Facts on Infusion

Treatment and handling of your distillate.

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Alchemist75
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by Alchemist75 »

That's a healthy list of herbs you have there John. You could make any number of different blends with those. Care to share what types of flavors you prefer? Is your intent simply to prepare a pleasing botanical beverage or more of a potion or elixir sort of thing? Maybe something to straddle both realms? In terms of using neutral it's fine but no hard, fast rule states that it must be used unless you're preparing London dry. Any themes in mind?
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Alchemist75 wrote:more of a potion or elixir...something to straddle both realms
Do this one!!
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Just looking at that list I'd say you have the makings of a number of classic medicinal cocktails. Burdock, wild cherry, quassia, wormwood....you could prepare a tonic to cure what ails ya and if you mix it up right you might even be able to make it taste good. You got any elder berries? Or even better, milk thistle seeds? You could make a booze that cures it's own toxic effects or an aperitif that will permit you to imbibe greater quantities of liquor.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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distiller_dresden wrote:RUM. It's a bit sweet like, even though no sugar, and it's a nice, smooth likker! Alchemist even suggested rum for my infusions and hydrosols. It'll be a better base body to hold things together. IMHO (and Alchemist's!). Neutral's okay, but nothing to it...
My thought is neutral, I don't want to impart any other flavor besides the bitters I'm working on.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Didn't realize we're on page 3 now!

Alchemist - My goal is craft cocktail making. I'd like a cabinet of homemade bitters or liqueurs to use as additions in cocktails. Themes I'm thinking of are things like Campari and quinine, or angostura bitters (just as an example of a well known name, that it could be any "bitters"). I'd like to make things with say grapefruit rind and vanilla bean. I'm not too familiar with the exotics on the list, I basically looked into a ton of bitters recipes and bought all the stuff I never heard of.

Where I could use help is in the amounts of each item to liquor, abv of liquor, time to age, methods and techniques of infusion in general. And maybe some recommendation on use of the exotics or complimentary flavors for them.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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distiller_dresden wrote:Hey Havenor! Glad to find you here/you found us! I think what you'd want to do with the thai basil - first tell me about your distilling setup, any thumper, or basket, or what all do you use?

Here's my rig. I can use it with or without thumper but it pretty much strips flavor either way. I constructed it myself and have been using it without the thumper the last couple of years. The idea of a botanical basket has me looking at this differently and wondering whether a reconstruct or using that thumper hookup differently. Instead of using it as a thumper maybe I could create a botanicals basket from the thumper? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Well fasten your seatbelts, this could be a long chat. What I'm gonna do is take that list there and break it all down into optimal solvencies and extraction methods. Now, all of the herbs on that list can of course be extracted by direct masceration in hydroethanolic solutions which will pull out the full character of each herb. You're not trying to make medicine so you could simplify your life by just extracting everything at 45-50% and pull most of the desired flavor from each herb. I suspect that's how big manufacturers do it. In some cases you could get away with 25% but I'll cover that when I break down your list. Extraction by direct masceration is straight forward: grind the herb in question and then put it in a jar. Add enough menstruum (solvent) to cover the herb to about 1 or 2 fingers width above the level of the herb. Seal up the jar and allow it to soak 2-3 weeks with shaking each day. Once that's done, strain out the contents of the jar through a large muslin cloth. Wrap the marc (spent herb) in the muslin and wring it out as much as you can to collect the last of the liquid trapped in it. If you have a press use that instead. You'll want to do each herb separately so that you can blend them to taste in controlled volumes. Keep the tinctures out of the light, preferably in amber bottles (or cobalt). Now some of the herbs on your list could be distilled but we'll get to that in a bit. I'm going to go write the teal deer that will form the basis of the whole discussion and try to have it posted by tonight.....unless you stop me that is. Flavors are probably the most important things we need to work out honestly. Other contributions welcome here gang. Talk at ya in a bit!
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by distiller_dresden »

