dried Fruit

A MUST READ FORUM Place where new distillers can read many of the important documents that help introduce them to distilling. This is a read-only forum.

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
Beginner Bob
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2022 4:07 pm
Location: Texas

dried Fruit

Post by Beginner Bob »

I have tried to read as much as I can and tried my best to avoid asking the same questions that seems to be pretty common. After not finding the answer, here I go. Is dried fruit something that can be used as an infusion and if so is it used as the same as fresh fruit or does it need to be re-hydrated prior? If in deed it can be, does it take an addition amount to my batch. FYI, I do not have a thumper. Thanks in advance.
User avatar
contrahead
Trainee
Posts: 909
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:43 pm
Location: Southwest

Re: dried Fruit

Post by contrahead »

Yes, of course dried fruit can be used. The final product might turn out to be more tasty than using raw fruit. The rub though, is that some of your desirable ethanol will be lost and soaked up in the act of re-hydrating the fruit. That alcohol can not be retrieved without re-distillation or by eating the fruit. Prior re-hydration makes the most sense.

Hot coffee made in a drip coffee maker or tea made by pouring hot water over tea leaves in a tea cup - are examples of infusions. Not sure how using a thumper would contribute to either taste..
Omnia mea mecum porto
Beginner Bob
Novice
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2022 4:07 pm
Location: Texas

Re: dried Fruit

Post by Beginner Bob »

Thank you!
Short people are the last to know it rains and the first to drown!
User avatar
subbrew
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1275
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:40 pm
Location: West of the Mississippi

Re: dried Fruit

Post by subbrew »

dried fruit re-hydrated with ethanol and added to my morning oatmeal sounds pretty good to me.

As drying concentrates the flavors I would think an infusion to pull those flavors out would make a fine drink. Humm, you have have me thinking about what a neutral allowed to sit on dried pears might taste like. Or a few dried apples put in some apple brandy to give it a burst of flavor. Is this a great hobby or what?
Setsumi
Distiller
Posts: 1371
Joined: Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:23 pm
Location: Central South Africa

Re: dried Fruit

Post by Setsumi »

I use dried apricots to give my corn wiskey a sweetnes. Sometime I use dates that I chop to sweeten, but one should be carefull with dates, it can give an astringent taste in a very short while say less than a week.The fruit do swrivel up after a while and gets replaced. No use trying to eat them at that point.
My first flute
My press
My twins
My controller
My wife tells me I fell from heaven covered in white. Why did they let me fall?
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: dried Fruit

Post by NZChris »

Pretty much anything fresh or dried can be used in an infusion. Fresh contains more water than dried, so allow for it.

Sometimes I dry fruit before doing an infusion to concentrate the flavors, it depends on the fruit type, how strong it's flavor is, and it's intended end use. You might be better off asking, (or searching the forum), for advice for a specific fruit.

If you are distilling the infusion it doesn't make much difference as you can adjust the abv and flavor intensity when making up the finished product to suit your tastes.
User avatar
Demy
Master of Distillation
Posts: 3084
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2020 1:45 pm

Re: dried Fruit

Post by Demy »

I used dried figs on a white fig brandy (fermentation of figs, distillation and then maceration of dehydrated and baked figs).. excellent product. I recommend leaving the grutta dry whole, the pulp has caused me problems of turbidity.
User avatar
jonnys_spirit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3630
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:58 am
Location: The Milky Way

Re: dried Fruit

Post by jonnys_spirit »

I have saved pressed wine pomace (similar to raisins or dried grapes) and rehydrated it with additional sugars and juice to strip/spirit run. I'm experimenting with then keep some additional pomace to the side to macerate the hearts cut in and re run without any additional sugars in smaller batch quantities like a macerated spirit or gin. Unless you have a fairly large volume of the dried fruit I'd think that making a sugar wash neutral hearts spirit and then macerating or infusing the dried material would help optimize the final product.. If you have a good amount of the dried fruit then by all means ferment/still it and consider an additional infusion..

Cheers!
-j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
Post Reply