cold infusion shelf life

[noobybooby]

Anyone know how long a neutral , 40%, will last after being infused with fresh fruit, particularly pineapple slices? If the fruit is removed and the vodka then filtered to remove any particles, would the flavor and aroma degrade over time? I just wonder, even with the preservative power of alcohol, if oxidation or some other process will be a factor in how long it will stay good. Particularly if it is opened and closed repeatedly. My longest lasting bottle was maybe 3 weeks, and I swear the smell was a little off at the end. I'm thinking of making several bottles at once, but I don't know if that's a good idea.
anyone, anyone...

[kiwistiller]

I've got a 3 year old fruit infusion... pears and cinnamon, sweetened slightly. was bottled about 30%. It's still good. Tastes like christmas

Wow, the smileys have chins now...

Kiwi

[new_moonshiner]

I have seen sunlight change the color over time , but not noticed any change in flavor except for the better .. If I was storing for long periods of time I would store in gallon jug in dark place then rack it off from the top leaving the sediments in the bottom... this makes for an even better drink you started with in my opinion .

[Tater]

I have seen sunlight change the color over time , but not noticed any change in flavor except for the better .. If I was storing for long periods of time I would store in gallon jug in dark place then rack it off from the top leaving the sediments in the bottom... this makes for an even better drink you started with in my opinion .

I agree with new moon . Ive got some thats 3 and 4 years old . Better tasting then ever but does settle out some .

[noobybooby]

When you're storing it for so long, did you remove the fruit and filter to get it clear, or did you leave everything in? Maybe that's a dumb question, I make it in a large jar so I have to remove the fruit to pour it into a bottle.

[kiwistiller]

It really depends on what you are doing... I leave red pepper slices in my sweet red pepper vodka, but that is purely cosmetic I also leave thin slices of feijoa in my feijoa vodka, again its a cosmetic thing really, they haven't seemed to degrade at al after a few months. other things I have strained out because I think that the flavours are at the correct balance already, such as limoncello, some fruit vodkas, coconut rums, etc.

Pineapple I would strain I think. I have heard of rum being aged with pineapple in it though. you might have to experiment

experimenting is half the fun...
Kiwi

[seeken]

Remember the worm in Tequila? That was the Mexican version of proof. If the worm rots, the tequila is weak, if it stays together, the tequila is strong. So you shouldn't have to worry about you liquor being hurt by whatever you use for flavoring.

Something else to consider: A Welsh friend uses an odd flavoring techneque. He fill a bottle 1/4 to 1/3 full of a type of local (to him) berry, imagine a big red blueberry,then adds a nuetral spirit he has distilled. The berrys turn the liquor a beautiful deep red colour. Then the bottle is drank down to half at which point it is refilled and allowed to sit for a few weeksto allow the berrys then release more colour. This is repeated untill the bottle is clear instead of red.

[LWTCS]

Remember the worm in Tequila? That was the Mexican version of proof.

I'm not debating you, but Perry Luntz asserts that the worm in the bottle was a marketing ploy created by an unnamed American company.

The worm (not a Mexican tradition) was never seen in a bottle of tequila or Mezcal till the 1940s in spite of the fact that tequila (or the like) is North America's first distilled beverage.

Aztec people first fermented agave and the Spaniards first distilled it.

[The Baker]

Anyone know how long a neutral , 40%, will last after being infused with fresh fruit, particularly pineapple slices? If the fruit is removed and the vodka then filtered to remove any particles, would the flavor and aroma degrade over time? I just wonder, even with the preservative power of alcohol, if oxidation or some other process will be a factor in how long it will stay good. Particularly if it is opened and closed repeatedly. My longest lasting bottle was maybe 3 weeks, and I swear the smell was a little off at the end. I'm thinking of making several bottles at once, but I don't know if that's a good idea.
anyone, anyone...

I've got cumquat liqueur made with commercial brandy (37.5 % abv) and sugar, eight or nine years ago, before I got interested in distilling.
As far as I can tell the only thing wrong with it is that I have left the cumquats in the liqueur all this time and the taste from the peels has made the liqueur harsh and strong tasting.
This was using the method of poking some holes in the fruit and macerating it in the brandy-and-sugar.

I had maybe twenty litres of this so a while back I put a lot of it through a blender; I have added some sugar syrup and some water and some spirit to ameliorate the harshness, and have racked it once.
I will leave it a couple of months and rack it again and adjust the flavour strength, the sweetness, and the alcohol level, may include some lemon or lime juice for flavour and acid and to further dilute the harsh peel taste.
And I think I will have a nice liqueur. Certainly I don't intend to waste all that brandy I put in it at full commercial prices!

Blending stuff is a lot of fun, though it is more often, perhaps, necessary when you have buggered something up!

[seeken]

I'm not debating you, but Perry Luntz asserts that the worm in the bottle was a marketing ploy created by an unnamed American company.

Interesting. Hadn't heard that before. I've also seen bottles with scorpions in them and cobras. But most of that is marketing for sure.