Alchemist, can you assist with Havenor? I don't know what I'm looking at in that photo - I'm just a simple pot stillin' Yank and not well-informed as to the other formats. I'm learning more about CM reflux stills lately... I figured if Havenor had a thump he could make hydrosols by putting herbs and such in the thumper, or use it as a kind of basket, but with that setup stripping all flavor as he said, well I don't know?
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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It looks like a simple pot still riser to me. does that thing use forced reflux havenor?
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Alchemist75 wrote:Well fasten your seatbelts, this could be a long chat. What I'm gonna do is take that list there and break it all down into optimal solvencies and extraction methods. Now, all of the herbs on that list can of course be extracted by direct masceration in hydroethanolic solutions which will pull out the full character of each herb. You're not trying to make medicine so you could simplify your life by just extracting everything at 45-50% and pull most of the desired flavor from each herb. I suspect that's how big manufacturers do it. In some cases you could get away with 25% but I'll cover that when I break down your list. Extraction by direct masceration is straight forward: grind the herb in question and then put it in a jar. Add enough menstruum (solvent) to cover the herb to about 1 or 2 fingers width above the level of the herb. Seal up the jar and allow it to soak 2-3 weeks with shaking each day. Once that's done, strain out the contents of the jar through a large muslin cloth. Wrap the marc (spent herb) in the muslin and wring it out as much as you can to collect the last of the liquid trapped in it. If you have a press use that instead. You'll want to do each herb separately so that you can blend them to taste in controlled volumes. Keep the tinctures out of the light, preferably in amber bottles (or cobalt). Now some of the herbs on your list could be distilled but we'll get to that in a bit. I'm going to go write the teal deer that will form the basis of the whole discussion and try to have it posted by tonight.....unless you stop me that is. Flavors are probably the most important things we need to work out honestly. Other contributions welcome here gang. Talk at ya in a bit!
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this thread but I've had no time to put the write up together. Tomorrow is my Saturday and I have a long spirit run to do. That'll give me time enough to sit down and do it.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Ok, so here's a list of proposed solvencies for your herbs. Bear in mind however that these numbers are what we use in my industry to produce medicines, not flavors. Also, the source I'm using for these numbers provides some solvency ratios I know are questionable. Milk thistle for example is typically extracted at 90% (the flavonoids aren't water soluble) but according to the list I'm looking at it should be extracted at 60%. That's dead wrong in my opinion unless you're extracting it at that ratio in the presence of a base. It would appear that the author of this text is trying to produce middle ground extracts or is attempting to produce lower ethanol extracts which is ok I guess but not very precise. Honestly, without carefully researching the phytochemistry of each plant on your list i cannot be certain that all these numbers are truly ideal. Tincturing is a more selective process than many realize, you have to know what compounds you're after to produce a specific type of product. Different herbalists have different opinions based on experience or scientific data. I've been involved in some heated debates with peers over stuff like this. After looking at this list in front of me I'm calling BS on the author. She clearly wasn't much of a chemist. In many places I inserted the ratios I would use instead of what the text listed. As I already stated, extracting everything at 45-50% is an easy way to get a generalized flavor extract and that is probably your best bet. That being said, here we go...
Quassia Chips: 60% (70% IMO)
Angelica Root: 45%
Wormwood: 45% (60-70%)
Buckbean Leaves: 45%
Calamus Root 45-60%
Florentine Orris Root: toxic DO NOT CONSUME IN ANY FORM.
Cinchona Bark: 90%+
Gentian root: 45%
Wild cherry bark: 45%
Black walnut leaf: 25%
Lavender flower: 60% (65-90%)
Burdock root: 25%
Marjoram Herb, Sweet 65-90%
Szechuan Peppercorns: 65-70%
Black Tellicherry Peppercorns: 65-70%
Black Talamanca Peppercorns: 65-70%
Pink Peppercorns: 65-70%
Juniper Berries: 80-90%
Aleppo Pepper: 65-70%
Korean Chili Flakes: 65-70%
Thai Chili Flake: 65-70%
Saffron 50-60%
Cumin Seed: 70-90%
Coriander Whole: 70-90%
Rosemary Cut: 70-90%
Mint Cut: 70-90%
Fennel Seed: 70-90%
Star anise, whole: 70-90%
Allspice (Mexican), whole: 70-90%
Cardamom (green pods): 70-90%
Cardamom (shelled), whole: 70-90%

Right, not so bad hmmm? Now, all herbs can be distilled to give a flavored essence but there are specific ones on this list I know do well in distillation. These are:
Lavender
Marjoram
Juniper
Cumin
Coriander
Rosemary
Mint
Fennel
Star anise
Allspice
Cardamom
Maybe this won't be such a teal deer after all. I suspect the ensuing conversation may be....
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by Alchemist75 »

Also, reference this:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=67771&hilit=Alchemy
It provides generalized information on phyto compound extraction.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Wow Alchemist, your comments are greatly appreciated, thank you. Some very good stuff there and in the thread you linked too, just read through that as well.

I plan to keep these in jars, in the basement (relatively cool at 70F and dark) and give them a shake once a day. Does this sound appropriate?

