Has anyone aged on kiawe?

[juana_b]

Aloha,

Looking for input on aging on kiawe(PROSOPIS JULIFLORA). Has anyone tried it? Hard as hell and great for BBQ.
I'm gonna try it. I may slam some into a Honeycrisp apple I finished earlier this week. We'll see.
Any feedback is welcomed.

And as always, Thanks again to everyone here.

[juana_b]

Clarifying pronunciation: kee-a-vay

[OtisT]

That shrub/tree is in the mesquite family so possibly expand your research to mesquite as well. Below is one link to a mesquite finished whiskey. One of the first things in the text says that it is only finished in mesquite chips and it was advised to use that wood sparingly.

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... f=4&t=1501

You might try making a tea with the wood to see what that tastes like. If it tastes bad after a soak in water, not sure it would get better in alcohol.

Good luck

Otis

[juana_b]

Thanks, Otis. Much appreciated.

[Saltbush Bill]

The subject of using unusual woods for aging has come up many times before from memory. A quick search should find those threads.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/app.php ... itesearch=

Hard as hell and great for BBQ.

Just because something is safe to use and is great for BBQ doesnt always mean its a good idea to stick it in your booze.
99% of Australian Hardwoods are suitable for smoking meats and fish, of those about 99% would fail miserably for aging in spirit.

[NZChris]

If you want to know the answer to a question that is unlikely to have been answered already and searching this site and the web hasn't produced anything useful, you might have to be the first.

To try out a new wood or toast, I do a smallish experiment rather than commit a whole run to something that might not work out. I got some inspiration from here; https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55301. In a week, it gives me a fair idea of how a wood/toast is going to work out, then I age the rest of the batch using what I learned from the trial.

[juana_b]

Just because something is safe to use and is great for BBQ doesnt always mean its a good idea to stick it in your booze.
99% of Australian Hardwoods are suitable for smoking meats and fish, of those about 99% would fail miserably for aging in spirit.

Correct.

If you want to know the answer to a question that is unlikely to have been answered already and searching this site and the web hasn't produced anything useful, you might have to be the first.

Just dusted off the ultrasonic.

Thanks again for the input

[juana_b]

You might try making tea with the wood to see what that tastes like. If it tastes bad after a soak in water, not sure it would get better in alcohol.

Tasted fantastic, like a very weak Japanese toasted barley tea. Best I can explain it.
Note: Kiawe used was seasoned 3+yrs, cut chips containing mostly heartwood, toasted with flame as to get a range of toasting levels for 1st try. Not even going to oven toast until proof of concept is confirmed.

To try out a new wood or toast, I do a smallish experiment rather than commit a whole run to something that might not work out.

Took 200ml of the Honeycrisp @ 65% in the ultrasonic at 5min intervals until the color was approaching medium-ish(?), took the wood out, cooled down.
First taste lends me to Otis's reference to using it sparingly. Not at all like over oak, though. Much milder. More like a slightly bitter vegetable without enough salt. I can still taste a pleasant sweetness coming off.
I'm definitely tinkering with this more.

Also, found that the seed pods can be made into a syrup, hmmmm...