Namaste from India!

[theprofoundgeek]

Hello Guys!

I am from India with keen interest in Whiskey, Gin, India's tribal liquor and some of the Royal Heritage Liqueur recipes.

I have been reading about distillation since ages and have bookmarked this forum couple of years back. But since home distillation is very uncommon in the urban India (and illegal, except brewing), was just happy reading about it.

But I have recently moved to a tribal area and the real kick in the head was the fact the alcohol is distilled here since centuries! That too with many uncommon distillates, such as Mahua flowers (Madhuca longifolia)! I was fascinated by the simplicity of the process followed, forage the flowers, use fresh or store for year round use. Add fresh water, and let it sit for 72 hours, distill it and done! Out comes a nice flowery 30% ABV liquor. No yeast, nothing, nature takes care of that.

Keen with the knowledge, I acquired a 250 year old heavy duty copper alembic (20 Ltrs), and made a basic modular still out of it, with still hat and a condenser, all done with lead free solder. I did my test run and was able to produce a batch of 5 liter, 20% ABV spirit. Tasted and smelled nice.

So next, I will be trying to increase the yield, while retain the smell and flavor or perhaps adding some spices! I realized that there would be so many permutations and combinations that its time to interact with the community, hence I am here!