiwi-lembic to test out soon too.

Hey Kiwi, Cheers for that! Is your reflux electric or gas fired? I recon we're going to have to meet up and have a drink at some stage - you only being in Auckland I should realy come a pick your brain. doubly so if I get my Coors keg I'm bidding on - I might actualy be at a building stage. Im asking for a gas torch and lead free plumbing solder for my birthday!

[kiwistiller]

Hey you're welcome to come in and use the oxy-acet rig at work if you need a torch. Also, I've found a scrappy on Neilson street that can supply kegs at about $40 if you need it?

The still head connects with a 2" triclamp, and I have both gas and electric kegs, so either is easy. Gas is probably better though for this rig and local conditions.

Absolutely, you should pop over for a drink and a yarn. Few nice beers on tap at the mo too.

[junkyard dawg]

I have something to contribute to this thread. A friend gave me some stuff to ferment. some beer grains and malt extract etc. So I made up a kegs worth of a mostly sugar wash. I put about 10 gallons of this in the boiler with a few gallons of all grain heads and tails and a few jars of fruity rum macerations that never quite worked out right. It was a pretty potent mish mash.

I pulled the old offset head out of retirement. The column was packed with scrubbers and I set up to run this off using a lot of reflux and a slow collection. The mix in the boiler was very strong flavored and that flavor came over strong in the distillate. A very nice distillate on its own. I took about 4 ounces of this distillate and added juniper berries, coriander seeds, black pepper and lemon zest. This got to macerate about 4 hours before I filtered it and got a very strong gin smelling clear 'extract'.

so, I collected distillate in qt jars. When I got to jar 8 the temp at the still head began to rise. This means I'm getting close to the end of the run, so I made some adjustments and prepared for this next, unusual step. It went something like this...

Add a little more heat into the still. Its is in full reflux with the takeoff turned off. I poured the quickly made 'gin extract' into the condenser where it went into the column at the top of the packing. I let it run for a few minutes like this and then began to draw off the product again. I slowly turn off the reflux and collected some potent gin smelling distillate. Took 2 more qts. and shut it down. It was just getting into the tails. All told, this run yielded 9 qts. with the last one coming off at about 170 proof. The gin smell in jar 8 is great and it is much less in jar 9. I combined them, diluted to 90 proof and bottled them to set aside for a while. I think its gonna be really nice.

Comments?

[Odin]

I am glad to have found this thread! I have been doing gins (actually Dutch Geneva's) for some time. Great to see other around interested in recipe development on gins/geneva.

Just some experiences I had. I love the 20 grams juniper & 10 grams coriander, etc. recipe from the parent site. Made my own recipe based on that one.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... a#p6913193" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Every time I deviate from it, I get disapointed.

In general I do not like lemon/citron too much. Makes my drink taste like it is already mixed with something like 7-up or lemonade. Maybe I use too much, but somehow I find bitter orange peel a better companion.

I find myself slowly cutting down on the coriander. From an original 9 grams (crused seeds by the way) now down to 6 or 7 grams per 35% liter.

Distilling is alway with herbs in the pot and after a day of maceration.

Liquorice is what I love. It is just sooo difficult to get the amounts right. And if you boil it, it gives a hot aftertaste. Good & full of character, but many times just too hot. Maybe liquorice is better taken out after maceration and not distilled in the pot?

A nice hybrid is 10 grams of juniper, 10 grams of kummel and 10 grams of koriander in 35%. Macerate for a day & distill. Hybrid as in Gin/Akvavit. Comes close to Lucas Bols original 1575 recipe.

Odin.

[effyeah]

Wow, hook I have a MUCH longer list than you to try.

He he

My basic list of spirits to try is vodka, rum, whiskey, brandy and gin. Only done vodka and rum. So I have not exactly got far yet.

(That includes some rice based, and honey based washes.)

hook rums makes a real nice rum, cheers to you!

[sparky marky]

Gonna try and run off some more gin tonight. This will be my second attempt. My first attempt (recipe at top of this page) came out really well! People who have tried it compared it to saphire but told me mine was a little more "refined on the palate". High praise from my gin snob mates! Haha!
For this batch I'm gonna stick to the same backbone recipe but with a few small tweaks. There are a couple of ingredients I'm on the fence over.... Any advice? I want a dual purpose gin I.e. for mixing with tonic and for drinking in dry martinis!

Gin (12/12/11)

5 liters 40% neutral
75g juniper berries 
10g coriander seed
1.2g piece of cinnamon stick
10 black  peppercorns
2g lime zest
4g clementine zest
4 basil leaves
6 almonds 
5g orris root


Might include: 1 clove, 1 green cardamom and a small amount of licorice root??? They are all quite big, warming flavours... Hmm...

[Odin]

Souds good, Sparky,

Beware of the liquorice. A bit too much and it can carry over a lot of hot afterburning taste!

Odin.