I'm sure this will change from medium to medium, but in my reading some recipes call for 48 hours extraction time and others 4 months. Do you recommend a starting time frame and tasting schedule to determine when they're "done"?
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Yes, a cool, dark basement is a good environment for tincture storage. Maybe keep the jars under a blanket or such. Plant compounds are very photosensitive. In terms of time frames the longer you let something sit the more compounds will extract. Taste every day to get it where you want it. 3-4 weeks is the usual gold standard but it could take more or less time depending. Things which are very woody and dense, less finely ground will tend to take longer. If they're ground to a very fine powder the required time to complete extraction will be considerably reduced. As little as a week in some cases. Lighter materials like leaves or flowers tend to extract faster too. In some cases you can cook extracts out in a matter of hours. You can place the plant material with the menstruum into your still and cook it at a low temperature and collect the resulting distillate to either be used separately or added back to the cooked extract. Reflux condensers serve well in this sort of process and the solvent is simply recirculated at full reflux. This is more applicable to woody parts or roots generally speaking. Leaves and flowers tend to be more delicate and extended heating can alter the constituents in various ways both good and bad. Also, if you're using a copper boiler the phyto chemicals can form organometallic complexes which is undesirable. At your discretion. Usually I do that kind of stuff using glass lab gear though stainless is ok for the most part.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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As an additional trick in pulling colors: it is possible to isolate chlorophyll and concentrate it if you like that lovely emerald green. Take dry peppermint cut and sifted or mulberry leaves, place them in a jar of warm water and allow them to steep 24 hours. Strain the marc out and allow it to dry. Next place the marc into 90%+ ethanol and allow it to stand a week or so. Strain the resulting tincture which will be a nice, dark green. You can use this as is or you can concentrate it thusly: repeat the process one more time using the final tincture from the first batch to perform a second extraction. Take the resulting tincture and add it to a saturated salt water solution and allow it to refrigerate until chilled. The chlorophyll will have precipitated and can be separated by passing the solution through fine filter paper and then gently washed free of salt by pouring a little more cold water over it. You can scrape off the chlorophyll from the paper with a knife and re dissolve it in a small quantity of 90% ethanol or you can simply immerse the filter paper in the ethanol to get a concentrated solution.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Actually you could probably do similar things with other colors by finding the solubility of the color in question. Proanthocyanidins comprise all the reds, purples and blues found in nature and are actually ph sensitive and can change color. I've never chased the methods of extracting them in a pure form but it's probably pretty easy to work it out. I know the salt water precipitation trick can be used to concentrate bright yellow alkaloids from barberine rich plants (intensely bitter) and the orange curcuminoids from turmeric. Lot of little tricks like that exist.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Poor Bushmans thread has been hijacked and is slowly evolving into a treatise on applied o chem lol.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge, very interesting stuff. Can’t wait to get this project going.

Sorry Bush, I’ll start a new thread as I play with these items.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Somehow I don't think he minds though I'm not sure he realized where it would end up when he wrote the initial post. It evolved pretty suddenly and quickly. Good thread.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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What a fantastic and informative thread. Thanks to all contributors! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

I recently returned (to the US) from a trip to Berlin, Germany, where I learned that Jagermeister is just the best marketed, but probably the worst tasting of a diverse category of "medicinal" herbal liquors . I came home with a dozen different samples of kräuterlikörs. From ones mass produced but hard to find in the States (Underberg), to artisinal, cloister-made varieties from centuries-old recipes that are just fantastic, and completely impossible to find here.

As I understand it, these are nearly all macerations/infusions of herbs, roots, barks, and spices, usually in either a neutral or a grappa or obstler. It's frequently a "kitchen sink" approach with dozens of ingredients, though it's hard to say. Some are quite sweet, but the best of them have balanced spice, sweet, herbal and bitter notes. Many are anise dominated, others only have a hint. One I love has a forward spicy-heat that I assume to be galangal, but could also be grains of paradise, cubeb, or some other pepper.

To put this on topic ... I came home and went straight to the herbalist :lol: A friend has a lush herb garden so I raided that too, and went directly to making herbal infusions. My first batch was (of course) the least scientific, and largely used what I had on hand and in the garden. I wrote the ingredients on a label and stuck it on the bottle, but of course the ink washed off at some point. So working from a faded and smudged label and memory, here's what was in it:

FRESH HERBS
tarragon
oregano
thyme,
sage
lemon verbena
lemon balm
mint (I think three different types)
lovage
bay leaf (dried)

AROMATICS
cumin seed
sichuan peppercorns
black peppercorns
juniper berries
fennel seed
star anise
cardamom pods
allspice berries
saffron
cloves

There's also candied ginger, candied orange and lemon peel, candied pomelo peel, dried currant and cherry and probably more.

This all steeped for two weeks in a 48% ABV apple obstler left from last year. This batch we'd thrown a small pile of herbs into while it was still fermenting, including rosemary and lavender, which both came through pretty stongly in the distillate.

