Powder herbs

[Otun]

Well I was at the supermarket yesterday and I saw fennel powder and green and star anise in powder too ... I usually make my absinthe with fresh herbs from the herb shop... but do you guys think the power fennel and anise can work for macerating in neutral alcohol to obtain my absinthe?

[olddog]

Try making a small cotton sack, put the herbs or powder into that and macerate. Experimentation is the name of the game.
I do that when I am making gin, I do not macerate, I hang the sack with botanicals in the neck of the still.

[Otun]

Try making a small cotton sack, put the herbs or powder into that and macerate. Experimentation is the name of the game.
I do that when I am making gin, I do not macerate, I hang the sack with botanicals in the neck of the still.

Interesting.... cotton sack or do you think it would be better a tea sack type?

[Zman]

If you are making absinthe, having the herbs mixed into your alcohol (macerating) is required for good absinthe. Using a "teabag" method would work as long as the herbs are sitting in the alcohol. I would avoid using store purchased pre-ground herbs because herbs begin to lose much of their oil content/flavor after grinding, and you don't know how long those herbs were in the store. Nothing wrong with grinding your herbs prior to making the macerate.

[Otun]

If you are making absinthe, having the herbs mixed into your alcohol (macerating) is required for good absinthe. Using a "teabag" method would work as long as the herbs are sitting in the alcohol. I would avoid using store purchased pre-ground herbs because herbs begin to lose much of their oil content/flavor after grinding, and you don't know how long those herbs were in the store. Nothing wrong with grinding your herbs prior to making the macerate.

Cool.. thanx for the advice I will still test the store purchased pre-ground herbs to compare results with the fresh herbs

[violentblue]

fresh herbs will always be better, but more difficult to replicate a recipe. packaged herbs while not as nice, make things easier to reproduce.

[Otun]

I went back to the store and checked the Ground green anise and fennel.... they smell is strong and present... does the smell say something about the ground green anise... is that a good sign?

[olddog]

Anise should be used very carefully, it can easily overpower any other flavour.

[violentblue]

Anise should be used very carefully, it can easily overpower any other flavour.

unless you're making ouzo then too much is a good thing.

[Zman]

If you're looking to make absinthe, then you will need lots of anise and fennel. Depending upon the oil content of the seed, you can expect to use from 70-110 grams per liter each of anise and fennel.

[Otun]

If you're looking to make absinthe, then you will need lots of anise and fennel. Depending upon the oil content of the seed, you can expect to use from 70-110 grams per liter each of anise and fennel.

Do you think using store purchased pre-ground anise and fennel would work fine?

[Zman]

It depends on many factors. How long it has been since the seed/herb has been ground, temperature, type of storage, etc. My experiments have led me to only use whole dried herbs. The old absinthe makers used whole herbs and sometimes ground them to a coarse grind just prior to macerating.

[Otun]

Ok so I decided to test here are some photos of the preground and dehydrated store herbs... I let you guys know the results in a couple of days... 1liter test ..
Wormwood

Ground fennel and anise





macerating

[Otun]

well guys I got pretty good results using the store pre-ground herbs, when it first came out, the blanch tasted and smelled very close to the kubler brand... so I'm very happy with the result... the powder green anise works great for taste... but I will probably still use the fresh fennel and wormwood to get a more herbal taste... a good combo of both should do even better.