Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

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Rrmuf
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

Post by Rrmuf »

So, I let this sit for the last couple weeks and looked at it again today: At first, it seemed that it got clearer, but then when I looked more carefully, I detected a sediment that accumulated at the bottom of the jar. It smells fine, but the sediment almost looks like a stringy suggesting a culture.

.... It is either from the honey added or the oak chips I aged it in. I am guessing it is from honey.

I am going to pass it through a coffee filter into a clean jar and see if the sediment grows again,

Any other suggestions? ideas?
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NZChris
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

Post by NZChris »

There won't be anything growing in it because the abv is too high. I reckon it's wax from the honey. I decant mine and filter the dregs through my liver. Putting it in the freezer might help if you are going to filter it. I suggest you decant first, filter that, then try filtering the dregs into a separate vessel in case the waxy stuff goes through the filter.
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Rrmuf
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

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Thanks for the advice. I will try that tomorrow. In the middle of an OEG run at the moment ... first 500ml not working out like I thought it would.
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

Post by Rrmuf »

Well, the decanting worked nicely. Thanks NZ.
I am aging a liter of Gin with oak chips and I think I would give it time for that flavour to develop before doing an infusion with honey. I did some nuclear aging at first with different levels of oak toast/charring and blended what looked promising. I am letting it be for a while as the flavour develops with just a couple chips in.
I will then infuse it with honey, re-blend, decant and filter.....My hope is after decanting and such, I will end up with a nice 750ml bottle.
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Rrmuf
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

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Update:
I worked with a (nuclear) oak aged litre (well, 1200ml precisely) of my last Gin that was allowed to sit for a month @50%ABV.
- I took a 400ml portion of it to warm up to ~130F/55C and dissolved 20mg of an organic local honey into it.
- Remixed this infused gin into the remaining portion.
- I let it sit for a week and some solids did predictably appear. I put it out in the cold and most of the solids precipitated to the bottom.
- I decanted the top 800ml.
- Put that 800ml through a coffee filter into a bottle. (Well, the first 750ml anyways).

It has stayed nice and clear after a day. It definitely has an aroma that includes hints of butterscotch and a quick taste tells me the juniper is still there, honey is discernible but not overpowering at all, and the oak aging is also adding a smoothness I did not anticipate. So, it looks very nice and clear, it smells very nice, and it tastes nice (after a day :P )

I will give it another week or so to see how it develops before I declare it a failure or success. Assuming that still looks good, then within a few months I will know how quickly it disappears (it is really for sipping so I don't expect it to go as fast as my Gin goes) and then decide how much to make, calibration of botanicals, etc. I suspect, to make a Gin run specifically for this, I would go heavier on the florals, and maybe less on anything else. ..... I'm also curious about infusing it maple syrup instead of honey. :eh:

NB. The ~250ml left out of the decanting also went through a filter separately (just for kicks) and while the solids were effectively removed by the filter, that gin remained slightly cloudy. So of that 20mg of honey, I'm sure a disproportionate amount of the honey is in there. I'm keeping it around just in case I want to adjust the first 750ml.

Thanks to NZChris for the guidance along the way!
-- Rrmuf
Aitch1969
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

Post by Aitch1969 »

Nice write up and some interesting ideas

Thanks
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Rrmuf
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

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So we had a few people at the house yesterday evening (don't tell the Covid police 8) ) and we tried out this Tom Cat Gin (ahead of my planned week wait) and everybody was surprised at how good it was. "That's as much a Whisky as a Gin!". And I have to say I was pleased with the taste as well. The 'butterscotch' or 'caramel' from the oak really came through on the tongue and the honey was just there enough to be detectable. My friends could not quite make out the honey until I mentioned its presence (I was glad nobody guessed "Sugar". ) BL: Orders were placed!

I also went back to look at the cloudy 250ml I put aside and it cleared up completely, leaving a slight sediment at the bottom. SO, I think I can reclaim that.

I will make this again, reserving a bigger portion of my next Gin batch for the purpose, likely increasing the amount of lavender a bit with this in mind.
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Rrmuf
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

Post by Rrmuf »

ADDENDUM:

We will, from time to time mix a mint julep cocktail; Last week we substituted the usual whiskey for this Tom Cat Gin and we were blown away with what an improvement over the classic recipe it was. I made a small amount of this Gin as a sipping drink and a novelty but now I need to up my production volume!!!

We're going to call it Porch Cat Julep. Recipe will be published elsewhere but it really just a classic Mint Julep with the Gin replacing the Whiskey.

Try it!!! :thumbup:
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Rrmuf
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

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I have taken a 2nd go at this recipe. This time I am doing 3 liters @55%, used oak cubes instead of chips, and cycled the Gin through cold temps (-10C) (I love our winters :thumbup:) , room temp, and hot water temps (40C) a bit more gently than last time over a couple days. I was just a bit concerned that the 4l jugs would not withstand the temperature changes as well as a mason jar)... No problem.

That behind me, I will let it sit on oak for a month, two, three, I don't really know yet. At some point I will infuse it with 15g/l of honey but I will have it dissolved into 300ml of boiling water, allowed to settle then mixed in. I imagine it will then need to be decanted/filtered like last time but I hope to end up with 3l clean. If it ends up as good as my pilot run, I will be super pleased.
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Re: Tom Cat Gin Experiment. Advice wanted!

Post by Rrmuf »

And after 3 months or so on oak.....and considerable temp variations, it's really nice! Taste and aroma-wise, it is still definitely close to the inspiration for this experiment. The colour is about the same as my experiment... so a bit paler than I want. I used oak chips and cubes for this batch.

My next batch is a couple months later than this one and is using different oak sticks (Thanks stillerboy!) and they already a richer amber colour to it. I expect a similar yield of 4 bottles but won't touch it until this summer.
Tom Cat  15 small.jpg
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