[sparky marky]

Thanks for the advice! Maybe for this batch il just add the cardamom. Too many changes in one go will only confuse my mouth. I can always make more changes in future batches. The main change to the recipe this time around is the inclusion of Orris root. Excited to see what it gives me

[Odin]

I use cardemon only in small amounts. A bit like with the liquorice. Both are overpowering, but in very different ways. Cardemon in small amounts gives me some extra depth in taste througout the tasting process. Once I did it with too much and I could really taste it. Not nice. Maybe cardemon is a sort of supportive herb more than it is a main ingredient like the juniper berries or even the coriander of lemon/orange peel. Liquorice does someting I like: it gives a sharp bite at the end of the tasteing. Hot. Like eating Thai food and opting for the "hottest" plate. Well, if you overdo it. I use much less now and I must say it is pretty hot compared to other gins, still, but I like it. Especially with the junipers giving of an almost sweet taste up front.

Odin.

[sparky marky]

Finished about an hour ago. Fresh off the still I'm liking what the orris root is giving me! A nice subtle floral background. I used the seeds from 1.5 green cardamom pods and can't detect it at all yet... But in my experience subtle flavours always take a couple of days to pop out of my spirits.
That liquorice root sounds like scary stuff Odin! I'm reluctant to try it now! Lol

[sparky marky]

Damn! Looked at it this morning and it has a slight louche at room temp at 45% abv. Must have been the citrus.
It's quite a light gin so don't want to dilute with more neutral. Think I'm gonna run off another couple of liters without citrus and mix the two. Unless anyone can offer a better solution?

[Odin]

If you are sure it is the citrus, I would progress as you intended. You say a light gin and I guess vapour infused, so you do not have the too much juniper oil, right? Because if that is the case, just adding a liter of neutral might do the trick.

Odin.

[sparky marky]

Yeah that's right Odin - vapour infused and pretty light on juniper flavour for how much i put in the recipe. My source of juniper is quite weak I guess. Also I used exactly the same amount of juniper from the exact same bag as my batch from September which only turned slightly milky when stored in the freezer for a few days. so I'm pretty confident it's the citrus...
Oh well live and learn! In future I will know to keep citrus below 1g/liter.

[Odin]

Sparky,

When collecting your gin, do you throw out the first 5 to 10 mls? This has a lot of concentrated juniper oils. Now if you did not do that, it might be that this is causing your misty likker.

Chill filtering might help. Or adding a bit of neutral. Both will influence taste.

Odin.

[sparky marky]

Yeah I took the first 40mls and mixed up a g and t to drink whilst watching the rest came off haha!
I think plan A is to add a bit of neutral. It's only a very slight milkyness that most people wouldn't notice so it shouldn't take much neutral to clear it up. Unfortunately I'm just a perfectionist that wants crystal clear gin!! Lol

[Odin]

Just add a small bit at a time. If it reached a certain dilution level, it will dissolve in seconds. Literally!

[Bushman]

Odin, after following this thread I can tell you like the gin recipes. I met a guy that owns a micro distillery and his only products are gin and absinthe. He is in it because he started out raising herbs for oils and so the natural progression. He makes a lot of his herbs but for absinthe he grows his own worm-wood but has to order some of his herbs from all over the world. I told him I would come as a volunteer to help bottle next time he is at the bottling stage. I am hoping to also come and just volunteer a day or two during his run and preparation stages to learn a few things. He helped found the "Worm Wood Society" you can google the website if interested. He also has a high review of his absinthe as I did a google search. He makes everything the old traditional way with an alembic still. Hope I learn a few things and can pass them on!

[Odin]

Great BM,

I am sure the helping him out will be benificial to both of you! Yes, I like gin. Or actually Dutch Genever. Some products you can buy are okay, some are not. Great you found a distiller you like.

Recently I visited a friend. He got a Dutch Jenever from Zuidam. Supposed to be the best. I tasted it & really liked it. Well, it did not have many juniper tones in them. And the fruit was overwhelming for a "jonge jenever". But it tasted good in itself. So I set out to make this for myself (and mostly for my friend).

It took me a month trying to duplicate what they did. I found out a few things on the way:
- Their claim that the version I drank was a so called "jonge jenever" (not that difficult to translate to English, I guess!) is fraud, since more than 15% maltwine is used. They actually use 100% grains based vodka, thus making it an "aulde jenever";
- They macerated fruits in the drink (orange, maybe some apricot), after distillation. Allowed, but distilling on the fruits/herbs/berries or with vapour infusion is considered the way for an above top shelve product. Also explains the slight, slight orangish collour (that is not allowed in a young jenever);
- They sweetened it after distilling & macerating. Now that is allowed too, up until 5 grams of sugar per liter. But again: it's like finding out that your favourite Single Malt Scotsch has caramel colouring in them (many of them do, btw!). Not good.

I tried to "rebuild" this Zuidam Jonge Graanjenever for my friend, but after coming to those 3 conclusions, I stopped it. Explained to him that I like to make my likker the real way. It just did not feel good to make something that, according to Dutch law & habbits, shouldn't be even called a "jenever".

Odin.