I realized I didn't have much to add bitterness, so in the spirit of nocino, I peeled a few green walnuts, and steeped them in 75% neutral for a few days. The result is an evil black, oily and bitter concoction, but when diluted and sweetened with simple syrup is uniquely tasty.

Strained the herbs, water to 40%, added simple syrup to taste, then the green walnut extract to balance. The end product is darn tasty and getting better with time.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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The second batch was less successful. To the ingredients in the first batch I added what I'd gotten from the herbalist:

SEEDS
coriander seed
cardamom seed
anise seed

DRY ROOTS
rhubarb root
nettle root
orris root
licorice root

OTHER DRIED HERBS
hyssop
elderberry
birch

These all steeped in more of the herbed apple obstler at 48% for a week.

In addition, I made a separate bitter component with three parts gentian and one part wormwood in 75% neutral.

Once blended with the green walnut extract, simple syrup, and water to about 35%, it was spicy to me, but others thought the heat was overwhelming. Too much black and schezuan peppercorn I figure. I think I overdid the walnut too, so I did four things to bring it back to balance.

First I diluted it with 55% sweetfeed whiskey and a bit of water, trying to keep it around 35% ABV. Then -- knowing that heat mellows pepper -- I nuked the batch periodically, keeping the temp above 130 deg F for about three hours. Again thinking back to the nocino recipes I've seen, I put the mason jar on a sunny windowsill for a week.

That helped a lot, but there was still quite a bit of sediment, and a tannic flavor remaining, so I took a tip from winemakers and added gelatin, gave it a good shake, and let it sit for a week. Finally, into the freezer for a few hours and strained through four layers of cheesecloth.

Much improved. Now to let it sit for a couple months.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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My third batch is in progress now. I'm making several separate extractions to better control the final blend. Here's what's been in the jars for two weeks now:

Birch (it has a reddish hue, and tastes slightly astringent)
Hyssop (emerald green color, and a flavor like seaweed or green tea)
Nettle root (light yellow with a mild and slightly sweet vegetal flavor)
Rhubarb root (this stuff is amazing! it has a deep ruby red color, and a completely unique, earthy and slightly bitter flavor)
Elecampane (deep rusty orange color, a distinctive odor, a strongly bitter flavor, and a strong louche reaction when water is added)
Angelica (golden color, a different but distinctive odor, and also strongly bitter with a slightly numbing effect on the tongue)
Lesser galangal (pale orange in color, and an unpleasant flavor with a powerful lingering heat)
Greater galangal (rusty-orange, much less heat, with a slightly bitter, slightly herbal flavor)
Orris root (a dud so far, but with time, may serve as a fixative for other odor components)
Lovage root (cloudy amber in color, with a unique, pungent odor and matching flavor that's unlike the herb)
Yarrow (pale green, slightly vegetal on the nose and palate with an herbal sweetness)
Grains of Paradise (colorless and odorless, it has a pleasant spicy heat)

These are all steeping in unaged white dog sweet feed whisky at 80%.

Separately, there's a big jar of that white dog with aromatics:

Cardamom seed
Anise seed
Cumin seed
Star anise
Clove
Fennel seed
Coriander seed
Allspice berries
Licorice root
Saffron
Cinnamon stick

This time I measured and took notes of quantities :-)

Today I started my herbal infusion, again in the white dog. These were mostly garden herbs, dried this time to reduce the amount of oils and coloration from chlorophyl:

Mint
Lemon balm
Lemon verbena
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
Bay
Lavender
Lovage
Betony
Borage
Rose hips
Elderberries

It's hard to measure the dried herbs well, but it's dominant in mint, and lemon verbena, with lots less of the more powerful rosemary, sage, bay and lovage.

To this I added the peel of two oranges and a lemon (pith scraped away), and some candied pomelo peel. I'll leave the whole thing for a couple weeks before I try blending.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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Hopefully I haven't derailed this thread too far :-)

Throughout this process, I've learned a few things that might be useful on the subject of infusions. If I'd paid closer attention to Alchemist75 I might have avoided some of my mistakes.

- Take notes! (And not in sharpie on painters tape stuck to a leaky jar.)

- Taste it periodically. Sometimes an infusion will change flavor/color/odor over time. One thing I'm trying to arrive at is how long each ingredient is best infused. Early on the birch is quite astringent, but that mellows shortly. The rhubarb root gets more bitter over time.

- Make separate extractions of unfamiliar ingredients, or those with dominant characteristics.

- Blend in small amounts first, taking care with powerfully flavored components. It's easy to let things like licorice root or lavender or green walnut skins overrun the balance.

Okay, so here's something I'm still completely mystified by: is it best to make extracts at high proof, then dilute, or to extract at or near your drinking proof?

And another: what ingredients are best infused in alcohol, and which ones are better in a tea or broth?

The next thing I intend to learn from Alchemist75 is limiting my ingredients list instead of throwing the kitchen sink at it :-) In fact, I love the rhubarb infusion so much, that I'd like to make an apertif like Aperol from that and a select few other herbs. I have a big batch of rhubarb root in 55% infusing now, and a bag of dried bitter orange on order. I'm thinking those plus a touch of gentian, anise, and cardamom, proofed and sweetened a bit might turn out nicely. Maybe cinchona? We'll see.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by distiller_dresden »

wrath look back at Al's list with percentages - thats best ethanol % to extract each thing...
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Re: Facts on Infusion

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janho wrote:Thanks a lot bushman, I will give feedback when its done.
Ok here is feedback; I was stupid enough to use turbo yeast. Never ever use turbo yeast! It leaves a yeasty wild kind of taste in the end product. Ended up wasting good orange blossom with a sub standard product. But hey they say wisdom comes through making mistakes and learning from it....I could have read the thread on turbo yeast that I didn’t do also.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by Flatlands_Hillbilly »

Alchemist75 wrote:Being an herbalist by trade I've done a lot of work with plant extracts. A couple things I might add here:
There is a big difference between steam distilling plants for flavor and directly macerating them in a hydroethanolic tincture. Steam distillation of course pulls only volatile components, the aspects that are light and are as much aroma as flavor. Hell, there's even a big flavor difference between herbs directly boiled in the cooker vs. Herbs that are put in a gin basket or thumper. Direct tincturing pulls out a lot of other compounds that lend a lot of complexity to flavor and body as it were. The proof of ethanol you tincture at can dramatically affect the compounds extracted: higher proof 70-90% will pull out non polar stuff, resins, oils, alkaloids etc.
Lower proof 30-50% will pull out more polar stuff, tannins, mucilage/gum, saponins, polysaccharides and etc.
The flavor profile and consistency will be very different depending on how you extract the plants in question. Maybe at some point I'll post a generalized solvency chart that gives better details....just my 10 cents
I just infused several different fruits and herbs with a 100 proof, 50% abv. for clarification to a simple mind. When you say higher proof, I'm assuming the 70 - 90% you are talking ABV? Or are you talking 70 - 90 proof? I'm thinking of doing more with a higher proof, like maybe 160 proof 80% of some of the same fruits and herbs and test the flavor and aroma's, maybe even trying to blend a few to see if I find find a profile I like best of whatever tincture I make. I got a Fire Whiskey I call Hellfire Whiskey that I made that's awesome, but wonder if I could improve on it. I used a 50% abv cinnamon and a 50% abv pablano pepper extract in a sweet cornmash. Are the flavors more vivid at the higher proof extract than the lower, or are they just different? Sorry for the long question. Got a habit of talkin a country mile over a city inch. Thanks in advance for your response, Alchemist75. Or anyone else who has $.02 on the subject.
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by Alchemist75 »

So with cinnamon and most peppers extracting at 50% will do ok at pulling flavors. With the cinnamon you'll get the best of it's spicy, sweet essential oils if you extract at 80%+. You'll also eliminate more of it's slimy mucilage as it isn't particularly soluble at those proofs. It'll be a "cleaner" extract with a lot of punch and deep red color. Peppers, especially fresh, are rich in hot, pungent volatiles that 80+ will attack more effectively. I might do peppers at 60-70%, you'll really get the best of the heat and color that way. Much depends upon personal taste, your fire whisky is only as good as those drinking it think it is. If it's awesome then you nailed it. If it ain't broken don't fix it as they say. You could tinker around with small batch extracts to see what profiles you like best.
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Flatlands_Hillbilly
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Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by Flatlands_Hillbilly »

@Alchemist75, Thanks, man. I'll probably tinker around with it a bit. I generally write down recipes to successful ones, then tinker it to death in future mixings until the possibilities are exhausted. Always correcting the original recipe if I find something I like to do better. Tinkering is half the fun!
“Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the Bible says love your enemy.” - Frank Sinatra
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Alchemist75
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Location: New Mexico USA

Re: Facts on Infusion

Post by Alchemist75 »

Aye, I have a tendency to not use the same recipe twice. I have plenty written down in my notes but I experiment with variations constantly. When you know the flavor qualities of all your ingredients you rarely make mistakes, only more tasty "accidents”. Tinkering is 90% of the fun as far as I'm concerned.
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